RWBY RE:colored

by Royal-Harmonica

This is a re-imagination of the story of RWBY given as a pitch, a review, and a scene-by-scene style of writing. It's purpose is merely to adapt the series into a more cohesive and simple series for teenage and mature audiences. If you're not a nerd, your cringe discretion is advised. I post primarily on AO3, so this might be not be up to date.

9. Volume VII (Once Upon a Time)

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VOLUME VII

This volume will revolve around the stories of the past, mostly focusing on how team STRQ became a family, and all the stuff that happened all the way to Summer Rose's death. This volume almost completely lacks a Volume Arc, meaning there's no connecting story that is focused on from beginning to end. It's a good selection of standalone stories from the past that give context and show events that we only heard of so far. Basically it's a slight cut above filler. Why does this volume exist at all, then? Well, I want to clock the series finale with Volume X, and so I needed one extra volume. Don't worry though, it's still gonna be a fun volume to read. The most important aspects of this volume are Cinder's backstory and the finale, which sets up all events going forward in the present.

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The opening of this volume is pretty ominous. We follow this little girl with black hair in a huge house. She dresses like crap and sad shadows cover her face. She spends several hours scrubbing the walls and floor, and washing a bunch of dishes. But as she was working, she accidentally broke a fancy trinket by the shelf. It cracks in the ground, immediately making the girl coil in fear. We hear these nightmarish, loud sounds of someone coming into the room and cornering the little girl. Then we see this horrible, ugly fat bitch hit the little girl with a slap and a kick without warning. She was screaming loudly, "I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, DIDN'T I?! Stupid brat! Do you have any idea how much money your father owned me?!" The little girl doesn't talk back. The lady continues, "Of course you don't! I gave a loan to that scoundrel and all I got back is you, here to remind me of the stupid idea I had! DAMN IT!"

She hits the little girl one more time, knocking her to the ground. The lady leaves as she locks the door and says, "You'll be working here for a good few years until you pay back what your father owes me… Be grateful that you at least have a house and a meal every day. Anything in this house is more valuable than you, so if anything else breaks, you're a goner! NOW CLEAN THIS ALL UP! I GOT A GUEST IN ONE HOUR!"

The little girl was left alone in the dark room, until eventually she started crying. She sat down in fetal position, and finally the shadows covering her face were cast off. Her face is bruised, her hair is messy and keeps covering her eyes. But most importantly… the little girl has silver eyes.

Cut to black, and welcome to the world of RWBY RE:colored once again.

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The episode starts properly with a weirdly solemn scene. We're just seeing scenes of green pastures, lively forests and blue skies, all the while we hear a female voice singing a song. Welcome to the land of Vale, twenty four years ago. Finally we spot a wagon moving in the distance, moved by horses and being driven by a single old man. He seems to be enjoying the little song, until he turns around to the lady singing it. She was alone at the back of the wagon, and was sitting on top of a travel bag. She's wearing a white hood that covers her whole body. The old man compliments her voice, and so the lady stops singing and pulls back her white hood.

Peachy lips, pale skin, long and smooth red hair… and silver eyes.

Summer Rose makes her first appearance in the series. She blushes and says, "sorry, I was dozing off…"

From here it's a basic exposition scene. The old man was just moving goods from the farm countryside into Vale City, when this young girl suddenly asked for a ride. Apparently she had business there — at Beacon Castle no less. After being approved in the Signal Test, young Summer Rose hopes to enter the Huntsman Academy. She was hoping to find lots of adventure, while also continuing the family tradition of being warriors. Once she reveals her name, the old man recognizes her as "the mechanic", which apparently is a famous title she acquired by being one of the few people of the countryside who knows a damn thing about fixing stuff like tractors, clocks and wheels. Summer feels embarassed about the title, since all she did was read some books.

Soon they go over a big hill and spot the sea in the distance. And of course, right next to the sea was the mountain, and thus Vale City. We cut away to hours later, when Summer finally arrives in the city and parts ways with the farmer. This also Vale in the past, before the age of technology really started hitting. Basically, the streets are cobbled instead of paved, and the streetlights are old-timey lamps. She walks around and admires the city for the first time — she has never seen anything quite like it in the countryside. Summer had to reach the castle before noon, but she accidentally took the long walk around the mountain. It was thousands of stairs before she could reach the plateau, but eventually she was at the top. She could finally see the great white castle… and then she looks a little to the left, and realizes there is a big elevator of ropes, going up and down between the city and the castle.

She didn't know elevators were a thing, but she felt stupid regardless.

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At the same time she arrived in the city, someone else was right behind her. People looked at him in surprise, seeing this strangely tall blond guy walking down the streets, carrying a huge bag on his shoulder. He was struggling to walk with it. Once he arrived in the park, he finally spotted the castle up in the mountain, and smiled.

Through some misfortune, a passing citizen accidentally cuts his heavy bag. The slash quickly spreads until everything falls out. As it did so, a huge quake reverberated in the whole street. It wasn't actually baggage — it was literally a single huge boulder enveloped in cloth. Everyone looks at him in shock, and he immediately snaps angrily at that random citizen for cutting his training short. He was supposed to carry the boulder from his village, all the way to the castle before dropping it.

This is Tai Xiaolong. Yes, he is the Sun Wukong of his generation.

His hair is much longer in his earlier days, and he came to the city dressed in a light yellow Karate Gi with orange patterns resembling fire. He's not wearing shoes either, so basically he looks like Ken from SF2. Apparently Tai came from villages in Haven, despite having no resemblance to Asian people whatsoever. His antagonism and commotion brings the attention of a few officers. They try to arrest him, but Tai just kicks their ass and runs away. He can't get arrested now, because he needs to find the academy before noon!

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At the same time, two hooded figures stand still by the docks. One is resting against a wall, while the other is with arms crossed towards the sea. The voices are clearly male and female respectively.

"From this day forward, things are going to change. We need to get much stronger. We can never fulfill our destiny otherwise." the lady said.

"Come on, sis, do we really have to spend two years up there? It's going to be so damn annoying. Just think of all the idiots we will have to deal with." the man said, and by the voice we immediately recognized him as Qrow.

"I already made up my mind. Stay here and go find a job if you want, you bum. But if you follow me, then we will need a last name. Once we're in that castle, we will be Raven and Qrow Branwen. Do you understand?" The lady says.

"Yeah, I get it."

Both of them take out their hoods to reveal they are in fact Qrow and Raven, way different than we saw them in the present. Qrow dressed rather simply — just a black sleeveless jacket, a dark red undershirt, and black pants. He got his usual slick-back hair, but at this time he had no stubble and not even his iconic sword. Meanwhile, Raven simply rocks the gothic look. She wore a red mini skirt with chains, black leggings, and a black mesh shirt that clearly shows her bra underneath. Her hair is cut short, she already has her red hair scarf, and she's not remotely as bodacious as her older self would be. There's not even a hint of the warriors these two would become in the future, they just look like two shitheads teenagers. And so they also leave, going straight to the castle in the distance.

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Eventually all their paths converge.

Summer was the last to arrive in the castle, and spent most of her time witnessing the sights and technology coming from it. She is surrounded by dozens of warriors, and starts getting nervous as she roams the main hall. She tries to ask for directions, but it seems like everyone is occupied or plainly ignoring her. Eventually she does meet with someone else around her age. There were four girls walking towards her. The one in the front was obviously Glynda, as we saw her younger self in a minisode of volume III — not to mentio she dresses exactly the same as her older self. The only difference is that here she wears a skirt as well, before the incident happened. She's been followed by three other girls who are all new original characters.

Olga Yaga was a tall girl with long unkempt hair, wearing a big green sweater with a long skirt, and round glasses that obscure most of her face. She looks timid and cute despite having burlyness and height comparable to Cardin.

Mona Darkwood was a short, petite ginger girl with long pigtails, and she's dressed in a gray and black dress that somewhat resembles a maid outfit. She seems to be far too outspoken and sassy for her own good.

And lastly, Rita Gothel is quiet girl who just looks like a boy, having an emotionless and bored expression, with short black hair, darker skin and a big violet robe hiding her body in shadows. She looks mysterious but is oddly the most normal of the group.

Just from the way they are talking and smiling, we glean that these four have been friends for a long time. Summer tries to question them, but she just gets instantly roasted by Glynda. "Excuse me, do I look like some waitress to you?!" she said, and Mona just repeats what Glynda says with a more bitchy tone, "Yeah, do she look like some waitress to you, huh?!"

Olga tries to calm them down, but Glynda seems to have taken a lot of offense for absolutely no reason. She tells Summer to go get her stupid accent fixed up, and leaves. Rita shows the most maturity, asking forgiveness to Summer as the other three walk away. She explains that Glynda sparks in random anger when she's nervous, and today was a big day for all of them. They will all become Huntresses together.

But as the four girls go to leave, suddenly someone calls out to them.

"HEY YOU!" he said. It was Tai.

He started walking very menacingly towards them. As he approaches, Summer seems to be admiring him in awe. He looked so tall, strong and handsome. His long blond hair was flowing in the breeze. He was looking straight at her, and for a second she thought he was going to talk with her... but Tai just walked right past her. He stares down Glynda for an awkward while. It looked like a fight was under way, but then he said:

"Incredible… in all my life I never met a girl so… so…

GORGEOUS!" Tai said, immediately cutting the mood of the scene and leaving everyone confused. "Say, pretty girl, what is your name? Do you come here often?"

Glynda immediately used her power to blast Tai away with a psychic push. He is sent flying through the main hall and crashes against the smooth floor, making a few other Huntsmen around laugh at him. Glynda says she doesn't speak to commoners with bad breath, and so she and her squad just walk along. With Tai on the ground, Summer goes to help him. "Thanks for standing up for me." she says.

"Uh, who are you?" Tai said, making Summer's inner self shatter in a million pieces of embarrassment. "Anyway, what was I doing- oh yeah! The ceremony hall!"

He walked off and Summer decided to follow, since both are going to the same place. The two arrive before the big door with the same jolly old man guarding it. Turns out that even twenty years ago, Peter Port was already a teacher at Beacon — though he did have a few strands of dark brown hair at this time. Tai and Summer show him their scrolls, and I don't mean the scroll phones mind you, but literally just scrolls of paper, confirming that they passed the Signal Test.

They enter the long room and immediately spot Glynda and her friends by the windows, still chatting. The girls turn their eyes to the door, only to realize the other students are the bumpkin girl and the blond hobo. Summer was shocked by the few people, but Port affirmed that this number was just plain average. Beside the girls, only two others were there, Raven and Qrow. Raven looked stoically away from everyone, focused in her own mind. But Qrow, however…

Qrow was looking directly into Summer's eyes. Red and silver — both uncommon colors.

They kept staring at each other for what felt like eternity, and she only got bad vibes from him. They only stopped once Tai interrupted. He suddenly steps forward and announces his full name, age, overly-long backstory, hobbies and habits to everyone inside. They all ignored him, and so everyone just sat around and waited for the big man to arrive.

The doors at the end of the hall open, and so a very sinister man walks into the stage.

Alloy Silverclaw, the current headmaster of the Huntsman Guild of Vale.

I never really got into his design, so let me just talk about it now. Silverclaw is a tall man, wearing a dark cape, and shiny, pointy shoulder pads of silver covering all around his neck. He has a stern expression, and smooth gray hair that goes all the way down to his back. The room instantly becomes colder and darker with him there. He tells everyone to step forward in order to perform the oath ceremony. Unlike Ozpin he doesn't even attempt a welcoming speech — he goes straight for business. He has zero charisma and a clear cynical tone towards everyone. As all the eight warriors stand side by side on the line, they perform the speech after him. This essentially marks the halfway point of this episode.

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Next up, we follow Silverclaw as he walks with the students down towards the armory of the castle. He tells everyone to find the weapons they want, because the first day will be quite the experience. First they gotta build the teams, and they will do so through a little mission — their first mission, in fact. We only see Summer's point of view and inner monologue, and she suddenly becomes extremely nervous at this notion. Real combat on the first day? That's insane! Silverclaw gives them ten minutes to prepare, so they have to find a weapon of their choice.

Here we see Summer's weapon for the first time, and for now it's not impressive. It's just an axe — not even a battle axe, but a wood chopper. It was her father's weapon, apparently. The only other thing she does is take off her white robe, not wanting it to get dirty in a fight. The Summer we are seeing right now is eighteen years old. She dresses quite like Ruby in the future, but her color scheme is red and white instead of red and black — wearing a similar red dress and skirt, white pantyhose, white ruffles everywhere, and her hair is way more red than Ruby's. This is the first time we see her without her robe, and we're immediately struck by how hot she is. By here we would assume she would be petite like Ruby, but it's absolutely not the case — she's stacked. It even makes Tai acknowledge her existence for the first time, looking her up and down as she turns her back. Meanwhile, Tai is just stretching and sparring against the air. He isn't worried about getting a weapon at all. Why would he need them? His fists can destroy anything on their own — or so he thinks.

Glynda's team went to the backrooms of the armory. Each of them would find a weapon of their own, except Glynda. She claims that she won't need to get remotely close to those filthy creatures, but just to flex as much as possible, she picks up what she thinks is a fly swatter (riding crop), fully believing she is good enough to kill monsters with something as weak as this. Next we see Qrow and Raven picking up their weapons. Raven just picks up a katana by pure instinct, and Qrow follows suit, since he doesn't want to overthink this. It does feel like it's too light for his liking.

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Once everyone was armed, Silverclaw took them to the spot outside the castle walls. They faced the edge of the cliff, looking down on the Emerald Forest, as it was known before the tragic event of Hazel's daughter. Silverclaw explains to the 8 new students how the mission will play out, and we pretty much already know since it's always the same mission every new class. They have to get in the forest, continue moving north, and arrive at the ruins with a complete squad of four members. If they find Grimm, just run and hide. The only thing that seems to change is how the students are separated. After he was done explaining, Silverclaw snaps his fingers…

And suddenly, eight other warriors appear right behind everyone, moving at a speed too great for them to realize. They instantly put hoods over their heads, and so they forcefully jumped with the students to the forest below. It was too sudden for them to react. After struggling for a minute, they touch the ground, and now they can finally pull out their hoods. All of them were left behind in a random position around the forest, and were completely alone. No sound, no help, and not even a clear direction. The mission begins.

The first one we see act is Glynda, as she uses her Semblance to knock down something big to create a visual and auditory signal. Surely Olga, Rita and Mona heard it, and recognized it as her plan. It's important to show how Glynda struggles to lift even a simple boulder with psychokinesis, since she's obviously way weaker at this point in time. The team would eventually reunite offscreen.

Next we follow Raven as we see her striding in the forest. She seems confident and strong, up until she starts hearing Grimm noises. It's the little wolves again; we haven't seen weak little babies like this in a long time. Their level of threat is so low that it might as well be a normal wolf. But despite that, they scare the crap out of Raven.

A small memory flashes in her eyes, of a moment in the past where she stared up at a giant elder Fenrir in the eyes.

It sent her a chill through the spine and made her draw the sword. The creature was slowly approaching while snarling, and Raven's hands were shaking. She keeps stepping back. Eventually the baby Fenrir jumps at her, and she raises her hand to block in fear. Just then, Tai shows up.

He was laughing and running through the forest, thinking the mission was a race, when suddenly he spots the little black wolf on his way and kicks it like a soccer ball. It was sent flying and died split in half against a tree. Tai didn't realize Raven was there until he looked a little to the side and saw her sitting on her butt, breathing heavily and with her sword lying on the ground. She was in shock.

At that moment, Tai discovered something new about the universe. Anime goth girls.

He immediately got on his knee and presented himself by full name, age, hobbies and village of birth — again. Just like with Glynda, he throws a cringe catcall with absolute confidence in it, and waits for her response with a smirk. At this point Tai already becomes the most lovable character, just from the sheer comedic contrast of the badass stoic father that he became, to the impressionable, jovial warrior with half a brain cell that he was. Raven is still in a bit of shock and doesn't respond.

Soon more baby Fenrir showed up — apparently they were chasing Tai as he ran through the forest while screaming. He easily kills all of them in basic martial arts and super strength, while Raven just keeps watching. After the short battle Tai continues with his attempts at winning her heart, however Raven seems to grow angry after witnessing how easily he killed them. She grabbed her sword and slashed at him, forcing Tai to dodge. She kept attacking, but didn't hit him once, so he managed to hold her hands.

"Hey! You're supposed to kill the Grimm, not me!" Tai said.

"Listen, pint-size brain! I don't know if you realized it yet, but you're part of my team now! I will not allow you to join if you don't prove to me you're strong!" Raven said.

"Hohoho~! I loved it! What a marvelous idea then! Let's fight!" Tai said, and so the two students completely forgo the mission and start fighting each other. The two huntsmen watching from the shadows are questioning each other, "Merl… what the heck are those idiots doing?!"

Now there were only two left.

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Summer was left wandering the forest for an awful long time. She's smart enough to search for high ground and locate the ruins instead of running aimlessly. She also spots something strange while up there. Far away she saw a tree shaking after a huge noise, so she went to check it. She thought someone was getting attacked, and as she ran, she hoped it would be either Tai or any other girl that isn't Glynda. However, when she got there, no one was around. There was only a young Ursa. The person it was fighting just ran away and left Summer behind.

Summer is forced to fight it, but she's not that great. She's not scared like Raven, but she's not capable of striking well enough with her axe due to inexperience. Eventually she got some help. That person who ran suddenly came back to fight again; it was Qrow. He jumps in from above and stabs the Ursa directly in the back. He had a crazed grin on his face, but to his surprise that wasn't enough to kill it. The Ursa shook him off and slapped him away. Summer picked up the pace and attacked the Ursas legs from behind, giving Qrow the edge to slash the monster across its face. He kept slashing it over and over again despite already being dead, and only stopped once it melted on the floor completely. A fucking savage.

Finally Qrow turns around, and his eyes meet with that girl again. Qrow had a very curious gaze and it made Summer nervous. His red eyes were threatening, and he didn't say anything yet. So she went ahead and bowed to him.

"Thank you for helping me! I guess we are team members now. My name is Summer Rose, pleased to meet… you?" she said, but as she raised her head, Qrow had disappeared. She kept looking left and right for him, but he was just gone. He made no sound as he left. But just then, Summer felt a weird breeze on her behind.

"Damn… crispy clean white." She heard him say. She turned her head around and saw Qrow… lifting up her skirt. He was looking straight at her butt. He was still mumbling, "Smells just like flowers–-"

Suddenly Qrow is struck right in the middle of his face by the blunt side of Summer's axe. He goes flying away, and crashes against the trees. Summer blushes and shouts in anger, "You- YOU SHAMEFUL DOG! UGH!"

Summer starts walking off into the woods, holding her skirt down. Qrow stood up and laughed, quickly shrugging off the pain in order to continue following her. She kept telling him to piss off, but now he was dead set on being part of her team. Ain't no way he'll miss spending years close to such a hottie. "Since we are a team now, I have two questions to ask. Number one: Do you know how to fight or not? And number two: What's your cup size-"

Suddenly Summer stops and now points the sharp edge of the axe into his neck. She looked bored instead of angry, almost as if killing Qrow right now sounds like the easiest, less stressful option. He then says, "Okay, you can answer just the first question."

"My father taught me how to kill things well enough. Wanna see?" Summer said, coldly.

"Nah, I'll take your word for it. We can talk about question two later." Qrow said, smiling even with a blade close to his neck. Either he's too stupid to stop playing, or he fully trusts that Summer is a goody-two-shoes lady. Now she just puts the axe away and walks off, staying a safe distance away from the pervert. "So, if you don't mind, I kinda have to go look for my sister. Don't worry, she's pretty strong. You won't regret having her around." Qrow says.

"I have a slight feeling that she might be worse than you…" Summer said.

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Meanwhile, the future team GMOR was just peacefully tracking through the forest as Glynda blasted Grimm away with her powers, and the other girls didn't have to fight at all. Olga picked up a burly walking staff with a heavy dark orb at the top. Mona picked up two flintlock pistols and was aiming them around like she was a pro, until she realized that she forgot to pick any extra bullets. Rita grabbed a scary looking scimitar that she kept hidden under her violet robe.

As they were walking, Glynda started to get tired from wasting her Aura on so many weak foes. At the same time, the little Mona accidentally steps in a muddy hole that got her boot all dirty and smelly. She started crying loudly and pulling her pigtails down, while Rita silently picked up a tissue and started cleaning it for her, almost as if this babyish behavior was expected. The whole path ahead was nothing but a big mud lake.

"Ugh, this place sucks! Olga, get us a ride out of here, now!" Glynda said, and so Olga stepped forward. There was this big tree there, and so Olga hugged it. Her light green Aura started to seep into the tree, and so it started to vibrate. The tree started to uproot itself, and we see that the roots are slowly coming together to form two big legs. This was Olga Yaga's Semblance, Golemizer.

The tree immediately gained a higher form of life and became subservient to Olga. She said, "Hey mister tree! I'm glad to meet you too! Can you please help us get that way?!"

The tree kneeled down to them, and so the girls climbed on top of its leaves like a big fluffy couch. Mister tree starts to walk over the mud lake, slowly taking everyone towards the north. Mona was still crying over her boot, so Rita offered her a rock to cheer her up. It looks weird at first, but then Mona grabs it… and it suddenly transforms into a sweet twinkie after touching her palm. She stuffs her mouth with it, and suddenly her mood shifts completely back to cheery and happy. Mona Darkwood's Semblance is Sweet Tooth — the power to turn anything into any candy, sweet or dessert. Not the worst Semblance power we've seen, but definitely the weakest.

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Raven and Tai spent an hour fighting each other, but Tai was comically superior to her in every aspect. At several points he's just plain and simple clowning on her — she has pathetic sword skills. It was driving her mad, and the noise of their clash was attracting more and more Grimm. They just killed their attackers and continued clashing, however, eventually they bump into a big boy.

The two hear an ominous roar coming from the mountain-side grotto, and out comes an elder Ursa. The monster was roughly the size of a house. Tai goes to punch it head on, but the smart Ursa blocks it with its paw covered in a hard white layer. It ends up breaking Tai's hand, and makes the two realize that they should just run. They were fast, but the monster was right behind them, and was running over the trees like it was nothing.

All the while, Qrow and Summer were still bickering. He was proving to be a big, annoying douchebag with every second that passes, but Summer's insults don't phase him one bit. She barely even knows how to respond anyway — she never had to deal with a creep on this level before. Even after she manages to keep him quiet, the silence of the forest starts to bother her. When she gets nervous, she starts humming a song.

"Why are you singing now? Stop making noise." Qrow said.

"It's helping me focus, okay?!" she replied. The constant singing is pretty much her trademark for the remainder of the volume, and I advise to keep that in mind. Eventually they come to meet another living creature in the forest, as team GMOR rushes past them on top of their tree golem. Qrow and Summer just look on with a face of absolute confusion, and then Glynda shouts at them, "Why are you standing there?! RUN!"

They turn back and see that the girls were being chased by dozens of Grimm. Centipede Grimm to be precise. They were crawling together in a swirly motion and were all quite big. Summer's face went pale and she started running and screaming. Qrow laughed, "Hey hey! What happened to Miss Tough Girl?!"

"SHUT UP!"

They kept running until all their paths converged. Eventually all groups found their way out of the woods and into the open. The ruins were right ahead, just beyond the big old bridge. Team GMOR brought a pack of giant bugs, while Tai and Raven brought a giant bear. Now we have the first big fight of the volume, and outside of character moments, I don't have any inputs on how it should go. You're probably sick of reading this by now, but if I were to try writing choreography, we would be here for five hundred useless pages more. I'll just note a few things:

Glynda is not S-tier yet, and she lacks creativity to use her Semblance the same way her adult self does. She doesn't control objects or structures to hit Grimm with, but just blasts them with psychic energy waves to knock them around until they die. Olga is a tall, burly hippie girl that simply cannot fight at all, but those attributes make her resistant as fuck to damage. Her main attack is just creating more golems to fight in her place — literally anything she uses her Semblance will automatically grow a pair of legs and obey her commands. Mona is a big crybaby and doesn't feel confident on her own, but once one of the centipedes does so little as make a stain on her dress, she starts killing them in rage. Despite having one of the most stupid Semblances, Mona is pretty versatile with her powers, being able to instantly turn the floor into gum to trap her enemies in sticky goo, and then blow their brains out. She can also use her power in long range, turning the walls and floor into marshmallows to break her fall. Finally, Rita's Semblance allows her to make stuff grow in size temporarily while she holds onto them.

The ending of their fight comes with their first team combo, of which they seem to have practiced it before. Glynda used psychic force to send Rita flying high up in the air along a small stone. Once her robe is lifted, we can see she's actually wearing a heavy lot of silver armor. Once she starts falling, she uses her Semblance on the tiny rock. The rock suddenly grew 100x its size for a few seconds, and it squashed all the centipedes gathered underneath, killing them all. It seems like the Semblance is quite tiring for her, but it's pretty strong. They won, but they fought the weaker enemies.

Meanwhile, the newly formed team STRQ had to kill the elder Ursa. One of the things that shine through are Tai's overconfidence, Raven's misguided overconfidence, and the two brother's rather poor fighting capability overall. When Qrow fights with his sword, he might as well use it like a baseball bat. Once he gets the opportunity to attack, he swings repeatedly with a lot of fury, but unfortunately he ends up breaking his katana by striking the white layer. However, having half a sword doesn't seem to stop his frenzy. Since she's in a team with three impulsive idiots, Summer's smarts shine through and allow her to quickly formulate a plan to push the Ursa down the bottomless ravine between the forest and the ruins. They succeed, but unfortunately the monster manages to claw itself to the side of the mountain and climb back up.

Just when they thought it was over, the monster peered its head up the edge, and was ready to strike the team with its huge claws from behind. But then suddenly, a figure appears from the side and slashes the Ursa's arm clean off, making it fall back. It was cut off by… a shield? It looked heavy, with sharp edges and a spike at the center. The man wielding it was dressed in a fancy black suit with a brown trench coat, and a beret. He curses at them, "goodness sake, dumbasses, what part about -running instead of fighting- you didn't get?!"

He turns to see them, and we the audience realize this is Marrow Braun.

He looks way more gangster-like than detective-like — as we know him in the future.

With the first mission concluded, all the Huntsmen hiding in the forest suddenly jump out, still hidden in cloaks. The eight warriors are rushed inside the ruins, where they meet again with Silverclaw inside the ancient hall. He congratulated them for completing the mission, but their showing of skill was absolutely deplorable. He intends on changing that for the following year of training. For now, they will be class 138th of Beacon academy, along with team MRBL that entered a year ago. They will be team GMOR and STRQ, and their respective leaders would be Glynda and Summer. With that, the first episode is over.

Commentary (spoilers): And we're finally here. The original idea was to start far past the academy and focus only on their later years, but then I realized the academy years had too much potential to just toss aside. Ultimately we will have around six or seven episodes on the academy that depict their first year of training, and the rest of the volume is all about their later years. These first episodes do a lot of basic groundwork, but unlike volume I, since we are already familiar with the universe, we can focus solely on building character and relationships. But here shit is very different, you see… because we're playing with characters that have sealed fates. People who watched as little as the fucking red trailer will know what happens to Summer, and the people who watched as far as episode six or seven of volume I will know that Glynda's team died. We know WHAT happened, the least we can show is HOW it happened, or even try to subvert our expectations a bit. I'll try to do that.

The rest of team GMOR are OCs of mine made specifically for RE:colored. I didn't feel like going out of my way to search for other fan teams for Glynda, I'm sure some of them are way better than what I came up with, but it is what it is. All of them are obviously inspired by other fairy tale witches; Olga is Baba Yaga, Mona is the Black Forest witch from Hansel and Gretel, and Rita is mother Gothel from Rapunzel. All of them also have power that directly references their inspiration tale. This simple episode characterizes them well enough; I focus a lot on them in the first episodes because from now on we focus exclusively on team STRQ, while team GMOR is just calmly breezing in the background.

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Moving on with the next episodes, I would like to establish an important aspect that we will see throughout this first section of the volume. There will be a lot of narration describing the passage of time and how things are going off screen, voiced by Summer's inner thoughts as she writes in her diary. These will usually be accompanied by montages. Since I'm on a timer and I have to cover a whole year, this seems appropriate.

However, the episode doesn't start with the narration.

Once again we see that little slave girl with silver eyes. She was being slapped around by the old lady again. Apparently she had swept the dust under the carpet and her latest guests made fun of her because of it. In the end she leaves the girl alone in the room, locks all the doors, and tells her she won't get out until she cleans everything over again. The little girl stands there, shaking her fist with rage. She had enough.

Once she realizes that the old lady went to bed, she opens a secret compartment in the living room that was full of money. She put it all in a bag and planned her escape. The only way out was through the window, but she was on the second floor of a big house. She tries to climb down safely, but her grip is weak and she ends up falling. She gets messed up, but the adrenaline of freedom keeps her on the move. The little girl limps away into the alleyway, and so the flashback ends.

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After the intro, we're back at Beacon. We follow Summer's inner thoughts as she writes down in her diary. She was elected leader of the squad, something she never done before but is confident about it, since her father always said she was a natural leader. She went on to describe her teammates. Tai is cute and handsome, but has worms for brains. Qrow is the most insufferable creature she ever laid eyes on. She hasn't got any sleep because she's in fear of what he might do in case she closes her eyes for a second. It doesn't help that they are forced to all sleep in the same room and share a single bathroom. Just as she was about to talk about Raven, the diary gets swiped out of her hands by Raven herself. "Stop writing that, it's so annoying. Why are you up so early?!" she said, annoyed.

The sun was just rising through the window. Both Tai and Qrow were still sleeping. They didn't have pajamas, they just slept in their normal clothes, but Summer had a night gown and Raven just slept with a stained old shirt and no pants. She shook Summer out of her monologue trance. "Hey! Give it back! That's private!"

"What's this? Fall… Sea-sson… Day…three… seven..."

Raven continued reading the first paragraph very slowly, until Summer said, "you… you don't know how to read?"

Raven got angry and tossed the book back at her. "Whatever! Quit that shit, I want to sleep! That old bastard can write whatever he wants in that stupid paper, but the one leading this squad is me. If you don't obey what I tell you, we're gonna have a problem. You're going to stay quiet until the clock rings — do you understand?"

"What?! but-" Summer was saying, when suddenly Raven grabbed her by the collar and pulled her in for a long and threatening stare. "Did you understand what I said?"

"Ye-yeah! No problem!" Summer said, raising her hands.

"Good" Raven said, throwing herself on the bed and sleeping instantly. Summer was accustomed to waking up early, so she just sat there with the biggest poker face possible. With nothing else to do, she decides to explore the castle a little more while everyone is asleep. The light was barely seeping through corridors, so it feels empty and mysterious. She ends up finding the castle library, and is magnified by it. She starts to look through the hundreds of shelves, making her eyes glow with fascination. She eventually picks up the one with the most pretentious title possible, and starts reading.

Unknown to her, there's someone watching her from the half-closed door.

…

On team STRQ's room, Tai wakes up by the alarm beeping. He looks around the room, and realizes yesterday wasn't a crazy dream. He passed the first mission… and his reward was sleeping right next to two handsome girls. He lies completely still as he is stuck in an inner monologue. He watches Raven grumpily wake up, and smack the alarm clock down. Tai pretends to be sleeping, while in his mind he's overly describing the scene. He can perfectly see Raven from this angle — she's just wearing panties, and her nipples are imprinting on her shirt. Tai starts thanking several deities of nature, family members and holy figures for the opportunity of witnessing this grandiose moment with his own eyes. But then… he learns the harsh truth.

Raven proceeds to enter the bathroom, and she starts making the most horrific sounds known to man while inside. She destroyed that toilet for years to come, at one point it even sounded like she vomited. Tai was left completely shell shocked and emotionless. After the soundly flush, the door opens and a putrid smell fills the room. He continues watching as she makes a weird coughing sound and spits some goo on the floor. Raven was holding a cup of water, and proceeds to throw it on Qrow's face, forcing him awake. The two start bickering off screen, and we focus on Tai. He's crying with the saddest expression possible. The female mystique that he so fondly believed in was just destroyed before his eyes in less than a minute. He will spend the rest of the episode without saying anything else, with the same depressive look.

Soon Qrow and Raven realize Summer is missing. They find her in the library, as Summer spent all this time reading. She was going through seven books at the same time, because apparently they all reference each other. She was severely overloaded with information, but still had a desire to learn more. All she had back in her village was a library with more story books than actual useful information. None of her teammates have a thirst for knowledge, so they just think she's weird. Raven just takes all her books away and drags her to class.

At this time the only teachers were Port and Silverclaw, and Port gladly teaches all classes by himself without ever seeming tired. The entire episode from then on would revolve solely on Raven forcing herself to be the leader of the team at any given scenario… but she just sucks. She's a poor scholar, she's rude, she's not good with words, and right now she's not the best at fighting. She's getting more and more frustrated, while Summer just proves again and again being better than her. Summer genuinely just tries to be polite and help her, but gets harassed at every turn by Raven. Qrow explains that Raven is simply a bitch, but that attitude is what helped them survive most of their life on the streets. If she wants Raven's respect, she needs to earn it the hard way. She has to stand her ground. Summer, of course, doesn't know how. She tries anyway.

"Listen! I've been nothing but nice to you ever since we met! You could try to be nice too!… or else… or else I'm not gonna be your friend anymore!" Summer said, crossing her arms.

Raven looks her up and down. "Do you take me for a child, Rose? As if I want to be friends with a jugged-up cow with a stick up her ass! Now, if you don't have anything important to say, then how about you go bitch in your little diary? Or maybe you can go to the library and read a book that teaches you to SHUT UP and don't get in my business, how about that?!" she said.

And thats it — Summer immediately tears up from that single exchange and runs off shrugging her face. Tai is still in his completely depressed, so he doesn't care about anything that is happening. Qrow just slaps his own face from how pathetic that was. "You're not helping, sis, you know that, right?"

"As if I care." Raven replies.

Professor Port watched all their clashes all across the episode, and at the end he comes back to give Summer a moral lesson. Basically, she's going to be a warrior, and she sure as shit will have to be much more gutsy than that if she wants to survive. He knows that she has a lot of determination stored up somewhere, she just has to remove her focus from books, and put it at controlling her team. She just needs a hint on where to start, and so he gives her a bit of advice.

…

That night, Summer returned to their dorm room rather silently. The other three were just sitting around and trying to talk with her, but she didn't respond. She simply entered, calmly undressed from her white robe…

And then she punched the distracted Raven right in the face, sending her flying out the window. Summer looks at her fist in shock, as if surprised she actually did it. Qrow reacts with a fearful smile, and Tai seems to have momentarily recovered from his depression. Raven immediately jumps back in and pulls Summer outside to continue fighting. Now Tai discovered another beauty of this world… Catfighting.

Summer and Raven continue sorting it out outside on the castle rooftops, just boxing one another under the moonlight. Summer starts off a little scared and unprepared, but once Raven started hitting her back, she started to go on pure adrenaline. The fight eventually devolves into hair pulling and ripping out each other's clothes. It ends as Raven slips off the roof, dragging both of them out of the edge. They didn't actually fall. By the time they opened their eyes… They were sitting on top of a giant hand.

Professor Port appeared as a giant, making both of them scream. He slowly turned off his Semblance, turning to regular size all the way to the ground, and putting the girls safely on the floor. Port was smiling at Summer, but then he immediately flipped his switch and grabbed both by the scruff of their shirts. "Detention! Both of you!"

"Wha- wha- WHAT?! But?! But this was all your idea!-" Summer was saying.

"Save it for headmaster Silverclaw, miss Rose."

We immediately cut to later, as the girls sit on chairs right beside a big scary door, of which we recognize it to be the headmaster's office from Volume's I-III. Summer is darting her eyes to Raven while she just looks ahead with a frown. She says, "Well Rose… now that you calmed down, I want you to give me a good reason why I shouldn't rip out your head while you sleep."

Summer is taken a back by her words, but then she remembers what Port told her. She has to stand her ground. "Well… it's pretty simple… I won't let you." She said, finally gaining Raven's attention. "You want to fight? Alright, it's on. I'll make sure to fight back, and don't you dare underestimate me! You hit me once, I'll hit you twice. I can do this forever…

but I don't want to. I came to this castle because I wanted to fight monsters, and not other people — especially not my teammates. If you don't like me, it's fine- whatever! Let's just get these academy years over with, so you don't have to stand me for too long. You can do whatever you wish as far as I care, but for now we both have our plates full with enough trouble. We won't get anywhere fighting one another, so… (sigh) can we call a cease fire… please?"

Raven looked on in silence. She thinks twice about all that happened today, and after a long sigh, she says. "You know what, Rose?… I mean, Summer… As the leader of this team, I came up with a decision. Since you're a big dork bookworm nerd… I think I'll let you call the shots, when I don't feel like doing it. It's tiresome position and can't trust those other two idiots with such a role. Sounds good to you?"

Summer smiled at her, which made Raven annoyed. Raven conceded, but refused to show weakness even doing so.

Just then, the stupidly-scary Silverclaw opens the door of his office. His body was covered in shadows, and it doesn't help that he's wearing a long black robe. The girls can barely breathe in his presence. They can see his Aura around his body. He simply towers over them and asks, "Will this situation repeat again?"

The two shake their heads left and right slowly. Silverclaw says, "good… go to bed now."

Summer and Raven walk off, leaving Silverclaw alone. Port comes out of the office from behind him. He looked proud, and so Silverclaw asked, "What are you trying to achieve with all this, Petey?"

"Those two remind me of you and Nick, back then. I thought that maybe I could help them get along much sooner. Didn't I do good, eh?" Port replied.

"Hmph! Please don't involve me with your schemes again. I have a lot of paperwork." Silverclaw said, entering back in his office and shutting the door on Port's face. And so the episode ends.

Commentary (spoilers): This volume is so refreshing to me. The last three volumes were non-stop action, and traveling, and stakes at each episode, and now I can finally have a little breathing room. As a writer, it's the equivalent of being gifted with new toys to play with. All the others have plenty of adventures on their backs already, so I struggle to develop or find new things for them to do. Here it's kind of sad, because I only have just one volume to work with, not five. I can only develop relationships so much before, eventually, returning to plot, and also the present. This episode is very similar to the original episode 5 of volume I, but Summer and Raven are much different characters than Ruby and Weiss, despite sharing a similar dynamic. Also, I don't know why I'm sexualizing Raven and Summer so much. I'll stop now.

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The next episode starts with yet another intro about the little girl with Silver Eyes. However, by now she's no longer that little of a girl.

Some time has passed, and she has grown a little tall. Her hair was long and unkempt, and it kept covering her left eye. It's night time, but she's walking around with no place to call home. She attempts to pickpocket a passing drunken stranger, and manages to get his wallet. She immediately flees into the alleyways, but soon realizes it was damn empty. Soon it starts to rain, so she has to find refuge near the trash cart. Despite being so young, her eyes have completely lost glow. Her expression reveals a lack of will to live. She found leftover food in the trash, and ate it without holding back. It was cold, and all she had to keep herself warm was a blanket riddled with holes. The girl rests her head against the solid ground, ending the flashback in a depressive note.

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After the intro, we cut to Summer as she writes in her diary once more. One full week had passed. Team STRQ is finally getting along now, probably because fighting every day is tiresome. Summer is finally feeling a little bit at home. Qrow's seem to stop being a moron drastically when Raven is around. Tai seems to have overcome whatever happened to him. Raven is yet to make an attempt on her life. All fine and dandy. Today they will be going to combat for the first time. She starts to dress up excitedly… only to realize something is missing.

Her emblem was missing. The Rose family emblem.

She started flipping out once she didn't find it in her drawer. Naturally she blamed Qrow first and before, but he claims to not have done anything (this time). She kept saying how important it was, over and over. The Rose family had it for generations — it is what symbolizes their legacy as The Rose in the Battlefield. They never saw Summer this angry about anything before. Qrow kept denying his involvement, until eventually Summer just went ahead and slapped Qrow really hard, thinking he's lying. That upsets him a lot, but he didn't raise his hand back at her.

Tai steps in to defuse the situation, but internally, he knows he fucked up.

He was sweating, because he knew it was his fault. He remembered seeing the emblem on the ground, and thought it was a cookie or something. He took a bite, but it was made pure metal, so he threw it out of the window. He manages to play it cool and not raise anyone's suspicion. Tai promises Summer to help her find it, and she just walks out of the room angrily.

…

We cut to combat training, and like always we see team GMOR standing there, interacting among themselves but never with the others. Glynda noticed how Summer looked angrier and less focused than usual, and uses that as ammunition to tease her. Summer doesn't even bat an eye — she just stares meanly at Qrow. When it comes to the combat training itself, Port was way more laid back than Glynda is in the future. He starts explaining the purpose of this class, obviously, but then Raven got bored by his first speech. This same fatass from law and history class will be her combat teacher? She asks, "Are we going to fight something or not?"

That annoyed Port, so he decided to throw her in first. She would serve as an example, either a good or a bad one. I mentioned once that the danger room of the castle has a secret compartment where Grimm are kept caged for training purposes. So Port goes ahead and unleashes a Grimm wolf on Raven. She was confident at first… but then the wolf made her freeze. Once again, we see that memory flash in her mind.

A giant Fenrir was staring at her. This time we see that it has something in its mouth. Or rather… someone.

The small memory flash ends, and Raven's hands start shaking. She nervously asks Port for another Grimm fo her to fight — any Grimm that isn't this one. Port didn't listen. This is the most common type of Grimm in Vale, and is pretty weak. He affirms that she can take it down. But once the creature pounces, Raven just backs away — pupils trembling. She runs away pathetically from it, in such a cowardly way that no one was expecting.

The fight came to an end once Qrow had enough of this. He draws his sword, swoops in and kills the Grimm in a single slash. Port commends him for stepping in when his teammate seemingly doesn't feel like fighting. It seems like Raven won't continue — she just grabs her sword and storms out of the room in angry shame before anyone could say anything to her.

"So… Would you like to try fighting a Grimm next, Mr. Branwen?" Port asks.

"Nah, sorry. I don't want to fight the Grimm…" Qrow raised his sword, and pointed it at Port's face. "I want to fight you, old fart. You think you can mess with my sister and get away with it?!"

That line shocked every single person in there. Port refused, since it was the most absurd and odd proposition he ever heard in his career as a teacher. Qrow insisted though, "come on, fatty. Are you scared of me?"

A noticeable vein grew on professor Port's head. Calling Port fat was a gag that I failed to mention back in volume I through III. Basically every character tiptoes around the fact he's out of shape, except Qrow of course. He just broke that unspoken rule, and it made Port immediately agree to fight. His weapon is the big blunderbuss mixed with an axe. Despite his weight, his speed and agility completely dumbfounded Qrow, not to mention his muscle strength was out of charts. He didn't even have to use his Semblance to beat him. Port's age has yet to limit his abilities, so here he is at full power. Qrow loses the fight by clashing against Port's weapon too hard, making his katana break once again — this time in a hundred pieces. It was really embarrassing.

Qrow was put to sit against the wall while all other students had to continue on with class. Qrow kept watching from there until he saw something interesting. There was someone watching their class from the danger room door. He locked eyes with Qrow, and he immediately recognized him as the guy who saved them in the first mission; it was Braun. He kept staring Qrow as he left, and Qrow felt it was a good idea to have a talk with that guy.

Before class ended, Summer came to insult Qrow again and demand her emblem back. He still denies having done anything, which makes Summer mad again. She feels like slapping him a second time, but just lowers her hand and walks off. "You're not even worth it. What's the point of kicking a dog for being a dog? Don't worry, I'll find it on my own. The last thing I want is to rely on a useless idiot like you."

…

After that, the students had the rest of the day free. Team GMOR went to the cafeteria, Summer went to the library, Raven disappeared, and Tai went straight for the courtyard to try and find where he threw Summer's emblem. The place was full of grass and bushes, and he couldn't find it no matter how thoroughly he searched. The Rose emblem was actually found by Olga that morning, as her squad were walking through the garden on their way to class. They didn't know what it was, but it looked fancy. Rita took it for a second to smell it, and figured it was Summer's, since It had her perfume.

Though we started this story on the pendant, the actual central plotline is about Qrow. As he left the combat class, he met with Braun in the corridor, who was pretty much waiting for him. Braun mocks his attempt at fighting Port. Maybe Qrow was strong against average joes in the streets of his town, but here he's just a reckless shrimp. Revolting against his superiors won't earn him a single damn thing in this castle. Qrow eventually asks him, "You're strong. I saw that much… I want to know how to get stronger, and fast."

"Damn, you think like a child and you sound like a child. There are no shortcuts to getting stronger, dumbass! You have to train every single day!" Braun replied. "And no, I'm not gonna help you."

Braun was walking away, until Qrow said, "What about the rest of your team?"

Marrow signs, "You'll wish you hadn't said that… Okay, come on."

Braun took Qrow to the back rooms of the castle. He found a room full of pipes and valves that pretty much control a lot of the castle functions. That was team MRBL's hangout spot. It was dark and smokey — all Qrow could see was a bunch of shadows sitting on couches. By the silhouettes he could figure it was a woman on the left, a big guy on the right, and the last one in the back. They were all smoking and drinking here, which probably explains the fog and the smell. The leader was just sitting back with legs crossed on his arm chair. Their appearances were uncovered as Braun presented them.

Dalia Lementeur, Samson Rortjudge… and Merlin. Just Merlin. They dressed very much like gangsters — not in the same vein as team CRDL, I mean 1930's gangsters, with fancy suits and drab colors. Qrow asked his seniors if they could help get stronger as fast as possible. Samson and Dalia thought it was an annoying task and refused, but Merlin seemed interested. He stands up and walks towards Qrow, but it seems like his figure changes as he does so. His body is covered in shadows, so the transition doesn't look weird. Suddenly he's way shorter when compared to Qrow, and when he finally comes into the light… it's actually a girl.

Qrow was 100% sure he heard a guy talking at first. Outside of the gangster attire, we can see each of them uses a different hat. Braun uses a french beret, Samson uses a cowboy hat, Dalia uses a ushanka beanie, and Merlin clearly uses the brown fedora. Yes, THAT fedora. Merlin goes ahead and picks his weapon that was lying on the corner — a simple metal bat. "Come on, red eyes, let's see what you're made of. By the way, you can call me Lynn."

…

They take Qrow to the empty danger room, where Lynn offers herself to fight Qrow alone. They give him another sword from the armory and so the two go at it. Merlin just easily beats Qrow with one hand, blocking all of his attacks with a smile on her face. Qrow's reckless and "unswordly" sword style eventually causes the sword to break again, as it has done several times.

"Damn buddy… you're so weak!" Lynn said.

She disappears into thin air, reappearing behind Qrow at great speed and bonking him in the head with the bat. He crashed at the other side of the room, and that seemed to be it. Braun, Samson and Dalia called him an idiot, and told Merlin to not waste any more time there. She had a sad face of disappointment… but the second she turned around, she heard:

"WAIT!" Qrow shouted. He feebly stood up, as a small trail of blood started trickling down his forehead. He had a serious look in his eye, and it made Merlin smile. He asks, "if I beat you… will you tell me how to get stronger?!"

"Sure thing. Qrow, right? Tell me, why do you want to get stronger, anyway?" Merlin asked.

Qrow feebly started walking towards Merlin, and he said, "My sister… is a dumbass. She is mean. She doesn't think about what she says… and most times I just feel like punching her in the face, but… she's my only family… And that's why… I need to be strong to protect her."

Merlin smiled again, and said, "Hey Braun… go grab a few more swords for him." It seemed like the challenge just began.

Unannounced to anyone in there, Raven was watching all play out from the danger room door. She looks pained, her lips are trembling, and she just walks away in shame. She feels utterly pathetic, knowing her little brother is doing all this for her sake. She should be the one protecting them, not him. Raven needed to get her shit together, and she had to do it as fast as possible. She will have to do something she hoped to never need.

...

While this was happening, Summer was still reading books alone in the library, when she was spotted by Olga. She called out her name as she entered, but accidentally slipped on the smooth wooden floor due to clumsiness. It caused a quake that made everything fall out of place. Though Olga opened a crater on the floor with her head, she was okay. She just hands over the emblem and explains how she found it, then leaves. Summer is overjoyed, but her mind quickly goes back to earlier in the day. She treated Qrow horribly, and he truly had nothing to do with it. She felt terrible, and had to apologize.

Summer searched for him, until eventually she found out about the battle in the danger room. Qrow was still getting the shit beaten out of him by Merlin, but even with the damage sustained, he was quickly catching up somehow. The only problem is that each time he came to attack, his sword would break under the intensity of the clash. Summer joined Samson, Braun and Dalia, watching from afar. "That moron… He should consider fighting with a frying pan or something. Honestly… that's the tenth sword he broke. Soon the armory will be emptied out." Braun said.

Summer didn't feel like interfering. Still, she wanted to make something — anything to make up for slapping him and all those horrible things she said. She sees Qrow breaking his swords again and again repeatedly, and so an idea came to her head. She asked the other three, "hey… may I ask… is that welding kit in the armory available for us students?"

"Uh- sure? It's there in case we want to make customizations." Dalia said.

"That's all I needed to hear. Thank you." Summer said, leaving.

Just then Qrow was put down a final time. Merlin seems static by his tenacity, and he surely impressed Braun, Samson and Dalia. They underestimated him. However, Merlin doesn't want to get Qrow in the infirmary, so he tells him to rest for now. He'll be waiting for Qrow to try again tomorrow, or whenever he feels like.

…

Tai spent the entire day searching for the emblem. He even fought a squirrel and a nest of rats, thinking they might have stolen it. Once he was ready to give up and apologize to Summer, Raven shows up and explains that it all got sorted out five hours ago, leaving him with a hilarious poker face. Tai was ready to go to bed after the long day, but then Raven pulled him aside.

"Xiaolong… I need help." Raven said.

"YOU WHAT?!" Tai shouted in surprise.

"DON'T SCREAM, OKAY?!… listen, I… I need to get stronger. You can help me train, can't you?… please, I… I beg you." Raven said, properly using manners for the first time, almost copying how Summer says it. It shocked Tai to his core. Finally she's demonstrating another facet, triggered by seeing Qrow's determination. Tai plainly accepts, saying they can start tomorrow.

And as for Summer, she enters the castle armory, and stares down on the working bench. She has a lot of work to do. And so ends the episode.

Commentary (spoiler): I think it's important to give Qrow his tenacity and family-above-all attitude early, because it explains a lot of his decisions moving forward, and derives perfectly from their backstory. From the way he interacts and talks to Raven, we can glean how little actually changed from their youth, all the way to the present. He still treats her with respect and cares for her, no matter if they are teammates or sworn enemies. This episode also kickstarts Tai and Raven's relationship early on, and I also introduced the Rose emblem (or pendant, whatever you wanna call it) right here. I never mentioned Ruby having it in my summation of the previous volumes, and the reason for that will hit really hard, once this tiny little thing comes back at the very end of the show.

Also, I think it's fair to give a heads up. In the previous volumes I mistakenly described Samson and Dalia as elderly folk in Volume's V and VI. I went back and changed that, so they are around the same age as Raven and Qrow. Team MRBL was always meant to have a couple on their team, since the beginning, but it would be two new characters. I realized that I already created such a thing with Samson and Dalia, so I retroactively decided to just fuse these ideas into a single thing. I didn't intend to have so many Original characters in this rewrite, but the past of the RWBY world is pretty barebones. Team MRBL overall just passes the vibe of delinquents, kinda like team CRDL. For now team GMOR and Merlin are the only new characters that we saw (and likely the only ones to be introduced for the rest of this volume). Merlin will also get a lot of spotlight, because "he" will only appear so far, like team GMOR.

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The next episode concludes the "team STRQ coming together" arc.

Again, we start with the silver eyed girl. She has grown older again, around thirteen this time. She doesn't look okay though, she looks beaten and bruised. She's being dragged by two guys into some disgusting dark red room with ominous lighting. She's thrown in front of this guy with black hair, black suit, and heart-shaped sunglasses. He was smoking a Kiseru pipe.

"Here she is, Mister Malachite." Said the guard. Apparently this was little miss Malachite's husband decades ago, Big Mister Malachite. He looks pretty strong and evil, and we can't see his eyes due to the sunglasses he wears. Apparently, the girl owes him a lot of money for all the help the Mr. Malachite gave her by evading the law, and the loan is due today. The girl argues that she only needs two more days, and the only reason she ran is because they didn't give her more time. She promises that she had scored a golden ticket on the underground game house, and she shows the golden card to Mr. Malachite. He takes a long look at it and says, "you know that's not enough, right?"

"It's just a hundred short! You know I can pay that back!" The girl says.

"I know you will… because I'm giving you a job. Toji… take our friend to the blooming flower." Malachite said. Immediately the girl starts flipping out, as the two guards grab her by the arms again.

"NO! NOT THE FLOWER! I'M BRINGING THE MONEY, I SWEAR! TOMORROW! TOMORROW MORNING! PLEASE! DON'T-!" The door closes her in darkness as she's dragged away, cutting her words short. With that, the flashback eerily and abruptly ends.

The next episode starts with Summer waking up in her bed, only to realize she was the only one still sleeping. She came in late last night and didn't even get a chance to talk with Qrow, as he was already sleeping. It was a day off, and since everyone had left, maybe so should her. She has something important to do.

We immediately cut to Qrow, knocking on the door of team MRBL's room and asking for another chance to beat Merlin. He met her again by the door, but… she looked different. Her hairstyle changed, and she grew a bit taller too. Qrow was covered in bandages, so he just assumed that the fight yesterday got him a concussion, and he was seeing things wrong. Merlin was glad for the opportunity fight again — she was bored anyway.

Next we see Tai and Raven, staring at each other in a remote place. They went outside of the castle walls, stopping at the cliff edge to Emerald Forest. The wind was whistling by. Tai asks if she's ready to begin, and so Raven draws her sword. Tai points at her, "Hey, what are you gonna do with that?"

"Train?" Raven said.

"No! Toss that out of here! If we're gonna train, we gotta start from the bottom! First we're going to work on your mind and body, and only after that you can begin honing your other skills. A weapon will make no difference if your basics are not developed." Tai said.

"Tch-– Fine!" Raven said, tossing her katana away.

The start of this training focuses on Tai teaching her how to throw a punch. How to move her body to gain momentum, how to take a stance, and even how to close her fist. Raven had her Aura awakened for a long time, and she never had to learn any fighting skills due to the sheer difference between her and an average goon. At first she thinks all this is stupid, but quickly starts to understand why that was important. After several failed tries, she's able to throw a perfect punch that causes the wind to gust. She looks at her fist in disbelief, which made Tai giggle. Turns out the basics make all the difference, so she asks Tai to show her more.

...

Qrow was still getting his ass blasted by Merlin, but despite his injuries, he's getting better. In a clash, for the first time, he forces her to use the both hands to block it. Qrow is still breaking swords every fifteen minutes, so no matter how far he got, the fight would eventually end as soon as it got good.

At the same time, we see team GMOR talking with Port as they walk in the hallways. Glynda was being an insistent little suck up to him, in the hopes of getting his approval for her team to upgrade the rank of their Huntress badges and take better missions. Their conversation is cut short as they hear an explosion coming from the armory. They rush there to see it, and open the door to reveal a cloud of black smoke. Summer was there, using a fire extinguisher to put out the flames she caused. Her face was covered in black dust, making Glynda and her friends laugh really hard. She apologizes profusely for her mistake — apparently she didn't properly calibrate the welder tool. Summer seems to be working on weapon modifications, but didn't want to explain any further than that. Despite this, she cleans her face and is eager to start over.

Now we have four characters focused on their specific developments over the course of two weeks. Qrow is doing nothing but getting wrecked, Summer is cooking up something day and night in the armory, and Tai is training Raven on hand to hand. We just follow a big montage of that process, and there are three important moments to talk about.

Merlin is trying to teach Qrow how to fight with her own style. She admits he's tenacious, but he won't get stuff done quick if he's not willing to risk his life at every encounter. He has to think of himself only as the sword and not as a whole body, and suddenly a whole new world of power will open to him. A style that risks it all on constant attack. Qrow does not understand that for now, but he will think about it.

Summer is still trying to craft something, but shit is always going wrong due to inexperience. This is much harder than simply changing gear pieces on a tractor at farm or mending an iron fence together. Apparently her project is just about welding a bunch of swords together into a really thick and long one. She's surrounded by books about blacksmithing, teaching her how to make durable iron by fusing several different kinds of metal. Glynda was still coming every day to mock her failed attempts. Summer would fuck something up every day and Glynda found very amusing to see it happen. Summer would call her off, but she has this underlying idea that she can't mess with Glynda like she does with Raven, because she is actually terrifying.

As for Raven, she was being challenged emotionally and methodically. Tai not only forced her to wake up early and brush her teeth, but he also expected her to act respectfully to him at every moment, and that doesn't fit the type of person she is. By this point Tai realizes she's way too far from a proper lady, so he just pretends she's a guy in his mind to preserve both his innocence and patience. After their training passed the basics, he started focusing on her footing, her movement and her ability to dodge. Finally, the two just started sparring with one another on the regular.

Once they were done for that day, the two decide to rest under the shade of a tree. Finally Tai decides to ask her why she always freezes in the face of a Fenrir Grimm. Raven denies the idea of being in fear, but then realizes she's being a coward again. If she keeps denying her trauma, it's just going to come back and bite her in the ass later. If she wants to truly become strong, she can't allow something so trivial to be her downfall. It's time to open up.

That memory of the elder Fenrir flashes again, and this time is less foggy than ever. The wolf was looking at her with a man in its mouth — he was dead. His voice echoed in her mind, demanding that Raven didn't disturb his fight. Doesn't seem like that worked good for him.

She looked down and says, "They remind me of my dad."

"Huh, really?… Having parents must be so cool. What was he like?" Tai asked.

"He was an asshole… Always was. I didn't realize it back then."

"Oh… okay… So that's why you were scared? Was your father scary?" Tai asked.

"Does it god-damn matter to you?!" Raven shouted.

"No need to get angry, okay?! Everyone gets scared, once in a while... Not me, of course! But… In the very unlikely case that I was ever scared, my masters at the temple always said the same thing. The quickest way to surpass fear… is by turning it into anger. Those emotions are intertwined. You overcome fear by hating the thing that makes you feel so. And once you do… it will never be able to hurt you again." Tai said.

Raven listens to this lesson in silence.

…

After the end of this long montage, it seems like both Raven and Summer worked hard and achieved what they wanted. The two weeks of training have ended. Raven naturally became capable of sparring seriously with Tai (now with her sword), and Summer seems to have finally crafted the thing she needed. All she had left to do was polish it and sharpen it on the rolling stone. She would struggle to hold it up, since it ended up being bigger than she planned.

However, Qrow hasn't managed to defeat Merlin yet. After their 21th match was over, Dalia patched him up with bandages and whiskey and sent him on his merry way back to his room. Dalia's Semblance ability is already awakened, meaning she can use her special sight on Qrow and determine where all his injuries are, not to mention his overall flaws. He's dumb, easily persuadable, and he should probably consider wearing glasses. However, there is one thing deep inside that scares her above all else. Qrow has some kind of terrible thing inside of him — something Dalia never saw before and can't explain. Not a flaw, but… a simple bad omen, engraved in his soul.

Now, for one of my favorite scenes in this whole volume, Qrow opens the door of team STRQ's room and sees Raven and Tai watching from the back. Summer was standing there, and showed Qrow something wrapped in cloth and cardboard on top of his bed. It was huge, and was obviously a blade of some kind.

"Ta~da~! It's for you!" Summer said.

"It's a… a gift? For me?" Qrow asked.

"Yes! I know we've all been busy these past weeks, so I didn't get the chance to say… I'm sorry. I was wrong to assume you stole my emblem, and I shouldn't have said those nasty things. Please forgive me." Summer said.

"It's… kind of late for an apology, don't you think?" Qrow said.

"YEAH, WELL, UH- It's just that I wanted to make up, somehow! I saw that every time you fight, you keep breaking your sword, so… I decided to make you a sword that will never break! That is a good thing a leader should do, right? Come on, open it up!" Summer said, and now even Tai and Raven were curious to see it.

Qrow slowly pulls out the cloth and sees… Harbinger. Beta version of course.

It looks like a huge, clunky Yanagiba knife, with a long and thin cable. Qrow tried to lift it, but it was heavier than expected. He struggles to balance it on the air, and Summer screamed at him to not point it towards them. Qrow accidentally drops it, and as it falls… It cuts his own bed in half. The sword stabs through the floorboards, and suddenly water starts leaking — probably it hit a water pipe. All four of them look at it in hilarious silence.

…

But then Qrow starts to laugh. Soon Raven and Tai joined him, and finally Summer. Without a warning, Qrow picks up Summer and lifts her off the ground into a bear hug, almost cracking her spine. She sensed no other intentions in him whatsoever, just a natural and simple joy akin to a child — it was weird coming from him. "I can't even remember the last time someone made me a gift! You're the best, Summer! Thanks!"

"I'm—glad-you liked it-" she said through her gasps for air.

The camera goes off into the window and fades to black as the four continue laughing at what just happened. This is the moment, where for the first time, they truly feel like a team.

...

We cut straight to tomorrow morning. For the first time we see them all together, walking down the corridor. They look determined. Qrow is in front, holding the big sword on his shoulder. They make their way to team MRBL's hangout spot, with the dark shadows and all the cigarette smoke. Qrow barges in and asks Merlin for another match. Braun looks at his new sword and laughs, but Merlin signals at him to keep quiet. Finally they are cooking up.

Qrow and Merlin go to the danger room, and now both teams watch the fight. Qrow's Harbinger is so heavy that it splits the ground once he takes off his shoulder. Merlin wonders if he can even wield that thing correctly, but Qrow promises to not disappoint. The fight begins, and well, it goes pretty much like any other fight they had so far. However, once Qrow takes the offensive, the sword makes all the difference. The strike of Harbinger is so dense and powerful that Merlin could not properly block it, and was sent flying away by the impact. Qrow followed through. Now that adrenaline took over, Merlin realized that he's wielding that heavy and clunky thing with too much dexterity to be real. She realized that Qrow's swords weren't breaking because he didn't know how to use them — they broke because he was too strong for them. Since Harbinger doesn't break, Qrow is able to follow through with his combo all the way to the end, and finally wounds Merlin back for the very first time. It was a clean and shallow slash across her tummy, making her jump away.

"HAHA! What does that feel like?!" Qrow asked.

Suddenly Merlin looked very angry. "Do you think that's enough to take me down, NEWBIE?! I'll show you!"

Merlin's Aura started flaring around her body, and unlike any other we've seen so far, it seems to have a lot of different colors to it. Suddenly, something started to change her. Her body was mutating into a different shape. Braun explains, "took him long enough. Finally he got Merl angry. It's been a while since I saw that look in his face."

"What do you mean 'he'?" Summer asked.

And just then, everyone witnesses that short girl with blue hair… become a muscular dude with spiky blue hair. He got taller, and the slash inflicted upon him seems to have healed completely. Qrow laughed and shouted, "Ha! I knew something was odd about you! You think I didn't see your breasts grow bigger and smaller each day, huh?! What even are you?!"

Braun explained from the back line about Merlin's Semblance, "Shapeshifter". He can turn into anything at any time, but usually he just likes to spend his time as a girl because he's a weirdo. Qrow managed to revert him back to his serious self. And so, Qrow started getting wrecked once again, getting hit with a metal bat all over his body several times, knocking him around the room. Merlin was literally playing baseball with his head. To think he was fighting Merlin on easy mode this whole time. In the end Qrow was on the ground as Boy Merlin walked towards him. "Sorry Qrow, but I can't give a bad impression to those three cuties you brought over. Now if you excuse me-"

Merlin raised his bat to strike, but just then… Raven jumped in, and blocked the attack for Qrow.

Merlin was shocked at first, but then smiled. "aww~ what a good sister you have!"

Raven didn't say anything and just rushed in to attack. She seems to be on par with him, even on boy form. However, the fight is interrupted by Braun, jumping with his bladed shields to block Raven's sword. He wouldn't allow the duel to be interrupted, but then Qrow got up and asked, "how about a two versus two then?"

Braun smiled sickeningly. He says, "Hmph… You know what, dumbass? I was looking for an opportunity to teach you a lesson!"

The four start to fight, while the other four just watch from afar. Tai gets excited to test his skills on new opponents, so he suddenly throws a punch on Samson's face that sends him stepping back. Why should Qrow and Raven be the ones who get all the fun? He jumps after Samson to continue tussling, but it seems that cheap shot was the best strike he will get — Samson can't be messed with. He rather not fight, but he can't bare to be disrespected. Now all six were fighting — only Summer and Dalia stood behind.

"We… we don't have to fight too, right?" Summer asks.

Dalia took a long smoke from her cigarette. "Yes we do."

She quickly drew her weapon and attacked Summer. Just to remind you, Dalia's weapon was rather simple — it's a bayonet rifle, and its only trick was being able to detach the sword from the barrel. Samson's weapon were simply spiky chains tied to his wrists by shackles, and he fights with grappling moves. What follows is an absolutely awesome fight the lasts the remaining runtime of the episode — probably around three minutes. It ends with team STRQ at one side and MRBL at the other. For the first time they do a cool team pose, ready to fight their opponents together. But then… Merlin steps in and calls out the fight. That was enough. It's not like the newbies can actually beat them, but was enough fun for now.

"Hey, I managed to hit you! Does that mean you're going to help me get stronger now?!" Qrow asked.

"Damn dude, you really are stupid, huh? You may not have realized, but the training started two weeks ago! Look at yourself now, you're WAY stronger since our first fight." Merlin said. It was true, undeniably. The Qrow from three weeks ago would never be able to fight with a sword so big like Harbinger. He sure got stronger, but now Merlin doesn't feel like fighting anymore. He offers Braun to take over the training for him.

"HEY! Are you kidding me?! I 'm not gonna waste my time on that dumbass, Merl!" Braun shouted.

"Stop screaming, Merry. For goodness sake, you're sounding like a child! I'm team leader, and you'll do as I say! Unless you want me to bonk some sense into you, young man!" Merlin replied.

"What did you say?!" Braun replied angrily.

Unannounced to them, a certain someone was watching the fight play out by the door. He was enjoying the action, but once it was done, he quickly grew angry. He pushed his black mantle aside and jumped in the air. Silverclaw landed in between the two teams, shaking the ground and immediately making the room darker by his simple presence. "Amazing. I cannot believe how extraordinarily good my students are at wasting my patience — both old and new."

None dared to speak up while he was present. He simply looked to team STRQ. "Tell me, miss Rose, wasn't your team supposed to attend to Mr. Port's history class… fifteen minutes ago?"

Summer nods and Silverclaw sighs, "alright… go on then."

Team STRQ quickly walked off, leaving Silverclaw alone with team MRBL. "Mr. Merlin, I appretiate your attempt at schooling the new students, but sadly I must inform you that the official position as combat teacher is currently unavailable. Now, if you're done loitering on my castle, I may have a new mission that interests you in my office." Silverclaw said. He looked a little to the left and saw Dalia with the cigarette in her mouth. She forced a hilarious smile, and so Silverclaw pulled the thing out of her lips and threw it away. Finally he walks off.

After seconds of silence, Braun says, "For fuck sake, Merl, look at the trouble you put us in for those dorks!"

"What? It wasn't a bad exchange! As a matter of fact… I think we made new friends." Merlin said.

…

On their way to class, after they were alone, they started to hype each other up. That was all so cool! Finally they were having fun together. Tai keeps asking again and again like a child for Summer to make a cool weapon for him too. Raven is just walking along with a smile, which is certainly rare for her. They are thankful for the small growth that they help each other achieve. They may actually be able to do this. They can become great warriors if they work together. Summer makes them swear to always count on each other when the going gets tough. With this small oath of friendship, the episode ends. And so, it also concludes the first story of this volume.

Commentary (spoilers): Thirty pages and I'm done with the first four episodes I guess. For fuck sake. By now you must be annoyed by how descriptive and messy this is compared to the other volumes. Since I'm completely making shit up, and also new characters, I actually have to work now, and describe everything properly. It's a small story within the volume but it is quite effective. It goes from them being complete strangers, then to enemies, then an apparent break up and struggle, and finally a reunion and promise. All of them have a good level of depth and a simple character arc. Quite like team RWBY, their dynamics with each other never really change, so now that everyone is on okay terms with each other, I don't have anything else to make about their relationship other than fluff. I guess now I can focus on the true plot of the academy section.

Now, another word about Merlin. When it came to his characters, I always wanted just one "Woke" character. Not because I care LGBT agenda; I just wanted to get it out of my bucket list. I wanted to play around with the concept, and thus I came up with the idea of a character that has Shapeshifting abilities and is gender fluid due to this power. That doesn't factor in his story or how he is used in the plot, just his personality and dialogue style. I'm not an artist, so I have zero clue about his design. It doesn't help that he has no consistent design due to shapeshifting, both in hairstyle and gender. The only aspect that remains the same is dark blue hair and clothes. I love the gangster delinquent vibe of team MRBL's design, as well as Braun's edgy asshole characterization; a complete opposite to his future self. It reveals that, all along, Braun was trying to push Yang to not become someone like he was. And yes, before you ask, Silverclaw is quite literally just Snape incarnated into RWBY.

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We got so far, so maybe I should talk about Minisodes. I think an introductory minisode to each of the character's backgrounds might be a good choice. Just showing the characters before their decision to become warriors.

Tai lived in a temple in Haven with other orphans, and was taught how to fight. He didn't actually wanted to leave, but he was pretty much banished for stupidity and misbehaving, so set out to continue getting stronger by training at Beacon.

Raven and Qrow were simple thieves, hired muscle, free loaders, invaders — whatever they needed to do in order to survive. They apparently lived in the crime capital of Planice, so this behavior wasn't unexpected. Their main goal was always to become stronger, so when they finally come of age, they decide to join Beacon and travel to Vale City by stowing away on a boat. By this point I'm still not sure if I want them to be twin siblings or if I want Raven to be just one year older. I don't think it really matters, so I'll not mention it anymore.

And as for Summer, she was just a girl who lived alone for years after the death of her father, and knew how to fix tractors and other tools in the countryside villages. She became quite famous because of that. Her simple life was good, but by then she had her Aura awakened, and had a valiant heart. Once she heard of the tragic ways that people of the villages tend to die by the claws of Grimm, she decided it was her duty as a Rose (long family of warriors) to become a hero as well.

Team GMOR was natural of Vale City, and apparently all four of them were daughters of another huntsmen squad who were all friends, and thus made sure that all of their daughters were also friends since kindergarten. Though Glynda was born with amazing talent and powerful Semblance, the other three girls were not so much. But despite that, they decided to follow their childhood leader to Beacon regardless.

...

Another Minisode would focus on team MRBL's shenanigans. We already know Samson and Dalia's dynamic in the present, but since they are not a couple yet, their "lovey-doveyness" is replaced by cringy teenage romance where they can't express each other properly. They surely like each other, however a deep sadness seems to stop them from ever becoming anything other than friends. Braun becomes sick to his stomach just thinking about all this love crap; he hopes no girl ever dares to approach him. Merlin thinks he's cute despite his brooding, and promises that he won't let any other girl take Braun away from him. A constant gag between these two is Merlin suddenly using his Semblance to turn into a hot 25 year old woman with big boobs to tease Braun, instantly making him uncomfortable.

...

Of course one of these has to set up Qrow and Glynda's decades-long rivalry. It all began in combat training, when Summer was having a training match with Glynda, and was mocked by her for being weak. Again, Glynda in the past was just an overconfident bitch. By now Qrow already has Harbinger and appreciates Summer for more than eye candy, so he felt the need to step up. It turns out that this rivalry began because Qrow defended Summer by roasting Glynda back, what made her furious. He challenged her for a duel right away, but ended up losing as expected. Still, his desire for vengeance was powerful, and he promised to fight Glynda until he inevitably wins and slams those glasses against the floor. The promise seems to go on to this day in the present.

...

Another minisode that I make sure to include is about Port. He was explaining why the team-training method was implemented hundreds of years ago, when suddenly everyone asks about his own team. Port thinks longingly about it, but he can't seem to remember at all, which is hilarious. The name was at the tip of his tongue. "Spit… Spet… Ah yes! Specter!" he said. Written SSPC. No one seems to recognize it, so apparently they weren't that famous. Port thought it was justified, since they disbanded the very second their academy days were over. They didn't get along at all, no matter how much Port tried. But in the end… They did reunite one final time to fight together. He didn't feel like revealing who they were, but don't worry. We learn right now.

...

Structure wise, this next minisode should only come at the end of the volume, just to conclude this small tangent that we revealed in Port's minisode. It's about Silverclaw. He was writing stuff on his ominous desk when suddenly Port entered his office. It wasn't an emergency, but Port thought he would like to hear the news. The old folk received two letters just now. One was from Nikolas Schnee, and the other was from Cyrus Arc. Apparently, Nikolas's first granddaughter was just born — a beautiful baby girl, named Winter. He even sent a few pictures with her. Meanwhile, almost on the same week, Cyrus's second daughter was born, Chloe. At this point Cyrus still looks happy, but he does admit he was hoping for a boy. Though Port is happy by those news… Silverclaw seems upset. "Petey, please do not concern me with what those idiots are doing with their lives. If you don't have anything important to say, please just be on your way."

And with that Port leaves the room with a sad expression on his eyebrows and mustache. However, he left the pictures on the desk. Silverclaw kept looking at them, seeing his old friends living happy lives while he remained in this dark room. He covers his face with his hands, and the minisode abruptly ends.

Commentary (spoilers): Alloy Silverclaw, Nicholas Schnee, Peter Port and Cyrus Arc. Team Specter. I thought to myself, "If I'm going to have just four characters who are 60+ years old, I might as well make them all part of the same team". This is sadly the most awesome and strong team that we will never actually get to see anymore, but it is cool to imagine. Port having a direct connection Nikolas also makes that moment from volume I (where he tutors Weiss) have so much more depth than previously imagined. Don't worry baby, they get an episode of their own.

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Okay now, I guess we're back to plot, and also another flashback.

It starts in the most ominous way possible. We hear a desperate violin music getting lower and louder randomly, still on a black scream. We hear the voice of the silver-eyed girl, as she begs someone to wait. There's a banging on the door. There's the sound of rustling. Soon she starts screaming for someone to stop, and begs for help. She shouts the word "No!" again and again, each time getting more and more vicious and desperate. Once she screams for the final time, we hear the sound of an explosion.

We hard cut to a fancy mansion, but it was on fire. The place was full of curtains, rugs and wooden pillars, so the fire spread with an insane speed. Men and women were running out — everyone was dressed weirdly, with little to no clothes and a lot of masks. The only person that stays behind is the girl with the silver eyes. She is stuck in the middle of four walls of fire, but strangely, it doesn't seem to hurt her. She doesn't even feel the heat. She touches the flames, but it doesn't burn. She seems to be naked apart from a red rug that she uses to cover herself. The girl holds her hand close to her neck as she breathes heavily, and we can see it's horribly bruised, like she was strangled by ropes. She has nothing else to do except walk right into the flames, coming out unscathed.

Once outside, she watches on as this huge Havenese mansion burns down in a mountain of fire. Eventually she is spotted by other people, and one man claims she was the witch who started the fire and killed everyone. The malachite yakuza boys draw their swords and run at her, forcing the girl to flee for her life. However, as she does so, a sparking orange Aura starts to surround her body, and the girl manages to run much faster than anyone else. She had awakened her powers. The girl kept running until she was alone, and left the village by jumping over the wall and disappearing into the surrounding forest. She starts to cry as she runs — both terrified and relieved. Tthe flashback abruptly ends.

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Summer normally wakes up much earlier than her teammates, and she would always go straight to the library to keep on with her books before classes started. This time she doesn't write in her diary, but narrates her thoughts anyway. Two months in Beacon have passed by now. Her team has come along well, they didn't get into any more trouble, and Summer managed to teach Raven and Qrow to read and write at an okay speed — now she just has to force them to study. These reading sessions are all the time she has for herself now.

But even so, she wasn't alone.

Every time she comes here, Summer can feel someone's gaze. By now she's fully aware that someone has been observing her from the door. But every time she looks back, the peeper hides away. This time Summer will make sure to follow, and find out who it is. Today she waited in a hidden spot for that person to peek. The person didn't see Summer there this time, so she left. Summer continued to follow her, from corner to corner, until she arrived at the upper quarters of the castle. The academy area was all at ground level, so she wasn't allowed there.

Now she could see clearly this person was another girl — short black hair, and a simple red dress that wraps around her neck, and a black belt with a dagger sheath. She was about to enter a room, when Summer accidentally bumps into a painting on the wall. The noise makes the girl turn around, pulling out her weapon from the belt. "Who's there?!"

Summer comes with her hands up from behind the corner. "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I saw you roaming the corridors alone for a week now, and I just wanted to meet you properly. My name is Summer-!"

The two girls looked eye to eye. Silver eyes met with silver eyes. Summer's face was in awe, and words escaped her mind. They kept staring at each other in silence, until the other girl had enough. She threw her dagger on the ground right next to Summer's foot, cutting through the stone floor. "LEAVE! GET OUT OF HERE!" the girl said.

Summer got scared and ran away. She was confused, and her mind was racing really fast. She just met with something that she thought impossible, but she had no doubt about it. That girl has silver eyes, and that can only mean one thing.

I'm tired of tip-toeing around this fact. This other girl with the Silver Eyes, and the little girl that we have been following in all the flashbacks… is none other than Cinder Fall.

…

Summer would spend the rest of that day in a bit of shock, which made her team worried. She couldn't explain what went wrong, or maybe she didn't want to. Eventually she came to team MRBL's hangout spot to find answers. By their account, Cinder has been in the castle as long as they have, but they were never allowed to interact with her by Silverclaw. Not to mention that she also doesn't want to interact with anyone either. It's a miracle that Summer managed to spot her during the daytime.

Summer still wanted to learn more, and so began another narrated montage. For the following week, Summer would spend the night awake to try and find out more about the mystery girl of the second floor. Cinder's routine was weird — she only came out of her room after midnight, when no one was walking around the corridors anymore. Summer had to grow a few ninja skills to watch her from afar. Most of the time this mysterious girl would just wander around in the corridors, and sometimes go to the library in order to find a book. At one point she even enters Silverclaw's office, but Summer can't make out what they discuss while inside. Summer had the feeling that she was searching for something in the castle.

The montage ends on a very specific night, many days after Summer started spying on Cinder. Suddenly, she decided to change her routine and leave the castle. She went through the gates and jumped down to the emerald forest, and so Summer decided to pick up her axe and follow. Cinder simply walked into the woods with no fear, unarmed, and not a care in the world. The darkness of the forest at night was overwhelming for Summer, but she decided to go on anyway. She watched as Cinder went to this small clearing, and waited there. Long and silent minutes had passed, until shit got serious.

Suddenly, red eyes appear from the darkness, and so an Elder Fenrir walks into the clearing with Cinder. It was looking down at her, but it was oddly calm. Summer didn't realize it though — she saw that Cinder was unarmed, and jumped in to defend her. She got a very good first surprise attack, but by now we can glean that Summer is likely the weakest of her team in terms of combat. Summer tells Cinder to run as the Fenrir takes the upper hand and starts knocking Summer around. She was about to have her torso bitten off, when suddenly Cinder screams. "STOP!"

And so, Summer watched as the Grimm wolf… simply backed off from her.

It stood back, and when Cinder ordered it to sit, the monster sat down.

What she just saw goes against everything she was ever told and taught by everyone. Her father, the people, the academy, and even her own better judgment. The gruesome, relentless monster has stopped attacking, going against hundreds of years of history. Summer watched in silent shock as Cinder approached the Fenrir, and started caressing its long front leg.

"How… how are you doing that?" Summer asked.

"Why did you follow me?!" Cinder asked.

Summer was still stuttering the same question, and so Cinder just sighs and pats the Fenrir twice. The monster simply stands up and runs away into the woods, leaving them alone. Cinder started walking back to the castle, while Summer quickly picked herself up and started following. She kept asking questions as she went, but Cinder wasn't interested in talking with her. "I said, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Cinder shouted.

"Please, I just want to know your name!" Summer said.

"WHY DO YOU CARE?!" she shouts again.

"Because we're related!" Summer said, and it made Cinder stop.

She looks back, and this time she actually takes a good look over Summer. Once face to face, she realizes Summer has Silver Eyes as well, and so her eyes go wide with surprise. Summer asks her name again, and so the girl finally responds, "My name is Cinder… Cinder Fall."

(btw this is the first moment it is actually spoken in this volume.)

Summer wanted to have a word with her really badly, but Cinder was hesitant. She needed time, so she told Summer to meet her in that room on the second floor, tomorrow. The two were standing in front of the entrance gate of the castle, and so Cinder just runs off, leaving Summer behind. Her face had a disbelief that's not easy to describe, but there was a hint of joy in it. For just a moment, Summer felt like she wasn't alone in the world. She still had a family.

The episode ends the same way it began… with a flashback.

…

We pick up right after where we left, with a younger Cinder running into the forest, still dressed in a red rug. After she ran for a whole night, she finally sat against a tree and cried alone. Her boiling anger made sparks of fire randomly appear in the air around her. Soon she understood that this power was her doing, and just as quickly, she could control it. Once a Semblance is awakened, it's common for a warrior to instantly understand and control said power, since it's derived directly from one's own soul. However, having super power didn't make her feel any less miserable. Her neck was still hurting, as the memory of the rope choking her flashes on her eyes for a second. That was going to leave a mark.

It was at her darkest moment, on that horrible night, that Cinder heard her for the first time.

"Cinder…"

She quickly stood up — she held the red rug over her shoulders. "Who's there?! Don't come close to me!" Cinder said. It was the whispered voice of a woman, calling her name again and again. "Where are you?! How… how do you know my name?!" Cinder asks.

"Please, shrug your tears. I do not wish to see you suffer any longer." the voice said.

Cinder realized that a weird glow was coming down from the trees. It was the moonlight, but brighter than ever before. Cinder was mesmerized by its presence, and quickly wiped her face. "Who… who are you?"

"I am what I am." the woman whispered. "you cannot see me… but I've been watching you. I'm the goddess of your ancestors. You may not know their names, or their history, but the great truth is hidden in the glow of your eyes. They show the path to your soul, which is unlike others who surround you."

Cinder looks down in a puddle of water, and realizes her Silver Eyes are emitting a weird glow. She asks, "What do you want with me?"

"I've heard your cry, Cinder. I saw the oppression that you endured. And now, I believe it's time that I delivered you out of the tyranny of mankind. I've come here… to take you home."

"Wha... What? Home? Home where?" Cinder asks.

"The moon, Cinder… it will always be there, every night and day. Let it show you the way. Hurry, my dear child." The voice said.

Cinder followed the moonlight piercing the dark forest, until eventually she found the exit. She found herself out on the plains, and was met with a dark sky. Several thousand stars were sprinkled around the majestic sight, and the shattered moon of Remnant was sitting there on the long horizon of the north. With nothing behind her, Cinder kept moving forward, ending the flashback and the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): So yeah, Cinder's childhood backstory is a few leagues more fucked up than I previously thought. But when developing a villain, the worse, the merrier. Honestly I wish I could've made it worse, just to hammer the fact that Cinder had the worst life possible, which really helps convey the fact that she hates mankind with a burning passion. That is essentially the crux of her character. Her life was so miserable that the devil's hand was the warmest embrace she ever felt. Cinder is very much a protagonist in this volume, with her own set of internal conflicts and lots of screen time. Again, this volume is just a long retelling of small pieces of worldbuilding that we heard from previous volumes, but they can still bring a few surprises.

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The next episode picks up as expected.

We follow Summer as she waits for her team to sleep at night, and leaves their room to go meet with Cinder. She knocks on the door of the upper floor, and soon Cinder welcomes her in. There was a whole apartment in there, reserved only for Cinder. It was spacious and fancy, giving this vibe of rare nobility. Cinder forces Summer to sit down on a chair near a mirror, and tells her to keep quiet while she makes some tests. She makes sure to examine every inch of her physique, especially her eyes, pinching Summer's eyelids apart and looking menacingly at her. Finally she put their heads close and looked at the mirror. Despite their different hair color, they were insanely similar, and had the same glow in the eyes.

"This can't be… you really are like me?!" Cinder asks.

"I can't believe it either! Ever since my dad died of gray pox, I never thought I would get to see someone else with these eyes! They are really rare, you know. Father said that our family is the only one in the whole wide world to have them. From which city you come from?" Summer asked.

"I don't remember… It's been a long time since- Wait! It doesn't matter! I want YOU to explain to me where YOU come from! There shouldn't be more of me! I mean- US!" Cinder said.

And so Summer just explains what she knows, from what her father told her. Apparently the Silver Eyes family originated from the north, and moved around a bit as they branched off in different nations. Summer comes from the single branch in Vale, and she recalls that some of them moved to Haven decades ago — thus, Cinder must be her cousin in some way. Summer was happy by the news, because for the longest time it was just her and her father, and since he died she felt sad for not having anyone else to call family. Now it was Summer's turn to ask the questions, but Cinder cut the meeting short. She had a lot in her mind, and simply guided Summer outside. As the door closes, Summer promises to come back again.

We keep following Cinder as she stares back at the mirror, and we're thrown into another flashback.

…

We continue following the young Cinder, dressed in a red rug as she slowly walks through the plains, forest and rivers, both day and night — always following the moon towards the north. But as the days passed, she got slower and weaker due to hunger and thirst. Eventually she became too weak to continue on her journey. She began foraging a forest for fruits, but she couldn't climb the trees and ended up falling. Eventually she was contacted by that woman again, speaking in her mind.

"I see that the journey has drained you." she said.

"I can't… I can't keep going like this! How far am I?" Cinder asked.

"Worry not. I already sent out a companion to help you on your journey. He's close."

Cinder started hearing strange sounds — she looked around and waited in fear. Eventually the creature appeared from the shadows of the woods. It was a Grimm, covered in pure black with red eyes. It resembled a lion, down to the paws and puffy mane. It was young, small and pathetic, but it scared Cinder deeply. She screamed in fear and hid behind a tree. The monster simply stood there.

"What is wrong, child?" the voice asked.

"That's a Grimm! It's a monster! Why would you send that to help?! It will kill me!" Cinder replied.

"You don't need to be afraid, Cinder. You're my special child. The power that you hold is far greater than any other person in this world. He will recognize that. Gather your courage, and face it." the voice finished.

Cinder took a deep breath and came out from behind the tree. The lion Grimm kept staring at her, and so she walked up to it. It didn't attack, and eventually Cinder raised her hand to pet the monster. The lion bowed its head and closed its eyes. It was one of the most majestic things Cinder ever witnessed, and it made her feel strong. She started caressing the monster and giggling cheerfully, and soon the two were playing around in the woods. For the first time we see her smile, or experience any kind of joy at all since the very first flashback. This is also the first time we see Grimm behave as anything other than killing machines. All we see is a cute montage of a girl and her brand new pet.

Eventually the lion Grimm realizes her tummy aches, and so it uses its speed to climb the trees and grab fruits for her. Later he takes Cinder near a small creek of fresh water for her to drink. The lion jumps on the river without hesitation, and grabs a fish on its mouth. Cinder manages to use her power to instantly create a fire on the ground, and cook the fish. After that, she simply lied against the lion on the ground, and slept on its soft fur. It's really adorable.

After waking up, Cinder was ready to continue her journey. Since the lion was meant to help her, it bowed down so she could get on top and ride its back. It ran really fast through the plains. Cinder hugged it tightly as the wind was blowing her hair. "You don't have a name, right?... I'm gonna call you Momo." Cinder said.

…

Back to the present, it seems like Cinder spent a whole day pondering on her bed. The next night Summer came again, and now she was knocking on the door. It seems like she brought some stuff this time, and food. Professor Port also worked in the cafeteria (unsurprisingly) and was one hell of a cook. Summer never saw Cinder leave her room during the day, so she decided to bring dinner for them to talk over. It was a simple act of kindness that Cinder wasn't expecting. This time Summer went straight for the golden question. "So… Can you explain how you tamed the Fenrir that night?"

Cinder goes and explains that her Semblance allows her to fully control Grimm. Naturally her dodgy eyes (and the last three volumes) proves us otherwise, but it manages to get Summer hooked up and fooled on the lie. At that point it made total sense. Next she goes to ask more stuff — like, why is she in here? Why does she only come out at night? How did she get to Vale?

Basically Cinder is something of a special child thanks to her power, so she was brought here to train and become a Huntress one day. Technically she's also part of class 138th, but she doesn't have a team of her own due to her situation. And well, the way she got here is a long story. Before she could possibly get down to it, Summer realizes something. Someone was eating the dessert cookies she brought. They were almost gone. She turns around… and sees a man leaning against the wall.

He was holding a cup of tea, and by his relaxed tone, he has been watching for a long time. "Why, hello there."

It was Ozpin, 24 years younger.

Summer jumps out of bed from his sudden appearance, but Cinder doesn't. Ozpin just goes around wherever he wants, whenever he wants, without anyone realizing. Summer doesn't know who he is at all, but the glasses and overall design makes it pretty clear to everyone. He introduced himself properly, claiming he was Cinder personal professor and caretaker, and has been away for the last few weeks due to a special mission. After they learned each other's name, Ozpin looked her eye to eye for a moment and realized Summer's eye color. He pointed at her and screamed in surprise, like he just saw a ghost. Might I add that here Ozpin is way less hardened than he would one day become. He comes off as a genuine goofball instead of a guy pretending to be a goofball.

He thought it was nothing but a miracle. The stars aligned, and he managed to find another person with Silver Eyes that has the desire to be a warrior. He will be quite interested in meeting again with Summer tomorrow. He sent her on her way, and stood in the room to talk with Cinder.

He started giggling. "I can't believe you actually went and made a friend."

"She came to me! It's not my fault!" Cinder replied.

"I'm not scolding you… I'm happy. It's been a full year now since I last saw you leave this room willingly. It's good that you go out and enjoy your youth, because eventually you will grow old and busy. You have a great future ahead of you, Cindy. One day you will free this world from the tyranny of monsters."

"You say that all the time…" Cinder replies.

"Of course… I believe in you. And I still owe you my life." Ozpin said with a smile. The gazes each other exchange sell this harsh but clear idea that Cinder doesn't really want nothing to do with him, or tries not to, while Ozpin is just trying to genuinely make her feel alright, and maybe act like a parent. Before he leaves, Ozpin has something to tell her. Since this time the academy is packed with people, he wants Cinder to start partaking in the classes as well, along with everybody. She immediately protests, but Ozpin's word is final. She didn't come to this castle to be locked up.

…

Next morning, already in combat class, we see the two teams gathered in the danger room to see a rematch. Raven is up for her second round against the Grimm. She is preparing her sword and taking deep breaths, while Port asks if she really wants to do this again. This time she's confident, so Port presses the button, and the big wolf walks out of the cage. Raven's calm breathing started getting panicky again, but this time her team cheers her from the back, and it seems to both annoy and motivate her to keep cool. As the monster approaches with a snarl, she starts receiving those same flashbacks. Now for the first time we see the memory in full.

In a night covered by fire, we see the old Red Bandits being decimated by a huge pack of Grimm. The young Raven was running around with a sword, not knowing what to do. She eventually saw her father, and he was fighting the big bad wolf on his own. Raven tries to join him, but gets wrecked instantly and tossed out. Her father scolds her, "god damn it, brat! YOU'RE TOO WEAK! YOU CAN'T HELP ME! GET OUT OF HERE!" And so Raven just sat there and watched her father getting murdered, eventually dying in between the jaws of the Fenrir. The wolf now walks down towards her with the body still in its mouth, when suddenly Raven is picked up and taken away by a woman. The trauma made the remaining memory get foggy, and so she is taken back to the present.

This time the memory doesn't cause her shivering fear. She closes her eyes and remembers what Tai told her. She had to turn that fear into anger, and fight back. We can see it's working. She opens her eyes again, and we can see something strange happening in her eyes. Her pupils are getting brighter. Her Aura is flaring. As the fenrir pounces, she screams in bloody rage and attacks at the same time. She proceed to kill the fuck out of it, in the most brutal and satisfying way that we can possibly animate. It even makes the others nervous from watching it. Even as the monster is reduced to a black puddle, she continues slashing down at it. After a short silence, team STRQ starts to applaud and cheer from the back. Raven spits on the creature and her deranged eyes slowly turn to normal.

Eventually, another set of claps echoes in the room, but it's way louder and ominous.

The students look at the door, and see Ozpin approaching. He praises Raven for the delicious sight she just gave him — It brought back some old memories of his. Professor Port goes ahead and introduces the students to their new combat teacher, and so Glynda immediately recognizes him as a legendary warrior who's team suddenly disappeared a year ago. That story really interests Qrow, as he challenges Ozpin to a fight immediately — shocking all other students, and making Ozpin smile.

Qrow fights him alone, but naturally he gets wrecked. The giant strike of Harbinger was stopped by a wooden cane. When Qrow realizes he can't win, he manages to taunt Glynda into joining him, for the sake of glory. And so, the future top three of Vale are all engaged in battle, while the others watch. The two students are quickly defeated anyway, as Ozpin speed is insane and he doesn't hold back against them. But that wasn't the end — soon the match gets interrupted by team MRBL, who arrive to land a surprise attack on Ozpin. It seems that they tried pulling something like this before, as Ozpin wonders if they got any stronger since last time. There's a lot of parallels between this and Qrow's test from volume III. Merlin manages to fight Ozpin surprisingly well, as it seems that he can use his Shapeshifting abilities to make himself stronger for a short period — growing his muscles and becoming older and taller. However, it is still not enough to beat Ozpin.

Once all his students had thoroughly understood that he's the shit, he believed it was time to introduce their new classmate. She was just standing by the door and looked nervous and annoyed. It was Cinder. Though it made everyone really confused, it made Summer really happy. So ends another episode.

Commentary (spoilers): I think my only regret with the Cinder and Summer storyline is making Cinder too similar to Raven in personality. So essentially we have two stories back to back about Summer slowly earning someone's trust and affection, which is a bit lazy. Raven and Cinder are similar in the way they are broken people, which I showcase with both their flashbacks. This episode confirms a lot of things that were left in the open until now, such as the Silver Eyes backstory and how it all connects in the future. One of the things I like the most are the callbacks/origins of how things ended up. Raven's rage is really important, because Tai's lesson about fear changed her whole life forever. It was good advice for when fighting monsters, but horrible in any other circumstance. The most recurring theme about Raven is how she always learns lessons the wrong way, and how it all leads to her downfall. At her core, she's just a girl who's afraid of being weak, and afraid of being hurt again. Meanwhile, Cinder is just trying to not get attached at all. It's a very similar struggle and it annoys me that I didn't think this through. Anyway, I'm 45 pages in and I'm barely halfway done with the volume.

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This next episode is one of which I have very few conception of, but it is pretty much the episode that Cinder finally accepts her friendship with Summer. Basically it plays out as a normal slice of life, with Summer trying to make Cinder feel welcome, and she showcases all the horrible annoying people she calls classmates. Cinder's profound lack of interest and overall inhumanity makes it very hard for everyone else to like her either. Cinder really hates people in general, and just sees the worst in everyone no matter how chill they are. She butts heads hard with Raven, but Cinder has all the guts to back up her arrogance.

Eventually Cinder becomes so much of an issue that Ozpin rushes Summer to go talk with her, since she's her only friend right now. It's here that Cinder finally opens up why she hates people so much. It all began with her father, who was a drunk asshole who got hundreds of Lien in debt, and so he just skipped town and left Cinder behind to the woman whom he owed. She spent the next years seeing the worst things in the world up close, and her final conclusion is that the world is plain awful and she wants no part in saving it, unlike Ozpin wants her to. It's also here that Cinder unveils her neck from her dress, and we see that she still has the scar of being choked by ropes all those years later. Summer is naturally horrified, but in her eyes, this will be her chance at helping Cinder see the good things about the world. Maybe finally having friends and family will change her mind, but first she needs to apologize to everyone and stop being abrasive, and then maybe she'll start seeing them for their good aspects.

That's pretty much the rest of the episode. Cinder goes to everyone and apologizes. At first she completely lacks the humility to do so, but she's able to adapt quickly by just imitating Summer perfectly. She wins back team GMOR by participating in their tea party and showing a lot of smarts by playing chess against Glynda. She apologizes to Port by being overly flattery to him, giving him the hype he deserves but never gets. While she's at it, she snatches some liquor from his cabinet and gives it to Qrow, which is seemingly the most efficient strategy to win him over. She pacifies Raven by simply accepting to fight her, earning her respect through combat. Still, it has to be made evidently clear how Raven can feel something deeply wrong with Cinder, and doesn't want to be friends with her at all. But by far, the most important is Tai at the end. He simply went ahead and forgave her without wanting anything to prove in return. He was such a simple soul and it made her feel flustered. It's crazy to think, but despite eventually becoming a deranged psycho, Cinder once was a normal girl that felt nice by making friends.

Cinder immediately saw the effects of her little adventure, as tomorrow it seems like she was already accepted by everyone else in the class. It even seemed like they were fighting for her attention, as Glynda didn't want her to hang out with STRQ and get a bad influence. Cinder seems distant and confused, and she blushes a lot from everyone's friendliness. The scene ends as Ozpin thanks Summer, and praises her natural gift of helping people. He believes she can become not just a Huntress, but a great hero to people.

...

And of course, the episode ends with a montage of photos, also being narrated by Summer. We continue seeing small scenes of everyone of class 138th becoming friends over time, while their individual rivalries grew. Cinder was always in the center of all memories, and with each passing photo, we see her poker face turn into a subtle smile, each time getting closer and closer to Summer. We see various moments, such as Raven getting stronger by sparring with Qrow; Summer cutting Tai's overly-long hair; everyone laughing as Raven tries to read a book; the fateful day that Qrow "defeated" Glynda for the first time; professor Port catching all the students drinking and smoking with team MRBL in the backrooms; and many others of which I don't have the creativity to think about.

The last picture of the montage shows the whole class together, and now everyone seems to be on great terms with each other. All three teams were there, plus Ozpin, Port and even Silverclaw at the very back. Summer's narration over this montage just retells her fathers words on his deathbed. He begged that she wouldn't succumb to grief, and urged her to continue moving forward, and one day find new people to call family. She has been searching for many years, but at long last… she believes to have found what her father wanted.

Several months have passed now, and so Summer arrived at the very last page of her diary.

She sticks the class picture in it, and closes it up. Thus ends the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): Pacing might as well be the worst aspect of this storyline. I wish it was a full volume of this, but unfortunately I only have half. The minisodes do most of the heavy lifting here, since I'm obligated to focus solely on plot and no filler whatsoever. I gotta admit that some clips of these episodes are overall better than watching the whole episode. I gotta juggle everything around to keep the structure consistent, so for the first time it feels like I'm using the full extent of the episode time. But alas, we have to move along to the finale of the first half.

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The next episode opens up with Cinder's adventure flashback.

She is still riding her lion Grimm, maybe for dozens of days at this point. But at long last, she arrives. She can see this dark hue growing in the distance, underneath the moon. Finally she sees the land of Vacuo, and it deeply scares her. She wants to stop, but the voice of the goddess comes to her again, and urges her to be brave. As she approaches the infinite black hue, going for days and days in both directions, something seems to change. She shrugs her eyes, and we can notice a glow emanate from them again. Suddenly, the dark hue slowly turns into… a forest.

Black trees and ashen grass. Something magical makes the path ahead clear as day, despite looking like a dense forest. There was only one path, and so Cinder entered dark woods. She kept walking, and eventually she found something. There was the sound of snoring nearby, and she followed it until she happened upon a sleeping man. But it wasn't a simple man. His body was covered in darkness, and he wore armor made of pure white scales. He had the mask of a bird. Cinder approached him carefully, but it turns out he wasn't sleeping at all. He suddenly jumps with a loud scream, making Cinder fall back in shock.

"HAHAHAHA! Got you!" he said.

It was Wrath, and he looks exactly the same as he did twenty four years later. Cinder was scared of him, but he proved to be quite human despite his appearance… and also quite annoying. She questioned him about this place, but Wrath didn't seem interested in talking. He simply asked if she was followed by anyone. When she said no, Wrath simply laid back down and continued to sleep. "Now, be on your way, brat. There's someone that you need to meet after passing these woods. I'll see you later."

Cinder and her pet Grimm, Momo, left him there and simply continued following the clearing. Eventually they arrive beyond the dark woods and see the rest of Vacuo. It was a very bizarre and empty land. The sky was dark, but there were no stars in it. The moon shines bright over the land, while the sun looks like a small red dot far away. The clouds are colored in bloody red. Everything felt surreal and scary. She kept walking on this small dirt path until she was faced with something… odd.

A long table, with a white cloth. Five chairs, and three men. All of them, quite like Wrath, had darkened skin, with armor/clothes made of white scales.

The most notable one was a giant guy, who sat on a special chair made for his huge size. He was incredibly bulky, and his skin-tight white armor covered everything except his pitch black arms, and made his muscles look well defined. He wore the mask of a bear.

The second man seemed sophisticated. His white layer resembled nothing of armor at all — it actually looks like a fancy court suit, all intricately designed in pure white and black. Despite being smaller than the big guy right beside him, he carries a deeply ominous presence just from the way he holds his pocket watch, and seems completely disinterested. His mask was a snake.

And lastly, the man sitting at the end of the table seemed like a severely old guy. He seems rather small and hunched over, while a white-scaled cape covers him from the shoulders down and even drags on the floor. His mask is that of a goat.

All of them stare menacingly at Cinder, but then the old man takes off his mask, and reveals a very kind and gentle smile. He was bald, pitch black skin, thick eyebrows, a long white beard and red glowing eyes. "Ihihihi-haha! You're finally here, my dear girl! So pleased to meet you! Please, sit right here!" the old man said, and he has a very jolly tone.

Cinder slowly walks towards the table and sits on the chair, as Momo does the same beside her. "You were… waiting for me?"

"Of course! In fact, you were a bit late. We had to start the tea party without you." the old man said.

Cinder looked at the table and saw nothing but rocks, grass, twigs and pieces of bones. "Is this what Grimm people eat? There's no tea in here, or food at all." she replied.

"WHAT?! Of course there is! Are you blind?! Look again!" the old man said, and as Cinder did so… the table was full. In a blink of an eye. All that garbage was gone, and it was all substituted by cupcakes, and bread rolls, tea, juice, jelly and honey. It was a table worthy of kings. The old man told her to eat to her heart's content, and so she did. And as they eat, Cinder questions about the voices of the goddess, about them, and about this weird land. The big guy doesn't speak, the old man doesn't seem to have a very good attention span, and so the one with the snake mask has to do it. He just introduces the giant bear, himself and the old goat as Remorse, Fear and Madness, respectively. They were Severus — quite like Grimm, but not entirely.

Apparently, this goddess who contacted Cinder was called Lady Salem, and she has foretold her arrival many years ago. They are merely her highest ranking allies, or rather, the five strongest Grimm currently existing. "You're lucky to have come here. It has been many centuries since a human last stepped in this realm. It's a pleasure to have you, Cinder." said Fear.

After they had dined long enough, suddenly a clock goes off — a grandfather's clock was lying there next to the table. The old man announces that the tea party is over. The appointed time for her departure had come, and now she had to be escorted to lady Salem. Her next companion would be arriving soon. There was one final Severus for her to meet, and he would take her to lady Salem. Cinder asks how he looks like, and then...

Suddenly, a low thunderous noise echoes from the distance.

It sounded as if a mountain crumbled.

A shiver runs down Cinder's spine as she turns around. She asks what was that noise, and the old man responds with, "Don't be scared. It's him… he's just hungry. He has been hungry for five hundred years. Please don't mind the growling of his stomach."

Cinder then spots his figure appearing in the distance. She could see those red eyes looking at her, all the way from there. He started approaching. Though it looked like he was calmly walking with hands in his pockets, he was covering an insane amount of ground with each step. It looked like a visual illusion — everything around him seemed to slow down. In one second to the next, he's right in front of Cinder and her lion. A gust of wind blasts them as he stops in place.

Unlike the other four Severus, he looks… like a bum. He had absolutely no white scales on him, except for his fingers, hands and elbows. His pitch-black body was only covered by baggy white pants, and he was barefoot. Most notably about his whole physique was this huge hole in his chest. Cinder could literally see the view through it. He had no heart. His mask was that of a wolf, with huge fangs coming from the bottom. He stared down at Cinder, until he eventually took the mask off.

Underneath the mask, he was rather handsome. He was a young man with shaggy black hair, perfect black and white lips, and glowing red eyes that show profound indifference and sadness. He introduced himself as Hunger, and he was meant to help conclude her journey.

Cinder can feel a deeply ominous vibe coming from him — as if his breathing could kill her at any moment. Fear, the one with the snake mask, said, "Hunger… forgive my intrusion, but… could it be that you're planning to devour her?"

Hunger remains in silence as the three Severus at the tea table look at him — eyes sharp like daggers. It even seems like they were going to fight. However, Hunger says, "I was ordered to bring little Cinder safely to the palace. If you think I am unable to follow the orders of her highness… then look here again." he said, pointing to the huge, perfectly circular hole in his chest. It seems to have made the other three back down. Finally, he offers his hand to Cinder, and begs her to come with. She gathers up the courage and holds his hand, and so the two walk into the dark horizon together.

The flashback finally concludes.

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We open up back to the present, as we see Summer dragging Cinder along through the castle corridors. She's excited to show her something in the armory, of which she has been working on for quite a long time. Cinder covers her eyes and waits for the call, and so she finally sees it.

It was a toy. It was made of simple wood, but it was moving.

Summer was able to craft a little toy that moves on its own, using nothing but science and technology available on the castle. It had a bunch of wires and gears sticking all around it. At first Cinder thought it was one of Olga's golems, but found it very cool once Summer claimed to have made it. Here she explains that a whole year has passed for them — she split her time between the academy and the library, and now Summer is finally a well-capable engineer.

That wasn't it all. Soon Summer would have her 19th birthday, but she is afraid that no one will know, since she never actually talked about it to anyone. She asks if Cinder remembers what day is her birthday, but naturally she doesn't, and can't even remember if she ever celebrated it. After that short conversation, the two go out and make up their minds to give each other gifts tomorrow. Cinder struggles to think of anything all night, until she gets advice from Glynda to just write a letter, and gets some help from the rest of team GMOR. Meanwhile, Summer plans on gifts with more personal value.

…

They meet up on the next day, both wanting to show each other what they brought. Cinder pulled a piece of paper and blushed profusely as she read it out loud. I don't have anything written down specifically, but Cinder just thanks Summer for being the only good family member she could ever hope to have, and for helping her make friends even if she was a bitch at several instances. In the end Summer is driven to small tears, and Cinder immediately rips the letter apart, thinking it made her sad. Summer stops her from destroying it completely, and keeps the ripped letter as a cherished gift. Surprisingly, she also made something for Cinder. If she did not have a certain birthday, then she might as well celebrate it here and now, for the first time. The two cousins then technically make 19 and 18 years old respectively. Summer not only baked her a small pot cake, but also bought a gift from the city.

It was a black choker, made from smooth and velvet-like silk that ties like a bow on her nape.

We can immediately recognize it to be the choker that Cinder uses in every single appearance she had in every volume, even since III. Summer had noticed that Cinder always wore the same type of clothes that hide the scar on her neck. She wanted to give her this, so she can hide the scar no matter how she dresses. And hopefully one day she can take it off, once all that trauma is way past behind her, and she becomes someone completely new.

Cinder doesn't know how to properly process the gift, but she seems very thankful. After a few more hugs, the bell rings and so the girls rush to class. At this point it seems like everyone is happy, the future is bright and hopeful, and some might even be thinking this is an alternate universe where everything went right. Well, unfortunately, despite being a prequel, this is still technically part of the Fall Saga. And as such… shit needs to fall apart.

…

Cinder spent that night on her bed, falling in and out of sleep as she constantly thinks about Summer. She infests her thoughts in such a way that Cinder might even be romantically in love with her. She's rolling around in the bed as she holds onto the choker, and smiles to herself. Just as she was about to put it on her neck… she hears a voice.

"Cinder…"

She jumps out of bed and seems to be really scared. She walks towards the closed window and opens it wide, revealing the bright moon. She hears again, "I know it has been a while… since we last talked. I apologize. Your smile brings me relief, but… Must I remind you why you're here?"

And so, we're thrown back into the flashback. The final one.

…

Cinder has been holding Hunger's hand as they walked for hours. His hands were cold, and he wouldn't speak unless spoken to. Momo was following way behind them, as if scared of Hunger just like the other Severus were. The path ahead was full of sharp grass and pointy pebbles, and Cinder was barefoot. Hunger offers to carry her, and so she mounts on his shoulders and holds onto his head.

After climbing over a steep hill, Cinder could see the end of her journey clear as day. It sticks out like a sore thumb in this land of darkness. It was a gigantic temple, made of bright gold that had its own glow to it. The structure reached high into the sky like a staircase. As they continue walking towards it, Cinder also spots a bloody-red sea, with waves constantly pushing against the sands. That wasn't the strangest part. She could see newborn Grimm emerging out of the shore, and moving past them towards the exit of Vacuo. She's the first person to ever see how they are born, and it creeps her out. However, just like Momo, they aren't attacking her.

"Mister… tell me, why do Grimm exist?" Cinder asked. "Why do they kill people?"

"They are monsters, Cinder. That's what they were born to be. Nothing else." Hunger replied, with a monotone voice that is devoid of any emotion.

"I… I don't understand. Why?" Cinder asked again.

Hunger remains silent for a second before saying, "The world needs monsters. Or else…"

"Or else what?"

"… forget it."

Eventually they enter inside the first house of the golden temple. It's extremely huge, but it seems to be empty right now. Momo simply sits down by the entrance, as it is not allowed to enter the temple with them. Cinder will have to take heart on her own. The back exit of the first house shows the way to the gigantic golden stairway going up. Hunger told her to hold tight, and so he started running super fast over the steps. He passed through three other empty houses, each leading to another stairway up, until they had passed the height of the red clouds.

Finally they arrive at the last house of the golden temple, and Hunger slows down. Before its entrance there was a long bridge, and all Cinder could see below her was the red sea. The last house looked more majestic and greater than the previous four. Hunger puts Cinder down and fixes her hair after all that wind rushed past her. Now it was time for her to meet Salem alone. And so Hunger puts his hands on his pockets and starts to walk down the steps, eventually disappearing with phasing speed, just like Ozpin does. Cinder, after all this time, is still just a young girl dressed in a red rug, with scars on her throat. She hugs herself and slowly walks in with fear and dread.

She goes through a long golden corridor, and eventually arrives in the final room. There's pretty much nothing there. It's actually small compared to the previous houses, and ends with a huge open view of the black sky, the moon and the red sea far below. The wind rustles menacingly. Of course, there was a lady there, gazing through that huge window. Very slowly… she turned around.

Let's talk about her little redesign in this version. Salem here dresses exactly as she does in the original. A long black dress covering her entire body down, but just tight enough to show her curves, and a red cape covering her shoulders. Her most notorious change is her hair, which instead of a spider-like braid, it's just long and smooth. Both her skin and hair are pristine white, but not scaly like the Grimm, she's simply pale. Dark veins sprung from behind her neck and connected onto her eyes. Unlike the Grimm and Severus, her eyes aren't red — they are silver. Despite the scary aspects of her design, she was absolutely beautiful. She looks like a princess — a perfect porcelain doll, but with a clear taint of corruption in every aspect of her being.

The two locked eyes, and so Salem slowly walked towards Cinder with her hands held together. Cinder tries to assert herself or ask the meaning of this long journey. In this past week her whole life got flipped upside down. She was just a street runt who stole things and borrowed stuff from powerful people that she couldn't pay for. She got sold like an animal, she was abused and scarred, and the second she fought back, they called her a witch and tried to kill her. She met monsters who were kinder to her than anyone else she met. She's in a place beyond her imagination. Nothing makes sense. She doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't know what to do. She fears that she will wake up any second now, and go back to the dumpster she sleeps on. All things considered, she can't tell if this is a sweet dream or a nightmare.

Salem stood there silently listening to her grief, and her eyes show quite a lot of sadness. After she was done, Cinder just stood there with her eyes closed. Even if it wasn't real, she wanted to thank Salem for this adventure. It was the most fun thing she ever experienced in her life. Cinder smiles, saying that she was ready for whatever happens next. She was glad to know joy, even if it was fake. And so Salem made her move. She simply kneels down… and hugs Cinder.

Despite hugging the goddess of darkness itself…

Cinder for the first time felt pure, unbridled love.

The warm embrace of Salem destroys any other feelings of pain and fear away from Cinder's mind. She says with her soft voice, "This is not a dream, Cinder. This cruel world that you spoke of… it won't be able to harm you ever again. Now take heart, Cinder, for you overcame that horrible world… I'm sorry for the harsh journey here, but I promise you… you're safe now. You're finally free… Welcome home, Cinder."

Cinder opens her crying eyes, and slowly hugs Salem back, ending the flashback.

…

We cut back to Cinder in the present, still looking out the window of her room.

"Tell me… do you still remember your mission?" Salem asks, telepathically.

"Yes, godmother." Cinder says, cutting to black and ending the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): Damn, it only took us seven volumes to finally meet the main fucking villain of the show. She's so important, but also so distant and mysterious. Cinder overall has more villainous qualities than Salem, but she's truly the mastermind, while Cinder is her hand — doing her bidding. The middle of the episode concludes Summer and Cinder's sisterhood story and immediately sets up the finale of the first half, while the beginning and end conclude the story we've been seeing since episode one. The aspect I like the most about Cinder's backstory is the mashup of both Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. It's so bizarre and out of pocket. The tea party was kind of a stretch, but I just wanted to introduce all the Severus in one go instead of stretching it into a separate scene for each of them. Speaking of which, once we arrive at volume X, you will be fucking amazed how tightly all of these characters relate to team RWBY.

The entire land of Vacuo is nothing but one big reference to two different franchises. The Grimm and the Severus are basically Hollows and Espadas from Bleach. The similarities are undeniable even in the original show; aside from backstory, they are practically the same thing. I decided to go all in on the blatant theft, and made Vacuo as a parallel to Hueco Mundo. The golden palace with the houses and the stairways is a very obvious nod to Saint Seiya. If you can make 2+2, you can already guess what the final act of the final volume will be about. The Severus were my only true opportunity to make Grimm into actually interesting antagonists and not just videogame enemies, and I'm pretty proud how each is integrated into the show's history. My favorite one is obviously Ulquiorr- I mean, Hunger, because he is by far the most important of the bunch. It's important to build him since his very first appearance as this completely and utterly insurmountable threat. A being that irradiates power in every action he takes, and makes all those around him shit their pants with his mere presence. It's an important build up, because this guy will fight very soon, and he needs a strong impression.

The last aspect to talk about is Salem. I just changed her hairstyle because I want her to be more subtle as a villain, or at least appear so. This episode has so much goddamn foreshadowing for stuff that will only be explained way later, but I like putting it here regardless. After this episode, the following various minisodes will take a completely new direction, and will focus on Cinder growing up on Vacuo for the next three years. I'll make them in detail later.

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The next episode opens up with the perspective of team STRQ. They are just bantering together during class, while Summer seems off. She's staring at Cinder, who also seems to be acting oddly. She looks so contemplative and conflicted. Summer had to figure out what happened, and so she pulled her for a talk after class. And so, Cinder proceeds to tell Summer a fake story, about how she lived in the wild for most of her teenage life. She came to this castle not exactly to become a Huntress, but because she wanted to find and retrieve something that once belonged to her mother. It is hidden somewhere in the castle, and Cinder had no luck finding it ever since she arrived, two years ago. She employs Summer's help to find it, and so they part ways.

Since Summer is more outgoing and isn't aware of what Cinder wants, she just goes ahead and questions Port, Ozpin and Silverclaw about the existence of a treasure room with secret artifacts. Of course none of them would tell her shit about the secret rooms of the castle, so lastly she asks for the help of team MRBL. Since they were a bunch of no-good hoodlums, of course they snooped around the castle until they found a hidden entrance. It was actually really close to their hangout spot. Since Summer is a goody-two-shoes damsel and can't hurt a fly, they decide to show her.

Merlin goes ahead and presses a hidden button in the tiled wall, revealing a secret entrance. We immediately recognize this huge room with big metal drawers to be the archive room of the castle. It has details of pretty much every single Huntsman who ever lived in Vale. It was a gigantic secret room, and they advised Summer to not go deep into it, as they have no idea what the back rooms actually have.

Naturally Summer goes straight to reveal this information to Cinder, and so they plan to explore the secret rooms of the castle tomorrow night. Summer goes back to her team and tells them what she plans to do with Cinder. Qrow and Tai don't really care — as long as she doesn't get all of them into trouble. However, Raven seems very seriously annoyed by that. She demands that Summer cancel the little adventure, but Summer wouldn't. She ultimately chooses Cinder over her team, and it makes Raven mad. She warns about how shady Cinder always was, ever since their first meeting, and Summer refuses to see it. If Summer insists on hanging out with that girl, Raven will not hesitate to throw her under the bus when she eventually messes up and gets caught. The two end their little fight and go to sleep.

…

Meanwhile, Cinder was in her room just dealing with emotions. Her mission will end soon, and she will have to go. She will have to leave Summer behind… but she didn't want to. There are VERY few creatures in this world that she likes, and the thought of losing a single one causes her a lot of pain. She struggles to admit that she will miss these friends she was not supposed to have, and that humans might not actually be all garbage. In the end, Cinder starts to psyche herself to protect her fucked up view of the world. "People are not good… They are trash!… Summer is different, because she's like me… She's different!"

She got up and ran to the window, staring into the moon. "Godmother… are you there?"

"I'm always here, Cinder." Salem telepathically replied. "Tell me, what bothers you?"

"Godmother… You must know that I found someone else… someone else who has eyes like mine… just like that other one." Cinder said.

"I'm aware… However, Summer Rose is not like you. Her lineage was a long and prosperous one that strayed away from what made them pure. She was blessed with a happy and simple life. I could never contact her, nor had a reason to do so. She never needed my help quite like you did. I'm sure you must understand." Salem said.

"I do, godmother… but… I like her. She likes me… I don't want to leave her… I want her to come back home with me!" Cinder said.

"Oh, Cinder… even if you try, I don't think that will be possible. Though you are friends, the path you two have taken couldn't be further apart." Salem replied.

"Please, Godmother, I know she will understand! I'm sure I can convince her!" Cinder said.

"Very well… you may try as you wish. I will welcome her… but do not try to convince her with lies, Cinder. Remember what I tell you." Salem said.

"Yes, Godmother… Thank you. I promise, the relic will be in my hands soon, and I will return home as I promised." Cinder finished.

"Don't concern yourself, Cinder. Tomorrow I will help you in any way I can. Be discreet, and save your goodbyes for another day." Salem finished.

Her mind was made, and so Cinder prepares for what comes next.

...

The ensuing episode likely needs to be split in two, but I'll just say what happens without interruption.

That day the students were given time off after the first-year trials, so they were allowed to leave the castle. Summer decides to stay behind with Cinder in the castle, while the rest of STRQ go to town. It's actually here that they first find Simon's bar in the west district, as team MRBL actually vouched for them to enter. Simon had the cheapest drinks in the nation, but he was the only one who allowed a bunch of teenagers in his place. They all plan to have fun until midnight, but Raven is still heavily concerned about Summer.

In the castle, only the teachers, team GMOR, Summer and Cinder stood behind. The teachers were doing teacher stuff — Ozpin wanted to have talk and was searching for Cinder, but was happy that she wasn't locked in her room as always. Port and Silverclaw were signing some papers in their respective offices, and team GMOR were painting their nails and shit inside their room. Summer and Cinder waited for everything to calm down before going into the secret archive room, hidden behind the fake wall. Note that it still doesn't have the extra security door with the password that it has in the future.

The girls look deep into the archive with lanterns, until eventually they find… a rope elevator. It only went down, and thankfully it was still working. While being lowered deep into the earth, Summer asks more about what they are looking for. Cinder goes on to describe the relic of knowledge perfectly, despite never seeing it herself. Summer continues to ask questions, but Cinder gets nervous since she doesn't have the answers to it all. Finally they arrive at the castle's dungeon — a disheveled place that has not been visited in many decades. The place was a horrible and dark maze, and showed several books, furniture and portraits that were left to rot. After a long and ominous sequence… it seems like they found it.

They could see its blue glow trapped inside this spherical container, in some kind of ancient ceremonial hall. Cinder goes ahead and starts pulling it apart to free it, even as Summer protests. As she does so, the music starts to build up as we constantly cut between all the characters — those in the city and those in the castle. Finally we cut to a final shot of the moon, and we hear Salem say:

"It is time."

…

The Grimm finally appears from the darkness. From every hole, every shade and every cave nearby Vale city — even underwater. They start to gather together, and form a huge army as they start running for the gates of the city. At the same time, the water Grimm started to gather at the docks, and began sinking stationed ships. The night just began, but the city was quickly taken over by an alarm. Soon Silverclaw was notified by the wall guards, and so the crisis started. The forces of Grimm had somehow organized an attack.

Silverclaw issued an order for all the Huntsmen in the castle to jump to the city and help the battle. They couldn't allow the Grimm to breach the wall. Silverclaw found Ozpin outside and said, "Kurtin, lead the defense on the West Wall and kill everything that moves. I'll take care of the docks. Port, stay behind and keep us updated if any more enemies arrive."

Ozpin picks up his cane as Silverclaw grabs his weapon — a three-blade gauntlet. He and Ozpin run out the castle before joining fifty other huntsmen by the plateau edge. They jump off together like a rain of shadows into the city, in the most badass shot possible, and they split off through the rooftops.

The rest of team STRQ and MRBL were in the city, extremely close to the wall. Once they received the news through the alarm bells, they decided to go help defend despite still being students in training. With that, Salem created the perfect distraction. Almost every Huntsman in Vale is busy with this sudden attack, so Cinder is free to grab the relic and leave right under their noses. While all this was happening, the two girls were none the wiser. Cinder finally manages to rip the relic of knowledge from inside the safe, and holds it up. Its blue glow immediately fills the dark dungeons, and it terrifies Summer.

"What is that?!" Summer asks.

"It's my mother's… and I'm going to give it back to her." Cinder.

"But… but I thought-!" Summer was saying, when suddenly Cinder held her hand.

"Summer…" Cinder was saying, but she struggled deeply to let the words out. She was shaking her head, but eventually realized that being honest was the only way. "I… I am… I'm sorry, Summer. I've not been honest with you… I couldn't. You wouldn't understand if I just told you, but listen!… I have a mom. She's kind, she cares for me, and she gave everything I could possibly ask of her. The only reason I came to this castle is because… she asked me to bring this to her…"

"Your mom?! But… but wait, what even is this thing?!" Summer asked.

"It's important to her… that's all that I care about. She will be happy when I bring it back to her… but… I don't want to go back home alone, Summer… I want you to come with me. You need to meet her… she's a mother to you just as much she is to me…" Cinder said. By that point, Summer's face was slowly crumbling away. She was completely lost in Cinder's rambling. Cinder suddenly holds her hand more tightly. "Anything, ANYTHING that you want, she can give it to you! We can live in a huge palace of pure gold! We have other family there! They are strong, and they can protect us from anything! We'll never have to worry about Grimm ever again! Please, tell me that doesn't sound wonderful?"

"Cinder… are you feeling alright? You're not making sense anymore. You're going to… leave?! Leave to where?!" Summer said. She darted her eyes to the side and saw that the relic was glowing on her grasp. She suddenly snatches it away from Cinder while she's distracted. "Give me that! Is this thing affecting your head or something?"

"Wait, Summer, give it back!" Cinder replied.

"No way! You better calm down. I'm going to ask Mr. Silverclaw if this-"

"NO!" Cinder screams, echoing all over the dungeon and making Summer slowly turn back to her. "They can't know… No one can. Just you and me. Please, Summer, I know I'm sounding stupid, but I'm telling the truth! I know a place that is not on the map! There we can have everything — we can have peace! You have to trust me!"

Summer looks at her very seriously. "Why are you so afraid?"

"I'm not!" Cinder replied.

"Then you're going to see Mr. Silverclaw. We're going to show him this, he'll give you permission to take it, and then we can go see this place you're talking about-" Summer said, and just as she finished, Cinder jumped to take the relic out of her hands. The two started tussling for it. "NO — CINDER, STOP!"

Summer manages to pull it away from her, and runs off into the dark dungeon corridors. She wouldn't allow Cinder to do anything without explaining herself to the others, and so this chase ensues. Summer envelops the relic with her white cape to stop it from revealing her location, as she tries to lose Cinder inside the dungeon. The echo allowed them to continue speaking without knowing each other's location. Summer continued demanding to know her true plans and all this other crazy shit she talked about, but Cinder insists that Summer won't understand until she sees it.

Eventually Cinder is contacted by Salem again, who tells her that now it's the only chance she will get. She'll send forces inside the castle, and she has to run while the battle ensues. After Salem said her message, Summer and Cinder could feel the ground shake, and the dungeons started to crumble on their own. They can hear a roar, coming from underground. The people on ground level could also feel it, and soon they could see it as well.

Yeah I don't want to waste time building this up.

A giant goddamn earthworm Grimm simply burst out of the ground, right beside the castle. It was FREAKING HUGE, it had a hundred red eyes and a billion white teeth inside its mouth. It burrowed itself and leaped over the castle, quickly burying itself back into the ground. It left this weird hole behind, and from inside it, other Grimm started to crawl out. Summer, who was in the dungeons underground, simply watched as this colossal worm just rushed right past her, making the ceiling collapse. The maze quickly turned into pure destruction covered in darkness. She whips out the Relic to make some light, and witnesses as Grimm started exiting out of the holes made by the worm.

She came unarmed, obviously, so she was forced to run into the ruins with the relic, as the Grimm gave chase viciously. Eventually she found those old weapons kept on the walls and used them to defend herself, but they would break easily, so she had to keep foraging for more weapons in the rubble. She gets wounded really badly as the powerful elders gang up on her, and Cinder seems to be stuck at the other side of the dungeon after it starts to collapse, unable to reach her. The Grimm are madly attracted by the relic in her possession, and Summer felt it was important to not let them have it. By the end her white hood was stained with her own blood, so she just kept running away while bleeding.

…

On the castle, professor Port sees that the enemies simply started burrowing from the ground, so he grabbed his weapon and jumped in to defend. He's soon met by team GMOR, who geared up and helped him in the battle. At the same time, the Huntsmen were dealing quite well with the army against the city wall, and also the docks. Basically we have three battles going on, and we're just cutting in between them to see all the characters killing shit. We haven't got a moment like this in quite a while.

Eventually, through an ability that has been foreshadowed quite a lot but not explained, Raven suddenly looks up to the sky and feels that Summer is in terrible danger. Her astral senses were always weirdly sensitive. She convinces Qrow and Tai to abandon the killing and rush back to the castle together. Their method of transportation is a huge call back to volume I, as Qrow and Raven work together to lodge their weapons into the beak of a Nevermore, and control its flight towards the castle up the mountain.

Professor Port and the other girls did a pretty good job at fighting the monsters, which are all elders by the way. In case you forgot, they already passed one year of training, so they are all quite capable of killing shit, even apart — Glynda more than Rita, Mona and Olga of course. Eventually the fucking worm comes out again, but this time Port just uses his Semblance to turn himself into a giant, and hold the huge monster in the air before it can flee back into the ground. It start's to spasm the fuck out, swinging it's body and destroying parts of the castle, almost hitting team GMOR. Port grabs the monster and super jumps towards the emerald forest, tumbling down against the side of the mountain. Team GMOR didn't know what to do, but then Rita suddenly grabs Port's weapon and urges her teammates to follow.

...

Finally back in the dungeons, Summer was about to be ripped apart as two Elder Fenrir were biting and pulling her, but thankfully she was found by Cinder. She angrily orders the Grimm to stop attacking, and proceeds to drag Summer out of the dungeons as it starts to collapse even harder. She found the lift, but it wasn't working. Summer was wounded but still very much awake, and she witness Cinder command the Grimm to help her climb the elevator hole, and so the two arrive back on the surface. Cinder can hear the battle going on outside, and starts carrying the wounded Summer and the Relic to the main entrace.

At the same time, Raven, Qrow and Tai arrived back at the castle through the hijacked Nevermore. Qrow and Tai took on the Grimm who were left wandering the castle, while Raven went straight for Summer. She kicks the main door open, just in time to see Cinder carrying the bleeding Summer, surrounded by Grimm. She stares at them in dreadful silence.

"If what I think is happening, is happening… It better not be." Raven said.

Cinder sits Summer down against the wall. "Raven… thankfully the one I'll miss the least."

"We're having a tough time against the Grimm out there, Cindy — even the elderly folk like Silverclaw and Port are helping. So, how about you put down whatever that stupid blue thing is, get away from Summer, and come solve this situation with your Semblance?" Raven said.

"Look how polite she is today. What's the matter, Branwen? A tough bitch like yourself is scared of a few black wolves? I'm sure you can handle it. In the meanwhile, Summer and I… we are going on a trip." Cinder said.

Raven begins drawing her sword. "I'm sorry, did you think I was asking?"

"Wait… you two… don't fight! Not now!" Summer shouted, struggling to stand up.

"Summer, don't worry, just stay-!" Cinder was saying, when suddenly Raven jumped at her when she turned her head. The two Grimm by Cinder's side jump in to defend her, but Raven easily kills them both in one swing that decapitates them. Next she goes for Cinders head, but she's able to draw her dagger from her waist and block the attack. The two are left in this clash, and quickly pick up the pace to continue the sword fight. They were jumping all around the pillars and walls while trading slashes.

"I always knew there was something wrong with you. You can fool those idiots, but not me! Summer told me about your plan. THAT thing is your mother's belonging, huh? Don't make me laugh! I made up better lies when I was seven!" Raven said.

They continue to fight, but eventually it becomes obvious how superior Cinder is as a fighter. She starts to win the battle, but then Raven sets her foot down and decides to get serious. She believes it's the perfect time to show off the Semblance that she awakened, and hasn't told anyone about it.

And so, she starts teleporting.

Naturally she's not nearly as refined with it as in the future. It takes her a few seconds to concentrate before teleporting, and she struggles to adjust with the instant difference of perspective. Regardless, it was still an absurdly powerful ability and it easily overwhelmed Cinder from that point on. Raven starts getting super cocky and talks shit constantly during the fight. She was tossing Cinder around like a ragdoll, and we can slowly see that familiar face of rage building up on Cinder as Raven starts to disrespect her more and more. Finally, Raven is able to disarm Cinder and toss her dagger away. "Well, Cindy, looks like playtime is over. Let's have a nice long chat about this mom of yours once you wake up."

Raven moved on to deliver a final attack to knock out Cinder, but she has reached her boiling point. Raven swings down her sword, and Cinder raises her hand. Sparks start to form in the air, and so the sword of pure fire spawns out of her palm. She blocks the attack, and the red light from the fire illuminates the two girls' faces. Raven was in shock.

"You're right… playtime is over." Cinder said.

She quickly uses her other hand to create her iconic explosion blast attack, and fires at Raven point blank. Raven gets blasted and knocked out immediately, flying out of the smoke and crashing against the wall. Cinder had her iconic psychotic smile — absolutely thrilled to see Raven down with a pool of blood forming around her. However, she was not the only one there. Despite her injuries, Summer quickly got up and rushed to Raven side, trying to resuscitate her. That sight instantly made Cinder recoil back, and realize what she just did. Still, being a psycho, she insists on the mistake. She can't waste time anymore.

"Summer, it's fine! If I wanted to kill her I could've done much worse than that." Cinder said.

"Why?! WHY ARE YOU DOING ALL THIS?!" Summer shouts in anger.

"It's not my fault that people keep getting on my way! And WHY are you even trying to help her?! She's been nothing but an annoying whore to you all year! She picks on you, she insults you, and she will never change! Just let her be and come on!" Cinder said.

"YOU CAN'T JUST LET SOMEONE TO DIE BECAUSE THEY ANNOY YOU, CINDER!" Summer shouted in anger again, this time surprising Cinder. Summer never acted this way towards her. Summer was wrapping Raven's bleeding spots and compressing her chest — even though she's pretty messed up herself, she focus all her efforts to save her teammate. They could still hear the fighting being done outside, as well as the tremors from the giant worm. Summer was in absolute panic, "Damn it, what's even happening out there? Where is everyone?! Cinder, why are you just standing there?! I TOLD YOU TO STOP HOLDING THAT THING!" Summer said.

The relic was in Cinder's possession. "We don't have any more time, Summer! I promised my mother that I would take me with you, so we have to go!"

"Are you just going to kidnap me?! I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Summer said, standing up against Cinder.

…

Let's finish up the other scenarios before we move to the finale.

Silverclaw and Ozpin's battalion managed to eradicate all the Grimm at the docks and the west gate, but didn't notice the stuff happening at the castle until it was too late. Ozpin's side of the defense was the first to win, so he ordered the rest to help Silverclaw while he went to save the girls at the castle alone.

Meanwhile, Port was having an awful time fighting the giant worm, due to having its body covered in white scales, while Port could only tussle with his bare hands. However, team GMOR went down there to help him. They couldn't offer anything really, but Rita had a plan. She took hold of Port's blunderbuss and asked her friends to use their powers to send her flying as high as possible. The team combo succeeds — Rita is sent up high and uses her mantle to glide to giant Port's shoulder, and explain her plan. The next moment that the worm appeared, she would give him the chance to finish it off in one blow.

The worm finally burrows a final time to bite off Port's head, but then Rita jumps off his shoulder and uses her Semblance on Port's gun, making it grow to a size relative to him. She holds onto it to keep the effects for longer. For the first time in his life, Port is able to use his weapon while in giant form, and thus is born the strongest combo that we will only see once. Port easily decapitates the worm with one swing, kicks the head to the sky, and uses the shotgun to blow it to smithereens. It was a massive explosion, considering that even the bullets grew in size as well. Rita could only endure for thirty seconds before running out of Aura, and falling off into the sky. Port shrinks back to catch her, and so they were able to kill the colossal Grimm together.

As the whole team reconvenes, Port explains how this is a complete outrage. Grimm don't behave so organized, much less does such a powerful abnormal just attacks the castle without a prompt. This was orchestrated somehow, and so they have to return to the castle as fast as possible to see what is happening.

…

And alas, the conclusion.

Qrow and Tai were struggling for their life to kill the Grimm and prevent any elders from entering the castle. Just then appears Ozpin with phasing speed, and he kills all the enemies in a blink of an eye. He tells the boys to stay calm and patch themselves up while he goes inside.

Ozpin immediately meets up with the harrowing scene with Summer and Cinder. Since he had no context, he just assumed the girls were fighting Grimm and Raven got wounded by one. He was most worried about Cinder, and expressed his relief with a hug. Though his face conveyed genuine care, Cinder's face was completely apathetic. Deep within her she hoped to escape without having to confront the man she grew to call master. She took a deep breath and said, "Ozpin… aren't you tired of pretending that you give a damn about me?… You think that ever worked?… I can see the truth in your eyes… You only ever helped me because you wanted me to become your weapon… You want me to fulfill your stupid dream — that's all you ever cared for… You wanted to use me… In the end you're just like all the others… YOU'RE A SELFISH HUMAN!"

This speech was more of an attempt of Cinder to hype herself. She knows she has to betray him now, despite his kindness and love for her, so she has to convince herself that Ozpin is a bad person in order to justify her next action. And her next action…

Is to stab him in the stomach with her flame saber.

Ozpin was hit by a wave shock and was paralyzed, falling on the ground. Summer's eyes lost their glow from fear. He had no idea she could do this, so he couldn't protect himself at all. Cinder stood over Ozpin with her hand shaking, and with small tears of grief leaking out of her eyes. "This is what you get… for trying to hurt my family!" Cinder said. Ozpin was out of comission, so now it was time for Cinder to escape with Summer.

She urged her cousin to grab her hand and leave everyone behind. However, after witnessing that, Summer made her mind. She walked up slowly… and slapped Cinder in the face. Really hard. The sound of that slap silenced everything else. Cinder was sent staggering back, covering the red side of her face in shock. It was a very confusing moment for her. She looked back at Summer's face, and saw hatred and tears. In those simple seconds, Cinder understood that she fucked up big time, and started crying.

"Is this who you were?… Is that why you became my friend?! Just so I could help you… do all this?!… You said I was like a sister to you… WAS ANY OF THAT EVER TRUE?!" Summer shouted. Cinder of course couldn't do anything but ignore what was happening around her, still trying to convince Summer to come with. She promised to tell her the truth about everything. About the world, about the Grimm, about history — anything that Summer wants to know, she will explain. But first, she had to come with Cinder. Summer could only reply with painful silence, and a face of inner turmoil.

Of course, this shit needs to end in a dramatic style.

The rooftop of the main hall starts to collapse as a powerful entity just busts through the ceiling and shakes the ground on his fall. The black mantle and silver shoulder pads make it evidently clear… It's Silverclaw. His eyes were covered in shadows. He started walking towards Cinder with his black Aura popping off around him, showing a clear killing intent. He says, "I've heard enough."

Summer stood in front of him. "Mr. Silverclaw, please wait-"

Silverclaw just backhand slaps Summer out of the way, making her fall on the ground. The guy isn't taking anyone's shit anymore — he uncovers his bladed claws from under his mantle and dashes at Cinder. She barely manages to deflect it, scrapping her cheek and making her fly from the impact. Her sword and the relic were tossed away from her. Ozpin was dying on the ground, but begged Silverclaw to not kill her. Silverclaw doesn't hold back — she would've never picked up the Relic if she didn't know exactly what it is. Cinder wouldn't survive the next clash against him if she didn't start spamming her fire power to create a protective wall of fire around her. Silverclaw was launched back by the heat.

"I always knew there was something wrong with you, Ms. Fall. A Semblance that controls Grimm? The gods would be damned if I had that kind of luck. Still, it is quite a formidable power. I once had the opportunity to battle with the man you were before. I never thought I would meet the wielder of the same Ancestral Semblance twice in my lifetime." Silverclaw said. "For whatever reason you came to my castle, or whatever caused you to control the Grimm in the first place… I would like to learn more. But firstly, I need to get rid of the danger you represent."

Silverclaw took off his gauntlet and his black mantle. Underneath he was dressed in rough black leather and armor pieces, giving him the vibe of a disheveled knight with long gray hair. And so for the first time we witness him activating his Semblance, making his appearance change. His black Aura started to manifest wings made of energy on his back. His eyes changed color to pure black, and his skin became pale like pure snow. His hand was being enveloped by dark Aura, and he started reaching it towards Cinder. He grabbed her with far too much speed to react, and she fell victim to his Semblance, "Dark Angel".

Once in his grasp, Cinder suddenly felt that she couldn't summon her flames anymore. Silverclaw's ability allowed him to manipulate his opponents soul to a certain extent. As long as he held onto Cinder, he could suppress her Aura and even her Semblance. However, that's not good enough. He wanted to take that power away from her forever. Cinder couldn't stop his other hand, so he held her head and placed his thumb over her forehead. His black Aura started enveloping around Cinder and squeezing her energy back inside. Cinder started screaming in pain as Silverclaw began the process of sealing a part of her soul, and thus her Semblance.

He was about to finish, when suddenly Summer tackled him from behind and held his arm. Despite all this shit, she still had the desire to stop the fighting and solve the situation without any more violence. Silverclaw tried to shake her away, but in the end Summer bought a few precious seconds that changed the course of history for the worse.

Suddenly, the wall closest to them is destroyed as a huge body crashed through it. Pieces went flying everywhere, and suddenly a Grimm came in with insane speed towards Cinder. It was the legendary Manticore — or rather, how we got to know it in this volume, Cinder's pet lion, Momo. Silverclaw was in such shock that he couldn't do anything — the creature simply appeared and sent him flying away with a strike from his paw. The manticore stood in front of Cinder and released a loud roar that made everyone cover their ears and back off.

Soon, all the other characters start to show up. Team GMOR arrived with Port, and Tai with Qrow arrived right along team MRBL. Everyone was there, looking equally messed up after all the fighting. Cinder looked at all of them and her face quickly melted into dread. Her lips were trembling. The strongest warriors in the nation are right in front of her, and the Relic was out of her grasp. Lastly, she still had one final rant in her.

"Don't… don't you all look at me like this!… This… This wasn't supposed to be like this! I wasn't supposed to be your friend! DAMN IT! What was I thinking?! Why did I think things could be different with you!… You humans are all the same!" Cinder said, holding her head and crying.

"Cinder!" Summer shouted.

"SHUT UP! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Cinder shouted back, scaring her. Fire started to surround Cinder, and quickly lit up the castle walls and rubble around her. "I thought you were different! I thought I could trust you! I thought we could be… ARGH! I HATE YOU!"

The world went silent for an ominous while, as the two girls stared each other in the eyes. Summer could no longer recognize her. Ultimately, the scene is left like that — unresolved and tense. Cinder mounted Momo, and the monster unveiled long wings from its back. Cinder looks away from everyone in shame, and the monster flies away through the hole on the roof. The fire spreading through the castle slowly ends on its own, and lastly… Summer falls to her knees.

Everyone just spent a good while looking at each other, and so finally…

The episode ends.

Commentary (spoilers): And so at long last ends the first half of the volume. This was, essentially, our last spice of fun in the whole series. The last we will see of standalone episodes, and the beginning of the end. From now on it's all plot, and business, and we can only see glimpses of peace beyond the very end of the series. Still, we haven't finished this volume yet. There are several stories that I've been holding out that I believe need telling. Those are: The battle of team MOHL in Vacuo, Team STRQ all grown up, Qrow's awakening, the tragedy of GMOR, how team MRBL died, The founding of Atlas City, Yang's birth and Raven's departure, and lastly the story of how Summer Rose died. If none of these interest you, which I find unlikely, you're free to either skip to the end and see only the finale. Basically, the story that follows is Summer Rose slowly becoming depressed and disillusioned with the world as more of her old friends either die or abandon her. I'll even try to be brief about it, since I don't want this to be 150 pages like the last two volumes.

When it comes to these episodes on their own, it's pretty basic, but it concludes this section quite perfectly. By this point I'm still considering making two more episodes during this time period so then this betrayal can hit harder, but unfortunately I don't have any more ideas or episode subjects left. Everyone fought at least once, and we have a feel for each of their personalities, so I'm okay with this. I didn't focus on making Summer a very complex character because she'll only be the protagonist this one time. Qrow and Raven were the only characters who needed a backstory so far, because it helps shape all that happens to their characters going forward, and also stuff we saw on previous volumes. The dialogue needs a lot of tweaking so it can hit harder. Well, I have nothing more to add. Let's move on.

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But first, I want to talk about those Minisodes about Cinder that I mentioned.

They follow a very simple structure, basically they just show Cinder having a great time in Vacuo — better than she had anywhere else in her life up to that point. Salem is always there behind her, never busy with anything, since Grimm apparently are created on their own. She dedicates all her time into raising Cinder, and by here you would not think she's the true main antagonist. Despite her bizarre appearance, Salem can perfectly act like a normal and motherly human. She smiles, she's polite and even has a small sense of humor. She cooks for Cinder and urges her to train and study. And if Cinder ever feels afflicted, she can always leave Vacuo whenever she wants. It will still be here if she ever wants to come back, and Salem will always welcome her.

This small series makes it clear that Cinder is not mind controlled or brainwashed at all by Salem — she genuinely loves her as a mother. Salem is a powerful goddess, and she can basically do whatever she wants while inside Vacuo. She uses this instant-creation ability to make toys and structures for Cinder to play with. She creates Grimm who can be very fun and adorable pets at the snap of her fingers. One thing I also want to remember is that Momo is always present as Cinder's pet, and he grows bigger and stronger in each new Minisode of this small series.

Of course, we need one Minisode for each of the Severus.

Fear, the one with the snake mask, was the equivalent of her teacher. He taught Cinder how to read, write, math, but most importantly, how to be manipulative. He taught her to be a psycho, because the world is naturally evil and selfish. If she refuses to be low, then others will use that against her. Fear was the one who taught Cinder to be the master manipulator she would one day become. She nicknamed him "Mister."

Madness, the old man, was her usual playmate. The old man was just jolly and childish, and his antics gave Cinder some of the childhood she missed out. The two would play pranks on the other Severus, and Madness would tell glorious stories of adventure to her. His job was to fuel her head with grandeur and expectations. One thing that shines through in all of these is how the Severus have no recollection of their existence before being Severus, so Madness doesn't know if any of his stories are true or not. He comes off as harmless compared to his peers of the golden temple. She nicknamed him "Grandpa."

Remorse, the giant with the bear mask, was the one who taught her how to fight. He didn't speak at all, but somehow he taught Cinder how to use her Semblance to the highest possible limit, all before she was even 18 years old. Despite her skills, whenever the two sparred she would refuse to hurt him with her fire. She was still soft. As part of the training, Remorse forced her to kill several powerful Grimm, and finally arrived at her final trial, where she would have to kill normal living creature — a cute white bunny. Cinder was extremely reluctant to do so, and so Remorse proceeded to speak for the first time, and teach a lesson of survival of the fittest. Sometimes people must do things they don't like, in order to achieve their greater goals. And Cinder, as an important person, can't hesitate not even for a second when it's time to make a tough choice. Her opponents certainly will not give her the chance to wait. Lives are sacrificed every day, most times for completely empty and selfish reasons. It's through her own goals and motivations that these deaths are given meaning, and it's her job to make sure that they didn't die for nothing. Eventually Cinder grows the guts and kills the bunny, turning it into ashes in a split second. She nicknamed Remorse as "Big."

Wrath and Hunger were solely the protectors of Vacuo. They lived in the black forest that surrounded the land, and merely interacted among each other. Wrath is straight up evil, while Hunger is apathetic and reclusive. Despite that, Salem encouraged Cinder to talk with them. They didn't have anything to teach her at all, but their clash of personalities amused her. Just like the others they didn't have names, so she nicknamed Hunger and Wrath as "Monty" and "Gary" (Munchy and Angry).

...

The last lesson was from Salem herself — a test to see if Cinder, after all this time, could overcome her humanity. It all began once Salem came to her room with food, only to catch Cinder crying to herself as she sat on the luxurious bed. She was sad because even after years, the scar on her throat never disappeared. It gave her bad memories and made her feel terrible. Cinder called out Hunger and Wrath, who appeared at the blink of an eye. They were to take little Cinder into a special mission… outside Vacuo.

The next minisode is the last one, and concludes this small series. It shows Cinder standing on a cliff with the moon behind her, and fire up ahead. Wrath and Hunger are by her sides, wearing black hoods that completely conceal their true appearance, outside of the red glowing eyes. The camera cuts to a different perspective, showing hundreds of Grimm, some Abnormal, completely wrecking the fuck out of a whole city in flames. It's not just any town; it's Erassu, the city that Cinder grew up in during the first flashbacks. It used to be Haven's second strongest city, before it was simply destroyed without trace in a matter of hours. Turns out this is what happened to it. The Grimm were destroying everything and killing everyone, and it left Cinder in silent shock.

She asks them, "… Why… Why did you want to… show me this?"

"Do you understand it now, Cinder?" Hunger asked. It was time for him to finish that thought from long ago. "The world… no matter how many centuries pass… will always be full of horrible, evil creatures… like the people who abused you, and threw you away. If they were given the chance, they would destroy the world to fulfill their desires, no matter how many innocents end up hurt in the process. In a world without monsters… we would become demons. And that's why… Lady Salem created the Grimm. An enemy to remind humanity of what truly matters…"

They just keep on watching the destruction and screaming until finally… everything ends. Erassu had hundreds of rivers connected to it, so not everyone died — lots of people managed to flee through boats. They still had one more thing to do there, and so Hunger and Wrath walked Cinder down the hill and into the city. It was fully destroyed, but now the Grimm are gathered in the city square to see something. There was a single man left alive — he was desperately holding a spear and telling all the creatures to stay back. The man quickly looks back at Cinder as she approached, and we see by the broken heart-shaped sunglases that he is big mister Malachite. He was left alive specifically for her. He immediately recognizes Cinder, but can't say anything out of desperation. Cinder covers her throat as she slowly makes her psychotic face of anger. She starts walking towards him as fire sparks around her, and before anything actually happens, we cut to black.

The last we see is Cinder holding Hunger's hand, walking through the plains. Her other hand is stained with blood, and not a single last word is said.

This was the day that Cinder Fall became a monster.

Commentary (spoilers): I think these are the best set of Minisodes in the entire series. We're watching this broken girl being spoiled, nurtured and raised by literal demons, and she doesn't know any better. By this point there is no essential difference between Cinder and the other Severus, except only that she's still a human being. By far the most grueling and complex backstory of any character of this show, rightfully belonging to the main villain. It makes you ask so many god damn questions about the origins of Grimm and Salem's true motivation, and it ends with the first and most precise explanation of why Grimm were created. Originally I planned to only reveal the reasoning at the end of the series during Salem's backstory, but I feel like this is good enough of a place. Grimm are nothing but the incarnation of a karmic force. What Hunger basically says is that the world is evil, and Grimm were made to be so evil that all of humanity would stop fighting one another in order to destroy them. Of course the true reasoning is much more in depth than that, but this is a simplified version of it. I'll leave the big philosophical debate to the end. This is a fighting show damn it. Speaking of fighting, here comes the best fucking fight of the series so far.

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When I said I was done with the academy timeline, it was sort of a lie. We still have three flashback episodes about it. The story of team MOHL.

It begins with Summer apathetically walking through the corridors of the castle. There was a lot of handy work being done in order to fix stuff after the battle. We cut to all the characters, but they remain in this depressive silence. Summer was having the worst of it all — covered in bandages, and with eyes that lost their vivid glow due to grief. Her destination is Ozpin's office, where she finds him getting wasted. It's the first we see of him drinking something other than tea. He welcomes her in, and so Summer just sits in front of him. All she asks is the big and plain truth. How did he meet Cinder, why did he bring her to the castle, and anything else he would like to share.

And so begins the flashback, of two and a half years ago.

...

They don't look that important walking down the street. They don't dress in complicated armor or noble clothing, but they still are menacing. Their casual appearance doesn't hint at the fact that these four could take down a god if they had the opportunity. Team MOHL — Maria Caravela, Ozpin Kurtin, Hazel Reiner and Leonardo Lionheart.

They were just coming back from a mission. Leo and Ozpin were discussing who killed the highest number of Beowolves, both being tied at 67. Hazel is just laughing to himself, knowing he killed over a hundred. Maria is just silently walking in front, tripping over any bump or ledge on the road. Hazel shakes her and urges Maria to stop looking into the future all the time, but she can't help but be curious and afraid of what might happen if she stops. We pretty much know all these personalities — Maria is monotone and sassy, Ozpin is a pompous bastard, Leo is a cocky jerk and Hazel is the chill straight man. Since they are still quite young, all of them still had a lot of vibrant colors to their design. Of course, Maria has bright Silver Eyes.

We continue following them as the team goes into a pub restaurant for lunch. This scene is just a lot of bantering, just so we can get a nice feeling that these guys have been a team for several years and know each other quite well. Maria constantly speaks to herself as she struggles to discern the present and future timelines that she is exploring, and because of that she has a very terrible memory. It gets the others annoyed that she's never focused with them, but the ability shows its good side very quickly. As they eat, Maria is able to predict a tragedy. In two days, the news of an attack at the railroad was reported, and all the workers were killed along with their escort. Apparently it happened two days ago in the future, or rather… right now in the present.

The team departs immediately, walking into the main street as they begin to stretch. Ozpin makes another bet with Leo to see who can arrive first. Once it was all set and done, the four simply disappeared into thin air. A gust of wind rushed over the road as they did so, scaring the people around them. The four were jumping through the rooftops, but they move so fast that normal people can only see phasing figures for a split second, followed by the rushing wind. In no time flat they were out of the city, jumping over the walls. Ozpin was simply faster than Leo, but the ladder could send himself into the sky and fly through the air with his Semblance.

Their destination was a point in between Vale and Atlas. At this time, the railroad that links the two nations was still being built, and required a huge work force as well as a Huntsman party to protect them in case Grimm jumped in. The Huntsmen watch as team MOHL arrives, and they react with fear. Though they are strong, they are also horrible news — Maria always appears minutes before a tragedy. And so the small attack started, as Grimm covered the horizon and were fast approaching. MOHL ordered the lower Huntsmen to take the workers away safely while they stood behind to kill the Grimm army. What follows is the biggest wash in the show so far.

Team MOHL kills Grimm so easily that it almost feels like a simple-minded chore, instead of a battle against several dozen elders. We already know very well the style that each of them uses. Maria is easily the weakest in terms of combat, but her Semblance also makes her the most invincible, as she predicts the movements of each and every opponent who comes her way. Several Grimm can just bite Hazel together and not even go through his skin, and die with a single punch from. Leo can kill Grimm with a shockwave caused by his finger flicker, not even needing to touch the enemies to amass a great body count. Ozpin can literally step in the air from how fast he moves, achieving a strange form of flight, and tearing Grimm apart with a blunt strikes. This scene mostly serves to show off their power at their peak, and of course it has to end on a bombastic tone.

Soon they spot an abnormal coming their way — a creature as big as the castle of Beacon, causing small quakes with each step. It's a mammoth Grimm, but it had grown almost fully white from age, and it had several trunks instead of one. The monster saw them from a distance, and activated its killing mode. It started to move way too fast for its huge size, and it would trample over them in just a minute. As the four stare at the beast coming towards them… they just gather up.

And so Hazel, Ozpin and Leo play Odd Or Even to see who gets to kill it single handedly. Ozpin wins, so he goes alone to fight the big Kaiju. He scales the monster and dodges all its attacks as he searches for the weakest point in its hardened skin. He ends the fight by breaking through the white layer and using his "Touch of Death" Semblance to kill the monster, melting it on the floor slowly as it screams in agony.

It was a complete and utter victory — not even a scratch was done to them. The workers could continue making the railroad as if nothing happened. However, as Maria peered into the future for a moment, she realized that the pack came from the direction of Oaktown, one of the small villages of Vale. Hazel urges them to rush and help them, while Maria decides to remain silent despite knowing exactly what happens next.

…

The village was trampled. Houses were mostly destroyed, but the people survived as they hid inside the village bunker, of which all other villages have. However, as soon as MOHL arrived, a young couple left the shelter started screaming around for their son and daughter, who they couldn't find inside the bunker. They were supposed to be playing by the river outside of the village gates, and probably didn't hear the alarm bells. The desperate parents were rushing to go find them, but… Maria holds them back, as she looks down with sad eyes. Unfortunately, all they would find of those kids were… a few bloody remains. "Believe me… you don't want… to find them." Maria said.

The mother breaks down crying, and the father just stands there covering his face and tears. All the villagers just sit down and look at their destroyed homes — some blaming team MOHL for not arriving earlier, but it was no use fighting now. All that goofiness and ease from the start of the episode was completely erased in a second. From a complete victory, to the offscreen death of children. All that the strongest team of the century could do… is clean up after the damage has been done. Even with future vision on their side, they can't make the world any less cruel than it is.

There was depressive sadness all around, however… Ozpin was losing his mind. A face of complete ire, as if he disassociated with what is happening. There's just a single thought going on in his head right now, and so he just starts walking alone into the empty plains as his purple aura flares up menacingly. Leo calls him out but he doesn't respond. Leo says, "Maria, Ozzy is doing the thing again…"

"Let him be. He'll be back in three days tops." Maria said.

…

Apparently, it's a pretty common occurrence for Ozpin to lose his mind. It always happens when he's met with scenes like those. Just seeing a single death makes him go mad with rage. And to cope, he just goes alone into the wild and searches for Grimm to kill. Not just to kill, but to plainly torture it to its last shriek. After two days and two nights of pure unmitigated screaming and killing, Ozpin sits alone under the moon with his clothes covered in black goo. He starts shivering from rage as he receives voices and memory flashes from the past. Memories of his family being murdered right in front of him. Not an uncommon story in this series, but it seems to have affected Ozpin beyond repair. He continues mumbling his life-long promise of killing every single Grimm who walks on this earth, again and again.

It was then that Ozpin was hit by an idea. It sounds like madness at first, but soon this thought had overpowered his rage. It's a long and ominous scene as he walks around and ruminates about what to do. He looks distressed, angry, sad, and finally motivated. He knows what he has to do in order to fulfill his dream, and killing an infinite number of these worthless creatures won't solve anything forever. He finally decides to go back home, as the shattered moon watches him from the horizon.

...

The crew were gathered at the castle hall when Ozpin arrived. He had taken a shower and looked fancy, but unlike any other time before, it seems that he hasn't calmed down. He sits down and immediately starts a long speech to his friends.

He asks them — what is their destiny? Why are they fighting for? They have been teammates for nine years. They were able to kill any kind of Grimm that ever came their way. Their collection of powers are the greatest that one could possibly imagine. Both Silverclaw and Nikolas Schnee, the two biggest threats in the world, recognize them as the strongest team of the century. They are at their absolute prime age. They can't possibly become stronger than they are right now. And so what? Are they going to live out mundane and worthless careers just like any other Huntsman, and die of old age?

Hell no. Ozpin will not accept that. They have a greater responsibility as the strongest. If they don't, who will? It's up to them to use all of their skills and powers to destroy Grimm once and for all. The only way they can do that… is by infiltrating Vacuo, with the help of Maria's eyes. By here they are aware of the Silver Eye's power (doesn't really need to explain how they learned it). She can guide them through the black hue, and they can finally discover their true enemy… and hopefully destroy it.

The other three are naturally reluctant, but Ozpin was quite inspiring. Maria heard this speech a few hours ago in fact, and had already considered all the possibilities. It was a dumb plan by all accounts, but she believes he's right, and was willing to go through as long as everyone else agreed. Hazel points out how Silverclaw would never approve such a mission, so they will likely have to go on their own without support. Ozpin proceeds to guilt trip Hazel by reminding him of his wife and daughter, as he could offer them a world without monsters if they were to succeed. As for Leo, Ozpin just exploits their rivalry to motivate Leo to go and be part of history. And so, with all settled, the four swear an oath to see the mystery of the Grimm to the very end, and save the world with their combined strength.

That concludes the first episode.

The next one starts with team MOHL preparing themselves, putting up actual fighting gear this time. The blue witch, the green gentleman, the brown mountain and the orange samurai. They still have some prep time before the mission, so they go their separate ways for a day. Ozpin just prepares for combat alone in his room, practicing sword play with his cane in the dark. Leo spends the morning sulking in beauty products, as he wants to look his best while he goes down in history. Hazel says goodbye to his family and his toddler daughter. Here we also see for the first time his hot Faunus wife, which is a cow girl with small horns and ears. And lastly, Maria takes her time to send a radio message through a less advanced version of the communication's tower — a message to her master and friends about what she's planning to do. She immediately gets a call back.

…

Finally they reunite and immediately leave through the plains by running. They would arrive in Vacuo by tomorrow morning at this rate, but Maria insisted that they took a detour towards Atlas a little bit. Soon it becomes clear why. Maria contacted her old buddies from the Schnee School for gifted youngsters to help them in this raid. Eventually they meet up with them in the wildlands, and we get introduced to two characters who are sort of OCs.

The first was a man with red hair in a wolf cut, and bronze armor — who by color scheme we can easily identify to be Pyrrha's future dad. The other was a blond woman with a pixie cut, using an eyepatch on her right eye, who we don't know yet, but will be quite important in future volumes. Troy Nikos and Mia Lulrid.

Apparently they were top 3 and top 4 Huntsmen of Atlas respectively, underneath Maria and Nikolas. They came to help on the trip, but apparently they weren't supposed to go. Nikolas specifically told them to convince team MOHL to turn back, but instead they opt to join the mission against the order of their headmaster. Maria is sad to go against Nikolas orders but proceeds anyway, seeing the mission as something much bigger than them. The six continue moving into the north, preserving their strength for whatever they find at the other side. Mia and Troy take the scouting ahead and fight most of the monsters for them. Note that Troy uses the exact same weapons as Pyrrha (if not THE same), and Mia wields a high caliber magnum revolver.

...

They were able to cover a lot of ground towards the north — now they just had to camp one more night. While Leo, Hazel, Troy and Mia play cards and drink together by the campfire, Maria goes to talk with Ozpin alone. He's still sharp and focused on what's to come. They just chit chat for a while in order to get Ozpin in a more relaxed mood, until Ozpin asks, "Maria, tell me… are we going to win or not?"

"I don't know… The second we enter the hue, it all just gets weird. I don't know how to explain. Maybe some kind of power is messing up mine… I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit scared." Maria said.

"Don't be. You're pretty great… I'm sure we can win together." Ozpin said. The two kept staring at the moon for a while, until Ozpin dropped his guard and said, "I'm pretty sure you saw this question coming, obviously, but… After we save the world, what do you plan on doing?"

Maria giggled. "I'm not going out on a date with you, Kurtin."

Ozpin blushed. "Okay… you could've rejected me five hours ago, you know!"

"Sure, but… I was hoping that, once we actually got here, maybe you could… I don't know — convince me, I guess? But now that I think about it, I can't deny that… my heart will always belong to someone else. Even if I try, I can't just take him out of my mind." Maria said.

Ozpin giggled back. "Hmph… nine years come and gone, and you're still head over heels for old Nick? Come on, just face the facts. He's just way to old for you. The man still visits his wife's grave constantly, and in all these decades he never dared to see any other woman. You know that he will never like you the way you like him. And, correct me if I'm wrong: Didn't he always say you were like -a daughter- to him?"

Maria got angry and blushed, "Alright, enough! Just shut up already! As if you knew a damn thing about young girls and love!"

Ozpin laughed, "Oy vey, I don't think you qualify as a young girl anymore."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" She shouted.

The two continued bickering under the moonlight for many hours, until eventually it was time to sleep.

…

At the same time, in the land of Vacuo, we see Salem looking out into the skies from her temple. Cinder is sitting right there by the steps, holding her face in worry. She asks what's wrong, and Salem says that intruders will come to their land shortly. Salem calls out Hunger and Wrath, and both of them appear out of thin air, already kneeling before her. She has to decide which will take care of this, as the guardians of Vacuo. Wrath begged repeatedly for the opportunity of having some fun after long centuries of boredom, however Salem prioritized her silent knight.

"Hunger… tell me, how are you feeling?" Salem asked.

"I'm hungry." He replied.

After a short silence, Salem made a decision to give Hunger the job to obliterate them. This battle should satiate him for a good century, considering the sheer power of the intruders. Wrath and the other Severus were meant to simply stay back and watch if they wished. As for Cinder… She had a special job. Salem thinks this is a good opportunity to enact the plan that she has been discussing with Cinder for a long time now. Cinder promises to not disappoint — this will be her chance to repay her godmother for everything she has done.

…

Back outside, our warriors finally arrive at the doors of Vacuo the next morning. The land surrounding Vacuo is made of this solid gray rock and gravel, as absolutely no life blooms from there. The weather is permanently ominous and cloudy. This place is known as Forbidden Valley, and right up ahead was the black hue. The six stare at this endless wall of moving darkness, completely blocking the view ahead. Though they see this dark magic wall, Maria sees the black forest — just like Cinder does. As they continue moving forward, powerful Grimm started appearing out of nowhere. Once they were finally there, the squad found themselves completely surrounded. Troy and Mia elected to stay behind and cover their eventual exit, preventing the incoming Grimm army to slow them down. They had absolute faith in MOHL, and they are absolutely expendable in comparison to this important mission. Maria hugs her old school buddies and goes to enter Vacuo.

She could see clearly through the forest path, but all that Ozpin, Hazel and Leo could feel is a shivering cold and the absolute void, even with wide open eyes. Maria held onto their hands and guided them slowly through the woods. Only after they left the forest, the other three were able to see again. And so for the first in a long time, a team of Huntsmen managed to invade Vacuo. They are met with the ashes grass, the dark sky, red clouds and giant moon. Maria could finally see the future again, and as she does so… she suddenly says, "It can't be…"

She started running ahead, and so her team followed. And after a while, they spot someone up ehead…

It was a girl.

She looks quite young — still in her early teenage years. She was sitting there, waiting for them in a lonely hill. It was Cinder. Short black hair, red dress, and most shockingly, silver eyes. The squad just stood staring at her in complete disbelief, and soon Ozpin rushed to question her. Cinder didn't seem to be in fear or even confused, she just said plainly, "You guys aren't supposed to be here."

Cinder revealed a few things — nothing that makes her suspicious. She just lives here, as she has done for quite a few years. The Grimm don't attack her, and she can even command them. She's being very casual while team MOHL is freaking out. Maria confirms that Cinder is indeed human, claiming that she bleeds and dies on the timeline where Maria chops off her head. Cinder says, "Yeah, about that… you guys really shouldn't go any further. There's a strong guy up ahead…"

They try to ask her more questions and make sense out of all this, and Cinder just remains apathetic and honest. She came here because she was guided by voices, and wondered if Maria had also heard them. Maria was deeply confused from meeting with someone else who has Silver Eyes. They were supposed to be extinct. Cinder was pretty confused by that too. Before they could talk for any longer, a thunderous noise surges — a slow and distant rumbling echoes around them.

"I guess it's too late now… He must've smelled you already." Cinder said.

Suddenly all four of them turn in the same direction, as they can sense an immense Aura spawning in the distance. They started to noticeably sweat, and couldn't take their eyes away. Cinder simply stood up and walked away. She begged that they get out of Vacuo one final time, but Ozpin refused, and so she left them be. Eventually they saw the ominous figure slowly rising in the ashen slopes. The black humanoid with white pants and a white wolf mask. That was a hundred-yard stare that he was giving them. So silent and yet so dense. They instinctively put up their guard, held their weapons, and stood there waiting in fear. They couldn't fathom what that creature was, and then… it started to slowly walk towards them. The three begged Maria for instructions, but she just stood there mumbling.

"This can't be… there's not a single possible future… where I can dodge…!" She said.

It left the other three confused. They looked ahead again… and saw that the Severus instantly appeared in front of them. He traveled the horizon in a blink of an eye. Maria was able to put up her arms to protect her vital areas, but it was still kicked in the torso really hard, and was sent flying away. They simply couldn't believe what just happened. Maria actually got hit?!

Hunger didn't have any grand speech planned out. For whatever reason they came here, now that they've seen him… they can't leave this place alive anymore. Before the fight truly begins, Hunger bows to them, asserts his name… and thanks them for the meal.

And so begins the money fight of this volume, lasting the rest of the episode and half of the next one. This is by far the biggest fight of the whole show so far, not just in length, but also in sheer scale. This is literally Dragon Ball Z level, except without the energy blasts. Over the course of the fight, the scenery turns into a complete and utter hellscape. The clash of their attacks caused shockwaves and craters. They all move at phasing speed, and well, being straight to the point, this fight is mostly inspired by Naruto. More specifically, the four Hokages versus Madara battle. Four guys with a lot of complimentary skills, and the super strong single guy that knows how to counter all their moves.

Basically the start of the fight just involves them losing really fucking hard. Even Leo with his broken ass Semblance couldn't do too much damage to Hunger, as he points out that his shockwaves are most effective against large numbers or extremely heavy opponents. Hunger just allowed himself to be taken by the shockwave, and thus received no damage. Despite looking like a bum in baggy pants, Hunger's level of experience is unbelievably high. He needs no weapons, and he treats his white-scaled hands and fingers as swords and knives of their own — a pure martial artist. Eventually Maria rejoins the fight and uses her Future Vision to effectively fight Hunger, but burns a lot of energy in the process. She does a little speech and urges her friends to unite and fight as a team, instead of hogging the enemies like they usually do. Finally they get their shit together as a team and fight Hunger, putting him against the corner. The enemy couldn't overwhelm them in sheer physical power or numbers if it kept up like this...

So, he was forced to use his Semblance.

They watched as Aura flared up around Hunger — red aura. The world they knew was crumbling away as their opponent only got stronger. He wasn't just an abnormal. Hunger was truly human, who just happens to look like a monster. His Semblance seems to change his form. He takes off his mask, scaring the four warriors with his young and sad face. They watch his mouth slowly gape wider, and we can finally see sharp teeth behind his lips, almost like a shark. He jumped to attack again — not with his hands, but with his jaws. Hazel stood in front and crossed his arms to protect the others. The attack connects, and it looks like Hunger bit off a chunk from Hazel's arm. However, he didn't do any damage. They look back at Hunger, and see that…

He was biting down on pure Aura, flowing out of his mouth.

He swallows… and so they can feel him becoming stronger instantly.

Hunger's Semblance, "Soul Reaper", gives him the power to eat souls. Naturally, the battle takes a pretty hopeless turn after that. He can literally bite down on them, getting stronger while they become weaker. But it seems that's not the only thing his ability does. Once he eats the Aura of team MOHL… he becomes capable of using their own Semblances for as long he still has the Aura inside of him. Basically, they are fucked. First he got hold of Hazel's Aura, making him grow more powerful. Then he proceeded to do the same with Leo and Maria, using their own powers with the same level of mastery as they do. The clash of shockwaves between Hunger and Leo was the thing that destroyed the land around them more than anything else. And once he ate Maria's Aura and gained her Semblance, something strange happened. Once confronted with someone with the same power, Maria's future vision seems to completely break. Once the flow of time is observed by two people, it's impossible to dictate which timelines happen without the consensus of the two. Her greatest asset just ceased working, and she became afraid. The only weakness of his Semblance is that apparently he can only use one stolen Semblance at a time.

Now we're back to Hunger wrecking them mercilessly — this time with their own powers. It goes on and on for a few more grueling minutes of beautifully animated fighting and destruction. Eventually Ozpin was the only one left standing. Somehow he was able to keep up with Hunger in speed and killing intent. Once threatened by death, Ozpin turns on his psycho mode and becomes stronger than all his teammates. Hunger still managed to hold him in place, and prepared to bite out a chunk of his soul. However, at the last second, Ozpin activates his Semblance.

Once Hunger bites the purple flames of his Aura, he recoiled in pain and kept staring like a scared animal. It might sound completely stupid, but somehow team MOHL had a perfect counter to his absurdly broken power. "Touch of Death" made Ozpin's Aura poisonous, and it will kill Hunger if he dares to eat it. Now Ozpin takes the lead and engulfs himself in purple flames, making every single touch against Hunger infinitely more deadly. His cane had broken in half, but now he uses the two broken pieces as Kali Sticks, and is kicking ass even harder. With Ozpin giving them the edge, the rest of the team gathers strength one last time, in order to execute a team combo to kill Hunger once and for all.

Hazel managed to catch him by surprise, lifting him upwards with his arms restrained. The other three were in position in front of them. Leo used the last of his Aura to create a shockwave, sending Maria and Ozpin flying forward with the force. They were already flying at insane speed, but Ozpin finished by giving her a leg up, launching Maria even faster towards Hunger. She spun around with her scythes like a whirlwind of death, and well…

Hunger looked ahead in absolute apathetic boredom.

He didn't care that his head was chopped off at the speed of light.

As his body fell lifeless on the floor along with his head, everyone just looked down, breathing heavily. They could finally fall to their knees and rest. It was finally over. Whatever the fuck Hunger is, surely he was strong… But he wasn't match for all of them combined. Nothing ever was. Leo started to compulsively laugh to stave off his fear, and soon the others joined him. They were all pretty hurt and the land was a mess. But… they won.

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"I wish to thank all of you… I can't remember the last time that I felt… full." Hunger said.

Everyone slowly turned to the ground, and saw his severed head speaking without a care in the world. And so… his body lifted itself from the ground, slowly walked to the left, and picked up his severed head. He put it back in place, and just like that, Hunger was fully healed. In fact, it seemed like he was more radiant with power than he was at the beginning. Ozpin immediately exclaimed, "How… HOW AREN'T YOU DEAD?!"

"Forgive me, but I don't recall ever saying that I was mortal." Hunger said. He pointed to the clear, ominous hole in his chest. "Whatever was that thing which made me like you, as you can see… It's long gone. You can never kill me."

And so begins the most depressive scene in this show's history. Beaten, bloody and outmatched, team MOHL just gets utterly destroyed. They have no more energy to fight back. Hazel is the first to go down, as Hunger makes sure to completely eat his Aura — not just to heal himself, but to turn off Hazel's Semblance. And so he delivered an attack that made the unstoppable mountain feel pain for the first time in decades. A slash across Hazel's entire chest and neck, done solely by Hunger's fingers. Hazel passed out instantly due to his simple inexperience of dealing with actual pain.

Leo was a cocky arrogant jerk, but that attitude came solely out of his crude and rightful belief that he was the strongest, and that his team was the best. Once proven wrong, it seems that the god of destruction regressed to the cowardly lion. His legs were shaking despite his serious face, and he didn't realized it until Hunger pointed it out. At the end of his wit, Leo decides to turn his back to the enemy. He had to get his teammates and piss out by flying away. But the second he turned away from an enemy, Hunger used his fingers to slice Leo's back, cutting off his Lion Faunus tail in the process. As if that wasn't enough, Hunger just plunged his hand into his back, going through his torso, putting Leo down for good.

Next was Ozpin, who was almost out of energy on the ground. He tried to use his Semblance on Hunger again, but now that he's wise of that shit, Hunger activates Hazel's Semblance in himself, negating all pain done by the touch of death. Their one and only trump card was surpassed. As Hunger moved to kill Ozpin, Maria stood in front and blocked his attack. She wouldn't allow her team to go down like that — she'd rather die. Hunger quickly breaks her scythes and grabs her by the neck, strangling her with one hand. Ozpin summons more energy out of his ass to jump with a surprise attack, but Hunger easily dodges it. He ducks down, and with a sweeping kick…

He breaks Ozpin's legs, sending his knees backward.

Ozpin was launched like a ragdoll, leaving Maria completely at Hunger's mercy. She felt despair as she looked directly into his glowing red eyes. Maria knew she was going to die, and yet, there was a calm in the air. She could see so much sadness in those red eyes, but there was not a shred of pity. He says, "I killed so many people with these eyes. I'm so tired of doing it… hopefully, you'll be the last one. I can't allow this to repeat ever again. I hope that you can remember the faces… of the people you love."

Hunger's other hand slowly reached for her face. His fingers slowly approach her wide-open eyes.

Cut to black. There's nothing to see. All we can hear… is an agonizing screams of pure pain.

Hunger literally stabs her eyes with his fingers, and lets her fall on the floor.

…

We slowly fade back in, seeing the empty plain, the whistling wind, and Hunger standing there, alone. Team MOHL was utterly defeated on the ground — all of them permanently fucked in a different way. Ozpin is the only one still conscious, but unfortunately his knee bones were turned into scrambled eggs. Even so, Hunger could feel an unnatural Aura building up out of nowhere, as he repeats again and again that he will kill all of them.

The common Grimm were just watching the fight play out from the shadows, and now they start to surround all of them. The strongest team of the century would become the dinner of some pathetic and weak creatures — no different than any other weak warrior out there. They lacked the power to change their fate. Ozpin looks down, and starts to realize that maybe this was it. He was going to die like a moron, without ever getting close to fulfilling his revenge.

But then someone saves the day. Cinder suddenly came back, jumping in front of Ozpin and making all the Grimm back away. Ozpin told her to run, but she says, "Don't worry, mister. They won't hurt me, or any of you."

"You again? Why do you want to help them?" Hunger asked.

"They have suffered enough. They learned their lesson, and they won't come back. I'll take them out of here, don't worry. Please, just this once… I promise I'll not come here to bother you ever again." Cinder said.

After a long staredown, Hunger just puts his hands back in his pockets and walks away. His job was very well done — killing them truly serves no real purpose anymore. They can't come back, and even if they did, he'll just destroy them again. And so the strongest Severus just walks off, looking almost untouched.

Cinder calls out one of the elder Fenrir, putting the four wounded warriors on its back, and riding out of Vacuo across the dark forest. Ozpin questioned how she was doing that, but Cinder will leave the explanations to later.

On the outside, the broken and defeated team MOHL met again with Troy and Mia, who were severely wounded and surrounded by Grimm. With one word, Cinder manages to save them as well, and disperse the pack. And so, leaving the explanations to another day, the defeated warriors can only go back home. The dread felt in their faces and the soundtrack is abysmal. They lost everything they held in pride, and gained absolutely nothing in return. The cruel world that they hated so much… remains unchanged.

"I'm sorry…" Maria mumbled.

Ozpin could hear her repeating that again and again, as she cried tears of blood.

…

…

And we're finally back to the present. Ozpin just finished telling the story to Summer, who looks utterly terrified. After those events, Maria sat in a hospital bed, powerless to see anything other than pure darkness in her future AND present. Even though it was all Ozpin's idea, she took all the responsibility and guilt for the mission. And then one day… her bed was just empty. She left no letter or message — she was too ashamed, sad and broken. Troy and Mia took her back to Atlas, and Ozpin has never heard anything from her ever since. Both Hazel and Leo went their separate ways — one back to his family, the other back home to train. And for the past two years, all Ozpin did was look after Cinder.

He believed in her, since she saved his life… but it turned out to be a mistake, and he always knew it deep inside. It was just too good to be true. He saw Cinder as the last warrior of the Silver Eyes — his last chance at fulfilling his dream of a world without Grimm. Well, that's not really the honest way to put it. His true dream is to kill each and every single one of them… and it doesn't matter what he has to do, as long as that dream comes to fruition, that's all that matters to him. That's what his friends believed in, and that's what he'll pursue to his final breath.

Now of course, that leads back to Summer. She has Silver Eyes — quite likely the last in the whole world. Though he tries to use soft words, Summer knows that the whole world is on her shoulders now. One day she will have to go to Vacuo, fight those insane monsters, and learn the truth that Cinder spoke of. Now all of that rambling made total sense. Ozpin just sat there waiting for a response, but… Summer couldn't do it. She was just a normal village girl from the countryside… How can she save the world? How is she supposed to become strong enough to defeat an enemy that destroyed the strongest team of the century? She knew the stakes, but with tears in her eyes, she refused the call to action. She just can't do it. Ozpin was left in silence as she ran out of the room, crying.

…

Later that day, Summer would find Qrow and Tai looking after Raven at the castle infirmary. She doesn't have the courage to tell them about what she just learned, or the destiny that was just bestowed upon them as a team. For now, she decides to just promise to never abandon them again. She was stupid to seek out family within Cinder, when all along she had them right there beside her. She'll make sure to not make the same mistake. They will have to become stronger as people and warriors… and they will have to do it together.

And so ends the three or two part episode, idk.

Commentary (spoilers): You know I waited a long time to get to this point, where I tell this story. Honestly it's kind of underwhelming narrative wise, because the battle takes 70% of the episode time, and I don't actually write battles. Still, I believe it's a good summation of those events. It's not a complex tragedy story or anything. At this point we heard this story dozens of times, but this is the first time we actually see it, and get context. Making it all Ozpin's idea fits the new canon and makes sense for the character. No matter in what scenario, it just seems like Ozpin just fucked his friends over and over. His plan blinded Maria. His arrogance drove Leo angry enough to literally hijack Shade Academy in order to prove his worth. He fucking drove his niece to suicide; not really his fault at all, but he was there. Overall, it just sucks to have him around, even when he has the best intentions.

Okay so, additional lore time just in case I forgot to actually put it on the plot, but by this time Nikolas Schnee still had his personal academy. It wasn't big at all and he didn't have that many people under him, but they were undoubtedly strong. It was just a couple of years after these events that the Council of Atlas forced his students to join the army or be persecuted, fearing that Nikolas was building his own militia of warriors to acquire power. Troy Nikos is a character I had to make up in order to explain Pyrrha's backstory, and Mia is also a character I had to make up for Ironwood's backstory. Both are only important in the background, never truly getting into the limelight. Atlas is by far the thing I changed the most out of the franchise, probably because I hate volumes 7 and 8.

Well, we finally arrived at the timeskip… BUT, since I mentioned Nikolas, I just want to get this episode out of the way. Don't worry, I'll be brief.

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This story happens even more in the past, and I don't have much to say about it because it's quite simple.

It starts off on the day of graduation for many Huntsman teams in Vale. Though many of them are commemorating, one team in particular went into seclusion to talk about their future. It was team SSPC — with Alloy Silverclaw, Nikolas Schnee, Cyrus Arc and Peter Port. Since their training days were over, they didn't plan to stick together as a squad anymore. They all knew this was coming, since the very first day they met. Young Cyrus and young Silverclaw both just wanted to continue their family legacies alone. Port just outright admits never wanting to be a warrior, and was just forced by his family, so he plans on doing the bare minimum like the lazy bum. As for Nick, he had a very important quest. He came to Beacon in order to become stronger, and fulfill a promise to his lover. Now at the age of 22, after three years of training, he will finally return home.

As he sets on his journey, we see this lover of his in a flashback. She was yet another smoking-hot girl in anime history, so her design doesn't matter. Nick had promised her to one day come back and free Atlas (not yet a utopia) from a dictator. The capital, his home city, lies in a specific place in the Atlisian mountain range, making a natural invincible fortress, and likely the safest place in the world. However, the place is ruled by a Militia of warriors who subjugate the people, as they have done for hundreds of years. A militia that descended from the barbaric emperors who used to rule this land before the first invasion. Their leader is a ruthless and powerful man who kills the innocent who revolt against his rule. And also fun fact… that guy is Nick's father, Kalius Schnee. Nick used to be a mercenary asshole like him, but then he met a hot girl in the slums that made his head, and eventually convinced him to become a hero against his father.

So yeah, the rest of the episodes is pretty basic. Nikolas comes back home, and kicks the fucking ass of everyone who fights him. Note that Myrtnaster is not yet his, so he's using an average rapier, and also note that his Semblance IS "Glyph". It's pretty much Weiss's Glyph from the original show — he can place them on objects, air and surfaces, and thus he can alternate any aspect of that object, or give the glyph any kind of functionality. It's pretty goddamn broken if used creatively, and it will. Eventually he causes enough of a ruckus that the Kalius himself comes to see him at last. One thing to note is that Kalius literally keeps an 8-year old Maria in a cage in his office, since by then she already had awakened her Aura and had future vision, making her quite the valuable asset. Maria saw nothing but a dark future for most of her life, trapped without the chance of escape. She was still young and couldn't see that far into the future either. But at last, she saw that the future wouldn't remain cruel forever. She tricked Kalius into believing his empire could beat Nick without a doubt, when in reality he was doomed to defeat. And the reason so is quite simple.

The side plot of the episodes focuses on Port deciding to stop being lazy, as he convinces both Silverclaw and Cyrus to go and help Nick despite all their differences. He was moved by Nick's story, and so were the other two. Even if it was just once, they felt like it was time to act like a squad and fight together. The three warriors made the mad dash from Vale to The Capital, and the final battle is about team SSPC coming together to fight against the evil militia who ran the city. Port, Silverclaw and Cyrus fought Kalius' right-hand man, who was none other than the bearer of the "Ancestral Semblance: Fire" — the guy who had it before Cinder was born. The dude was an old fossil close to his death bed, so he couldn't use his Semblance to it's full capacity, but it was still quite a threat. They kill him as Silverclaw uses "Dark Angel" to seal his firepowers for a moment, giving Cyrus the edge to slice him in half with the Arc sword.

The other fight was Nick versus his father Kalius — one on one. Not only was the snow emperor strong, but he had a Semblance that is quite like Weiss's "Ice Carver". He had the power to summon snow monsters — not out of imagination, but simply his opponents worst fears. It was a pretty fucked up ability with a fair share of psychological warfare, capable of reviving childhood traumas of the opponent and making them into grotesque monsters that get stronger the more they are feared. After a long duel Nick ends up winning by facing his greatest fears, but in the end he's not evil enough to kill his father, so he leaves Kalius to die an ambiguous offscreen death by blood loss. The day is saved and The Capital is finally free — and if you didn't realize it yet, The Capital is just Altas City, before it was modernized by technology. Now Nick can finally search for his lover, and fulfill his promise of freeing her.

However, it seems that she has been dead for a long time.

Surviving in her conditions wasn't that likely, since she was a working girl in a barbaric land of violence and dictators. She just got sick and died, without the money or the means to treat her basic disease. Sometimes life really is a bitch like that, for no reason. Nikolas is heartbroken, but apparently it was not the end. Turns out, his lover left him a final gift. Though he lost his wife… he gained a daughter, who was just two years old; Willow Schnee. She was born a year later after Nick left, and has been taken care of by the brothel ladies ever since — and it was indeed HIS daughter. She was just a precious little snowflake who didn't understand the world around her, but was glad to meet her papa at long last. Just like that, Nick's life got flipped upside down, and he had a huge responsability to uphold.

After Kalius was defeated, Nikolas came to find Maria locked away in his castle. Not only her, but he also found dozens of orphans who were being trained to become Kalius' future warriors. Because of him they ended up losing their purpose in life, and so Nick saw it was his responsability to give them one. He plans to rebuild the city as the peaceful place his wife dreamed of. The people of Atlas can organize themselves into a government, while Nick will focus on making an academy to house all these child warriors that his father left behind — basically becoming his children as well. His days as a warrior ended not more than a week after they started.

At the very end of the episode, he had a final meeting with his team. He thanks them for the help, but promises that their rivalry is not over. Each of them will climb to the top of the guild of Huntsmen, and they hope to find their teammates already there when it happens. With that, the four warriors go their separate ways, and thus ends the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): I love that I give Port so much shit to do only after I killed him in the present. It's probably the first story in this entire rewrite that is a complete and utter fabrication. Completely new characters and completely new canon — not particularly inspired by anything, and not actually necessary for us to see in the big picture. I didn't even get down to their designs, so let me talk about it here. Young Nick is quite literally Jaune with white hair, so that's it. Young Port to me is just Choji Akimichi with a bowl cut. Young Silverclaw is literally fucking Sephiroth, and young Cyrus makes me think of Cignus Hyoga, down to the eyepatch and armor. I decided to jam Maria into this plot, just to give her a backstory and a direct connection to Nikolas, being the guy who saved her from slavery. This all happens 45 years in the past, and the nation of Atlas hadn't even begun the process of turning into a superpower. Hell, they didn't even have Dust yet. I thought to myself, if I'm gonna give backstory to the Rose and Xiaolong families, I might as well do it for Schnee too (Belladona comes next volume). Please don't over analyze this chapter, it absolutely won't come back at the final volume, I promise.

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Now we're finally here — two years later.

This episode serves to perfectly establish team STRQ, as a fully fledged team that grew to be astoundingly strong.

Our story begins anew in the city of Planice in Vale. We start with some exposition being made by an old-timey TV in a bar. The news channel tells about a luxurious ship that is finally getting close to being finished after three years of work — The Colossal. It's pretty much a sea fortress, being capable of resisting powerful attacks and packing a lot of weapons to defend itself. Once it's finally done, it will considerably increase the speed of how goods are traded between Vale and Haven. A few citizens are watching this on TV, and soon they are joined by a passing traveler in a white hood. They comment how this will end the need for convoys to risk their necks carrying cargo between nations on the road. They claim that the sea Grimm will never be able to destroy it.

The lady traveler in white hood just moves along until eventually she sees a scene nearby. A little girl with green hair was being chased through the streets by a bunch of burly men. We continue following the little girl's perspective as she keeps turning at every alley, but eventually reaches a dead end and gets cornered by her chasers. The goons are ready to beat her up, but just then the hooded traveler jumps down from the rooftop, and so we see older Summer for the first time. She got taller, her hair grew longer, she's still hot, and that's it. The goons claim that the little girl is thief, but Summer still defends her, beating the fuck out of them with nothing but slaps.

In the end she saved the little girl, but it turns out their accusations were true. The girl even tried to steal from Summer while she was distracted, but was caught in the act. Summer then proceeds to scold the little girl really hard, and forces her to give back everything she stole. Summer at this point already has mom energy, probably from dealing with her team for the last two years. She questions the little girl, asking for her home, parents and such. Turns out that the little girl was young Emerald. She had no parents (that wanted her), she ran from her orphanage, and she's hungry. She just blows out her anger at Summer, expecting her to be another lame adult who will throw her to the police and be done with it.

But then, Summer takes her time to teach young Emerald a lesson that she would carry for years to come. It's okay to fight to survive, but if she doesn't live for a greater purpose, then she's just being a bad person. Summer then unloads her wallet and gives Emerald all her money, demanding that she use it to help someone beyond herself, and that she comes back to the orphanage at the end of the day. Summer will come to visit her in a few days, and if she does everything that she was told, Summer promised to take Emerald for some ice cream in Vale City. Emerald leaves, probably having the most wholesome interaction she ever had in her life. This scene reintroduces Summer's character and attitude pretty well. Despite what happened to her, she remains righteous and determined to do good.

The following episode she would meet again with her team, and we would see their aged designs and the final versions of their weapons. Here all four have new slightly-different designs that are quite similar to their original outfits from the previous volumes. Raven now wears her red and black armor, her hair grew long and shaggy, and through literal miracle magic, she grew a sweet pair of double D's. Summer still covers her whole body with a white hood, but apparently all that vibrant red and white underneath was changed to red and black, symbolic of her youthful self slowly dying. Tai and Qrow just got beards and their weapons — Harbinger and Amber Celica (boots AND gauntlets). Though Qrow matured to his original design with the white and gray shirt and red cape, Tai still wears his orange gi, now with a few armor pieces. Now done with design, let's go back to plot.

They were ready to depart for another mission, when suddenly tragedy struck the city of Planice. The colossal ship that was being built at docks suddenly was attacked by a horde of sea Grimm that emerged from the water, which were able to also walk on land. They immediately chase off the workers and kill who they can, making the alarm bells start ringing across the city. Team STRQ was seemingly the only team in the whole goddamn city, so they were forced to fight the whole invasion on their own.

A few notes about the fighting. Raven's teleport ability grew refined and even more overpowered. Her weapon is still a katana, but her sheathe works a blade storage that has different shapes of blades for different sword styles. Qrow seemingly hasn't awakened his Semblance yet, just like Summer, and fights in the exact same tenacious way he has been using so far. Tai is already a master of the blast gauntlet movement tricks, so keeps blasting himself around as he battles. But by far, the one who got stronger, in a different way, was Summer. By now she's a master engineer and inventor, and she developed several tools apart from her weapon in order to fight. The two most notable are a radar to localize her teammates with special tracking devices, and the other tool is a literal, straight up copy of the ODM gear, allowing Summer to move around in the air at great speeds using grappling hooks and pressurized steam. In a way she moves just like Ruby, except it's science instead of magic.

Together they easily defeat the small Grimm army without breaking a sweat. They kinda are the strongest team in the world currently, but unlike team MOHL no one really knows them. Though the lesser monsters were slain, they are faced with an abnormal big boy at the end. It emerged from the sea, having three heads and a body akin to a lizard — a Hydra. Instead of killing people, its sole objective seemed to be destroying the colossal ship being built on the nearby deck, and it succeeded. The giant metal carcass was easily ripped apart, leaving no chance to fix it up. With its job done, it was time to kill the humans, and so it was up to team STRQ to fight the big Kaiju. Raven does the stupid thing and chops off all the heads, thinking it would kill the Hydra like any other Grimm. However, it only made more heads grow. It was truly abnormal — they had to figure out a different way to kill it.

In the tussle, Qrow and Raven end up tossed several miles into the ocean by the many heads that sprung out of the Hydra. Unfortunately they failed to mention that they don't know how to swim for the last three years, and would end up drowning. Tai comes in clutch, showing his Semblance for the first time. "Enhanced Aerobics" allows Tai to gain immense speed and strength at a huge Aura cost while he holds his breath. His skin starts steaming, and he achieves enough speed to run in the water, dragging Qrow and Raven back to the docks. Meanwhile, Summer was left alone to try and find the Hydra's weakness. She got wounded in the process and damaged her tools, but once close enough she is able to hear a heartbeat in the Hydra's chest. Normally Grimm don't have other organs, so this must mean it was the weak point. The team reconvenes, and so they make up a plan to pin down the heads and create a path to strike the heart. The plan fails, Qrow ends up being swallowed by the beast, but through sheer tenacity he is able to survive the crushing jaws. He runs down the long throat, slicing everything in sight, until eventually reaching the monster's chest and cutting down the heart. And so, an S-level threat was taken down.

Qrow eventually cuts his way out of the melting goo, and so the people of Planice gather around to give team STRQ a standing ovation. From that day forward, Qrow became known as the Hydra killer. Sadly the colossal ship was ruined, and there's no way that the elite of Planice have enough money to try building it again any time soon. To them it becomes clear that this attack had a clear purpose, and that Grimm like the Hydra are becoming smarter.

In the end our four warriors finally return to Vale City, ready to go get wasted at Simon's bar after all the fighting and traveling. As they walk together, Summer starts singing her trademark songs, and urges the others to join her in order to show some high spirit. Tai joins along with his terrible voice, then Qrow, and eventually even Raven. Even the random citizens of Vale could sense how powerful their friendship is. Their leader may be weak, but she's the other's greatest strength. Life couldn't be better for them.

The episode ends as their singing slowly fades away in the distance.

Commentary (spoilers): This episode is very simple, it focuses heavily on fighting and overall serves more as a reintroduction. Though I didn't describe such instances, this episode should focus on establishing all of them as family; from the dialogue, to their actions and the way they help each other. They have grown past friends at this point. It's only natural, given that they literally have no one else but each other; absolutely zero family for each of them. This episode allows us to peer into their golden age before things got rough. It's not that important narrative wise, but it does a lot for character work.

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I don't know what to make of other Minisodes of this era, except for a specific one that needs to happen. It's about Cinder.

With the help of her Manticore, she arrived safely back at Vacuo, but things were never the same. With time she was able to shrug away the shame from her failed mission, and the distraught she felt from abandoning her friends. Everything, except for Summer. Cinder can't shake Summer off her mind not even for a second — feeling great remorse for leaving her behind and all the lies she made. She still wore the choker that Summer gave her every day and every moment, always remembering how much love there was in that gift. Two years have passed, and her feelings haven't changed. One day, an Cinder came personally to Salem and let out her emotions of sadness amd regret. She had only one request for her godmother — she wanted the Grimm simply never attacked Summer, forever. Cinder wanted her to be safe no matter what. Salem promised her to do as she begs, and told her to leave.

In her first showing of plain villany and evil, Salem speaks to herself and realizes that Summer mellowed out Cinder, making her weak and clingy to her last remaining humanity. If she wants to keep Cinder on her side for now, Summer Rose must die. And so ends the minisode. This is largely to set up what happens next.

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"The Birth of Chaos" is my favorite episode in this volume.

It begins in Haven city, on our first ever showing of the place. It's just a big city built on the slope of a mountain, with a big japanese castle at the top, a waterfall, and the academy that hides behind the cascade. We follow team STRQ as they leave a gigantic coliseum of stone. They immediately found themselves in a vivid festival outside — the Vytal Festival of twenty years ago. Raven and Tai were talking shit on Qrow for losing his tournament match and disgracing their image. Apparently he was doing pretty good, until he met Glynda at the semi-finals and lost to her like always. "How could've I known that the prick with the glasses would also be here?!" Qrow said.

"It's been three years and you still can't beat her once, you bum." Raven said.

"I DIDN'T SEE YOU SIGNING UP TO FIGHT, DUMBASS!" Qrow replied.

"Well, I'm stronger than you, so if you had won, that would make me the champion automatically. But I guess I can't count on you for anything." Raven said. The two continued to fight for a long while. Summer points out that they should go back home already and take some missions to earn back the money they wasted in here, and so they leave Haven that same day.

On their track across the wildlands, they do some chit chat just for us to get a sense of the time frame. Basically, Ozpin took over as headmaster of Beacon, Silverclaw simply disappeared, and Leo also became headmaster of Shade academy out of spite. He literally challenged the previous one to a fight for the title, won, and the first thing he did was throw a Vytal Festival to commemorate earning the title. Pretty funny now that they think about it.

They were just traveling around, when suddenly Qrow sparks up. He stops and shouts in excitement when he sees a particular forest in the distance. He demands that his team goes to take a look, but Summer refuses no matter how persistent he is. Raven also has no idea what it's about, so he is just acting crazy. The three ignore him and move on, but Qrow seems more than determined to go in there despite their orders.

…

Eventually team STRQ arrives in Oniyuri (years before annihilation) and rest at the local Inn. But then, in the middle of the night, Qrow leaves the room through the window. He's long gone by morning, and it leaves Summer really mad. She tells Raven and Tai to get going to Vale City, while she goes alone to find Qrow at the stupid forest.

It doesn't take her long to arrive at super speed. She spent a good while in the woods calling out his name, and eventually he appears by jumping out of the shadows to scare her. She always falls for it and screams like a little girl. Summer spent a good few minutes cursing and kicking him while he laughed — three years together and he still acts like the same shameful dog that doesn't obey her orders. Once she finally calmed down, Qrow decided to show her why the forest is important to him.

After some walk, they find a lonely crumbled castle in the forest clearing. It looked more like an outpost, with a single room and a tower that broke in half. According to Qrow, his family used to live in this place, once upon a time. Right there next to the castle was an old tree that had Qrow and Raven's names carved on it, as well as some wooden toys that were left to rot. Though Qrow quickly moves inside the castle, Summer inspects for a while longer and realizes that the full carving said "Qrow & Raven Eirik were here". It made her very confused and doubtful. When did they change their names to Branwen?

While inside, Qrow continues to pinpoint small marks that were left behind, either from times he and Raven fought or remnants of their mother. He wouldn't like to speak of their father for some reason. Though he wants to show it all to Summer, he also wants to guide her away from the truth about their past. It didn't take long for him to grow far too suspicious. Eventually all the questions would be answered, once Summer found a secret passage by carefully examining the walls. A staircase shows itself, leading deep underground into a gigantic secret hall. Down there she found records, diaries and enough weapons to supply a small army. It seems that Qrow's family was way bigger than she expected. Soon the emblems, the colors and the texts left down there made it very clear to Summer who she was dealing with.

The castle was a hideout, for none other than the famous Red Bandits.

They were a crew of mercenaries who terrorized the countryside of Vale and Haven for generations. For a long time they have been mostly harmless crooks who lived in the shadows, but everything changed when a new leader of the creed had emerged — Eirik, the Red. He was a ruthless man who killed people that defied him, and he shaped the red bandits into barbaric mercenaries who had enough power to pillage and destroy those who stood against them. They were the most wanted criminals in the world at that point, but then they simply vanished without a single explanation. The pieces start falling in place for Summer, and before she could figure out the obvious by herself, Qrow decides to open up about his past for the very first time. They sit on the old bed side by side, and Qrow begins his summarized tale.

…

Qrow and Raven were born into the red bandits. Their father was Eirik himself, and their mother… was just a prostitute. The Red Bandits raided her village for all it was worth — she had no choice but to tag along with them to survive. Qrow always looked up to their kind mother, while Raven aimed to be leader of the tribe one day like their father. They were nothing but selfish bastards at the end of the day. Qrow can't really remember how many lives they ruined, because back then that cruelty was extremely casual to them. He had no memories of how the tribe became so strong or why they survived for so long, but riddance got to them eventually.

They were a small army of warriors, but eventually they met their match in terms of powerful Grimm. It all happened so fast — Qrow just remembers a lot of screaming and fire all around the place. He and Cinder had left the camp to play, and it had already started once they came back. Qrow went to save mom and Raven went to save dad, but they both failed. Their father was a cruel bastard to normal people, but once forced to fight a Grimm, he died like a bitch. In the end it was their mother who had to save them, dragging them away from all the fire and destruction to hide, while being mortally wounded to protect them. As she lay dying, she had a final request for her two sons.

She asked that they run away and never looked back. To never let this tragedy get to them forever. That they continue growing healthy and strong, and then one day, they can build a new family for themselves. The two kept hugging their mother until she died. Now, years later, they took up her last name, Branwen, as their new surname.

…

For the longest time, Qrow didn't know what she meant. He and Raven had no one else — how could they ever build a family again? For the longest time Qrow thought her words were nothing but the wails of a dying woman, but time proved him wrong. These years together with Tai, Summer and the other pricks from their class had changed his perspective on life. Even if they were not related by blood, they still became the family that Qrow never had. Now he believes this is what his mother meant, and as such, he had made a decision.

He will protect them all.

It doesn't matter what he has to do, or for how long, or for how many times it will take. He doesn't even care if he dies — as long as his family is safe, he will accept all the pain and suffering in their place. That's the only way he can apologize to his mother, for not being strong enough to save her. He concludes by thanking Summer for all she had done — for being a friend, even though he totally doesn't deserve it. But most importantly, for teaching him how to love again.

The two kept staring into each other's eyes for a long while. That moment, Qrow looked more handsome to Summer than he ever was before. His face was getting closer. His red gaze was so imposing. She blushes profusely and quickly hides her face before anything sinful happened. They had to go — Tai and Raven must be worrying about them. The two leave the castle, but as soon as they step out, they are met with a familiar face.

…

The pincer blade came flying from the corner of his vision. Qrow was able to push Summer out of the way and barely dodge the glaring slash. He looks up, and so he sees a damn ninja up above the tree. It was Tyrian, 20 years younger and 20 years less crazy.

Here he is a much different character than we know — he's cold and calculated. The sheer madness of his hatred against Qrow didn't yet consume him. He only sparks up in fury once Qrow admits having no idea who he is, as this is seemingly their first encounter ever. He doesn't even bother to explain why he hates Qrow, he just expresses that the last of the Red Bandits needs to die. Tyrian will have his revenge fulfilled.

The two have a quick match, but it's clear that Qrow is awfully superior. He was trained personally by Ozpin, and Tyrian could never match that gap, considering they both seem to be at the same age. Eventually Summer joins in to help him, but Summer being Summer, she tries her best to solve this battle without anyone getting hurt. Much like Ruby did, Summer kept throwing herself in the middle of the fight to try and stop it. In the end, the person who ends up getting stabbed by Tyrian's stinger is her. She was pierced in the stomach and quickly started writhing in pain. At that moment, Qrow was hit with the Branwen rage boost and completely overwhelmed Tyrian, making him run away with a nasty slash on his back. Tyrian promises to return, just like he does any other time. Until all of the red bandits are dead, he and his little bitch girlfriend should sleep with their eyes peeled. Qrow had to tend to Summer instead of chasing.

He's fast enough to save her life, stripping off her clothes and sucking just enough venom out of her wound so then the dose isn't lethal. If it was just that, the two could easily pull through. But as it was shown in the minisode preceding this episode, Salem is out for Summer's head. And now, the perfect opportunity had arisen.

...

Summer was phasing in and out of consciousness, and by the time she fully woke up again, the sun was starting to set. She was being kept in the broken tower, where Qrow could watch their surroundings from above. In the last few hours that she's been out, the forest simply started being swarmed by elder Grimm. Just by the sound of them searching, Qrow estimates a number of around a hundred. He and Summer could never escape — not while she is paralyzed by the venom. Qrow starts to get desperate, blaming himself for this situation. It's only a matter of time before the Grimm find them.

In her half-dead wails, Summer begged that Qrow leaves her behind. She would just slow him down in this poor state. That's the only way that at least one of them can survive. It's her job as the leader to make sure Qrow, Tai and Raven are safe, even if it costs her life. Before she passes out again, she urges him, "Just go… you pervy… dumbass…"

Qrow is left utterly alone, in silence. The situation before him immediately draws memories of that same sacrifice his own mother did years ago, now repeating again right under his nose. His outrage is clear as day, and yet, even after all these years, he can't change a goddamn thing. He doesn't trust that he has the power to save both of them. He was just an idiot with a big sword — how could he protect anything?!

But it was at that dastard moment… that he first felt it.

Qrow could hear some kind of eldritch voice at that moment. It spoke to him with ominous and indecipherable chants, and yet somehow, he could still understand what it was telling him. It wasn't a god or a demon — it was his own soul. It tells him, "You may have not yet realized… but you don't have the right to call yourself weak… Not while bearing the power you possess deep inside… The power to destroy everything… Come on, Qrow. Let it boil… so then you can both see the sunrise tomorrow…

What was that thing that you promised her?" The entity asked.

Qrow was feeling an intense amount of hatred for his own weakness. His Aura started to flow unnaturally. It wasn't a fiery glow like others — it's like roots of red and black energy that started to sprung out of his body and carve themselves in the air. There was a buzzing echoing around, and a lot of light. Soon all the Grimm could feel it this power, and so they all surrounded the broken castle. Though they could feel their prey hidden inside, a power above their comprehension scared them beyond their programming. They couldn't enter.

Qrow's eyes were glowing red. He looked to Summer, unconscious on the ground. At the same time he saw visions of his mother. He would not allow history to repeat itself, even if he has to cut through fate to stop it. And so, he slowly drew Harbinger from his back and Rose Axe from the ground, holding both in each hand. Finally he says,

"I'll protect them."

…

The Grimm watched as Qrow slowly walked out the tower's door. His Aura was flowing menacingly and uncontrollably. He seems to be completely apathetic, even surrounded by a hundred elders or more. The skies were forming dark thunder clouds at an impressive speed. The ground was shaking misteriously. There was a high-pitched buzzing in the air. It felt like the world was soon about to end, and he was the catalyst.

At long last, Qrow says, "You will never hurt my family again."

And so the attack began.

Several Grimm pounced at Qrow at the same time, but it seems that his power grew exponentially. He was able to quickly dispose of them with a single swing for each. He wielded the giant sword and the giant axe with such ease that they might as well be made of paper. He killed all monsters that gave so much as a single step towards the tower where Summer was. His clothes were stained in black liquid as he split his enemies apart. Soon, "Chaos" itself started aiding in the battle. Random lighting bolts started falling down the sky and striking Grimm at random. The heavy rain and strong winds started pushing down trees on top of Grimm, and blasting them away with force. The land was hit by an earthquake that split the ground and made Grimm fall to their deaths. The lightning strikes set the giant trees ablaze, and soon the entire forest was engulfed in flames. The forest became hell on earth.

The entire rest of this sequence follows an uncut fighting sequence where Qrow kills shit with inhumane brutality, even biting and kicking Grimm when he had to. He started off as a swordsman, and quickly turned into a beast with a sword. His Aura was becoming more and more deranged, and Chaos was causing more and more destruction. Even as Grimm rushed him down relentlessly with numbers up to a hundred, he killed all of them. He was being severely damaged, covered in blood, but it simply didn't stop him. The pain meant absolutely nothing. He just kept killing, and killing and killing for hours and hours, all throughout the night. His empty eyes made him look like a monster, just as much as the Grimm.

Once our budget officially runs out, we start panning away from the forest, little by little, until eventually fading to black.

…

We pick up again in the next morning. Summer suddenly wakes up as she feels someone shaking her. It was Tai, and his shocked expression quickly turned to relief as she opened her eyes. He questioned what happened, and why was all the destruction about, but Summer was not any the wiser. "What destruction?"

Tai helped her walk, and the two quickly went outside. And there, Summer realized that the gigantic green forest… was gone. All that remained of the were tree trunks that were burned to a crisp, and fumes. However, somehow, the castle was left completely intact. A clear circle of vivid grass was surrounding it, as if Chaos protected Summer from the destruction itself caused. The two continued walking along the complete and utter destruction, and found that every single inch of this burned land was covered in black ooze marks — Tai lost count of how many Grimm must have died. Several other Huntsman were investigating the area to try and figure out what the fuck happened, but none of them had a god damn clue. The only possible explanation is that "the demon" really killed them all.

Soon they met up with Raven. She was ominously staring at a single burnt tree that was left standing on the hill. Once Summer paid attention, she realized what Raven was looking at. It was Qrow. He was still standing, pressing himself against the tree and with eyes wide open. The ominous Aura was still flowing around him. The blood and black ooze covering him gave the apparition of a demon. His sword was still held high in his hand. Summer made the effort to feebly walk towards him, alone. She touched his face, and their eyes met again. She doesn't know what he did, but somehow they are both alive. She thanks him from the bottom of her heart for saving her.

And so… Qrow smiles. He closes his eyes, and finally falls down.

With a shocking silence, hundreds of questions, and a terrified look in the faces his teammates… the episode finally ends.

Commentary (spoilers): And that's how Qrow became the demon of the west. By now it has been cemented into RE:colored how much of a beast Qrow is. The guy who fights an army alone and comes standing. A guy with a supernatural ability to survive anything when his family is on the line. A very simple yet subtle character that is easy to like and easy to write. The awakening of his Semblance marks a very different shift of personality that he will have moving forward, becoming a much darker and mature person instead of a douchebag with a sharp tongue, only returning to those characteristics while drunk. He had the goal, but now he has the power.

Besides that, their backstory is pretty much all made up. A carefully-constructed backstory is the only tool I can use to make Qrow and Raven have such different shifts in character despite being brothers. Besides, I changed the Branwen Bandits to "The Red Bandits" just so Raven and Qrow wouldn't be immediately arrested once they signed up to Beacon. They only became the Branwen tribe once Raven took the mantle. It's a pretty basic backstory. Eirik, just like Brauwen, is inspired by Norse folklore, about a legendary criminal. He will actually never come back again, so it doesn't matter.

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The next three episodes are nothing but tragic, and I don't have a great idea of how things happen in it.

They need to happen of course, because it depicts the fall of both team Glamour and Marble.

Let's begin with "A Glamorous Finale", parts 1 and 2.

The story begins in the same vein as the last one, this time taking the perspective of Glynda at the Vytal Tournament of Haven. She just finishes up defeating her opponent at the finals, sustaining various wounds, but coming out victorious. And thus, Glynda won the tournament, making everyone cheer, including her own team. Leo comes down from the sky and gives her the golden medal of champions. And so it was over.

Team GMOR received a small redesign, making them all 3 years older than in the academy days. Olga somehow got even taller, got an oversize witch hat, green robes and even bigger glasses. Combined with her walking staff, she's basically Gandalf but with green instead of gray. Mona cut her ginger pigtails shorter, and her outfit is still just a short maid dress, now contrasted with several pistols she had holsted all over her body, and a big rifle on her back. Rita ditched the huge violet mantle for a smaller violet poncho, now showing her body covered in silver armor, but still with the same short black hair. Personality wise, none of them has changed anything — perhaps just a bit less whiny than they were in the academy days. As for Glynda she dresses very similar to her future outfit, except all she wore purple instead of black, matching her psychic Aura.

After the whole charade is done, the girls walk out into the festival, and talk about how Glynda won as expected. Her team didn't seem interested in joining the tournament along with her, as they admit having no chance of beating Glynda, or ever matching up to her natural fighting skill. People recognized and praised her wherever she went. The whole world will be hearing about Glynda's victory soon, and she would become famous just like she always wanted. She proved that she was the strongest of all the land, and even got the chance to smack Qrow's ugly mug again. In the end, they could be welcomed back home as champions.

Later, as they are walking through the streets of Haven, Glynda meets face to face with a young boy who suddenly stood on their way. He seems to be sixteen or younger, and by his clothes and trident weapon, he seems to be a warrior. His bright blond hair was extremely unique for Haven, making him look quite similar to Glynda. The two stopped and exchanged a glare — She couldn't get a read on his intentions, but it looks like he was preparing to attack. And so…

The boy gets on his knees, and begs her hand in marriage.

He expresses never meeting a woman so beautiful and so strong, capable of winning the Vytal Tournament at the age of 21. She was the perfect woman, and he had to shoot his shot no matter what. Glynda blushes but immediately turns that fluster into anger, slapping the boy's hand away and telling him to get over himself. He looks like he barely got through puberty and he stinks of cheap perfume. She completely broke his spirit with those few words, but despite the rejection, he is still confident. He promises to train hard, take baths every day, brush his teeth, grow healthy and be brave, so then one day she can look up to him as a real man. "Remember my name, it's Corazan! Please don't forget!" he said.

The girls moved on with their day, deciding to head back to vale right after team STRQ. However, they were met with a strange scene. Hundreds of refugees arrived in the city through horses and wagons — all of them looking scared and miserable. Glynda questioned one of them, and apparently they were running away from their home village, after it was destroyed by The Horde. Glynda continued to investigate the occurrence until she met again with Leo, who explained to her what was happening.

Ever since the great tragedy of Erassu happened, when the city was taken over by hundreds of Grimm in a blink of an eye five years ago, the northern territory was left largely unprotected. This led to a powerful pack of several different elders to roam freely, being led by a powerful abnormal. It formed a small army of Grimm, called The Horde. Whenever they are around, the people are forced to flee their villages back to Haven City due to the threat they pose. They move too fast to be followed, and their numbers are too great to simply chase. Leo himself went hunting for them once, but since he's in charge of the guild, he can't leave for more than a few hours without the risk of losing his precious little job.

Glynda, having just being crowned strongest Huntress in the world, was more cocky than she has ever been before. She takes the mission in a heartbeat, and so she and her team, along with several other Huntsmen, orchestrate a plan to destroy The Horde once and for all.

The first episode just focuses on traveling, planning, and getting lots of scenes of team GMOR being good friends, just to make the ending more tragic. Olga, Mona and Rita trust Glynda above all else, but for the first time they can see her cockiness getting to a worrisome level. She basically guilt trips her friends into continuing the mission, even when though its something too big for them. Glynda is simply too hyped to understand that her friends are not as strong and confident as she is. If things go south and Glynda is not with them, what happens then? Glynda just blindly believes she will never have to leave them, and they will be okay as long as they stick with her.

To find The Horde, first they need to travel to the northern frontier of Haven. And just as a little reference, team GMOR's means of transportation is a fancy shack with a single living room and beds, of which was turned into a golem by Olga's Semblance, thus being able to walk. They literally live in a walking house — a big reference to her inspiration tale

Eventually they meet with the assembled Huntsmen at the final village left up north. The people were struggling with food for having their farmlands taken by Grimm, but thankfully team GMOR could help. Mona can literally turn a table of stones and sticks into a five-star brunch table with her Semblance — one of its few yet amazing utilities. The people weren't allowed to escape yet, because they played an important part in the destruction of The Horde. Also, to Glynda's surprise, she ends up meeting with Corazan once again — nicknamed Cory by all the others. She gets really angry, thinking he was stalking her, but in reality he has been actively fighting against The Horde for a year now. He's the scout who keeps track of them, and knows when they are about to strike. Even more surprising, he is the one who crafted their whole attack plan as well. Despite his young age he already has a weapon and a license, since by then Haven was much less burocratic about the Huntsman Guild than Vale is.

Corazan was from Erassu, from before the city it was destroyed. He and a few hundreds others were able to flee the destruction, but sadly his family didn't manage to survive. That's why he became a Huntsman — to one day take his revenge on Grimm. Now being given the opportunity to talk, It's clear Corazan and Glynda come from two different world. Glynda fights Grimm because it's convenient for her. She was born strong, with a powerful Semblance, coddled by rich Huntsmen parents, and studied under the greatest masters of her time. Corazan in the other hand, he was just a poor orphan who fights Grimm because he realizes how awful and tragic the world really is. At the age of sixteen he seems decades more mature than Glynda, and it even makes her feel embarrassed. She thinks back to their first encounter, and realizes how serious he looks now. That moment, when he proposed to her, was probably one of the few times he allowed himself to act like a normal teenager.

Eventually, once every one of the background warriors have gathered, they discuss the plan of attack.

It's actually pretty simple. To reach this village, The Horde will have to traverse dangerous mountain terrain up north. The plan is to guide the monsters to an advantageous position, where they will plummet down to a chasm once the ground collapses from set explosions. They just have to clean up the remaining Grimm afterwards. They have to set the trap as fast as possible, because it turns out that The Horde is coming right now.

…

The second episode is all about the actual execution of the plan. And sadly, they fail from the start. The abnormal Grimm leading the Horde was a giant damn gorilla with wings on its back, and it had enough intelligence to immediately spot the fowl play in the air. It decided to lead its army through a different route, and so the allied Huntsmen of Haven and team GMOR are forced to improvise. They manage to use their powers to knock down chunks of the mountain and crush Grimm with the falling rocks, but the sheer difference in numbers makes the small huntsman force suffer a lot of damage quickly. Glynda lets her ego guide her, and rushes ahead fights the winged gorilla, judging it to be the strongest. She was strong to destroy the monster from the start, but kept insisting to not use her full power, saying, "You're not worth getting a headache."

In the end she seemingly kills it by tossing into the endless void of the chasm. However, the lingering shot into the abyss hints that the monster survived.

In the end, despite their best efforts, the Grimm manage to go past the mountain range and start running after the village. At that moment, Corazan makes a choice to sacrifice himself. He uses his Semblance, "Spotlight", to emanate an intense light from his body, and thus attract a good portion of the Grimm army towards him. He ran away back to the original ambush point, hoping to blow up the explosive charges and kill himself along with most of The Horde, allowing the wounded Huntsman to escape the fight. Unfortunately, not all of the Grimm followed Corazan, and some went running for the village anyway. Glynda takes point, and orders all of the remaining Huntsmen to go protect the village, while she alone goes after Corazan to save him.

She turns her back to her team one last time, as they tell her:

"It's okay Glyn, you can count on us." Rita said.

"Leave it to me, okay? Focus on saving your future husband, hhmmhmm~" said Mona.

"G-good Luck! W-we'll d-do our best!" Olga finished. And so Glynda smiled and jumped in.

And so we meet with max-level Glynda once again, using her powers to the absolute limit while on her prime. She expertly uses the terrain along her Psychokinesis to kill a large portion of the army without wasting too much Aura — using stage hazards and such. The ground was weak and the chasm was right underneath them, so pushing them off was the most efficient method to fight. In the end it was just her and Corazan, covering each other's back and fighting Grimm after Grimm, getting slashed and bitten in the process. But still, together, they manage to push through and arrive at the marked location. Once they were completely surrounded, Corazan activates the detonation while Glynda put up a psychic bubble around them. The explosion made the gorge collapse. Around a hundred Grimm fell to their deaths, and so Glynda slowly levitates both of them into safe ground. They killed The Horde, and saved the day.

Glynda's long blond hair is left untied by the end. her glasses are broken, she's bleeding, and she carries the young Corazan on her shoulder. Despite being so young, he was strong enough to survive. "You did great, Cory… maybe it won't take so long before you become the strong man you said you would be."

"Really?… Will you marry me, then?" Corazan asked, forcing out a smile.

"Ugh- still on with that nonsense? I'm too old for you, kid!"

They continue the wholesome flirting for a little while longer… until eventually, they notice that something was wrong. The village far away was in flames. Their friends were supposed to be there. Despite her injuries, Glynda quickly ran to see what was going on. The front gate of the village was bust open, along portions of the wall. It seems that a lot of Grimm were killed, but she didn't see anyone else around. Eventually she found one of the Havenese Huntsmen, dying on the ground. All he could do was point Glynda towards the fighting, and so she left Corazan with him to rest. The scene was growing more and more silent, until we could no longer hear even the wind. Glynda found more and more bodies of the Huntsmen on the ground, beggining the most graphic scene of the entire show so far.

She found Mona.

…

Mona's eyes were wide open, and blood was spilling out of her mouth. Eyes without glow. Her clothes were destroyed and dirty, and judging by her mangled body, what seemed to have killed her was having her spine broken. The world around Glynda went completely silent and dark. She could only see the corpse of her best friend lying right in front of her. Her pupils were trembling. She couldn't speak outside of small gasps.

She quickly gazed slightly upwards… and there she saw Olga. Her body was left lying there. Her big witch hat was carefully covering her upper body. Censuring the fact that… her head, neck and some of her chest were bitten out of her body. The amount of blood made it quite obvious…

And finally, she faced the scene at the end of the main road. It was that Abnormal Grimm, the winged gorilla. It was alive. It wasn't looking at Glynda — the monster was entertained with something in its palms. It was squeezing it with both hands as hard as it could, before finally throwing it violently against the ground. The body landed right beside Glynda, making blood splatter on her leg. She looked at it, and by the purple cloak, she could see it was… Rita. Or rather, the crushed remains of what once was her friend.

The giant gorilla Grimm now turns its red eyes to Glynda, and just stands there — as if trying to smear on her face what it just did. None made a move. The dense silence was nightmarish. Glynda's face couldn't process her emotions. Something inside her had snapped.

And so… it starts to rain.

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…

A wave of psychic energy starts emanating From Glynda's body, making her hair flow upwards. The dust on the ground is lifted by an invisible force, creating a cloud around Glynda, and so she disappears into the foggy rain. The monster searches for her… but then, out of nowhere, it receives a blow to the face that made it roll backwards. It quickly got up, but it still couldn't see Glynda. Her Aura was burning with absolute intensity, and she was moving faster than she ever did before.

She focused all her psychic power into her riding crop, making it looks like she's holding a whip of pure, condensed purple energy. A mere touch of that technique was the equivalent of a missile hitting you in the face. She started attacking the monster from all sides, moving too fast for him to follow. Her desperate screams of pain, sadness and adrenaline were masked by the sound of the ground collapsing, of the rain, and the gorilla's own shrieks of pain. It's a maddening scene, complemented by a swift piano that eventually overpowers all other sounds. Small memory flashes appear in between the torture, showing moments of team GMOR together from as early as age five. Glynda took all that love and friendship for granted, and lost it before she realized. The only thing that remains now is desire for madness.

In that short minute, Glynda is able to tear the flying monkey apart. It tried to fly away, but she ripped off its wings. It tried to run, but she blew off its legs. It tried to crawl, but she took away its arms. She wanted it to suffer as much as physically possible. Once the monster was nothing but scattered pieces, growling in pain and misery, she gave the final blow — a downwards strike with her psychic whip, causing the earth beneath them to split in half and reverberate a shockwave throughout the empty village. The abnormal slowly melts away with the rain, but Glynda keeps striking its body again and again until she is lost inside a deep crater, and the monster was nothing but black liquid splattered on her clothes.

Finally she undoes her powers and runs back to check on Rita. We can't hear what she's saying, but she's crying profusely. She tries raising her up from the ground, getting closer to the other two corpses of Mona and Rita. She desperately tries to wake them up and resuscitate them, but it's no use. Their souls now belong to the ever after. Corazan stands at the end of the road, watching that horrible nightmare play out. He looks down in shame, eventually falling on his knees. Seeing her desperate tears had brought about a memory of himself, when his own family had died. Corazan cried in shame, because he failed. He couldn't stop Glynda from knowing the same pain as he did. If it wasn't for him, this wouldn't have happened.

once the Piano song is finally over… the scene slowly fades to black.

…

…

…

We slowly fade in a white room, of something that seems like a hospital. Glynda was sitting on the bed. She has a face of complete apathy, with half-closed eyes and a soulless gaze towards the wall. Her mind is broken — the behavior of vegetable. Corazan is sitting there in the room with her — the only other survivor of the mission. She holds onto the golden medal that she earned from the tournament, but it eventually slips her grasp, falling out of the bed.

The episode ends as Summer Rose enters the room. Her teary eyes indicate that she already heard of the sad news, and already did her fair share of crying. Despite the prick Glynda was for all those three years at the academy, she still considered her a friend. Summer simply entered the room, sat by Glynda's side, and held her hand without saying anything. With that, the tragedy of Glamour concludes.

Commentary (spoilers): You know what's interesting? This is likely the first thing I ever envisioned about a rewrite of RWBY. An episode about Glynda's past, explaining why she doesn't have a team, and why someone so strong chose to become a teacher in the academy. Admittedly the ending is a 1-for-1 copy of No Regrets (even the same music), but honestly I rather copy something good than to make something new and fuck it up. It's not like this series lives in my head or anything; I ain't that creative to invent every little thing. This episode must hit insanely hard, because we spent a good amount of time with Glynda's team. We humanized them, we gave them a backstory, we spent time with them…. and then we killed them offscreen without even allowing so much as a final goodbye to Glynda. Beautifully brutal. The simple story of a genius and her three friends who failed to match her expectations, and in the end paid the ultimate price. A long and emotional version of Glynda's story that we already heard all the way back in volume I. We won't see Glynda anymore for the rest of the volume.

I decided to throw in Corazan into the mix, just to give him a decisive backstory and direct connection to Glynda beyond both of them being teachers of annoying students. It also explains his behavior of always trying to be her friend, feeling directly responsible for the death of her teammates. I gave him a lot considering how little he affects on the current story, but I guess the same can be said of pretty much any Haven character. We also don't spend much time there in the future either. Being fair if anything, Leo, Corazan, Sun, Aslan and Jobi are the only characters I feel confident that they deserve their own spinoff.

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"Merlin's last trick" is a fun episode with a depressive premise.

It all begins with team MRBL, all of them older but still looking just the same pack of hoodlums even after leaving the academy. Marrow, Samson and Dalia were talking about Merlin, who wasn't present. He was acting pretty weirdly ever since that fuck up in their last mission. Once he was able to go toe to toe with Ozpin while sparring, and now he's almost getting destroyed by a single elder Fenrir. Eventually Merlin arrives, either as boy form or girl form — it's not consistent. He's all smiles as always, but he tells the other three to shut up since he has very important news. And that news is…

Merlin only has two months left to live.

The three are left in silence, assuming it's a joke, but soon Merlin shows the papers from the doctors. Apparently he has something wrong with his brain that can't be cured. He is doomed to die in two months — maybe more or less. While the other three are dreadfully shocked, Merlin is casual about it. Doesn't even seem like he cares. Braun thought it to be impossible — Merlin can use his shapeshifting Semblance to heal from any wound instantly. Unfortunately that broken ability won't save him this time. His brain is the ground zero for the ability, so he can never alter its shape or size. No matter what creature or person he turns into, it can't heal the problem in his brain.

Despite his fate, Merlin seems more excited than ever. Now he has no excuse to not realize all the things left in his bucket list. His last order as team leader is to help them be achieved, something that rests mostly on Braun's shoulders. Of course, Merlin has a true goal with this bucket list mission. You see, ever since they met four years ago, team MRBL were nothing but a squad of doomers. Huntsmen who were kids of other Huntsmen, put there only to continue the cycle of fighting and dying to Grimm for all eternity. The realization of that fate is what ultimately made them nihilistic, cold and abrasive people — except Merlin, of course. He made his main objective to teach these three dumbasses that life is beautiful, and they must learn how to enjoy it.

...

First thing they did was split off. Merlin goes with Braun, while Dalia and Samson go do some fetch quests — we shall follow the first. Merlin knows Dalia and Samson are totally into each other, but their depressive outlook on life stops them from believing in love. Their quests are focused on getting them into promiscuous places and scenarios, completely alone, where they can't do anything but talk. Their side of the story is more simple and cheesy. They are forced through these stupid games through the red light district of Vale, where they have to admit things that they like about one another. By the end it becomes obvious to them what Merlin had in mind, and so they decide to seriously have talk like adults.

These two are comically in love with each other and have perfect chemistry, but refuse to accept their feelings due to the past. They all saw people that they cared about, either friends, parents or siblings, all falling victim to this world of monsters and misery. In the end they promised to never love anyone ever again, afraid of being hurt once more. Now they realize that they took the cowards route of life, and it brought them nothing but more misery. If they want to be happy, they will have to bet everything on what their heart tells them. Their side of the episode ends as Samson asks Dalia's hand in marriage. He doesn't have a ring to show, and they weren't ever dating to begin with, but she agrees anyway.

…

Meanwhile, Merlin and Braun were just doing stupid shit that Merlin always wanted to do. First it started off with dumb things like petty theft, invasion of property, busting a criminal operation, until eventually it started to become more daring. Suddenly Merlin's next wish was to sneak into Ozpin's office and steal his funny glasses, which they barely succeed without getting caught. Next it was to track down the whereabouts of ex-headmaster Silverclaw, find his house in the countryside, and then play ding-dong ditch with him. Lastly, Merlin really wanted to see Summer and Qrow kissing. He's just horny in general like that. They stalk team STRQ for a while, learn of their plans, and then set up a bunch of meticulous traps and distractions so then Summer will ACCIDENTALLY fall on top of Qrow, perfectly aligning their lips.

The plan fucks itself up, once Tai decides to act out of character. He ends up falling on the trap meant for Summer, making Tai and Qrow kiss in front of everyone by accident. The two immediately start spitting their guts out while everyone laughed, and though Merlin didn't get what he wanted, this was somehow better.

Lastly, his final wish was to just have a fun day. Merlin shapeshifts himself into a little girl, and asks that she and Braun can just have a father and child's day. It was incredibly weird, but it doesn't feel unnatural due to Merlin's childish personality. They go to the park, get some ice cream, watch a movie, Braun pulls some bitches by pretending to be a good single father, and everyone is happy by the end. It's important to note how each adventure takes place on a different day, and Merlin's health slowly deteriorates as the episode goes.

Merlin, still in the body of a little girl, thanks Braun for all he has done. Merlin sure as shit didn't have a father, and his mom was bitch who tossed him out of the house as soon as he turned sixteen years old. Finally he got to experience a bit of what he missed out. But since he's going to die anyway, it doesn't really matter. Finally he turns into his male adult form, sharing a cigarrete with Braun. Now he wants to know what Braun will do after his death.

Braun doesn't know. Every single option in life seems boring and worthless. He's truly lost as a person, only moved by obligations imposed on him by superiors. He can't remember having any hobbies, or feeling remotely interested in any subject. Merlin tries to figure out what his dream is, until he eventually realizes, "Marrow… you like helping people, don't you?"

"Huh? What makes you think that? When have I ever done that?!" Braun replied.

"Well… when we first met at the castle, you gave me your jacket so then I could attend the ceremony with everyone. It was pretty sweet of you."

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SHOWED UP IN THE CASTLE DRESSED IN A GOD DAMN POTATO SACK, AS A GIRL NO LESS! Don't you have common sense?!"

"Yeah, that was funny. There were a few other instances after that, but the most memorable one was… a year later. When the juniors made the first team mission, old Silverclaw told us to stay in the shadows, and just rate their performance. They ended up fighting that Ursa, which almost got the drop on them. That attack would surely put a big old scar on poor Summer, but you… You went against your orders and saved them. Silverclaw really didn't let that one slide, did he?"

"Why do you gotta remind me of that? My ear still rings when I think about it." Braun said.

"And then, when Qrowie boy wanted to get stronger… you brought him in. You decided to help, even though it wasn't a young sexy girl this time. That takes character, dude. And you kept on accepting his challenges for the next two years." Merlin said.

"Hey! Can we talk about something else or not?!" Braun said.

"And look at him, so humble. Even talking about the few good things he did makes him nervous. Admit it, Marrow, you're a better person than you're willing to admit. You like playing the hero — you like helping others. Hell, even now… you helped me." Merlin said, finally getting his attention, and so the two look into each other's eyes. "You helped me a lot. You helped me get here in a lot of ways. I know you had fun. That smile was stuck to your face the whole time and you didn't even notice… But, you realize I won't be here for much longer, Braun. You're going to have to find someone else that needs your help… I'm sure you will…"

After a short silence, we finally faded away.

…

What we see next is a short scene of Samson and Dalia's wedding. Everyone is there, but we merely see them saying their vows, kissing, and finally the wedding bells echoing in the city. I think this episode should probably go before the last one, so then the rest of team GMOR is present there, and Glynda is still a Huntress.

However, it seems that a few days after the wedding, Merlin's health took a jump down. He was stuck to a hospital bed, and we see silent scenes of him being visited by several of his friends. He stays permanently in his male form until the end of the episode. Samson, Dalia and Braun end up sitting around the hospital, waiting for small moments where they can talk. Braun took the guard duty for the afternoon, but he was soon met by urgent news.

Merlin simply disappeared from his room.

Thus begins the only fighting sequence of the episode (or two part episode idk). Merlin took his metal bat and walked into the wildlands, trying to kill as many Grimm as he could for no apparent reason. He starts off well, but his poor health starts rendering him too weak to fight. His vision is obscured and his senses are skewed. He was fighting throughout the night, under the shattered moon. Once surrounded and with no strength left to stand, finally Braun arrives. He singlehandedly kills all the remaining Grimm with his shields, and saves Merlin's short ass life.

He drags Merlin to a hill nearby and demands that he explains himself. It was actually pretty simple — despite being so casual before, Merlin was scared shitless now that death was actually right at his doorstep. If anything, he didn't want a stupid brain disease to kill him, and rather die fighting. But, it seems that Marrow saved him, once again. Merlin didn't want to be dragged back to the hospital bed — that flowery hill was good enough. He didn't want a discussion or a prayer… He just wanted to see the sunrise for the final time. Soon enough his wish is granted, and the scene is covered by warm yellow lights.

Braun and Merlin chit chat a little more, remembering their fun days, until Merlin allows him to ask one final request that he won't refuse. Braun then asks, "Merl… can you show me your true form? I know it's not this one, or the little girl, or the hot lady… hell, I don't even know if you're really my same age or an old man, but… can you show me?"

Merlin laughed. He took off his hat and threw it to Braun. "Alright then… just for you."

Before we get to see, the camera hard cuts to black.

…

Now we fade back to the exact same image, except Merlin was replaced by a… tombstone. His grave was placed there, outside of the city in a nice hill with flowers. Samson and Dalia were also there, just silently staring. They look down on the grave of their leader, not with sadness, but with smiles of joy given by memories of their fun times. Merlin was almost like an angel … someone too good for this world. Eventually Dalia looks at Braun and says, "Are you sure you're going to be fine? We don't mean to leave you, it's just that-"

"It's okay…" Braun said. "No one deserves to live on the battlefield forever. Just do me a favor and be happy together, alright? I'll miss you two. If I ever go to Haven, I'll make sure to pay a visit."

Dalia hugs him and Samson gives him a fist bump. With that, team MRBL officially broke apart. The newly-wed couple were off to live a normal life in Dalia's old home village, and Braun chose to stay as a warrior in Vale. The episode ends as he slowly puts on the fedora that Merlin gave him, and turns away with a smile. He leaves his beret and a bottle of wine behind with the tomb, closing the meaningless chapter of his life with a bang. That concludes the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): This feels so nice and so lame at the same time. I like Braun. I made him up to fulfill a simple purpose on volume's I through IV, and now I felt compelled to give him various episodes, a backstory, a place in the canon and other relations. All because I wanted a strong, recurring cop character. I'm pretty sure every single show has one of these episodes; where a character is warned of his imminent death and he spends the episode doing silly things to make himself feel better. Not to mention, all this happened because I made up Merlin to fill the 4-member quota of every team, and I had to kill him since he doesn't appear in the future. Basically I just gave two dead characters a character arc… in a prequel. Now even Yang's hat has a backstory, because that's how Peter Jackson would write this show.

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And now we're finally here. The single event that changed five-hundred years of war between humans and monsters.

The moment where history was redefined forever. Yang's birth — or rather, Canary's birth.

The episode starts with team STRQ on a mission. They were doing a scout through a trade road, and we followed mostly Raven and Tai as they continued their routine — apathetic moody lady, and spunky fun dude. Raven has a rivalry with pretty much everyone, and with Tai is no different — in fact, she seems to be especially aggressive when dealing with him. That day, a pack of caravans decided to not wait until the scout team arrived at the other side, and they almost paid the price for his stupidity. They got attacked by a pack of Grimm. Team STRQ arrived and dealt with the enemies, however Raven made a mistake.

Instead of saving the people in danger, she focuses solely on killing and chasing the Grimm. This puts Tai in a bad spot in which he has to take a bad wound to save the people on the wagon, including children. They save the day, but Tai is really pissed off now. It seems that this is a common trend with Raven, and he intends to solve it as soon as possible.

…

That night, back at team STRQ's rented apartment, Tai asks that Summer and Qrow go away while he has a serious talk with Raven. She's sitting at the other side of the room, clearly having drunk quite a lot already, but still going strong on her 5th bottle. It begins calmly but she's already pissed off, because she already knows everything Tai is going to tell her. She knows she fucked up, but she doesn't care. It's their god damn fault that they almost got killed — the caravans should've waited. And besides, it's not like she became a Huntress to save people, anyway. She just wanted to get strong and kill monsters, so what happens to the weak is no concern to her. Her excuses make him facepalm in shame. Even after three years, she is still the same. Tai says to her face that she's acting like a child. All she does is toss responsibility away, thinking that makes her look strong when in reality she's just being a selfish moron. She's too old to be acting like the same angry teenager she was at the academy. Even if she wasn't drunk, Tai doesn't expect her to be any more mature than usual.

Tai continues on this huge rant, eventually just throwing insults at her to see if she reacts with anything other than indifference. Raven gets up from her chair and slowly makes her way towards him, cursing him back and not admitting she's in the wrong. The two got close and Tai could see her snarling from anger. It felt like a huge and violent fight was about to begin, but in the end…

She pulls Tai in for a kiss.

At that point the two's emotions had built up too much. The anger converted itself to horniness in a blink of an eye, and soon Tai also flipped his switch. The two started slobbering on each other, eventually falling on the ground together.

...

What we follow next is a montage of quick scenes. Not enough to get us censored, but just enough so we can glean the fact that these two spent the whole night going at it. The moans, the curved sheets, their clothes scattered on the floor, their shadows mounting one another on the wall, their blushed faces, and finally an open window, showing the sunrise outside. Throughout the quick montage, we hear Raven's inner thoughts. She's telling herself to hold on, to stop, to calm down, but realizes that she can't control herself. Finally, in the last image we see her naked in the bed, lying right beside Tai under the white sheets. She seems terrified, while he just snores and rolls around.

She asks herself, "How did things turn out this way?"

Immediately after that, we get thrown into another quick montage. Things went back to normal as if that never happened, and so Raven believed she could just forget it. She slept with Tai — so what? It's not the end of the world. And so, it hard cuts to her vomiting on the toilet. This entire sequence continues being narrated by her inner thoughts. She begs that time would stop for just a second. She's in denial of what is happening around her, and the choices she made. She kept ignoring her pregnancy until Summer had to angrily pull her to the side, and make her look at the clear baby bump growing on her. Raven's mission days were over for the next seven months. We continue seeing depressive and small flashes of time passing through fall, winter and finally spring. In the final scene, we see her quivering in pain at the hospital while medics surround her.

And finally, the montage ends with one final scene. We see Raven with a horrified face — more fear than we ever saw from her. The moonlight is seeping through the curtains, and she's in bed. She's looking down at a baby in her arms. HER baby.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this…" she narrates one final time.

…

Despite the rather artistic beginning, the rest of the episode is pretty simple. Qrow is simply and utterly incapable of thinking what to do, and spends the whole episode in utter confusion and denial that his irresponsible sister is a mom, and that he is an uncle now. As for Tai, he plays cool and calm, refusing to have anything to do with it. Summer spends the entire episode trying to convince the immature prick that the baby is his, and he needs to take responsibility as a father. His main argument is that Raven hates him, so there's no way they can ever be a couple, much less raise a daughter. And so Summer has to break it down to his dumbass.

The thing is, Raven always loved Tai. Ever since they met and trained together, Tai always showed to be stronger than her. No other man in Raven's whole life ever tried standing up against her, and that dynamic blossomed into deep affection as Tai proceeded to train and tame her wild heart. Of course, knowing Raven, she would never say it out loud. Even Summer admits having had a crush on Tai during that time, but she backed off because it was so damn obvious that Raven was in love with him, and she didn't want to put a wrench in their friendship. The only reason Raven got more aggressive and spiteful to Tai as the years passed is because he was too blind to address their feelings, and perhaps she was too arrogant to admit hers. But now, regardless of their wishes, they have to work together. It isn't about them anymore — it's about their yet-to-be-named daughter.

Meanwhile, Raven herself was just ominously looking at the sweet baby in her arms… and was having an internal crisis. She's in denial — she's imagining horrible things and she can't think straight. She was bombarded with memories of that day where her mother died, and so Raven remembered her main goal.

Despite both of them being in the room to hear their mom's last words, Raven understood them in a very different note than Qrow. When she told them to never look back, and to one day rebuild a new family, Raven believed she literally meant to rebuild the Red Bandits from the ground up. But first she needed to grow stronger, so she wouldn't fail like they did, and in the end she came to Beacon in search of more power. That was the only reason — not to make friends, or have a daughter. She fell off her way… but she could still get back to it. There was still time to fulfill her purpose. Her mental tirade doesn't have to make sense, after all she's just experiencing Postpartum Psychosis.

Eventually Tai grows the guts to come meet with her at the hospital. They don't talk much, but in the end they figure that the baby girl needs a name. Tai thinks long and hard about the name, eventually arriving at Yang, but Raven has the final word and ultimately names her Canary Branwen. Tai was saying, "Don't you think that name is a bit-"

She looked extremely angry at him for a second, and he immediately held his tongue. She didn't want to speak with him anymore, so she demanded to see Qrow. The meeting between brothers had one very specific point — Raven wanted to convince Qrow to also abandon everyone, and come with her back to the wildlands. Qrow's response is to laugh at her face and say she was crazy. Their life was fucking awesome — as if they would ever toss it all away for something so stupid. That's the best joke Raven ever told him. The two end up arguing, and so Raven tells him to leave. She looks back at Yang in her arms and says, "I guess… I'll have to go alone, Canary."

…

While Qrow, Tai and Summer were buying baby things for the baby, Qrow gets the hint and realizes something is up with Raven. They suddenly get a call from the hospital, saying that she disappeared. We cut to Raven, and we see that she returned to their shared apartment to grab her clothes, armor and weapons. She intended to leave that same night, not saying goodbye to anyone. She had this Anakin Skywalker moment, where it is just her and the music, ruminating about if she should take baby Yang with her or not. In the end she decides to do it, which we weren't expecting. The story was always that she left Yang with Tai and Summer, but it turns out she actually tried to take her with. And of course, that leads into a fight.

Qrow's shit meter was through the scale, so he managed to return home fast enough and catch up with Raven before she left through the city gate. He tries to reason with her, but Raven really seems to have gone insane over night, and draws her sword on Qrow to let her pass. She carries Yang with one hand and fights with the other, and naturally Qrow doesn't even dare to strike back in this situation, so Instead, he tries to win her over. However, Raven isn't listening, and tries to appeal to the past to convince him one last time to come with her. She tells Qrow that they can't run from their destiny forever. This life wasn't meant for them — she wasn't meant to be someone's wife, or mother, and Qrow wasn't meant to be a hero. If they don't come back to where they belong, then their past will catch up to them. The people they grew to love will only be destroyed if they continue being with them, and that's why they have to run. She and Qrow are horrible people, and no matter how much they try… they will never change.

Qrow just interprets that as crazy talk at the moment, but it would eventually guide his entire life in the future. He does point out that Raven can't possibly take Yang (Canary) to the wildlands. She won't survive alone as a child, and it will be too dangerous. Yang deserves better than that, but it seems Raven is simply not willing to let her daughter behind. She promises to protect Yang no matter what, but her words fall on deaf ears — Qrow doesn't believe she has what it takes to protect anyone, let alone a baby. Soon Tai and Summer arrive, and working together they manage to stop Raven and snatch baby Yang away from her.

Raven is left crying on her knees, seeing that all her friends are now against her, and they refuse to understand what she's telling them. She doesn't want to hurt them, but this is the only way. She can't stay with them anymore. She has to escape. She has to fulfill her purpose. And so. Raven starts thinking of her old home. The place it all started. The place where they lived, and where her mother was buried by both she and Qrow. Her Aura starts flowing around her, and suddenly…

A red portal appears in front of her.

For the first time, Raven evolved her power to create an even stronger form of teletransportation. She looks mesmerized at the portal, while the other three stay back and look at her in shock. With tears in her eyes, she turns to them one final time, and says, "Brother, Summer, meathead… please… promise you will take care of her… I'm doing the right thing… This is for the best… I beg you… don't make me regret this…"

And so Raven jumped in the portal. Their friend was gone with the wind.

The three slowly crumble to their knees, with tears slowly surging in their eyes. Summer looks down to the smiling baby in her arms, ending the episode.

Commentary (spoilers): So much dramalama. This whole rewrite makes me like Raven a lot. She's a very 50/50 character in the community I heard. I personally don't care about the community, so I don't know how people like Raven's character to be, I just did it. She's a flawed character in a very delicate way, just enough for us to understand she's a villain but not enough to the point she becomes utterly dislikable. At least… not for now. She still gets to be an important character in the future and her reconciliation with Yang is a MUST, although the lack of time might make it lackluster.

It is at this point that I'm safe to say that ALL of RE:colored is already conceptualized, I just have to write it. When I first started I had a very small idea on what to do for the Beacon Saga (since it mostly took after the original, so there wasn't much to talk about). In the Fall Saga, I had to conclude a lot of stuff and that ended up making the conclusion of volume VI a very good conclusion for the overall show. However, with the finale of this Volume, we will officially be entering the final Saga of RWBY RE:colored, The War Saga, with the three final volumes. Volume VIII being about the White Fang, Volume IV about Atlas and the Branwen, and finally Volume X about the final war against the Grimm and Salem. I realize now that this Volume took roughly 150 pages to get through. The reason being that I have to start making shit up, something I didn't have to do in the first volumes. I once thought that the tendency would be of smaller Volumes from this point on, but I see now that's wrong. Shit will only get bigger, and Volume X might actually take 250 pages. With the previous 500 pages of the first six volumes plus introduction and character revisions, and the possible 300 pages of the next two volumes, we might get to 1.000 pages. RWBY RE:colored, this stupid god damn rewrite of show that has been (officially now) canceled, will match the lord of the fucking rings trilogy in page numbers. This is a PITCH by the way. A complete write of RWBY RE:colored (scene by scene and full dialogue) would take upwards of five times this number. I wish I had this confidence for the other stuff I write. Anyway, why am I ranting about this? Let's just get to the finale of this volume. The last two or three episodes of this volume.

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BUT FIRST… a word, from the minisodes.

After the two year timeskip, we should get several of them to show stuff happening off screen. The first one would obviously be a short about Summer actually coming back to Emerald's orphanage in Planice, bringing nice food for everyone and teaching Emerald to share with the other, even though she doesn't want to. Summer somehow finds time to be everyone's mom, and made a good impression on Emerald. It's a pretty brief story, just a follow up to the Hydra episode, and a setup for the next volume.

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We should probably get one about them going to Simon's bar for the first time as a team, getting Summer drunk and taking a commemorative photo of it. It's the same photo that was stapled at the wall of the bar, when we saw it on volume IV. Another good idea would be Summer's creative process when making Amber Celica and Mark-2 Harbinger, constantly testing them on Qrow and Tai, only for it to blow on their faces and nearly kill them.

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An extremely important one would also be about Summer, specifically. The thing that stands out most about her is the innate desire to help others, to an addictive degree — just like we saw with Emerald. And seemingly, when she's nearby, shit just seems to work. Either through her skill, intelligence or plain luck, she always manages to help people with big and small things. Her attitude and heroic deeds as a Huntress made her quite famous, and people of Vale City would refer to her as a town hero. This Minisode sets up two BIG things. The obvious one is about Summer's legacy, as it seemed that everyone knew who she was back in volume I, and her title as a hero would also inspire Ruby to become a hero as well. The other thing is only important in the final volume, which will come in handy for a Deus Ex Machina.

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A specific Trilogy of Minisodes that I have in mind are about Silverclaw. They depict the various moments in his life that led to his seclusion. Basically, after he was done with class 138th, he had to choose a successor. Leo suddenly appeared and started to act overly-friendly in order for Silverclaw to give him the job, but it didn't work, since the old man had his mind set on Hazel. However, Hazel refused because of the peaceful life he enjoyed with his family, so he ultimately appointed Ozpin.

Next episode would be about the reason why Silverclaw left Vale mysteriously. He made himself a mission to chase Cinder to the ends of the earth, and extract the truth about the Grimm from her. His last teachings to Ozpin concerned the Relic. He explained it was important, but he too didn't know what kind of powers they possess. He only knew Grimm really wanted that shit, and he fears what might happen if they ever actually get it. Ozpin should never rely on it, except in moments of absolute crisis. That was his last lesson before leaving.

The next one would depict a bearded Silverclaw, years into his chase for Cinder. It didn't seem to have worked — she simply and utterly disappeared without a trace, probably having returned to Vacuo where they found her. In his utter annoyance, he returned defeated to his mansion in the countryside. The silence and darkness of it seems to bother Silverclaw. He had an itch for something. Either he just wanted some company, or he somehow reawakened his spirit as a master — either way, he proceeded to go to a village in Haven, searching for someone to be his successor. The effects of this quest will be seen in the next volume.

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I think some closure for team MRBL would be nice. Samson and Dalia hoped to start life anew in a village, but the duty of a warrior seems to have followed them wherever they went. They were quite strong together, so they could fight even without Braun or Merlin. It made them realize that a peaceful life really wasn't their style, so becoming Huntsmen again seemed like the right call. Though they wished to start a family, a deep fear of the world led them to never want kids — at least until they can see that the monsters of Grimm are ridden from the Earth.

Braun continued mostly being a dick, but in honor of Merlin, he tried to continue helping people with his super powers instead of just killing Grimm like any other warrior. In the end, he realized it was actually a pretty sweet way of living, and he had tons of bitches circling him from all sides from how popular he became. Ultimately, he managed to buy himself a brand new (made up) career at the police force, and thus he became Vale City's super power errand boy, and occasional detective.

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And to cap it all off, I think a scene about homebound Glynda would be nice. She just settled in a fancy apartment and dressed like shit. Now she's just a traumatized shell of a woman, who lives off her huge family inheritance and will likely never take arms again. Corazan and Summer still make the effort to come visit her, even though Glynda totally doesn't want to, and wishes not to be reminded of her old life whatsoever. Corazan kept getting older and stronger, to the point he became one of Leo's top warriors, and eventually his right hand man. He chose to help train new students of Shade academy to fight, hoping that those kids end up better off than they did. This minisode kinda reveals the idea that Corazan was the one who inspired Glynda to become a teacher years later, roughly for the same purpose as he.

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And finally… the conclusion, with the four final episodes.

It has been many weeks, maybe a month since Raven suddenly ran away. We start with Qrow, getting drunk on Simon's bar as he slowly comes to terms with the fact his sister just left him for the first time in their lives. Apparently he went off to chase her, but she simply disappeared. Given the time, it looks like she won't come back at all. She left Tai a single father, but with Summer helping him, he'll manage. Qrow doesn't stay on his own for too long, soon Summer arrives to come pick him up.

She sits beside him on the counter and buys a shot of whiskey, as the two ponder over Raven's motives and words. Qrow believes she'll turn to crime like the old red bandits, and if that is the case, he fears not having the guts to fight his own sister. Summer isn't in the best of moods either, and starts getting drunk with him. She realizes how this isn't the first time a friend has left them. Cinder, Merlin, Olga, Rita, Mona, several other background characters… and now Raven. No matter how much she tries or how much hope she puts into her life, it seems Summer can't help but sit and watch all her friends die one after one. They are all doomed to leave her, just like her parents. She wonders, "What have we done so terribly wrong… to make this world so horrible…"

Eventually they decide to leave, and as they walk through the dark streets of Vale City at night, it begins to rain. The two cover themselves with their hoods, and Summer starts to sing a song to cheer herself up as she often does. This scene is suddenly becoming REALLY familiar. The two are soaked, so they take refuge under a small cover in the alley. They could do much except look around in the darkness or look at each other. Eventually Summer opened up.

"Qrow… I want you to promise… promise that you'll never leave me… Promise you'll never die, or run, or give up… I don't want anyone else that I like to end up dying…" She said. Qrow kept looking down at her for a long while, with cold and ominous gaze. He didn't get from where this was coming from — maybe it was the booze. "Hey, didn't you listen to what I said? I want you to promise!"

Qrow suddenly started to laugh at her face. "So… you finally admitted liking me."

Summer blushed. "Of- Of course I do! You don't make it easy, but I do!"

"I know… I know I don't… Thanks, Summer… I promise. I'm never going to let anyone else die on me… I'll never lose ever again… I'll protect you, and everyone else, for however long it takes. Little Yang won't get so much as a scratch while I'm around! I swear to you." Qrow said. And so, once the soundtrack builds up enough, they go for a small kiss.

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Montage time, baby, backed by Summer singing. We don't see much — just various frames of family pictures being taken over the years, all covered in grainy effects. A small timestamp at the corner reveals that this montage covers between years 514 to 523. The only indication of time passing is Yang, as she gets slightly taller and older in each one. Their designs also change quite a lot. Tai now officially became his kakhi-wearing self that we know from volume I, and also cut his hair short. Summer's hair only grew longer, and her under dress became fully black, while the inside of her white hood became red. Qrow just looks more old and ragged — he merely got battle-worned, but didn't change much. Besides, baby Ruby just started popping in the photos in the year 516 — no explanation required. As time passed, eventually they would build a house in the forest outside the gates. The Patch Forest is located near the southeast of the city, close to the cliff shore to the sea. There were quite a few houses built outside the gates already, and plenty of populated farmland around Vale City, so the chance of Grimm attacking was zero even beyond the walls.

And well, that's the intro. Time to get into the real episode.

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Nine years later.

We follow Summer as she is walking Vale's streets on a bright, sunny day. Kid Ruby and kid Yang are following beside her, holding her hands. She picked them up from school, where it seems that Yang fought another kid and now Summer was scolding her. Both would refer to her as mom, and since this is a seven-year old Ruby, don't expect much important dialogue from her. Summer made the effort to put both into a new high-class school, and it seems this decision ignited Ruby's fascination in mechanics, while just made Yang hyper fixated in driving motorcycles. It's just a wholesome scene to showcase that Summer still didn't change much despite being in her early thirties now. Lastly, Yang and Ruby beg Summer to take them home with the zoomies, and so Summer proceeds to hug them and run at super speed all the way home. The girls scream and laugh as the wind blows their hair.

Once home we meet Tai again, and it seems his youthful personality died along with his virginity. Now he's calm, collected and responsible. Their relationship at this time is pretty complicated. They both had kids who refer to them as mom and dad, but they really aren't engaged or like each other as more than best friends. Of course, the girls don't have to know about any of that, yet. Just then Qrow arrived with a big check of money and food, looking awfully beaten. He had bandages all over him, but wasn't in any pain. He claims to have met up with Tyrian again, and fell down a ravine while fighting him. Still, he was able to beat him, finish the A-class mission singlehandedly, and bring Pizza for the kids along with the money. They seemed like one perfect and happy family, despite the countless tragedies that happened over their lives.

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After dinner was done, the adults were left chatting in the small living room until Summer opened up about her day. This mom life wasn't bad, but she was now starting to feel strange — like she's running out of steam. She's tired from mundane activities and keeps losing pace more often, as if she's already an old lady. In an attempt to reinvigorate her spirit, Qrow welcomes her in his next hunt. He's very insistent, so she ends up accepting.

We follow this small montage of Summer getting herself together back in gear, including her armor, ODM, her Rose Emblem, and her axe pinned to the wall. After a quick practice session, she's ready to rumble. She and Qrow depart together the next morning, leaving Tai to take care of Ruby and Yang.

The episode from then on becomes quite simple — it isn't a complicated job, but IT IS a massive callback and explanation to what happens in later canon. Basically, the impossible just happened. The guild was informed that a Beowolf, a powerful Grimm who usually remains in the Forbidden North, has found its way down to Vale City, alone. The creature's high intelligence makes it prone to escaping and picking targets carefully, and having a monster so powerful being so close to home is horrible news. Qrow, who has insanely good tracking abilities, was ordered to find it and kill it. The mission started in a familiar farmland near the city, which we immediately identify to be Oscar's future farm. Apparently the lady who ran it was overworking through the night, and unfortunately encountered the Beowolf who killed her. She left a little son behind, who was now taken away to live with his aunt.

This scene was emotionally shocking to Summer — she just came back, and was met with a horrible scene like that first and before. It shouldn't have hit her so hard, but her coddled last years made her soft to the simple and crude reality of this world of monsters. She knows what it's like to lose a parent, but now she was met with a new thing to dread. The event of dying and abandoning your child. But in those small moments of dread, her relationship with Qrow shines through a lot. They are not properly wed, they don't have rings, they don't call each other sweetheart and honey, but they do love each other. It's the small things that show us — from the way they hold hands, to their heartfelt gazes and their soft smiles. Here she forces Qrow to make another promise — that he will always protect the kids no matter what, as she hopes they NEVER have to become warriors, and experience the suffering and loss that Summer and her friends did. She really emphasizes it, and Qrow finally promises it. He will make sure that Ruby never has to fight.

Unfortunately, something does become evident as the episode goes on. Summer is getting slower, and it's not because of age, or lack of fighting. She's becoming dizzy and ill. At one point she looks down at her palm and sees a single gray dot near her pulse, but chooses to ignore it. The end of the episode comes once the two separate, and Summer ends up finding the Beowolf. However, she's performing incredibly weak, as she seems to be suffering from a dizzy fever. She couldn't fight, so the monster started wrecking her. Qrow quickly arrives, but fails to chase it down and kill it — he chose to focus on Summer. She was really sick, and now there were gray dot marks appearing all over her body. With that worrying reveal under the moonlight, the episode ends.

Commentary (spoilers): By far and wide, these last episodes are the absolute most important of the entire season. Unlike everything before, of which we already knew about and didn't need to see, this here we NEED to know about, and we never talked about before. Summer's death was shrouded by a thick mystery even in the original show, so I have full creative liberty to make stuff up. These episodes also reveal the reason for a TON of stuff that happened in the future. If you hadn't noticed, the intro to this episode is extremely similar to Qrow's introduction in the beginning of volume III. I made sure to build on a few concepts that explain peculiarities in the future. Ruby's expertise with mechanical crafting at a young age is explained by having an expensive education that Summer gave her. Qrow's whole character in the future is explained by the many promises he made to Summer, and so is his guilt. In case you haven't noticed, this Beowolf is that same Beowolf who attacked Ruby and Yang in the forest near Vale in her story from Volume II. I decided to throw in Oscar's backstory there as well, but I'm sure no one except me remembers it by this point. Now stuff starts getting cranky. Onto the next one.

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The next episode immediately starts in a hospital waiting room. Qrow and Tai were standing there until the nurse comes out, and reveals to them that Summer Rose has gray pox. It's a genetic degenerative disease that infects the heart, and corrupts the blood being pumped. The bad blood then creates small gray markings near the blood vessels, and subsequently all organs start to fail. There's no medicine that cures it, the treatment is fucking expensive as all hell, and even then… the chance of survival is 25%.

We cut to Summer, looking vaguely ahead as her eyes lost their glow. She raises her hands, and realizes she's covered by the gray markings. The same thing that killed her father is going to kill her as well. She managed to stabilize for now, so she gets out of bed, dresses up and goes back home with Qrow and Tai. They don't have the guts to explain to the girls what happened. For now Summer just seems completely disconnected with reality. She doesn't know what to do, but she just wants to be with her daughters for now. Meanwhile, Qrow and Tai decide to do everything in their power to save Summer. Tai will go the hard and good route of making money for the treatment… while Qrow will try something else.

This is the most fucked up and heartbreaking episode in the show so far. It's kinda like the Merlin's last trick episode, except this one has a tragic message instead of a hopeful one. The narrative is split between Summer as she plays with her daughters for the final days, Tai trying to make a lot of money, and Qrow doing something a little drastic.

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Tai has the smaller part in this. He does odd and dangerous jobs to get loads of money quickly, but realizes that he won't have enough in time. And so, he turns to crime as a last resort. He literally goes around searching for criminals until he lucked out and met with Junior in his club. Junior hires Tai to do some bad stuff, like destroying his enemies and preying on weak people that owned him money. Tai forces himself to these things in order to save Summer, not caring what happens next. He gets his money, but now Junior has permanent dirt on his name. He'll call again whenever he needs a warrior on his team, but for now he takes pity on his story, and allows Tai to go free with the cash. That's how the story between Junior and the Xialongs began. We'll see more later on.

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Summer's story is a sad one. The first scene we get with her is alongside Ruby and Yang. The two had run into the forest to play, so Summer had to feebly search for them and bring them back, realizing she grew too weak to do even be a mother anymore. Once the two were in her grasp, this time Summer tries to subtly explain that she'll likely not be around for the following weeks, and that the two need to always listen to their father and uncle. It was her last lesson to them, mostly telling them not to get in fights, not be evil, not be sad, and most important, not be Huntresses. Apparently it didn't work. Together, mom and daughters sing a final nursery rhime together, and so she puts them to sleep. From then on she just fell into deep depression, as Tai and Qrow pretty much left her alone in the house to just… deal with it. She ponders over the future, and realizes she'll never get the chance to see her daughters grow. She won't be there at the most important moments of their lives, when they would need her the most. In her final days, Summer spent most of her time sitting by the cliff's edge of the forest towards the sea — the place that would eventually become her grave spot. That ends her part.

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Meanwhile, Qrow took the berserk route. He traveled to Atlas City — the place that has become the greatest center of technology and wealth for the last dozen years. He hoped to find the cure here, but it seems that gray pox was never even a problem around these parts. And so, he goes for plan B: find the said "smartest person in this city"… and kidnap him. That person would be Professor Pietro Polendina. Qrow just dresses up as a hooded ninja with a giant sword, and infiltrates the guys mansion during the night. It's a silent scene, and Qrow doesn't know what to expect. He keeps his sword at hand and roams through corridors in stealth. Eventually he hears steps coming in from the hall, with a light source approaching. He waits by the door and grabs that person as soon as she passes through, pressing her against the wall with the huge sword to their neck. A coffee pot falls on the floor.

Unfortunately it wasn't professor Polendina. It was… Penny?

She looks exactly the same she does ten years later, except her clothes are less vibrant and her hair is long. Qrow accidentally pushes his sword against her throat, creating a shallow cut that immediately bleeds a little. She was a human. Qrow soon realized he was pointing a sword to a child, and she was terrified. He eased up and asked her, "Where's the doctor?"

The girl was too scared to answer — she started crying and would piss herself any second now, so Qrow spared her the trouble by using his index finger to lightly chop her in the neck, knocking her out. He carefully laid the girl on the ground and continued searching. This scene tells us a lot of things, but we don't really know what those things are. For now it's just the obligatory Penny cameo that every Volume needs. Eventually Qrow finds the doctor.

Small Commentary: I think I said something to this effect in the character revision chapter, but I kinda wanted to change Pietro if we were to ever see him in the story. I wanted him to be an eccentric genius — someone who would be silly enough to make a robot like Penny, but smart enough to be good at it. so I pitched that we borrowed Neptune's design for him. The vibrant blue hair mixed with the dark red lab coat that stands out of the line in Atlas. Since he's supposed to be thirty-something, I should give him a little beard and look older overall. This is the best I can do to save a design I like, in exchange of a design that I don't like. Basically, Pietro in this rewrite has been switched with Neptune.

Qrow meets with him in the darkness of his personal lab, and Pietro immediately comes off as a dick. He's busy working on a bench table, and he assumes that the person who entered was Penny. He keeps asking for the coffee that he ordered her to fetch, until he finally looks back and realizes it's a fucking ninja. Qrow explains that he wants to kidnap him in order to create a cure for gray pox. The doctor tries to explain that he's a mechanic and not a doctor, but Qrow doesn't get it and kidnaps him anyway. Human Penny soon woke up, and called the police.

Naturally Qrow's part in this story takes most of the episode. He takes the doctor to a hole in the sewers and urges him to make a cure for gray pox, constantly going out to fetch lab equipment that Pietro needs. Of course he has no expertise on this, but will give it a shot, knowing Qrow will probably kill him if he doesn't. To motivate him further, Qrow threatens to go back to his mansion and kill the ginger girl who Qrow assumes it's his daughter. The doctor laughs, but quickly stops once he looks at Qrow's face and realizes that he is not fucking around. He will do ANYTHING to save Summer. However, something strange was stopping Pietro's progress. Nervous from Summer's eminent fate, Qrow's Semblance starts to kick in subconsciously, and disrupt Pietro's research through sheer bad luck. It ended up taking longer than it had to.

In their many conversations the doctor manages to learn why Qrow needed the cure, but being a dick, Pietro mocks Qrow's stupid attempt to save his wife. He says, "Honestly dude, I had a wife once and it wasn't worth the trouble you're getting into. don't know what must be going through your head in order to make all this effort for a broad…"

Qrow answers, almost like an out of body experience, "Maybe you will… one day."

In the end Polendina wasn't a medic, but by pure logic he was able to figure out that a heart transplant would cure her, since the infection targets the blood going through the heart. Pietro just fears that it will take a life to save hers. If he manages finds a donor, he can save Summer. Qrow plans on giving away his own heart, but first he needed to leave Altas. Then, just when a solution was discovered…

The Major Lieutenant of current times showed up. Lieutenant Jimmy Ironwood.

He just bursts through the fucking roof like a terminator and immediately starts to fight Qrow. It's a fucking wash at first — Qrow was completely overwhelmed by his surprise attack and cyborg weapons, but managed to pick up the pace and fight in equal terms. During their fight, Ironwood managed to discover his identity, since by then Qrow was famous nationwide as the Hydra Killer, the demon of the west, the drunken swordsman, etc. The two would certainly kill each other, until Pietro makes the annoying choice and sides with Qrow, holding back Ironwood and allowing Qrow to go save his wife. Pretty fun section, and an opportunity to learn why Qrow was banned from Atlas.

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The three plots converge at the end. Qrow is returning to Vale, ready to give his life away in the surgery, and Tai is coming back home, already having paid for the treatment with the dirty money. As for Summer, she just spent her time sitting at the cliff shore from sunrise to sunset, just like the last three days. Once it was dark, she finally stood up and started walking back home with an empty look in her face. And then, suddenly… the wind rushed by, and Summer's expression was taken by surprise. She looked back and kept staring in the darkness, until finally we see a figure walking off from behind a tree.

Cinder Fall. Twelve years have come and gone, and both of them still look quite similar. She still wore that same style of crimson dress, and she still had Summer's choker around her neck. The two stare at each other's silver eyes for a long while. The episode ends as Cinder says, "We need to talk, Summer… I need to save you."

Commentary (spoilers): This episode continues the trend of explaining stuff from the future. Qrow's ban from Atlas, Summer's grave placement, Penny and her dad, and Tai's relations to Junior. The Penny stuff will only come back in volume IX, where she will be, at long last, THE main protagonist of the story instead of the usual team RWBY. By now you can already guess what kind of story I'm planning for Penny in there; I'm so damn predictable, and it's not that different from canon. I guess it's finally time for us to talk about the final two episode of this volume.

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The third and fourth episodes are the finale, and it already starts with Qrow and Tai arriving at their house simultaneously. They quickly realize Summer isn't there, nor is she by the cliff shore. Finally they ask Ruby and Yang if they knew anything. Apparently, before disappearing, Summer came to hug the two of them and say goodbye for a little while. She was going on a trip. The two girls looked out through the window and spotted Summer walking into the woods, where a woman was waiting for her. For a second Ruby thought to be looking at a mirror, because they looked very similar once side by side — down to the same eyes. Qrow and Tai got the hint, and started tracking.

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While these two are following after the trail, Summer and Cinder occupy most of the episode. We cut back to where we left off in the previous episode. Cinder came to talk — she needed to help Summer at all costs. Cinder is aware that she has no right to come back to her, and that's why she never did. No matter how much she tried, Cinder couldn't forget Summer. She couldn't forget the only nice person in her world — the only person who is like her. Cinder was happy to know she was living a decent life, even if they weren't together. But that doesn't matter now, Cinder came on a mission from her godmother again. She needs to bring Summer back to her home in Vacuo, and save her life.

Summer is obviously reluctant and shocked by Cinder's sudden arrival after so long. She didn't know what to do, but in her depressive state, her curiosity got the better of her. Cinder promised not only to save her life from the disease, but to also explain all the truth to Summer. Explain why everything is the way that it is. Summer realized she only has two or three days to live, and figured it was best to at least try. She said goodbye to her daughters and left with Cinder, both flying at the back of the Manticore, who by now grew to its naturally huge size, covered fully in white scales. Qrow and Tai were only able to follow because Summer's Scroll allowed her to be tracked.

Like I said, we follow mostly Summer and Cinder as they fly through the world and talk. Cinder goes to explain a lot of things to her — how she got her powers, the people of the Silver Eyes, and their connection to Salem as their goddess. Eventually Summer arrives at the topic of the Grimm, and so Cinder thought it was best to give her a history lesson. After a night of flying and resting, they arrive at the destroyed city of Glenn.

Cinder goes on to explain the world before the first invasion. Glenn was the strongest city of the strongest empire in the world. Though they were powerful, the people were miserable, their enemies were enslaved and the king was a power-hungry prick. The royal family of 500 years ago was ready to destroy the world for their selfish desires. They had powerful magic relics that made them invincible. No one had the power to take them down…

Except for Salem. And so… she decided to act.

On the day known as the first invasion, the Grimm were born and were unleashed upon the world. Though at first it seemed like they were nothing but monsters hellbent on destroying humanity, they served a higher purpose. The Grimm, as well as this destroyed city, are a Grimm reminder.

Humanity was doomed to destroy itself, always in search of control and more resources. Always in search of new heights and bigger empires — all the while stomping each other to achieve it. But once the Grimm came along, that has changed forever. Suddenly humanity, regardless of their race or banner, worked together to defeat the monsters of Grimm and rebuild their kingdoms. World peace could only be born once an undying, endless and unforgiving enemy was born. The Grimm united the world. If they didn't exist, the world would already be engulfed in war by now. Summer would be a warrior instead of a Huntress, and she would have to kill other people just to survive. All the friends she made… could've easily been her enemies.

Summer listened to the whole tirade in silence. The worst part is… she understood it. Summer above all else hated conflict, and would do anything to stop people from hurting each other. Now knowing the true essence of the Grimm, Summer begins to second guess herself. Maybe she was becoming crazy from the fever, but she accepted the truth. But at the same time, how could she ever side with Salem and the Grimm at the end? They still killed countless people in the end, women and children alike. They are not heroes or saviors of anything.

"I know, Summer… They are monsters… but they weren't born to be anything else. Blaming them is pointless." Cinder said.

"This… I don't want to believe this!" Summer said, picking up Cinder's attention. "I refuse to believe the world is so cruel! There has to be another way! There has to be someone who's willing to do the right thing, right?! Is it so naive of me, to want a world where people don't have to die at the hands of monsters?! A world where people aren't ruled by tyrants, a world where we don't kill each other, a world where children don't have to fight?!… Tell me, Cinder, is that really impossible to achieve?!"

Cinder had no answer. Summer was tearing up, but continued, "I just wanted to see a world like that… A world made by nice people, where no one has to fight, and no one has to suffer… I would do anything to make it a reality… Wouldn't you too?"

For a brief second, Cinder had a flashback to everything she experienced as a child. All the abuse, the squalid lifestyle, the violence, the corruption and much worse. Every time she looked back at it, she saw her past with nothing but anger and sadness. But now, Summer just taught her something new. A higher level of empathy. Cinder suddenly realized that… she wouldn't want any other little girl to go through the same things she did. Cinder says, "I do… and you know what?… I promise, once you're okay, I'm going to help you make that world a reality."

…

The episode continues on as usual. I don't know when, but somewhere in this part Summer will come to reveal that she had a daughter named Ruby Rose, just to make sure that Cinder knew of her existence before they met in volume IV. Also, a small reminder, but Tai and Qrow tried to get Ozpin's help, but this takes place some weeks after the death of Olivia Reiner, so he literally disappeared and is yet to return. They got pretty close, but the problem is that Cinder is being accompanied by an army of Grimm, both abnormal and elders. By that point Cinder was literally kidnapping Summer, as she let slip one crucial detail that she shouldn't. The only way Salem can save Summer is by turning her partially into a Grimm. Summer absolutely didn't want that, but Cinder restrained her, not giving a damn about her wishes, and focused on making sure Summer will survive no matter what. Of course… she will never be able to go back to her old life if she becomes half a monster.

Eventually the two threads align, and they meet somewhere in the forbidden north, really close to Vacuo — the forbidden valley. Qrow and Tai are dressed like absolute badassess in cloaks, and they go straight to fighting. They don't give a remote shit about Cinder or what she was up to for the last ten years, they just want to get Summer back. She's unconscious for now, as her sickness gets worse suddenly. Those days turned into hours left to live.

Qrow and Tai manage to absolutely wredck their way through the Grimm army. Tai overextends with his Semblance, killing a huge portion of the army alone, but ending up with no Aura to fight the abnormals. Cinder started running away with Summer, leaving them behind. When it seems like they will be overwhelmed…

Raven shows up.

She teleports by emerging from red light on Qrow's chest, killing the Grimm who was right in front of them. She was like, "I don't give a shit about what you have to say. Let's get her back." And so the three start to kill the fuck out of everything in their way, even harder this time. Once they are done killing the Grendel, or the Basilisk, or the Pegasus, or whatever abnormal Grimm you can imagine, Raven slashes the air and creates a portal directly to Summer. The three appear in front of Cinder, and so it's on.

Now you have Cinder versus Raven round 2, Tai and Qrow versus The Manticore, and Summer versus death — the ladder being a more imagination-based battle. Cinder starts already being driven mad by the sheer audacity of these three fuckers. Cinder is trying to save her life, how dare they try to stop her? She doesn't hold back at all this time. Raven is thousands of times stronger than she was in their first fight, but Cinder holds an Ancestral Semblance who embodies destruction. Raven's broken teleportation abilities can only get her so far before she starts running out of Aura and getting wrecked.

Meanwhile, Qrow and Tai were being murdered by the strongest Grimm who has ever lived. Phasing speed, crazy secondary abilities born from mixed animal parts, the ability to fly, and an impenetrable armor covering every inch of the monster. Tai was the first to go down, but Qrow stood on fighting. As they stood grouped up in this cool and empty scenario, it's only natural the more and more Grimm were being attracted to the fight, surrounding them for a group attack. However, Chaos started to flow out of Qrow as he became desperate to save Summer. Its level of power is so alarming that it makes everyone start paying attention. Qrow uses his Semblance to kill the little guys who approach, so he can focus on the Manticore. Just like it did before, Chaos starts to destroy the land and burn everything in order to kill Qrow's enemies.

Meanwhile, Summer's battle was happening inside her head. She was resisting death itself, embodied by the skeleton with the scythe and everything. Suddenly her axe appeared in her hand, and she was able to fight death in this endless dark void within her mind. The important part was not the fight, but rather what death was telling her. It asked again and again, "Summer Rose… What is it that you want? What is YOUR dearest wish? What matters to you the most? Is it really your own survival?"

Summer repeated that speech she gave Cinder earlier, wishing for a better world, but she knew that it wasn't her true greatest desire. Even though she wanted a better world, she couldn't love every person in it. The world will never be perfect, no matter how much she tries to fix it. Even if she succeeds, how long will it last? How many bodies will she have to leave behind? In the end, she realized the one thing she wanted more than anything. The thing that has been in front of her, her whole life. The dream that is present in every person of this world, regardless of how evil or good they are. It's devoid of moral or situation — a desire born of primal instinct.

Summer's dearest wish was to save the people that she loved.

As she realized that, she was able to beat death in her dream, and wake up in real life. She got up, and felt her white Aura flaring up around her. She looked ahead to see Qrow in a pinch. He was fighting the Manticore, but once he saw Cinder about to cap off Raven, he made the mad dash to fight in her place, saving her even though she totally doesn't deserve his loyalty anymore. He was able to deliver a glaring slash on Cinder's stomach with Harbinger — enough to make her bleed, but not nearly enough to kill her. The manticore quickly jumped in to bite Qrow on his shoulder, immobilizing him in place.

Cinder saw her own blood slipping through her fingers, and just like every other time… she went berserker. Cinder wouldn't allow their stupidity to kill Summer. It was high time to kill Qrow with her flame saber. She prepared one final rage-filled swing, and Qrow couldn't do anything due to the monter's fangs carving his arm. She was about to slice him in half. Summer could feel her heart getting weaker and weaker with each passing second. Her heartbeat was about to cease, and the illness would claim her life. However, her soul was burning brighter than ever before. The final seal had been released, and it seemed to have awakened a new power. Her dearest wish granted itself through magic.

Just as Cinder swings down at Qrow… Summer disappears, magically. Everyone was blinded by a sudden white light that took over the land in a split second. They blinked, and found themselves inside a white void, with Summer being the only person with them. They were inside their own heads, where time had stopped. They couldn't understand what was happening. Summer says, "I'm sorry for making you go through all that trouble to save me. It seems like things were meant to end this way, regardless of what we wanted… I don't want things to be like this, but I can't stop it. I still got a few seconds left in me… and with them… I don't want to see the people that I love dying in front of me.

"Tai... please, take care of Ruby for me. I know you will be a wonderful dad.

Raven... I wish I could've helped you back then. I wish I could convince you to stay. We could still have been a happy family. I'm sorry.

Cinder… I still hope that this scar in you will heal one day, so you can finally see the world that I saw.

Qrow… remember the promise that you made, okay? You will still have someone to protect after I'm gone. I'm sure you will be fine... I love you."

Summers smiles one last time to her friends, and so time flows again.

…

After a few seconds, they all return to the real world. They look up and see that Summer… had stopped Cinder's final strike. That attack was sure to kill Qrow, but Summer's body managed to shield him from it. The slash went through her back, cutting her deeply, almost splitting her apart. Summer still held Qrow in a tight hug. The three were locked in that pose, with faces of absolute horror. Summer, however, was dead before the blade even connected. She died with the same gentle smile she always had, the same smile that was implanted on her face since episode one.

Qrow immediately let go of his sword, dropping Harbinger on the ground. Cinder undid her saber, and so Summer's body slowly fell to the left. They kept staring down in silence. On any other occasion, Qrow would immediately go berserk and destroy everything, however… He simply fell back with that empty gaze. He couldn't summon any power to be mad, because to his eyes… he was the one who killed her. She died... to save him.

The exact opposite happened to Cinder. By now the scene has slowed down to a crawl, and gone completely silent. Even the army of Grimm surrounding them has the oh shit face. Cinder falls to her knees and place her trembling hands over Summer. She was so shocked that she couldn't formulate words — only vague thoughts. As always, her brain is trying to disassociate from what she just did, trying to save her sanity. "Why… why did this happen? Summer… who… who did this to you? How could… you…"

Eventually she looks up, and sees the answer to her question. It was them. They did it.

Qrow, Tai and Raven were looking back at her. The Manticore quickly moved to snatch Summer's body off the ground, flying away from Cinder. She started to float in the air, as fire suddenly engulfed her whole body. She became an irrecognizable mass of flames, made human only by the vicious snarl across her face. She kept flying up until she was as high as the clouds, looking down on the entire land and overpowering the sun with her own brightness. Cinder says, "This… THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

She starts creating a massive ball of fire. A meteor made of pure, condensed explosions. Absolute plasma energy that erases everything that touches it. She proceeds to throw this attack down at them. All of them were too shocked to react — Qrow wasn't even in this dimension anymore. Raven had to make a move. She had mere seconds before the blast killed them, so she created a portal, grabbed Tai and Qrow, and jumped in. The hundreds of Grimm were left behind, doomed to die. The meteor of fire hits the ground, creating a nuclear-level explosion.

…

…

It took a LONG time for all the dust to settle with the wind. Cinder, completely devoid of Aura, slowly falls off the sky. Momo the Manticore appears to grab her, taking her away from the destruction. Soon she was reunited with Summer — or at least, her body. Cinder still couldn't do anything but desperately cry and call out her name. She still fails to see how this is her fault whatsoever, and puts all the blame on Qrow, Raven and Tai. "Why… Why does someone like you… have to be born in this miserable… disgusting… wretchet world… Just to die?… Why Summer… WHY!?"

Once she's done crying, she finally looks up and sees that Vacuo is close. The black hue covered the distance completely. Cinder forced out a crooked smile and shrugged off her tears. She gently picked up Summer's body from the ground, and started walking there alongside Momo. "It's okay, Summer… There's still hope… I promise you, didn't I? I'll do anything… whatever it takes… I will make the world that you told me… into reality… no wars, or evil… a world where everyone is equal… without suffering, or injustice… The perfect world… I promise you… I won't fail."

…

…

Qrow, Tai and Raven came jumping out of the portal, arriving somewhere beautiful in the wildlands. The field of flowers, the waterfall and the swift breeze doesn't mix at all with the sheer despair of their faces. Raven is crying heavily, but she can only bite her lip and shake her fist at what she just witnessed. Qrow finally reacts and looks up, as he saw her cry. She looked down on him with eyes filled with pure hatred.

"God damn it, Qrow… Just… just why?… WHY CAN'T YOU DO A SINGLE GOD DAMN THING RIGHT?!"

"Wait… sis-" Qrow uttered, but she immediately interrupted.

"DON'T!… Don't ever call me that again… I will never… ever forgive you for this… My best friend is dead… AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Raven shouted with flying around. She turned her back and took a few seconds to shrug off her tears. Her sorrowful eyes turn back to Qrow, and she finishes, "I should've left you to die in that forest with mom…"

And so she instantly teleported out of there, just as Tai raised his hand and called out her name. They were left completely alone. No Grimm, no company, and their world torn apart. Tai just falls face first into the ground and cries a river of tears down the grass. Qrow kept staring aimlessly to the horizon. It wasn't hard to realize, but at that second… Qrow Branwen had truly lost it. Whoever was the person he became through this whole volume, it died along with Summer. He was hoping to hear her voice, telling him to cheer up as she would always do. But he didn't.

With that final shot of Qrow in the flower field… Volume VII concludes.

And so, CREDITS. And personally, I have a specific sequence that I want the credits to feature.

As the names go down the screen, we see how the world mourns what just happened. Qrow and Tai just went back to Vale with the most defeated stride imaginable. And so we see the various characters we met this season (the ones who are still alive) all dress in black one by one. Slow scenes, framed in dark rooms, pale tones and sad music. Her body was never recovered, so all they could do was stare down a tombstone. It was placed at her favorite spot, in the cliff shore of the forest. Qrow, Tai, Ruby, Yang, Glynda, Braun, Samson, Dalia, and many others were there — except for Ozpin.

And from then on, the montage shows how time passed from the tombstone's perspective. We see the trees grow, the city far away becoming more and more modern, and we would see Ruby growing up. From seven years old, all the way to seventeen — visiting the grave almost every week. We continue seeing the city from the grave's perspective, even on the night of the invasion, as the castle was left in shambles and flames spread through the streets. The city remains destroyed for a good two months, but eventually… it starts being rebuilt.

And finally, the final shot before the credits montage ends, we see Ruby approaching the tombstone once again. She's now eighteen years old, and this is sort of a sneak peek to her design that we will see for the final saga throughout. She covers her whole body with the red hood, quite like Summer did with her white one. They look pretty identical like this. Ruby places a rose on the tombstone, sits there for a while… and leaves.

With that… the screen finally fades to black.

…

…

…

We're not done yet. This volume has likely the longest post-credit scene.

We see a familiar forest again. The grass was ashen and there was rubble everywhere. All the trees were burned to a crisp long ago. This is the forest of Anima near the temple, after it all blew to hell at the end of Volume VI. What we see is hundreds, maybe thousands of Grimm working together to make a spiral pit. The abnormals are doing most of the heavy work, while the small ones just carry away the sand and earth. They are opening a hole where the temple used to be, until they manage to find the chasm where the girls fought Cinder. A flying one goes down the dark depths, making all others watch in silence.

Soon enough he comes out, carrying Cinder AND the Crown Relic with it.

Her eye was gone, her arm was gone… but she is still hanging on by a thread.

We hardcut to Cinder waking up. She's back at her luxurious bed, in a palace of pure gold. It was Vacuo again, at the dark goddess palace. Cinder is dressed in literally just bandages — it's pretty hot. She walks down her room towards the mirror, and takes a good look over herself. She was shocked to see that her missing arm was replaced by a pitch black one, but was otherwise fully functional and sensitive. The bad part was half of her face. She pulled back her hair, and saw that a good portion of her face was taken by darkness, and that now her other eye glows red instead of silver. She quickly starts crying as she realizes what became of her. It was then, at the blink of an eye, that Salem appeared behind her.

Salem put a hand on her shoulder and said, "It was a long journey, my dear… but in the end… you won."

Salem shows her the Relic of Order — the crown that gives full control over mortals to the wearer. Cinder, still crying, turns around and hugs Salem. She falls to her knees and keeps on hugging her legs, as Salem puts her hand over Cinder's head. She wails over the mistakes she made. Both "Gary" and Momo are dead now, and though Salem is just as sad as her, she keeps a cold and responsible stature. She asks, "Tell me, Cinder… Does your dream persist? Are you still willing to shape a better world?"

Cinder thought for a second, before saying, "I don't think I can, mother… I understand now that they will never accept the gift I'm willing to offer… They will never even try to understand what I tried to achieve… the world is much more putrid than I could ever imagine… I won't be able to fix anything… My only hope… is to start from scrap… Everything needs to end, or else they will never known true peace…

I failed you time and time again, mother… I know I don't have the right to ask this, but… will you help me?" Cinder finished.

We see Salem looking down at her. A subtle smile forms on her face. We cut to black, and we hear Salem answering, "Very well."

And so, OFICIALLY, ends volume VI.

Commentary (spoilers): Damn this volume was gruesome. It totally didn't need to be though, I could hyper-summarize it if I wanted to, make it fit just 60 pages, but sometimes I just like writing the scenes for once. This is by far the most complete volume in terms of vision — I really had to describe everything down to scenery and character design. This is the black sheep of the entire series, made only because I wanted to have ten volumes instead of nine. I think that's the reason why this volume took me so long to get through. Humbleness aside, I really did write the first five volumes in just a single month of my school break. I spent a full year with this rewrite in my brain and managed to blast through once I had the time. Now what really is making me excited is volume VIII, because it is, without a shadow of a doubt, my personal favorite volume. I don't write fights but I sure as hell invision them. I'll have a great time with that one… once I get the time again, of course.

Wait, shouldn't I be talking about the episode I just described? Oh yes. This episode finishes up the saga by making a ton of reveals. We finally learned how Summer actually died, we learned how Raven and Qrow officially became sworn enemies, and we learned, at long last, what drives Cinder. It wasn't sheer psychotic tendencies — it was psychotic tendencies, mixed with the genuine desire of fulfilling the last wish of her greatest friend. She genuinely believes it's all for a great cause, but all her previous traumas and nurture prevent Cinder from ever understanding what Summer wanted. A purely evil character, but a purely evil character whose motives we perfectly understand now. I might have to go back to previous volumes and tweak her dialogue whenever she mentions Summer, just so then this fondness always comes out whenever she thinks of her.

Still, given the way she suddenly died, you might be wondering what Summer's Semblance is. And to that I say- SCHHH! All in due time! What she demonstrates though is something which will be instrumentally important to the final volume. The ability to grow one's Semblance to the highest level. I can't wait to get there.

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And well, we can still talk about a few minisodes. These take place after the ending.

In the first one we follow Qrow as he merely walks through the baren fields of the forbidden valley, quickly approaching Vacuo. The land around was simply crumbling away as he walked through it. The grass died, the skies were heavy with clouds, and Qrow himself was covered in blood and black ooze from Grimm he fought on the way there. He drags Harbinger on the ground behind him, and the other hand has a loose grip on a bottle of whiskey. It seems that Qrow, in a sorrowful drunken stupor after Summer's death, started marching towards Vacuo in an attempt to take revenge on the world. Chaos was destroying everything around him, and once he was face to face with the wall of darkness that protects Vacuo, Chaos starts to attack it. It looked like two godly powers were fighting — Chaos tried to destroy the hue while the darkness tried to stand its ground. Qrow was about to something crazy, when suddenly he heard Summer's voice again. It made him remember his promise, and so he starts thinking rationally again. He thinks about Ruby, and remembers it's his mission to protect her. He can't die yet, and so Qrow gives up, turns back around and walks away towards Vale. If his spirit died along with his lover, then he shall use this carcass to protect what she left behind. Funny thing is, if he were to continue going at that state of power, he might actually have won.

…

In the next one we follow Ozpin as he comes back to Vale City, probably after having failed to find Hazel. His hair has officially turned silver from now on. He has been missing for weeks, so naturally he didn't hear a damn thing about Summer's death until it was too late. He stood over her grave, covering himself in a hood. We could clearly see his sharp eyes of anger. He doesn't really mourn the death of his prized student, more so he goes ape shit thinking he just lost his one chance at one day killing all Grimm. Realizing this, he squeezes his cane so tightly that it breaks in two, and so he just walks away. He says to himself, "I need to find… a new one."

And so it ends. I love this ambiguously evil Ozpin.

…

Another one would also be about Qrow, taking his perspective on the night Ruby and Yang were attacked in the woods. He had just arrived back in the castle after having gone to Vacuo in drunken rage, as we saw in the first minisode. He finds a phone booth and calls home, but neither Yang or Ruby answer it. Tai was stuck doing shady jobs for Junior, so he wasn't home either. With his shit meter going through the roof, Qrow makes the mad dash to the woods, achieving an insane speed, only to find the house empty. He was able to follow the cart tracks into the forest, but it was getting dark outside. Eventually he met up with the kids, in a harrowing scene.

They were hiding under a tree's roots while a Beowolf tried clawing them out. That same Beowolf which he was meant to chase and kill weeks ago, that he forgot about due to Summer illness. He arrived just in time to see it carve one of its claws into Ruby's calf. Qrow instantly went berserker and killed the monsters with absolute savagery. He didn't even use Harbinger, he just killed it with his bare hands and bites, pulling the monster apart and eating it. Once he had calmed down, he looked back to see Ruby crying and Yang completely paralyzed from fear. Either way, they look traumatized. It ends as Qrow picks them up and carries them out of the woods. He tells himself, "how can I be a father?… I can't even be a damn uncle… I guess what she said was true… I can't do a single damn thing right…"

…

The next would be a two-part story about teenage Yang. As we know, she grew into a young delinquent, given the fact her mom died and she had a lot of angst from it. She would be as lovely as she could be to her family, but would always blow her steam on the streets against rude punks. Eventually it became known to Junior that some teenage girl with super strength was becoming a nuisance in his territory. Once he found out it was Tai's daughter, he blackmailed her using the dirt evidence that Junior had of Tai, forcing her to work for him. It's not anything creepy — she just had to use her power against his enemies now, and some of those were innocent people who simply owned money. It seemed like she would never be able to escape becoming a criminal… until Yang's darker side truly blossomed, in the form of her red eyes.

Once her bipolar disorder awakened, Yang summoned up the courage and guts to fight against Junior and stand her ground. She beats up his henchmen and claims she would come here and kill him if he ever dared to threaten her father or sister again. Junior respected her guts and discharged her from his company. After that, Yang immediately went after Braun, who was already a Huntsman detective, and turned herself in for all she did while working for Junior. Braun shrugs her tears and promises to help her repent to the people she hurt.

…

And finally, the last one about Cinder. After Summer's death, Cinder now takes her days pondering over the land of Vacuo from the skies. What happened to Summer's body is eerily unmentioned — Salem just explain that she can never be brought back, what makes Cinder shed a single tear. Now Cinder talks about her new ultimate goal to fix the world with her own hands, which blossomed from Summer's influence. It was then that Salem talked about the Relics again, in specific the Relic of Order and it's power. It's lost somewhere in the world, so Cinder just has to find it. Once it's in her hands, she will have control over all mortals, and the world would become hers to rule righteously. Cinder then departs the land of Vacuo, promising to not come back until her quest is fulfilled. All the Severus and Salem watch her go along with Momo, now having made her mind. For the next several years she would search for the crown, which leads her into needing the relic of knowledge to awaken the temple, which causes the entire plot of the show.

As she watches her go, Salem realizes that Cinder was finally… truly… ready. She had found her absolute, perfect chosen one. She will be the one who will unite the world, one way or another. And so ends the minisode… and this volume, officially.

Commentary (spoilers): Here at the end, I realize how long this volume feels. We cover 12 years time in… what? 18 episodes, and around 20 shorts? That's rough. The sheer technical complexities make this volume very expensive too. We go all over the world, so we can't reuse assets consistently. We go through three different time periods, meaning we need three different designs for each of the main characters (not counting flashbacks), and we have a considerable amount of fights. It's by this point that I can truly start going ape shit when it comes to quality. This rewrite runs on the idea that RWBY RE:colored as a show only continues each new volume due to massive popularity. More popularity, more money to invest in the episodes. Here in volume XII we would already be around 8 years making the show, hypothetically. From now on we can pretend to have much more resources then we did in volume I, meaning we can have more money fights, better animation quality, A-list voice actors, more episodes per volume, movies, videogames and whatever the fuck else.

Like I mentioned several times, this volume is sort of a black sheep. I realize that I dedicated too much time into explaining why things are the way that they are in the future, and didn't give much fuel for this volume to be its own thing (at least I think so). Backstories and side characters ended up taking center stage more than they should've. Ruby, who has been our protagonist for the first six volumes, was replaced by her young mother, who has a completely different personality and motivation than her. This volume just disrupts the flow of the story in a binge watch, but I also consider it to be a breath of fresh air. It takes a lot of elements from previous volumes and repurposed them; the school setting, the old characters, the lore and so on. Those things originally made RWBY famous, but we are now officially moving away from that in search of a complete new narrative. I won't copy volumes 7 or 8 from the original, and I DEFINITELY won't even have a reason to mention 9. Like I said previously: Volume VIII will be about the White Fang, IX about Atlas and the Branwen, and X about the finale with the war against Salem. I'm aiming for something completely new, and by new I mean stealing elements from other series I like, and applying them to RWBY. Genius, I know. It's called "anime homework", you should try it.

Well, I have nothing more to say… I'm gonna have a BIG time in the revision of this volume, but I'm actually so hyped to write volume XIII that I will literally start right now. Expect it to come much sooner than this one did. Maybe 5 of 6 months. Bye bye.