Still no Grimm... not even here.

Gazing out into the expanse of shattered and abandoned buildings, Ruby found it strange how... dilapidated it all seemed. She'd expected to return to raging flames and the pungent stench of bloody, carved up cadavers. Instead, they were greeted by waist-groping grass, and a bright midnight sky, lit up by the shattered, but equally silent and wild moon.

While far from tranquil, Ruby couldn't deny how abnormally nature's grasp gathered around the shattered places once called home. Everything just felt so… preserved.

"I don't see anyone," Pebble pointed out, his eyes swimming from one patch of grass to the next, all while her own pierced the shadows left behind in the husks of carved rock which used to be homes. "Don't hear no one either; not even Grimm." He turned, looking up to her while releasing her hand from his. "Should we camp here tonight?"

"Alright. We probably won't get any better than this."

Leaving Pebble to gather most of the broken planks and fallen branches hidden in the bent corners and old broken crevices, Ruby instead worked at constructing their fire pit. With how run down this little settlement looked, there was no scarcity of rocks she could use. The edge of Mobius had seen better days, but Salem's predestined wrath ensured that outcome the moment Ruby had made her place in this era.

It'd been quite interesting though, getting to know Salem before she lost her mind.

Unlike the monster she'd eventually become, the Salem which Gem Scarlet broke bread beside over these past few decades loathed unnecessary bloodshed. Using her Grimm, she made bodyguards and walls of them; protectors who would defend the people instinctively while under her banner, without so much as a thought. Having turned their people-hating instincts off, Ruby - as well as the other citizens of Mobius - were allowed to see first hand just how many similarities the Grimm shared with local wildlife.

As with Humanity under Salem's rule, the Grimm refused to harm Remnant's less sophisticated children too; the wildlife saw no decay or drop in numbers.

"Will these ones do?" Pebble dropped his collection of fire-starter, along with the larger boards and chunks of abandoned firewood - already pre-cut - beside her. She gave him a smile, ruffling his hair before throwing the starter in first.

"It's perfect; nice work."

Sporting a victorious grin, Pebble flashed her another find of his: a real treasure of a sort.

"Picked this up too." Between his fingers stretched a small Fire Dust Crystal, unbroken, albeit roughly cut. Perking her brow, Ruby allowed her fascination to command her, and she took the jewel of proportionally sized power.

"Where did you get this?"

"Found it in one of the pits over by a broken down shed near the outer edge of town. There's about a handful in total, tucked away into a little wooden box filled with what I think is hay, or some sort of straw."

Pebble had just described a Dust Repository, and while they were common throughout most of Mobius, that didn't explain why such places remained intact. Salem and Ozma often required the mining facilities who operated within the kingdom to pay a small levy to nearby farms and towns, to ensure locals never faced true cold during the bad winters, or scorching heat in the summers. The amount was based on both the population size of people and cattle, to guarantee both were protected during the harshness of certain seasons over the year.

Of course, an explosion of Salem's forces marching through and tearing up her own towns should have also torn up the repositories as well. But it hadn't, and so here Pebble and her were, with a short supply of Dust on hand. She'd need to check it out tomorrow before they left, but if there was still a decent ration left, then could it be possible that Salem had purposefully ordered the Grimm not to trample it down?

Understanding Salem's temper, from both eras, had her doubting this short born idea: when violence whispered into her heart, the dark queen's mind usually shoved smaller considerations aside, making way for the fantasy of revenge or whatever rage boiled her blood.

The simple answer, then, would mean Salem's forces either missed the cache by sheer luck, or Salem wasn't to blame for these ruins who seemed far older than they had any right to be. If she didn't know better, she would have guessed the downfall of this place happened shortly after she sent V away…

It didn't matter really, or so Ruby told herself as she cast the crystal into the pit. With a small burst of destructive energy, the scavenged mess lit up into a marvelous bonfire, and she proceeded to toss chunks of wood atop the mass, ensuring it would burn the night away. Regardless of who claimed responsibility for these ruins, that didn't change things going forward. Salem declared her war already, meaning the time for speculation and sidetracking was up.

All that remained now, as she sat and rested before the glowing embers with Pebble cuddling into her side, was meeting the Grimm Queen again, and having her witness to the final act of a single lifelong scheme; Ruby's last conscious attempt before, at worst, starting over from square one.

"Everything will be okay." Pebble must have felt her jitteriness, maybe in her breathing, because there was little other cause for his comforting words. "No matter how things go, I know we'll make it, wherever we're headed."

Yes, they would, and while it would be tragic in concept, Ruby was eager to see her millennium long quest come to a close, no matter what ending she achieved.

.

.

"Hey, come take a look at this."

Sun reared his head away from the bar, pushing off his stool and passing across the barren floor. Most of the night's patrons wouldn't show until sunset, and so the place had taken on a different purpose during the early day: that of a simple café. Mixed-purpose shops and facilities were common in Vacuo, because who really had time to walk between all of them when you could just base your schedule around a small few? And besides, even if you arrived late or early, it was still possible to place an order for the product or service you wanted originally; albeit at a loss of quality, as the one's who'd usually provided the former or later weren't there to give it, and instead that duty was undertaken by the ones active in the now.

"What 'cha find?"

Neptune grinned, offering a halfway look stuck between cocky-cool and dopey-excited.

"Says here some passing tourists spied what looked like a Bullhead dropping down just a little ways off the edge of town - probably a day's walk from here - on their fight in."

Ah... so that's what it was. Sun, having faced jobs like this regularly since graduating from Shade Academy - if it could even be classified as graduating, seeing as the transfers from other kingdoms were essentially forced to skip grades when word of Atlas's quarantine officially broke - could pretty much predict it verbatim.

"Let me guess: the locals are annoyed by their whining and wanna pay someone to get a photo which shuts them up."

"Weirdly, no." Okay, so maybe he couldn't guess after all. Neptune raised a brow, leaning back on one foot as he set his hand atop his upper hip in a way best described as casually agitated. "This one comes from the mayor of Lunix Duss."

"The tourist trap with the big cave system?"

"Looks like it."

"Alright." This was beginning to sound interesting. Sun was growing bored of the usual 'get the outsiders to piss off' crap anyway. "What's it for?"

"Apparently, the big bad mayor is afraid it's pirates, citing how outsiders described the ship as 'dirty' and 'possessing a dark air' around it."

Yep, that sounded about right too; Vacuo wasn't exactly the prime example of hospitality, and any aid given was more or less a show of respect. That really was the prime difference here: respect. You weren't particularly liked, you were merely tolerated because you survived, meaning you mattered in some sense. A pretty stark contrast coming from what little time he spent in Beacon, which opened him up into a world where people actually gave a shit about you. Thankfully, not all of Vacuo was filled to the brim with dickwads, but Sun wouldn't lie: he missed the calm air of Vale's streets, who showed off the perfect balance of selfishness and selflessness.

Heck, he even missed Haven and its crime-ridden horizon; pretty much everywhere else outclassed his old home in every way.

"So what do they want exactly?"

"Bouncers for the mines." Neptune squinted, leaning in closer as he read, "Only warriors possessing a keen eye in detection for outside pillagers are permitted. Floundering of the job, which results in any items of significant importance being stolen will result in charges for hunters accepting this position. Successful protection of the location over the duration of the assigned job will result in a considerable bonus payout."

"So they're charging us if we screw up." Sun sighed; there really was no such thing as an easy job, was there? Deciding to grin and bear it, Sun shook his head and shrugged. "Well, it's not like us to say no to a challenge."

"Speak for yourself," Neptune pulled away with a sour look, pulling back his hair and shaking away some sweat - it was rather hot this week. "I'm running low on funds to keep stocked up on quality conditioners. If we end up fumbling this, my hair will suffer for it."

"We won't screw it up." Sun reached over, making sure to ruffle Neptune's beloved hair a good bit while holding him in a playful headlock. Letting go with a chuckle, Sun reassured them both as his partner went to work meticulously fixing the inflicted mess. "Besides, Vacuo's people have a certain charm to them; it ain't exactly hard to tell them from anyone else, and vice versa."

"Yeah, well..." Neptune finally finished combing back his locks, before settling into a reserved, but still worrisome look. "I hope you're right. We really can't afford to let our reputation drop, especially out there."

"We'll be fine; promise." Sun smiled wide, twirling around on his heels and resting his arms behind his head as he marched for the door a short distance across and to the left. "Besides, there might be babes among the tourists. Think of how cool we'll be as bouncers to someplace so historically ancient and important to bookworms."

It was a cheap shot, but Neptune never was one to turn down looking like a badass, especially in front of chicks.

.

.

"Well well. Looks like Vale's made good time on its repairs."

"Beacon was the only real hit." Clover pulled up from behind, and Qrow spared only a brief look before returning to his comfortable lounging over the railing of the deck. "We're lucky the full extent of our forces weren't present for the hack; who knows how much damage they would have done."

"Guess I'm forced to admit it, but Jimmy can be smart sometimes; when he's got a decent hand to guide him."

Regardless of 'what-ifs,' thanks to Vale's apparent quick repair the only thing of note to fix up was the academy itself. Sure, it looked good on the outside now - except for the skeleton of the CCT, but that was coming along as good as can be with global communication being down - but without a headmaster and most students in recovery or having left to mourn lost family and heal, the top school for hunter training had seen better days.

"True." Oh ho ho! Was that the sound of Jimmy's boy agreeing with him now? Qrow would have gawked, grinning wide to enjoy the irony, but then Clover had to backtrack in a way and begin giving genuine excuses to the man; Qrow really didn't mind, but he was mildly peeved at losing his irony. "But with the scuffle of dealing with one traitor, as well as the hack of the CCT being so detrimental, I'm not so sure his wariness was entirely unwarranted; even if it got a bit intense."

"Yeah, James has always been paranoid, but back in the day he at least hid it better, and knew when to shove off."

"Qrow, Clover," Winter addressed the two, popping into view a moment later. "Come on."

"What's happening?" She didn't sound any more upset than usual, so it couldn't have been that bad. But still, her less badgering tone still came off a bit weird to his old ears; honestly, Qrow somewhat missed her constant demands and flustered indignation whenever he surpassed her in any given task, chat, or what have you.

"We're about to touch down, and we need everyone to keep the people in line and out of trouble." She shot a look over at the kid. "Clover, I need you and the rest of your team to overlook the citizens and tally up a head count; make sure we have everyone on file both before departure and after."

Nodding, the lad offered him one final finger salute before dashing off - it was more of a brisk walk, but Clover carried it out with so much gusto he may as well be leading the cavalry charge.

"And what am I to do, oh wise taskmaster?" Qrow made sure to dip into a bow with that, enjoying the little bit of annoyance his antics split across her mask. Everything might very well be lost, but the least they could do was find some semblance of joy in their spirits; leaving their semblances to handle their aura without being obscured by doubts.

"I need someone to come with me and help handle the officials. I doubt Vale's going to be ready to host an entire kingdom of refugees at a moment's notice, so we'll need to make use of your personal connection to the "late headmaster" and his policies regarding the use of Beacon's schoolgrounds when aiding the kingdom of Vale with such matters."

AKA: she needed him to point out Ozpin's old contract with the council about how the school grounds were permitted, to an extent and under specific circumstances, to be used for setting up temporary camps for refugees and victims of war. Okay, so they weren't at war, but the death of a kingdom definitely counted for something.

"This is gonna be a pain in the ass." Qrow sighed afterwards, kicking off the railing and strolling on up to Winter. She spied his sour face, presenting another talking point.

"We could always have Ozpin offer up some pointers."

"Nah." Qrow waved her off. "If anything, he'll need to be the one drilling through the school's old documentation." Soon, however, he had to accept the reality of the real upcoming challenge. "Besides, if we can't even handle the council, then we have no chance of extracting more info from mister big 'n blue."

With their temporary reprieve spoiled, the pair took off to handle the behind the scenes of Atlas's sudden evacuation.

.

.

It felt really strange to be back on Vale's streets again.

Yeah, okay, so it hadn't been much fun having to account for and keep the people of Atlas super calm throughout the process of Vale finding places to hold them all - a process still underway according to Vine, who was posted a little over yonder, back near the edge of the docks. Vale's docks alone hadn't been enough for the massive ship size, and so one of them had to anchor in the still shut down Beacon.

If she recalled correctly, those people were being handled by a collection of Atlas soldiers as well as both Roman and Neo; from over the local network, the pair were just barely dodging legal consequences for their previous crimes temporarily due to them being considered essential aid for the refugees - it was more complicated than that, surely, but she was in no rush for a breakdown of the specifics. With her uncle's passing musings about the council being lazy, Ruby figured that may be to blame as well. Either way, it didn't matter.

People huddled together, very much anxious and noisy from having to wait around for so long. Three hours so far and both her uncle and Weiss's older sister remained gone, with no word whatsoever on what they'd be doing - other than keeping the peace. They'd gained a substantial number of onlookers coming by for the show over their wait, with several being shooed away by local police who did their best to keep everything from going loopy.

Not an easy feat, seeing as Atlas's people were essentially being treated like zoo exhibits by the local population.

So... this is what it feels like to be a zoo wolf. Sure, not every zoo had a wolf exhibit - they usually liked to collect exotic species - but the short-lived budget exhibit held back in Patch when she was six had a profound effect on her; maybe because the wolves actually broke free from their cheaply made fenced pit through a rusted patch, and then dashed off into the woods.

The population of small creatures - specifically bunnies - was never the same since; nor as prominent.

"How are things here?" Luckily for her, Weiss had picked the perfect time to abandon her spot and come check up on her; realistically, she was probably offered a break by either one of the soldiers, or the Ace-Ops. A good thing too, because Ruby herself was starting to drum up incoherent and irrelevant nonsense from her childhood just to cope. Any ideas of casual chatting were put on the backlog, as Weiss clearly asked for an update.

"They're not liking how everyone's sneaking by to snap pics." Ruby saw a flash go off a little ways up the north road, and one of the officers hanging by the sidewalk quickly caught the woman and turned her away. Weiss took a moment to sit beside her on the curb, handing out her own slice of empathy.

"They feel helpless, like they're at everyone's mercy." Really, they were, but Ruby wasn't about to stoke the fires. "They're not all as patriotic as some of the ones we've seen, and not nearly as much as the rumors everywhere else would have you believe. However, we Atlesians do pride ourselves on our ability to overcome adversity, and hold ourselves up on the efforts of our labors alone. That's what makes it especially sting for everyone here; they literally can't do anything on their own, not now, and so they're forced to beg for mercy."

"It's not their fault though; nobody could have predicted what happened to Atlas."

"Doesn't matter." Both Weiss and her looked up to see Robyn, who appeared to be alone. Ruby was about ready to question how long the woman was listening for, but she beat her to the punch. "No, I wasn't eavesdropping for long; I literally just strolled up when I heard your partner begin explaining Atlas and Mantle's bad habits."

"You've surely seen a decent amount of it, yes?" Weiss asked, getting a nod from the older woman who looked up the road, face twisting as if debating moving on, before sending her eyes back down to them.

"Both capitals might have different opinions of each other, but they're perfect mirrors when it comes to pride. Could they have known you-know-who would come and destroy their homes? No, but the fact they can't clean up afterwards on their own really gets under their skin."

"Oh... I." Ruby shook her head, offering her apologies. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine; nothing wrong with trying to help." Robyn offered both of them a hand, and the pair were pulled to their feet, but not before sharing a puzzled look. Weiss was the first to question the act, however.

"Is there something happening?"

"Not yet," Robyn said, looking deeper into the city again. "But when we get things settled here, we're headed up to Beacon."

"Why?" Ruby tried this time, confused as to what they needed from Beacon. Only a second later did her brain fully grasp the only thing of note within the school. Atlas and Haven both held vaults containing relics, so realistically, the only thing they'd get at this point was, indeed, a relic.

"Two things," Robyn started, holding up a pair of fingers and bringing one down. "One: we're apparently nabbing the crown."

Called it. While silently celebrating her accurate prediction, Ruby then watched Robyn bring the second finger down.

"And two: we're bringing out that Ambrosius guy."

"Oh..." So it's happening right now... Right now wasn't an accurate term: they were finishing up here first, but still, it was a close enough time frame for her to feel jittery. Weiss spied her discomfort, bringing up the question on her mind.

"Will you be okay with that?"

Ruby half thought Robyn would say something along the lines of "I can make 'em wait if you want," but thankfully, she'd remained patient, allowing Ruby to come to her own conclusion, and voice her thoughts.

"Yeah." She couldn't run from it forever; they still had to drop Atlas. But more than that, they needed more information from Ambrosius. Or, to be more specific...

She needed to learn what her past self had done.

Author's note

...

So this was fast.

Yeah, like with the bomb, nothing really all that interesting comes from the trip, so I opted to just skip a little and bring us here. We get a look at Sun and Neptune again, who'll at least get to share some screen time before things drop off into the end.

Future Ruby also springs back up, apparently stumbling into her and Pebble's sought after night's rest. They'll get moving too, but don't expect any of this to go nearly as long as Atlas's arc.

I meant it: we're in the final stretch, meaning you'll finally be getting concrete answers to not only the long standing questions, but also the most important aspect of this entire story - which I will not spoil here.

Until next time.