Stories continue to converge, and we get the continuation of last week's cliffhanger. Let's get into it!

Start Chapter 22

Ruby seems to have realized what it is that's happening as the five of them – Summer, Raven, Ozpin, Yang, and her – make their way to a conference room nearby to have their little 'chat'.

She's realized that this is an interrogation, and that the less information she gives up from here, the better.

Yang knows they could tell the truth, and likely, eventually, be believed. But she also doesn't quite know what, exactly, would happen if they told Ozpin everything. Surely, he'd likely remove pieces like Hazel, Watts, Tyrian, and Cinder from Salem's board within a few years' time, but then…

Well, Yang and the others would lose any advantage they had. Specifically, she'd no longer have the knowledge of who exactly Salem's planning on using against them, and when said plans are going to be put into place. As things are right now, Yang knows that in roughly a decade's time, Beacon Academy will be the victim of a terrorist attack orchestrated by Cinder Fall during the Vytal Festival, and that the White Fang will likely be involved in assisting that effort.

And perhaps having that knowledge is worth more than anything else.

She just hopes that Ruby's on the same page with her.

Except, for the moment, things are slightly more complicated. There are a few reasons as to why.

For one, Raven knows.

It's obvious by the way her gaze flits back and forth between the two of them, and even more obvious in the way that she's paying attention to every little thing Ruby says.

Well, that and she's glaring at Yang, as if upset that she'd not mentioned this to her.

Yang will have to explain later that she's keeping her cards close to the chest for a reason.

Ozpin seems to be sticking to the edges of the room, not saying anything or giving himself away. He's doing his best to just watch and absorb information.

Summer, on the other hand, is doing the majority of the questioning. That's bad for Yang and Ruby, mostly because Ruby is stunned to see their mother again, and is making mistakes because of it.

"So, Ozpin tells me that you're first years, and yet you've qualified for the Vytal Festival." Summer asks her.

Ruby nods her head. "Y-Yeah. It was difficult for my team, but we managed to make it in the end."

"Any particular reason why you wanted to qualify?"

"Well…" Ruby looks to Yang, asking a question with her eyes. Yang doesn't like what she's planning, but at the same time, perhaps honesty would aid them in this case. She gives her a subtle nod. "I wanted to get myself on TV, actually. I wanted to make myself obvious to my friends, who I'd been separated from."

Summer's eyes widen, and Ozpin's do as well. This is, clearly, not the reason they'd expected. Yet neither seem upset about it.

"And is Yang here," Summer looks back over towards her, smiling, "One of those friends?"

Ruby nods her head. "Yeah, she is."

"What happened that led to your separation."

Ruby shakes her head. "I can't say."

Summer seems willing to let that pass, but Ozpin isn't nearly as much so. "What do you mean, Ms. Rosenberg?"

Ruby opens her mouth, and hesitates, unable to come up with a lie so quickly.

Luckily for her, Summer is the one to step in.

"She doesn't want to answer, Oz." Summer smiles over at him. "But she's been cooperative with everything else so far, and if Yang trusts her, then so do I. There are plenty of things you don't plan on telling her, aren't there?"

Ozpin sighs, but nods his head. "I suppose you're correct, Summer."

Ruby smiles over at mom. "Thanks."

"It's no problem, sweetie." Summer smiles, and Yang catches the moment where that word hits Ruby, where she stumbles, however briefly, and tears build within her eyes.

It's not her fault; Yang would've been a wreck in that same situation, but they really can't afford to be giving up any more information than they already have.

"I also wanted to ask… this is somewhat more personal, but…" Summer sighs, running a hand up and down the back of her neck. "Your family, those who you inherited your eyes from."

Ruby's eyes widen, and show off the silver coloration quite well.

"Are any of them alive?"

Ruby is silent for a moment after that. It's clear she's uncertain as to what she wants to say.

"No, I'm sorry." Ruby shakes her head. "They… I'm sure that just like your own, they were hunted down."

Summer nods her head slowly, letting loose an aching sigh. "I… figured as much. Even so, I'm so very glad to meet you, Ms. Ruby. I… You'll think me silly, but…"

And then Summer looks up, and Yang's eyes widen.

Because there are tears within her eyes as she looks into Ruby's own.

"I thought I was the only one left." Summer smiles, almost on the verge of tears. "It's… very nice to know I'm not."

Ruby doesn't know how to respond to that, but she opens and closes her mouth a moment before eventually nodding her head.

"Yeah." Ruby says, and there are tears in her own eyes that she's trying to prevent from spilling out. "Same here. I… I also thought I was the last."

And she'd had good reason to think that. After all, in their time…

She had, to their knowledge, been the last. Or at the very least, the last to still retain their powers, given that Maria had been alive, but long-since blinded.

"So, the others you're missing," Summer clears her throat. "Who are they, if I might ask?"

Ruby looks to Yang, and Yang bites down on the inside of her cheek. It's… not exactly something they want to be revealing. Of course, Ozpin's resources could assuredly aid them in locating their friends, but…

"You are debating whether or not you wish to tell us." Ozpin speaks out all of a sudden. "Is there a reason that you shouldn't?"

"There is." Ruby nods. "It's just… it's hard to gauge, really."

Ozpin nods his head slowly. "You have given us more than enough already, Ms. Rosenberg. If you'd like, you can return to your team now."

"Ah," Ruby sounds surprised at that, "If… if you're sure?"

"I am."

Ruby stands up, and walks past Yang. As she does, she meets her gaze, and they share a brief nod.

They'll talk later, just the two of them.

Ruby exits out of the room, and Yang is suddenly left with the feeling that it's her who's now being interrogated. Everyone turns towards her.

"I don't suppose you're going to answer that question instead of her?" Ozpin asks, evidently knowing the answer already.

"No." Yang shakes her head. "It's… there's a lot going on. But we're on the same side here. Or, well, I think we are, anyways. I don't know that much about you."

It's a lie, but she hopes it's a believable one. She needs Ozpin to not suspect the truth about them. He's already been provided with more than enough evidence to come to the proper conclusion, but lending them aid is the sheer fact that people travelling back in time is a completely bizarre phenomenon.

It certainly won't be Ozpin's first guess as to who they are.

That's about their only advantage.

"I understand." Ozpin turns to Summer. "Did you realize anything about her?"

"Other than that we're obviously related in some way? No. I can't say I did. She's the spitting image of my mother and grandmother. Then again, so am I." Summer laughs. "I'd say we're pretty closely related because of that. She also seems to have been named after my great aunt Ruby, just like my daughter is. Other than that, though, I don't really know what to make of her. I knew that my mother had extended family, but well… I'd always thought they'd been hunted down completely."

"As had I, Summer, as had I." Ozpin runs a hand down his face. "This is good news, however. A second Silver-eyed warrior, and more than that, a highly advanced one as well, at least in terms of her weapon. I don't know if you watched the video I sent to you,"

"I haven't had the time."

"That's fine. Watch it at your earliest convenience if you wouldn't mind. You'll see that she's quite skilled; more so than any other first-year I've had at Beacon, and if I'm being honest, she's already better than you were in your fourth year."

Summer's eyes widen. It's not at all a fair comparison to make, given that as good as Team STRQ had been, they'd not been tested in the same ways that Team RWBY had been before they'd graduated.

"And you say she just… showed up?"

"All evidence we have points towards that." Ozpin sighs, before looking up at Yang and Raven. "Raven, Yang, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a private word with Ms. Rose."

Summer, of all people, takes offense to that. "Oz, Rae can be trusted."

"She has yet to prove that fact to me, I'm afraid." Ozpin speaks, not looking away from Raven's face.

"It's fine, Sums." Raven calling her mom a pet-name will never not be weird to her. "Frankly, the feeling's mutual."

Summer groans out in exasperation, evidently annoyed at both Ozpin and Raven for being unable to get over themselves when they're trying to save the world. Then again, Yang's not exactly being forthcoming with her own information – for good reason, but even so – so she supposes she can't blame the man.

They exit out of the room, and it's not long before they're out of earshot, and Raven's pulling Yang aside into an adjacent hallway, finding someplace they can talk one on one.

She'd expected as much.

It takes maybe a minute, and Raven's damn near feral by the time she drags the two of them to a stop, rounds on Yang, and says, "That was Ruby; as in our Ruby, right!?"

Yang's not really sure when Ruby had become Raven's even a little bit, but then, she supposes the woman has, somewhat, become a bit more homely. And perhaps Ruby's rubbing off on her.

It doesn't take very long. Yang knows from experience, given she's seen it happen about a thousand times. Weiss certainly hadn't been the first person with a grouchy demeanor to fall to Ruby's infectious happiness.

"Yeah." Yang nods her head. "It was."

Raven swears below her breath. "Fuck me… how many more of you are there?"

"Three more."

"Who?"

"You wouldn't know any of the others."

"Try me."

Yang rolls her eyes. "No."

Raven clearly doesn't like that answer. "Why?"

"Because there are some things that I'm choosing to play close to the chest." Yang admits. "If I tell you everything about the future we came from, then like it or not, things about it are going to change. The advantage I and the rest of us have is that we know what's going to happen before it does. If I just hand you information…"

Raven sighs, running a hand down her face. "Shit. You're like fuckin' Ozpin."

Yang glares. Despite that, she can't… technically disagree. Ozpin had been similar in that he'd held things close to his chest for what he'd presumed to be the benefit of others. It's just…

Well, it's a lot easier to say from her own perspective that her reasons for doing such are entirely airtight, while looking down on others for doing the same.

…Shit.

"Maybe." She admits. "But the future we come from is… well, not a lot of important things actually happen for a while." She thinks of Summer's death, which will happen, likely, within the next year, if not sooner. "Well, mostly."

"Explain."

"There's…" Yang shakes her head. "There's a lot that I'd have to tell you that I can't really afford to, alright? A lot of things that would make you act different, that would… that would limit how effective any one of us might be."

Raven doesn't seem to know what to make of that, but Yang knows it's the truth.

Because Raven has shown already that she's willing to abandon the world if given a pretty shitty reason. Give her a good one – protecting Summer Rose from dying – and Yang's pretty sure they'd never see her – or Summer, if Raven can help it – again.

And as much as Yang doesn't want to admit it…

Her mom had been one of the strongest Huntresses of her day. She'd served as the tip of the spear against Salem during Team STRQ's heyday, according to Uncle Qrow.

They'll need that strength. Because without it… with just them…

Vale had fallen.

Atlas had fallen.

Thousands of people had died.

The world would have likely gone with them.

Yang would much rather let her mom sit on the sidelines and never do anything at all. It's just…

She's pretty sure that's not an option. Not really.

Because Summer Rose is who she is. She's the kind of person who, seeing an opportunity to save the world, will take it, even if there's a 99% chance that she's never come back.

"Fine." Raven bites out, clicking her tongue. "Then what's the plan now? With Ruby?"

That… "I don't know."

Raven barks out a mirthless laugh. "Yeah, I probably should've seen that coming. You found out she was here all of thirty minutes ago."

She's thinking about trying to bring Ruby back to Patch with her and the others, but then…

The less time she and Yang spend near one another, the better their chances of remaining undiscovered likely are. Summer hadn't realized it immediately, because, y'know, jumping to time travel the moment you meet some people who look kind of like your daughter's might in a few years is weird, but…

Ruby and Yang hanging around little Ruby, and little Yang, would be…

Well, it wouldn't take a genius to start drawing some comparisons as the two started growing up, so to speak.

But that's planning for later. If Ruby's happy with where she is in Beacon, then Yang's plenty happy to let her stick it out there for the time being. She's already on Ozpin's radar, so it's not like her dropping out might save her from that, and…

Well, she's managed to locate Torchwick. Having an in with the gentleman-thief that Cinder eventually employs might be big.

And that does count for something.

Yang rubs at her temples as she lets out a low groan. "Why does this all have to be so complicated?"

Raven guffaws, even as she leans back against the wall behind her, and remarks, "Yeah, welcome to Ozpin's little club, kid. It's bullshit the whole way down."

/

Weiss is really doing her best to remain perfectly calm as she and Qrow step through Atlas' security checkpoints, past dozens of armed guards, and out of the airport proper.

Somehow, someway, no one has noticed the third member of their little ensemble.

And isn't that just something.

Neo's semblance-based illusion breaks with the sound of shattering glass, and she's just casually standing beside Weiss, like it's no big deal that she's here in Atlas, with them, and not back in Mistral with her parents.

Oh.

This is…

This is a kidnapping.

Except they hadn't actually done anything! Neo had just… tagged along!

They'd not even known anything had been up until they'd already been in the air, aboard the flight. That had, obviously, been her intention, because she'd not revealed herself until they'd taken off.

"What do we do!?" She hisses out at Qrow, who seems to be going through similar emotions to her.

"How would I know!?" Qrow looks around, scanning the immediate area. "You think I've ever been a part of an accidental kidnapping before!?"

"I don't know, it seemed like the kind of thing that might've happened to you, with your stupid semblance!"

"As much as I'd like to deny the truth in that, I kind of can't." Qrow sighs. "But no, this has not happened before."

Weiss turns back to Neo, and is a moment away from bombarding her with questions – 'why are you here, did you tell anyone you were going, did you pay for a plane ticket, oh my gods, do you know what you've done', those sorts of things – but before she can…

She sees Neo shrink down on herself.

And Weiss' entire demeanor shifts.

She realizes that she'd likely turned to look at Neo with an angry expression on her face.

She'd probably reminded her of her parents.

And Weiss…

She never wants to do that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She smiles for her, and Neo relaxes, but only a bit. Weiss curses her own lack of forethought even as she turns around, and looks for a distraction. "Uhm… would you like something to eat? You're almost certainly hungry, aren't you?"

Neo hesitates a moment, before nodding her head, and Weiss lets out a sigh of relief.

"Alright. What would you like?"

Neo points towards a stand that's been set up for the festival, only a few meters away. Weiss looks over, and sees the sign for 'frozen treats.'

"Ice-cream?" She questions, and Neo gives an emphatic nod. "That's not exactly healthy, you know."

Neo pouts at her, and Weiss gives in immediately. "Fine, fine. Let's go."

Neo skips along, recovering from her earlier flash of panic. Weiss is glad, and Qrow watches on with a quiet chuckle.

"Energetic little thing, isn't she?"

"Indeed."

They make their way over towards the ice-cream stand to find that Neo has her face pressed against the glass lid, looking down into it at the multiple flavors, and also the other items, such as ice-cream sandwiches, cookie-sandwiches, and popsicles.

Weiss doesn't quite like to admit it, but Ruby has somewhat converted her to certain cookie-based items, and cookie ice-cream sandwiches are one of those things.

"I'll take one of those," She points towards them, and the guy manning the stall smiles and gets one for her, handing it off to her.

"And what would your daughter like?"

It feels like the entire world crumbles under her. Weiss' eye twitches. Her breath catches. Before her brain can catch up with the rest of her, her lips have peeled back, and she's growling out an, "Excuse me!? I am twenty years old!"

The poor man before her has no idea what he has done. "Uhm…"

"She is eleven!" Weiss points towards her, and Neo hasn't even budged from looking at the ice cream flavors. "At least!"

"I… er…"

"Do you actually believe I'm her mother!? Seriously!?"

The man's face is pale, and his eyes are wide.

Before Weiss can explode on the poor man any further, Qrow pushes her out of the way, laughing casually. "Sorry about her, she's had a rough day. Whatcha' want, pipsqueak?"

Neo glares up at him, clearly not a fan of the name, but points towards the mint-chocolate-chip.

"We'll take two cones of that, then; two scoops each."

"Will do!" The guy manning the ice-cream stand serves them as quickly as he can, so as to get Weiss as far away from him as possible.

It works, given that they walk away, with Qrow and Neo nursing ice-cream cones, and Weiss biting at a cookie-sandwich.

"The nerve of some people!" Weiss hisses out below her breath as she bites into the ice-cream with rage.

"How…" Qrow's watching her eat with a mixture of awe and disgust. "How are you biting into that?"

Weiss looks over at him. "What?"

"Never mind," Qrow shakes his head. "So, uh… Trivia,"

Weiss' eyes widen, because it's been long enough that she's totally forgotten that Neo's name is actually Trivia Vanille, and not… well, Neopolitan.

Trivia looks over at them curiously, mint ice-cream coating her face from where she's ravenously consuming the sweet treat.

"Why'd you sneak on board our flight?" Qrow asks.

Neo's expression shifts, then, like she's a little uncomfortable. Weiss might be tempted to let her run away from their question, but…

She's curious, too.

"Here," Qrow brings out a notepad, which has the insignia of the Vytal Festival on it, telling Weiss that he'd just bought it. Clever. "You can write down what you think in this, if you'd like?"

Neo nods her head; reaching out and taking the notepad. She hesitates a moment before scribbling down something on the page.

'You were kind to me.'

Weiss hates the fact that she's so easy; that that's all it takes to have her heart lurching inside her chest.

"Yes, but that's–" Qrow starts, but before he can say anything else, Neo's begun writing again.

"No one else has been. Ever."

Qrow's heart visibly softens. He lets out a long, pained sigh, before running a hand down his face, and then saying, "Alright, kid. I get it. You can stay"

Trivia's eyes light up, and she surges forward, wrapping her arms around Qrow's back, and causing the older man to chuckle under his breath.

As Neo pulls away, Qrow asks, "But what about your parents?"

Neo shakes her head, before writing 'They won't care about me. They never have.'

And Weiss…

It makes sense, in theory. And yet, having been in a complicated family all her life, coming from a position where she'd fully believed many of her own family members had never cared about her…

She's simply not so sure.

/

In a dim cellar off a backstreet of Mistral, a matriarch's scroll rings.

It is not one of her public facing scrolls, and so immediately, she knows this must be important. She reaches out for it, and takes it up, checking the caller id.

And the name she sees there…

"Carmel," Little Miss Malachite, leader of the Spiders of Mistral, smarms into her scroll. "It's been so long. How have you been?"

"I've no time for pleasantries, ma'am. There's a situation."

It's not at all like Carmel to be so… standoffish, and so Miss Malachite drops her sweeter than sugar attitude in favor of being her authentic self. "What is it, then?"

"I'm calling in a favor," Carmel speaks into her scroll. "We're all owed one by the organization, aren't we?"

Little Miss Malachite smiles. "And you never did use yours. Alright, I'm listening."

"My daughter's been kidnapped."

Little Miss Malachite's eyes widen. This… hadn't at all been what she'd expected to hear.

"Do you have a likely suspect?"

"I do. Two people. A huntsman named Qrow Branwen, and a woman whose name I don't know."

"Branwen…" Miss Malachite hums. "He's a high-ranker in Headmaster Ozpin's little clique. Normally as strait-laced as they come. You believe him to have had a hand in kidnapping your daughter?"

"It's complicated. I'll be by with the details in a few hours. But I have reason to suspect they've taken her to Atlas."

"All the way out there?" Little Miss Malachite huffs out. "You're lucky we do right by our girls, Carmel. I'll have some of my associates in the area put the word out, and we'll see if we can't locate your little girl, hm?"

"Thank you, Miss Malachite."

"Nonsense," She speaks, staring down at her nails.

"Even if you hadn't still had a favor, I would've done this for you. Matters of family, are, after all…"

"Personal."

/

It's late in the evening by the time Ozpin retreats to his room. He does so with his thoughts a veritable whirlwind, his mind adrift.

There are so very many things to be thinking about. Hawthorne's blatant turn towards anti-faunus conspiracy, Ruby's likely relation to Summer, the fact that she and Summer's own guest had known one another…

And the fact that somehow, some way, Raven had known something about those two.

He had been able to see it in her face, after all. The wide eyes, the looking back and forth…

Yet something isn't adding up for him in the same way it had for her.

Is he missing a piece of the puzzle, perhaps? Unable to draw the proper conclusions without it?

Perhaps.

He knows for a fact that Raven's not going to be revealing what it is she feels to anyone, of course. That's simply not the kind of person she is. She's almost like him, in a way, although that's not a flattering comparison for either of them.

Still, for the moment, his mind mainly focuses on these new additions to the board. Onto Yang, and Ruby, and the fact that he now knows for a fact there are more of them. More mysterious figures who've come from out of nowhere.

There's a strange air about them; an air of something that Ozpin hasn't felt since the very dawn of humanity.

He can feel the hints of magic hanging about them.

He's just not quite sure why it feels so very…

Nostalgic.

End Chapter 22

Alright, that was chapter 22!

Sorry to all the Jaune fans that we didn't get his POV this chapter! He will be getting a lot more focus this arc, I swear, even if he has so far just gotten into a Bullhead lol.

Meanwhile, things with everyone else are getting interesting. Will that continue? I mean, yeah, hopefully.

See you all next week!

Although, if you want to support me, and get access to the next FIVE chapters of this story right now, far sooner than they'll release on FF or AO3, then consider checking out my Patron! There's an e in there after the r and before the o. I assume you know what I'm talking about, but FF and AO3 don't like me typing that. It's just website dot com /Deferonz! NO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT WILL EVER BE POSTED THERE, this is only early access, just to be clear!

Want to support me without signing up for a monthly payment? Check out my Kofi! just website dot com /Deferonz!

You could also add me on Discord if you wanted to talk commissions, since ff dm's are being very unreliable for me at the moment. I'm still just Deferonz!