Everyone got back to their seats as they all had taken a small break, excited and ready for the next episode.
"Okay, this episode has to tell us why we all chose to be huntresses, or at least, go into better depth about it." Yang says, nervous as they're all about to dig into personal territory, but, we're already past that from what they shown about Blake and Yang herself.
"Yeah, that I'm not exactly as enthused to hear, but it must be done." Yang brought Blake into a side hug, giving her room to leave and go back to her side of the couch if she didn't like this. But, to both their surprise, Blake sighed and moved in closer, appreciating Yang's thought. Though, even then, you could still see she was keeping some of her distance, proof of her wariness.
Yang was about to pull away, sensing the slightest bit of Blake's hesitation, but Blake kept Yang's arm in place, telling her to stay still.
Up above, Sun's tail slightly curls in on itself without his knowledge as he silently watched the two, but he quickly brought his attention back to the screen in front of him.
Other than Sun, no one really seemed to take notice of this small, awkward, moment between the two.
(Volume 2 Intro)
The episode surprisingly starts off with General Ironwood, overseeing all of the city from the airship docks just outside of Beacon. "Trouble sleeping?" Professor Goodwitch asks as she walks up to the man.
"Is that a nice tone I hear in Professor Goodwitch's voice? Huh, I guess there's a first time for everything apparently," Yang says jokingly, about to shrug both of her arms but quickly remembered she has a certain someone next to her, so she just went for a one shoulder shrug with her right arm.
"She's not a mean person-"
"She's just strict," Blake finished for Pyrrha as she slightly turned her head, directing this at Yang.
"I know…" Yang responded like she was getting a lecture from a teacher.
General Ironwood responded that his heart was acting up, "Of course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself up completely, and decided to gaze out menacingly into the distance," Her face softened and fell with worry, "What's wrong?"
Yang, Nora, and Ruby still found it a surreal experience to see Professor Goodwitch being nice to people, but hey, they'll get used to it.
"I've trusted him for years, we both have, I just…I can't help but feel he's keeping us in the dark." Glyna tells General Ironwood not to be ridiculous, they're the last people to be in the dark. "That makes it worse, I refuse to believe that a man I trusted for so long would act so passively." Ironwood countered, the last word coming out as a bite.
"You're a good person James, you've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest, it's admirable," As this is said, Glynda placed a comforting hand on one of Ironwood's shoulders. "But, it's high time you stop talking about trust and start showing it. Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack, and I think that's something worth remembering."
There's a small silence as the two both look over the city, until it switches to the abandoned city, a stray grimm wandering a little too close to the hideout. She locks Crescent Rose on her target, the grimm looks directly at her but turns a blind eye. Ruby sighs out of boredom. The camera pans from upwards, showing everyone as they rest.
The fire in the middle of Yang, Weiss, and Blake crackles. Yang opens her eyes, not having the ability to sleep. "Blake, are you awake?" Yang whispers, and the girl gives a small reply that she is, "Why do you think he asked us about being a huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"
"Maybe he was just curious," Blake continued, Yang herself now having turned on her stomach.
No one's going to believe that, Blake thinks as she looks at the screen, sighing to herself as snuggling closer to her pillow. Wait… the couches don't have pillows, do they? It took Blake a split second to remember Yang brought her closer into a side hug at the beginning of the episode.
She feels so warm and soooaaaah what am I doing? What am I thinking!? Blake abruptly pushed herself away from Yang's side with a heaving blush.
The shove caught Yang off guard, letting out a small grunt in surprise as she turns to Blake with slightly widened eyes, (with a tint of panic as well). "What, what's wrong?" Yang didn't shout or yell, but the urgency in her voice was obvious.
"N-nothing i-it was nothing, sorry, I shouldn't have overstepped boundaries." Blake stuttered as she brushed a nonexistent lock of hair out of her face. Yang seriously wasn't buying that, and she really wanted to ask what was wrong, but Blake clearly looked uncomfortable and Yang wasn't planning on making it worse.
She wasn't overstepping anything, you liked her being so close to you. A small voice appeared in the back of Yang's head. It sounded like her, but it wasn't her own. Yang let out an exhale, she scratched her head and discreetly glanced at Blake for a moment, she sat all the way at the other end of the couch.
Yang frowned but looked back at the screen, it was best to just give Blake the space she needed. Did she think of the cat jokes? That must be why, what else would the reason be?
Yang asked if Blake honestly thought that's what it was, but even she didn't think that was true. Yang turned and was on her back again, she asked Weiss if she was awake as well. "Of course I'm awake, you two are talking," Yang winced and rolled her eyes at Weiss's outburst. "And I think he…when I said I wanted to honor my family's name meant it, but it's not what you think. I'm not stupid, I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company, since he took control our business has operated in a…moral gray area." Blake made a snide comment that was putting the situation lightly. Weiss sat up rapidly, an angry expression taking hold on her face, "Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything, my father was not the start of our name and I refuse to let him be the end of it." Once Weiss finished she proceeded to lie back down on her sleeping bag.
And I will do whatever I can to fix my name that father has ruined. As the heiress, it is not his duty to uphold it, it's mine, and I'm going to it as a huntress. Weiss's thought was a promise, a vow that she will make things right and to mend all the damage that has been done by her father.
"All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner named Adam, more of a mentor actually; he always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place, but of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be…not perfect for everyone. I joined the academy because I knew huntsmen and huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world, always fighting for good, but I never really thought past that. When I leave the academy, what will I…how can I undo so many years of hate?" Blake's voice gave a small crack when she finished. Yang attempts to help raise her spirits, telling her she'll figure it out, that she isn't one to back down from a challenge.
But that's where you're wrong. Blake appreciated that Yang was trying to help, but it sadly wouldn't work, not right now.
"But I am! I do it all the time. When you learned I was a Faunus I didn't know what to do so I ran, when I realized my oldest partner had become a monster I ran! Even my semblance, I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself, an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away."
That's all I am… a coward.
"At least you two have something that drives you, I've always just gone with the flow, y'know?" From her back, Yang turns back onto her stomach, opening up about her motivations. "And that's fine, I mean that's who I am, but how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure, I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring and that'll be a good thing, being a huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a huntress, it's like she said, ever since she was a kid she dreamt about being the heroes in the books, helping people and saving the day, never asking for anything else in return, even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trains so hard to get where she is today."
Ruby felt like beaming at the praise from her sister, but now really wasn't the time for that. All her friends are pouring their hearts and feelings and her counterpart is just sitting up against a wall, listening, not really doing anything.
Ruby wants to say something, but it would be a better idea to wait until this is all over to speak, allow her friends to talk and share before she spoke up.
Weiss pops up, saying that Ruby is just a kid. Blake follows behind, saying Ruby is only two years younger, all of them are kids.
"Well, not anymore. I mean, look where we are, in the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth?" Blake adds to Yang's statement that they all chose this life.
"It's a job, we all had this romanticized vision of being a huntress in our heads, but at the end of the day, it's our job to protect the people and whatever we want will have to come second." Weiss says, the screen showing Dr. Oobleck for a few seconds.
"And we're gonna do that job the best we can, not for us, but for the people who are counting on us to keep them safe and protected." Everyone turns to Pyrrha as she speaks, including more to what on-screen Weiss was saying.
"Yeah! And we're gonna be the greatest group of huntsmen and huntresses for all those people who need it," Sun stood up from his seat, dramatically, with his fists resting against his hips in a superhero-like manner.
"Yeah, and we're gonna do whatever it takes to keep them protected," Ren joined, not in standing up, but speaking up about helping all those who can't protect themselves.
As the fire dies down, Ruby is enjoying her sleep, but something catches Zwei's attention. "Zwei, it's late, go back to bed," Ruby yawns, but Zwei only runs off to what seemed to have captivated him.
"What was so important that he had to run off for?" Nora questioned.
"We're about to find out," Ren says a second later.
Zwei runs around a corner and Ruby quietly gets up, seeing everyone else is asleep, except for Yang who's keeping watch.
"My question is how I never heard you or him," Yang shakes her head at her onscreen self's carelessness.
Ruby groans, grabbing Crescent Rose to run after Zwei. She calls for him behind a broken doorway but no answer comes from him. She looks forward just to see Zwei taking a potty break.
The whole room relaxed, having thought it was something important like a White Fang member or a grimm.
"Zwei, this is a wasteland, you literally could have done that anywhere." Zwei barks in response, then Ruby picks him up, backpedaling behind a stray wall.
"What was what?" One White Fang member asked, annoyed.
"I thought I heard a beowulf or something," The other member said in his defense.
"Let's just finish our patrol and get back to the base, this place gives me the creeps." The agitated member said, gesturing for the both of them to get moving. Ruby thinks it over for a second and decides to follow the two.
"Ruby! I get you didn't want to lose them but we all could have gone together!" Weiss scolded as she looked at the girl.
"What if something happened to you, they don't know where you could have gone, they don't know to look," Yang berated as well, but it was mostly because she was worried something could potentially happen to her little sister.
Ruby kept her distance, sneaking behind objects like one would do in a cartoon. Ruby spots them rounding one more corner, but she flails around as she tried to fall back to hide behind the corner.
You absolute dolt.
Ruby places Zwei's head around the corner for him to see. "Did they go in? One bark means 'yes'," Ruby whispers to the canine. Zwei barks at the sound of metal clinking, indicating the doors have closed. "Oh, this is it, this is it!" Ruby whispers her excitement as she pulls out her scroll to call her friends, sadly there wasn't any signal. "Oh man, come on, we gotta get the others."
The two begin their way back but the road under them begins to crack and crumble. Under them the street breaks, and Ruby barely holds on with Zwei in her other hand.
"Ruby!" All her friends in the room shout, Weiss, Blake, and Yang being the most terrified. Ruby wasn't faring any better as she watched her counterpart just barely catch Zwei by his collar.
Ruby tosses Zwei to safety, trying to climb her way back up, but luck wasn't on her side as the piece of concrete she was clasping onto broke and Ruby fell down, her scream becoming more deaf as she went.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed with horror. Everyone's faces were paling as they heard Ruby's cry getting softer and softer.
The whole room was silent. "I hate to be that person, but you guys can calm down, Ruby's fine, she didn't get majorly hurt from the fall." Raider says, trying to help ease their minds even for just a small bit.
"Oomph, Weiss? D-do you think you can let go?" Ruby's voice was strained as Weiss held onto Ruby greatly. Her hug feels like Yang's, Ruby thought to herself as Weiss didn't seem keen on letting up.
Weiss didn't listen though, keeping a strong hold on the girl. It was like she was afraid that if she let go Ruby might disappear.
"Weiss…" Ruby tried one more time, and this seemed to snap the girl out of her panic as she practically threw herself away from Ruby, a bright blush appearing across her face as she stared with wide eyes.
Weiss gave a few nervous laughs as she looked towards the ground, her face giving a look of pure confusion. This obviously caught Ruby's attention, but Ruby convinced herself it was nothing.
You know it's way more… Some kind of odd voice appeared in Ruby's mind, wondering if it was Raider since she can apparently read minds, but when Ruby looked back the entity was having a weird stare off with her sister.
Finding this whole ordeal bemusing, Ruby turned her focus back to the screen.
Zwei whimpered as he watched Ruby fall, and thankfully, the girl was okay but she landed in the middle of an underground base, the White Fang hideout no doubt. Ruby stood up as a door behind her opened, introducing two White Fang members. One of them tells her to freeze, the other questioning where she even came from; Ruby narrows her eyes as she tries to back up but stops when she sees it's a deadend.
The second comments that she's a long way from home. Ruby looks down behind her, reaching for Crescent Rose only to realize she doesn't have it. One of them grabs her by the arm, "Hey, hands off!" Ruby shouts as she rips it free. Ruby gives a low growl as she punches the man in the gut, going for a few more, but he blocks them before punching her in the face, leaving her to fall to the ground.
Ruby looks up from the ground, "The boss is gonna wanna see this one," One of the members says, finishing Ruby off with a kick to the face.
Yang was seriously having mixed emotions, one, she was extremely worried for her sister, her onscreen self has no clue where she is, and two, she was absolutely enraged, with herself. Her sister is gonna beat up and is in trouble and she isn't even there to keep her sister safe.
The dark brightside, they have a semblance of a clue on where the base is at.
Yang gives a stretch as she turns around, now done with her shift. "Hey Weiss, it's your-" The girl finally notices Ruby's absence, "Ruby?"
"Now I notice?! Not when she and Zwei were making so much noise?"
"Yang, it's okay, I'm here, I'm fine, you don't need to worry. This is the future, when we get back this whole thing might not even happen due to all of us changing the timeline of events." All eyes were on Ruby when she finished, and it took a second for Ruby to realize what she just said.
"Hey, where's Ruby?" Yang immediately gets worried as her sister is nowhere to be seen. Dr. Oobleck and everyone else gets up as they too notice Ruby is gone. Zwei quickly comes rushing, panting towards Yang. He whimpers as Blake gets up, asking what is even happening. Dr. Oobleck commands to grab their weapons, Ruby could be in danger.
Ruby, now awake, is currently being dragged by her arms. She looks around, seeing an Atlesian Paladin picking up a crate, two White Fang members were working on a bomb, one of them scolding the other, asking if they're trying to blow them to the moon.
One of the members dragging Ruby yells for Roman, telling him they have something he would want to see. "Is it good or bad Perry because let me tell you I had had a day," Roman yells from an upper room. The man lets out a small, prolonged noise, informing him that it's a girl. Roman finally shows himself, and throws away his cigar, "That would be bad."
Though Ren and them would not being on this mission, Ren found it a good idea to write down the location of their hideout, to help more in the long run when the time comes; he wrote down buildings that were around the specific area to make it easier to find the location, this way when the time comes he can give it to his friends in case they forget.
"Ruby's scythe!" Yang yelled as Zwei had led them to the destination of Ruby's fall.
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked as she looked down the hole.
"Why did I even bother asking that question? Where else could she have gone?" Weiss facepalmed.
"Fell?!" Dr. Oobleck comes rushing over to Weiss, the girl directing their attention to the large ditch in front of them. "Oh my, of course," Dr. Oobleck gasped in realization, "Of course, of course, of course! How could I be so stupid!"
Blake hurriedly questioned what this was all about, and Yang asked what was wrong. Dr. Oobleck was then in Yang's face not a second later, "Mountain Glenn! An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of grimm! Previously home to thousands of people, working people, commuting to the city, the main city, developed a subway system to the inner city, grimm attacks increase, population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter; city evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?! The Southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!" As he rapidly spoke he kept moving from one girl to the other, piecing together everything in process.
"Am I the only one who's lost right now?" Sun asks, rubbing his head.
A good portion of the room were just as lost, the man talks so fast it's incredibly hard to keep up.
"Doc, what are you saying?" Yang asks with wide eyes, completely stumped at the man speaking around the same speed as light.
Dr. Oobleck grabs Yang by the shoulders, looking directly into her eyes as he spoke. "My dear girl, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for and UNDERGROUND CRIME NETWORK!"
"It's safe to say we're all like Yang right now, right?" Ruby asked, her body leaning further away from the tv at this man's excessive mannerisms. All students collectively nodded, as well as feeling a little bit bad for Yang, she's the one who was taking the brunt of it.
Blake clarifies that they've been working in caves. "No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time thanks to aggressive perimeter defense and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main kingdom. Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start." The angle changed from a viewpoint that directly showed the pit from up above. "As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city, in massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway, and they had cut themselves off from the surface."
Yang exclaims that there's an underground village in disbelief. "In a manner of speaking, yes. A safe haven, until… an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern filled with subterranean grimm. After that, the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb. If Ruby is down there…" Dr. Oobleck takes out Antiquity's Roast, extending it to its full length, "We must find her."
The man stands still for a few moments before the screen goes black, rolling in the end credits.
"That's where it ends?" Yang shouts, about to stand up from her seat but is stopped when Blake places a hand on her shoulder.
"Now, would anyone like to take a small bre-" Raider began to propose the question but was ultimately drowned out from everyone yelling at her.
"No! I need to make sure my sister is safe!"
"No, we don't want a break!" Weiss yelled, appalled Raider would even bring up the question in the first place.
"You ask that now of all times?!" Nora screamed, now standing on her seat as she glared daggers at the girl.
"Ok, ok, ok, ok! Sheesh! We'll move on, man." Raider motioned them to calm down as she floated in the air. She gestured for the bottom row to begin the next episode, they really hate cliffhangers.