15

Chapter 15: Together

Notes:

Apologies for no chapter last week, I was traveling for work and didn't have the time to get a chapter out.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

'Did you really leave Weiss and Yang behind?'

Ruby's words echoed in Blake's head. 'Did you leave them behind?' Did she leave them behind? When Blake was first transported back to the past, she hadn't even believed she left the void. Even once she arrived at Beacon, she wasn't sure this wasn't just some incredibly strange nightmare that the void had concocted for her because the three of them had gotten too used to their life there.

Those first days at Beacon, her attention had been focused entirely on Weiss and Yang. She had studied them for any reaction when she saw them again, but both were entirely non-responsive. She briefly considered that they, like her, were unsure of this new surrounding and didn't want to reveal themselves. Considering how much time they spent together, Blake couldn't be sure.

Several times she thought about just asking them, and about two weeks into the first semester, she nearly told Yang. But as the days ticked by, telling them became less of an option. How would she explain keeping them in the dark for so long? In the end, it hadn't mattered. She had followed both of them and they were nothing if not normal students at Beacon.

That didn't mean that everything was normal though. By and large, the world was the same, that much Blake had figured out. But small details, like Jaune unlocking his semblance before Beacon, or her becoming Ruby's partner, or her partner's silver eyes activating, or Torchwick having a semblance, those were all different. It was those differences that kept her from ruling out that this was truly her world.

Of course, that only left more questions for Blake. Where was she? Why was she here? Who was that being that had sent her here? Had they sent her here, even? Why her? Why then?

Blake thought about the girl they encountered down in the void. She had been confined to the void since the beginning of time and implied that once someone made it out, they could not return. Had the being that Blake met down in the void been trapped there like her? If so, how could he send her out?

There were no answers to any of those questions, and eventually Blake learned to live with that. It wasn't that she wasn't still curious, but it would drive her to madness if she focused on it. So she wouldn't. Someone important had taught her that…

Being around Yang at first was exciting. Escaping from Adam, hiding, traveling to Beacon, it all took months. Additional months for her to ponder her long list of questions while wondering if Yang would instantly recognize her the moment they locked eyes. But before long, that excitement turned to pain. Yang wasn't her Yang. She had no idea about what they had gone through together. It was heartbreaking to look into her eyes and see only a vacant stare where once she could always feel comforted by the adoration that Yang held for her.

And if Yang was painful to be around, Weiss was excruciating. The coolness that had marked her entrance into team RWBY was replaced by concealed, albeit subconscious, hostility once Blake had told her that she was a faunus. Blake knew that it was a hurtle that she would have to pass, and Weiss, with the help of Yang, had really stepped up and done her best to understand Blake. Still, old habits die hard, and it would be difficult to go from kissing someone to being unable to hold a conversation with them without help.

With all of that, where else was she supposed to turn but to her new partner? She hadn't been avoiding Weiss and Yang, but whenever she had the option, she preferred to spend time with Ruby. The girl hadn't changed a bit, every bit the adorable leader that Blake remembered. Watching Weiss and Yang from afar, spending time with her partner had become so easy, so natural.

Blake could genuinely say she had never once considered that the reason for their connection was because Ruby was the same Ruby that Blake had seen leaving the void. She had spent so long looking for the same Yang and Weiss that she had left behind that she had never considered anything else.

Left behind.

"Blake… did you leave Yang and Weiss behind in the void?" Ruby asked again when Blake didn't answer. Her voice was quiet.

"I… I don't know." Blake answered honestly, her ears drooping. Blake opened her mouth to say more, but the door squeaked open and Torchwick stepped through. Blake instinctively looked to her team leader to see what stance she should take towards the criminal, but when Ruby didn't reach for her weapon, Blake didn't either. Instead, Ruby just gave Blake a worried look that promised they would discuss this in more detail later.

"Good, we're all here now. Let's discuss." Roman meandered into the room. "Red, be more careful with this. It's one of your lifelines now." Roman tossed a scroll into Ruby's hands and gesticulated with his cane towards Pyrrha. "She okay to be here?" He asked.

Jaune stepped in front of the cane. "Yes. We told Pyrrha about our situation." Jaune said. That was news to Blake, but explained why she had been accompanying them.

"Shit, you told her about what happens at Beacon?" Roman said, surprised. "You've got less of a heart than I do, blondie." Jaune scowled at Roman, but said nothing. Blake made a mental note to compare stories with Jaune after she spoke with Ruby. "Alright, I get it, not my lane." Roman put up his hands defensively. "What is my lane is getting you four whatever you need to prevent it. Your leader here has graciously accepted my help in taking down Cinder. Don't think of me as a man on the inside though, more of a double agent. I won't hesitate to double-cross the lot of you if you don't get me what I want, and I expect you to do the same.

"Point is: this is an alliance of mutual convenience. Once Cinder is locked away and the key melted, which, by the way is exactly what you should do once she's captured, I'll disappear and none of you will ever hear from me or Neo ever again. Got it?"

Blake nodded, more of an observer than a participant, as the others did as well. She was still reeling from the fact that Ruby, and apparently Jaune and possibly Torchwick, were all like her. Still, Blake had to ask.

"Why should we trust you?" She asked the criminal.

Roman regarded Blake closely for a moment. "Man, the two of you really are on the same page." He cocked his head towards Ruby. "Like I told your little friend, you can't and you shouldn't. Our goals align, and that's that."

"How do you plan to help us achieve that goal?" Pyrrha asked next.

"Information. I can pull strings and uncover whatever you need about what Cinder is planning." Roman responded.

"So what is Cinder planning, like with The Breach?" Jaune asked.

"… The Breach? Is that what you ended up calling it?" Roman mulled over the name. "Flashy name, I like it. If you have to get arrested at some point, getting arrested in The Breach is respectable."

"People died in that." Jaune said.

"People die every day, kid. No one cries for any of them. None of you cried for me." Roman deadpanned. "The plan for 'The Breach' is the same as it was the first time around. Day of the Fall of Beacon, drive the train and lure even more grimm into the city to cause more chaos. I won't be in charge of it though. Once everything's in place, the plan is for goat boy or one of his lieutenants to lead that."

"We stopped you early then. What should we do about it this time?" Ruby asked.

"Don't know, and you're not going to tell me." Roman said. "You're not going to tell me anything about your plans, and if you show up when I'm there, I'll do my best to look surprised and not blast you into smithereens. Less risk if I know nothing. Speaking of which, I begrudgingly understand why you told Big Red over there, but don't make that a habit. I told Neo, so that means the six of us are the only ones who have all the pieces of the puzzle. The fewer that number, the less chance Cinder acquires enough of the pieces to kill us all."

Ruby and Jaune both frowned and looked like they wanted to say more, but stayed silent on the subject. "The moment that Cinder changes any of her plans from the original timeline, tell us. We're trying not to be suspicious, but as she puts more of her plans pre-Fall of Beacon into place, the less possible that is." Ruby said.

"As you wish." Roman tipped his hat theatrically. "Now get out, the White Fang is due in less than an hour and this warehouse doesn't look abandoned."

Blake didn't need to be told twice, and filed out behind Ruby, who was talking everything over with Jaune. Blake did her best not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but when Ruby called her name and waved her over, she knew that everything was going to be okay between them.

---

"Can you move that three feet to the left?" Weiss asked.

Yang chuckled to herself. "You sure that's the spot that you want it?" She hefted the giant speaker into her arms again. "Not that I don't enjoy showing off for you, but I'm starting to think you just want to watch me lift heavy objects."

Weiss crossed her arms in challenge. "So what if I do?" She wasn't going to deny it.

"Oh, I'm happy to oblige." Yang smirked.

The two of them had been setting up for the dance for over two hours. Blake and Ruby were both out, and who knew when they would return. The two of them had the strangest hours some days. Still, once Weiss woke up, or rather, was woken up by Ruby slamming the door with her semblance upon her swift departure, she found Yang sitting on her bed. Strangely, Weiss found she didn't mind, even though usually she very much considered her bed her own personal space, especially when she was in it. Besides, seeing Yang's face first thing in the morning was not the worst fate she could suffer, in fact it ranked quite high on the list of morning surprises she enjoyed.

The worst fate she could suffer would most definitely be Ruby's bunk coming down on top of her, a frequent worry. Yes, seeing Yang's beautiful, smiling face was preferable. Yang asked if Weiss felt like tackling the decorating for the dance that day. They had been assigned to the task after team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected and suddenly new planners were needed.

They had already spent time drawing up plans for what the dance would look like and gathered all the required equipment, now all that was left was the setup. Weiss had expected that trying to plan the dance with Yang would be difficult, given their wildly differing tastes. However, the planning had been seamless, with both of them willing to compromise and support the other's ideas. All that was left was to execute on what Weiss considered to be a well thought out plan.

"What do you think, snow angel?" Yang asked as she dropped the enormous speaker into place. She had taken to using the pet name often, and Weiss had yet to protest. Yet. She was still undecided on whether she liked it, and had only accepted it thus far due to the lips from which it was coming from.

She was also yet to come up with something sufficient to call Yang, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Sunny little dragon, Yang had told her, was her Dad's nickname for her, and Weiss couldn't reuse that. Little dragon seemed almost comical coming from her, given Yang had at least several inches on her. No, she would have to come up with something else…

Weiss walked around the space and nodded in approval. "It's sufficient. I suppose we're almost done then?" She walked over to the control panel on the wall.

"Almost? What's left? You want me to show off more?" Yang waggled her eyebrows.

"In a way." Weiss said. She smirked at Yang's confusion before pressing a few buttons on the touch screen display. Soft music filled the space, the type that Weiss was more accustomed to. In their limited free time she had taken to teaching Yang how to properly dance. Her partner was a quick study, and an eager student. Weiss had greatly enjoyed the time they spent together.

Yang grinned as the music floated through the space. The two partners met in the middle of the room and instinctively Weiss put her arms around Yang's neck while Yang's hands rested on Weiss' hips. She drew herself close to Yang as the two of them moved in time to the music.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of this." Yang said, their faces inches from each other.

"Me neither. Thank you, by the way, for convincing me to step out of my comfort zone, that first time we went to Vale together." Weiss replied.

Yang smiled softly at her, letting her bravado melt away. "I'm glad that you let me."

They fell into a quiet closeness, their steps in perfect synchronization, both relishing the tranquility and intimacy of the moment. Lost in their own little world, no one to interrupt them. The dance itself wouldn't be the same with everyone else around, so this was their chance to enjoy it. Of course, Weiss just assumed that she would dance with Yang then, but what if her partner didn't feel the same?

No, Weiss was confident that she did. But still… maybe she should ask…

"Yang," she said softly as the playlist ended. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?" Weiss asked.

"Well, duh. As your partner there's no way I'm leaving you behind." Yang smirked.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to be romantic, you oaf. Will you come to the dance with me, as my date?"

Yang's eyes widened. "Oh… Oh!! Um, yes! I mean, only if you'll be mine." She fumbled on her words.

Weiss smiled at having caught her partner off guard. "I think that can be arranged."

---

Jaune paced around the dorm room. It had been less than an hour since the four of them had gotten back, and Ruby had requested some time to meet with Blake alone before they all gathered to discuss.

"Jaune… would you like to sit with me?" Pyrrha asked. She was seated on her bed and tapped the spot next to her.

Jaune hesitated briefly before taking the seat next to her. His nerves were still getting the better of him and his knee started bouncing up and down. "Sorry." He said.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, I'm nervous too. But Ruby can handle it. I'm sure it's a lot for her to process so suddenly, but she and Blake are good friends." Pyrrha replied.

Jaune knew that. He did. But he wanted to be there for his friend, and to talk to Blake himself. Sitting here just made him antsy, but Ruby had requested time. "Yeah, you're right. I just… don't like sitting around."

"Hmm… Would you like to talk about it instead?" Pyrrha offered.

Jaune frowned. "There isn't much to talk about. If Ruby wasn't going to notice, I didn't have a chance. Besides, paying attention isn't my strong suit."

Pyrrha reached out her hand and put it on her partner's shoulder. "Well, you were focused on other things. You can't catch everything."

Jaune deflated. "I know that you're right, but I feel like I need to catch everything." Jaune couldn't shake the feeling that this was something he should've realized, something they both should've realized. What if they were focusing on the wrong things? "What happens if I miss something crucial? What happens if the thing that I miss causes Beacon to fall again?"

"That won't happen." Pyrrha reassured him.

"But what if it does?" Jaune turned to her. "What if we fail again?"

"Then we'll be by each other's sides until we fix it."

It was so simple when Pyrrha said it. Jaune had spent the better part of three years trying to fix it after everything fell apart the first time. He couldn't imagine having to go through it all again. If it wasn't for Pyrrha's… for Pyrrha's—absence, would he have done anything at all? Would he do anything this time, knowing that it had all been for nothing a second time around anyway?

He would have to, Pyrrha would be at his side, and she certainly would never give up. Jaune had always admired that about her.

"Yeah—yeah we will be." Pyrrha smiled back at Jaune.

"Now, let's consider our plan going forward. Setting aside Torchwick, our next operation will be during the Vytal Festival dance, which is quite soon." Pyrrha said.

"I'm sorry that you'll miss the dance," and he was. Pyrrha loved the stories that Jaune told about team JNPR at the dance, how Jaune had worn a dress, how they had all danced together. Pyrrha might not show it, but he could tell she was at least a little bummed that she would be missing it.

"Nothing can be done about that. Let's focus on making sure it doesn't turn into a disaster." Pyrrha responded.

No, there was nothing that could be done. That was when Cinder would be doing her infiltration, and it was vital that they stop her. Although… it was true that they would miss the dance, maybe that there was still a way for Pyrrha to experience it…

The kernel of an idea formed in Jaune's head.

---

Every instinct was telling Blake to run. When her team had found out she was a faunus, she had run, when she found out that Adam was a monster, she had run, when Yang had been maimed at Beacon, she had run. Blake had to fight her body for every step, force her gaze past every alleyway where she knew she could slink off and never been seen again.

But that wouldn't be fair to her team, or to the others, and most of all, it wouldn't be fair to Ruby. Blake wasn't that person anymore, she reminded herself. This time, she wouldn't be running.

Even once she was sitting back in their dorm, her nerves weren't calming down.

"Are you nervous?" Ruby asked.

"Sorry." Blake responded. She was trying to control it, she really was, but she just couldn't. She didn't want Ruby to think that she was going to run, or was keeping anything from her.

"Don't be. I'm nervous too, and confused, and a little bit scared." Ruby smiled sheepishly. "I thought I had this all figured out. Guess not." Ruby let the smile fall.

Blake felt compelled to hug her partner, but her limbs still refused to obey. "I'm sorry."

Ruby looked up at Blake. "Blake…" she started, "it's not your fault. Why don't we both just start from the beginning? What happened after me and Jaune left the void?"

Blake nodded. That much she could do. She went through the events in her head, trying to organize them to tell Ruby all about them, when she hit a snag. How was she going to tell her about Weiss? She couldn't just leave that out, could she? If she did, no one might ever know, and it could be better that way to spare Ruby's feelings.

What was she thinking? She couldn't do that! She wanted to make sure there were no secrets between them. This was a fresh start, for both of them. She wouldn't lie. Blake curled and uncurled her fingers and let out a deep breath before beginning.

She told Ruby about how they had survived down in the void once she left, about the rules they had worked out, about the systems they used to keep everyone together.

"And… how were you all feeling?" Ruby asked.

"On the outside our spirits were high, I knew you'd come back for us when you could, but I think we were all just a few bad breaks away from breaking down." Blake explained. "We continued on haphazardly for a while, until Weiss organized everything. The routine grounded her, and me too, to an extent. It felt like we were working for a purpose again."

Ruby smiled. "That does sound like Weiss."

Blake nodded. "She missed you terribly. We talked about you a lot at first, about what you might be doing. Eventually though, it was just a reminder that you might not come back."

Ruby leaned forward earnestly. "I was going to come back."

"I know." Blake reached out her hand and grasped Ruby's. "I never doubted you."

Ruby smiled at her partner before looking away. "How- how was Weiss handling it all… I mean, did she… did she… you know…" Ruby asked quietly, trailing off.

"Did she use the permission you granted her before you left the void?" Blake guessed. Ruby nodded. "She did. She joined Yang and myself. The three of us helped each other through everything."

Ruby turned back, surprised. "Oh. I, uh… I didn't know that you…"

"That I would want a relationship with Weiss like that?" Blake finished. Ruby again nodded. "I didn't know either, at first. But it just felt right. We all made each other happy." Blake paused before continuing to let Ruby digest. "Once we left, Weiss was going to confess to you."

That got Ruby's attention. "She was?" Ruby asked, her voice small.

"She was. We talked it over many times. None of us forgot you, even for a moment."

Ruby considered that, her brows creased, before she frowned. "I don't even talk to her most days. I've been so focused on everything else that it just… I feel like I'm neglecting her, and Yang too. Like I've failed as a team leader."

Blake felt for her leader, but she could more than understand her pain. "If you've failed, then I have too. I can barely hold a conversation with Yang. We've both lost our partners." Blake shifted and enveloped Ruby in a hug. "But I'm so glad that we still have each other."

Ruby returned the hug, her arms wrapped around Blake's torso. "I've missed you, Blake."

Blake kissed the top of Ruby's head. "I've missed you too, Little Rose." Ruby giggled, and Blake smiled. This had surprised them both, but underneath the initial nerves neither of them had a reason to be upset with the other. Ruby had been and was still one of Blake's closest friends. After what they had gone through together, it was a bond that couldn't be broken.

"How did you get out?" Ruby asked. "That girl… she said someone else would have to stay behind, but you were already staying behind for me."

"I met this… creature. I don't know what else to call it. It looked a bit like if one of the brother gods was given animal traits. He… well, he said I could go home. Called me his champion."

At the word champion, Ruby released Blake and stood up abruptly, almost knocking into Blake in the process.

"His champion?" She asked, incredulous. "Are you sure?"

Blake was quite sure. She remembered distinctly how odd she thought the word was. "Yes. He said I would do great deeds, I believe, as his champion."

Ruby shifted into her team leader mode. "Tell me everything you can about what happened."

So Blake did. She ran through that final day in the void. Going out, getting separated, finding Torchwick, the fog, the clearing, the creature, being sent back. She recalled every detail she could, Ruby asking questions to help fill in any gaps.

"That sounds… eerily similar to what happened to me and Jaune." Ruby said. "Oh, wait, I haven't told you what happened to me and Jaune!" Ruby quickly filled Blake in. She had only been out of the void for a few weeks, but for Blake it had felt like several months. She told Blake about retrieving the crown, each of them wearing it, and the final battle with Salem, the brother's return, the judgement of humanity, and Ruby being offered a choice.

"Me and Jaune, we were Light and Darkness' champions. They used that word, champions. It has to be related." Ruby said.

"Maybe one of them picked two champions?" Blake asked, though she doubted it.

Ruby shook her head. "Remember when Darkness brought Ozma back to life? Light knew instantly. There's no way."

"Then what does that mean?" Blake asked.

"There has to be a third god. You must have met a third god." Ruby was doing her best not to shout in her excitement.

"If there's another one we didn't know about how many more could there be?"

"You said that you heard that girl's guitar and Torchwick's chains down in the void?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Blake replied.

"Four gods then… There's four! Oh, it all makes sense now! What Torchwick was trying to say! That girl, down in the void! How he got back!" Ruby exclaimed, talking a mile a minute. "In the warehouse, Torchwick was saying how odd it was that there were only two gods when everything else was four. Four relics, four schools, four kingdoms, four maidens. It's because there aren't two gods! There are four!! Light is creation, Darkness destruction, that girl is knowledge, and the god you met must be choice!

"You said the only thing the god did was offer you a choice. That girl, do you remember what she was singing about when we found her? Knowledge! The things she knew! And after I left, that song, that was about what Weiss and I both knew! She sent Roman back when you got sent back, and when Jaune and I got sent back!! Four gods sending back four people all at the same time!! 'The border between the worlds is open'? It was open because of the brother gods sending us back!" Ruby was nearly jumping up and down at this point.

"That could be it. That could really be it…" Blake said. "But wait, Roman, what about him? He doesn't have all his memories. He should've remembered us from the void. Something's wrong with his memory."

Ruby pondered that for a moment. "I'm guessing he left them behind, as payment. He lost part of his memories so he could leave through her deal. In return… I think she granted him knowledge about us, the three of us, hoping we would all find each other, and knowledge about his semblance."

"Could all of them have done something like that?" Blake asked. If that girl had given Roman a gift, might the other gods have done something similar?

"I have no idea. What would they have even done?"

Blake couldn't think of anything either. There wasn't anything that either of them had done that seemed like some great gift from the gods. I mean, there were Ruby's silver eyes, but that hadn't-

"Ruby… on initiation day, why did you use your silver eyes?" Blake asked.

"My eyes-? I didn't mean to, actually. It was just kind of an accident." Ruby said.

"On accident? Does that happen much?"

Ruby scrunched her eyebrows. "Hm… It happened once before, but now that you mention it… Do you think Light did something to them? Strengthened them, maybe?"

"I think we need to find out." Blake replied.

Ruby nodded. "What about you and Jaune? If Light and that girl both did something to me and Torchwick, maybe the third god and Darkness gave you both a special power."

That had Blake well and truly stumped. Her semblance was working normally, and nothing else she had done was particularly abnormal. "I don't know. Nothing comes to mind."

"Yeah, I figured. Well, okay, we've got a lot to fill Jaune in on. Before that though, where did you go in Mistral? You really scared me when you got back."

Blake cursed herself internally. Of course that scared Ruby, knowing all she did. Blake should've just trusted her enough to tell her then, and she certainly had no reason to keep it secret now.

"I went to see Sienna Khan. To warn her about Adam. Unfortunately… it didn't go well. Sienna was willing to talk, but… Adam happened to be there." Blake could feel her shaking starting to return, and Ruby placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "He saw me. Tried to capture me. I made it out, but I didn't get to talk with Sienna for long. I don't think she realizes the danger he poses."

"We can stop him." Ruby assured her. "We're going to stop all of them. Together."

"Right, together." Everything would be together.

---

Oscar dragged the pail along with him, his arms heavy. Whoever designed the farm could've at least put the water pump a bit closer to the fields. Still, he should be happy that he was able to do this much, his bandages were coming off clean one by one, and soon there would only be the memory of what happened left.

He rounded the corner of the barn and nearly ran into someone, dropping his bucket.

The stranger caught the bucket before it could spill onto the ground. "Woah, uh, hey there kid. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He handed the bucket back to Oscar, who placed it on the ground.

"No, uh, I wasn't paying attention, I guess." He took a look at the stranger. He was tall and lanky, with light facial hair, and wearing a cape. Definitely a huntsman. "Uh… are you looking for work?" Oscar hadn't seen any other huntsmen pass through since the strange pair from Beacon.

"Nah. I'm already gainfully employed. The names Qrow. Qrow Branwen." He stuck out a hand.

Oscar took it. "I'm Oscar Pine."

"Nice to meet you kid." Oscar nodded respectfully, but the huntsmen seemed to have little else to say. Eventually, Oscar prodded. "So… is there something I can help you with, Mr. Branwen?"

"Just call me Qrow." He took out a flask and took a quick sip before looking around. "It's a hot day out, mind if we chat inside the barn? Bit of shade could us some good."

"Um… okay?" Oscar led the huntsman into the barn, and as Qrow came in, he slid the door shut behind them.

"Listen, kid. Usually I'd try to come up with something clever right about now, but I've got nothing. A while ago, there were a couple of kids out here, trainee hunters, who asked you about going to Beacon. You remember them?"

How could Oscar forget them? He still wondered about why they had shown up in the first place. Still, he was a bit apprehensive about Qrow. "I remember them. They said they were from Beacon. Why? Are you looking for them?"

Qrow chuckled. "Not them I'm looking for, already know where they are. Why did they ask you about coming to Beacon?"

"I don't know. Were they really from Beacon?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah, they're there right now. They're first years." Qrow answered.

"What were they doing all the way out here?"

Qrow's gaze flicked to the door before responding. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. It could be important. Did they say anything that struck you as odd?"

Oscar thought back to their conversation. The entire thing had been odd. "No, nothing comes to mind, other than the fact that they were far from home."

Qrow took another sip of his flask. "Yeah, thought so. Alright, I've got nothing else, so I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I was listening in, and I didn't hear anything else either. Those two only visited you, and went straight home. Odds are, they only came to Mistral to talk to you."

"Me??" Oscar said, incredulous. "But why me??"

"That's what I'm tryin' to figure out. They think you're important enough to travel to another continent for."

That would be insane. Oscar wanted to tell him that they must have the wrong person. That it was some big mistake. "What would they even want with me?"

Qrow eyed a couple of hay bales. "Why don't we sit down?" The two of them took seats opposite each other. The hay was scratchy underneath Oscar's hands. "I don't know. I haven't got the faintest idea of why they singled you out from thousands of people they could visit, and neither does my boss."

"Who is your boss…?" Oscar asked.

"Well, if I'm showing all my cards, he's the headmaster of Beacon. I've got orders to try and convince you to come back with me. I won't force you though."

Oscar was glad he was sitting, because if he was standing, he was very sure he would've fallen over. Come back with this man?? Why?? For what reason?? "This makes no sense! I- I, I mean, how?? Why? I can't leave here! Maybe they just visited me at random! You said they were first years, maybe it was their idea of a joke!" Yeah, a joke. That made sense, it was just a joke!

Qrow sighed. "I know you're trying to make sense of this, but trust me, it wasn't a joke. Those two you met, Ruby and Jaune, they know a hell of a lot more than they should. For full disclosure, Ruby is my niece, so don't think I've got anything against her. I love her more than life itself, and I swear by her that I'm telling the truth. If they visited you, then you're important to them, and I'd like to know how before it becomes a problem for you.

"I can't give you specifics unless you decide to come back with me, but things are dire, Oscar. The grimm are getting more powerful, more prevalent. There's a war that no one even knows about, and if you're involved, it isn't the type of thing you can just put off. I want to get you somewhere safe, and this," Qrow gestured to the barn, "is not safe. You are not safe."

Oscar couldn't process this all. This strange man, saying something that he couldn't comprehend. A war? What could that even mean? How on remnant would he even fit into it? "What about my Aunt? If stay here, is she not safe because I'm here?" Oscar asked frantically.

"She's not safe either." Qrow replied. "I can't tell you more unless you agree to come with me. Once you know, you become a target. We're already stretching things by having me visit you. I'm not here to freak you out, kid. But better now than when you're out of time. So, what do you say?"

Oscar looked up at the man. He tried to make sense of the insanity that he was being told. What would he say…?

Notes:

Chapter 15! Ta-da!

You know, I really wish the V9 teaser had come out a couple weeks earlier, you know, BEFORE I wrote my big chapter down in the void. Talking animals were not something I would've guessed in a million years. Still, I'm glad I got the 'character walks in a loop against their will' thing right. Oh, and we also have a name! The Ever After, you know, what the text in the V8 opening said at the end. I'm probably still going to call it 'The Void' simply because that's what I've been calling it.

Also... RWBY x Justice League crossover movie...? Who asked for this...? It's implied that's a part of what's been delaying V9 so much. Which if true is quite frustrating. Still, both RWBY and Justice League are owned by the same people (Warner Brothers), so my guess is that this was more an order from on high, rather than a choice for RT.

Looking forward to Arrowfell as well. Definitely buying that the moment it's released. Ice Queendom also came out! Can't say it's all that interesting to me, but the animation is gorgeous. I'm too much of a RWBY purist to enjoy it fully.

But yeah! The future is looking bright!

As always, thanks for reading, kudo-ing, and commenting! Each one helps me put out the best story I can.

~ ThePalestRose