ACT 3: Aftermath

"Semblances are... strange, to put it lightly. They're theorised as soul of an individual made manifest in forms of powers. Yet a person is never consistent, carrying multiple personas within themselves. If following such logic, one's Semblance should be constantly changing, shifting, yet many Huntsmen and Huntresses retain their original abilities to their dying days. So this begs the question: does Semblances reflect one's true self? And if this changes, what does that mean for the individual affected?"

"-death toll is currently listed as tens of thousands, and the estimates place the figure at a higher count due to many more currently missing-"

Click.

"-voices echo across Remnant, grieving over the loss of their loved ones. Mass public services are being held in communities, while prayers are chanted in churches as many faithful desperately pray for their missing friends and families-"

Click.

"-hear me?! If you goddamn Hunters did your fucking jobs then this-this wouldn't have happened! YOU killed my wife and my children, you hear me?! SAY SOMETHING YOU FUCKING MURDERERS!"

"…" Click.

"-public wants to know why most of the Hunters were not in Midgard when hordes of Grimm poured into the city. Some even speculate that was precisely the reason why they fled. Is this true?" "No, of course not! We were responding to distress calls down south-"

Click.

"Roman Torchwick and White Fang have been confirmed as perpetrators of the great tragedy that befell on Midgard and her people. The government official who wished to remain anonymous stated that all efforts are being made to organise means of pursuing and hunting down the terrorists, though understandably public's trust is wavering-"

Click.

"-mounting tension between humans and Faunus… reports of violence cropping up in various parts of Vale… the police and the civil Hunters are stretched thin trying to prevent things from escalating further-"

With a sigh Jaune switched the TV off, tossing the remote to the side, with just enough care to ensure it landed on something soft – he didn't want Iris bitching at him about having to replace it again. All protests along the lines of "it was just that one time!" wouldn't sit too well.

"Same old news then?" Said sibling sauntered into the living room, two cups of coffee in hand. Jaune took one with a mutter of gratitude as Iris took her seat next to him.

Jaune sighed again. "More or less." He didn't feel like pointing out how the man on the channel – how his outraged outburst hit a little close to home, almost as if it was directed at him.

The two siblings took quiet sips of the holy grail. Caffeine addiction truly ran in the Arc bloodline. In this case, it also helped fill in the awkward moments of silence as well. Jaune wasn't exactly forthcoming about his personal demons, and words weren't exactly Iris' forte.

It wasn't that she wasn't perceptive – she found his bruised and battered body, barely conscious, amidst the charred remains of the Grimm back in Midgard. Mission reports filled in by Bartholomew Oobleck shed some light regarding the clusterfuck of shitshow her baby brother went through as well. Add in the skirmish against the White Fang, locked in a desperate race against time, she was surprised – and concerned – that her only brother wasn't breaking into pieces.

"I know it's early, but do you mind if we started training soon?" Jaune asked, half-pleading, half-eager. Iris wasn't sure whether she wanted to feel proud or sad.

"Sure. Let me just wash up real quick, then I'll meet you down in the training quarters." With a relieved nod Jaune made for his room, emerging a short moment later with his armour on and Crocea Mors on his side.

"Leave it – we won't be training with swords today," Iris called out, stopping Jaune in his tracks.

Jaune raised a brow. "We won't?"

"Mastering a particular style of combat is good, but once you're out in the field, anything could happen. To be a good Hunter is to adapt, and that includes learning to handle other types of weaponry."

Jaune groaned. "Please don't tell me we're learning how to shoot." No matter how hard he and his teammates (and, by extension, the Winterbournes) tried, he just could not hit the broad side of the figurative barn when someone shoved a gun into his hands. All that time he dicked about with his fellow Regalities and Winterbournes in FPS games did jackshit for his real-life marksmanship skills.

Iris couldn't help but laugh, for she too, have seen this in his performance reports. "No we won't don't you worry. But you do understand why firearms are an integral part of Hunter loadout, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Now can we please just go?"

With another laugh she sent him on his way. A quick shower later saw the Arc Venatrix taking the stairs leading down to the wide-open field that served as the training ground for the inhabitants of the area. While there was an indoor gym, it was far smaller, as well, and always occupied. Understandable, considering how it snowed at least several days a week, regardless of the season. The northern continent of Solitas was perpetually covered in ice and snow since time immemorial, after all. Harsh and seemingly inhospitable the environment was, however, it served to harden those who called this place their home.

Which was why she brought Jaune here, to help with his training.

Life as a Venatrix was… difficult, to say the least. True, there were certain perks and privileges, luxurious accommodation, opportunities to rub elbows with the elites of the society, reverence and respect by many, for instance. But at the same time, they courted death much more intimately than average Hunters, as they were assigned the most dangerous missions. Average life expectancy wasn't particularly high for those who chose the profession of hunting Grimm, and it was much less so for Venators and Venatrixes.

Normally she would've been busy, much more so what with the near annihilation of Midgard a little over a week ago. Many of her colleagues were pulled to active duty, sent on clean-up duties around the ruins of Mountain Glenn to stem the tides of Grimm from flooding back into Midgard. She would've been there, except Ironwood himself ordered her to stay put. She was instead assigned another mission, the kind that involved training another Lucis.

She, of course, was more than happy to oblige. The only problem was time, or lack thereof. She had only a handful of months to whip him into shape, or at least, as good as she could make him in the time she had before he returned to Beacon for his second year. And, of course, there was the Vytal Festival Tournament.

"Uh sis?" Jaune asked nervously, "Is… something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." Gears in her head turned as ideas and plans took form, providing the answer that she sought regarding her brother's training schedule. "Actually, there is something. I've been thinking…"

"Find me before I find you."

That was all he said, before he disappeared into the shadows. Lips pursed solemnly, Ruby drew her hood and proceeded with the hunt.

The thick woods of Patch were full of memories, for it was the place that she and her uncle frequented during her years as a shy student of Signal Academy. It was here when she got mauled over by Grimm younglings all because in a moment of panic she forgot how to unfold her Crescent Rose. Then there was the time when she accidentally ran headfirst into a tree because she couldn't control her Semblance. It was here when the culmination of her training and dedication paid off in the exhilarating moment of her first (Grimm) kill.

Looking back now, it seemed so trivial. Within the span of a year she's faced down Grimm much worse than a Beowolf, much more ancient and terrifying. And against all odds, she was still alive. She believed that as a testament as to how far she's come, if not yet as a fully-fledged Huntress, then at least as a prodigious student.

Then Mountain Glenn happened.

A twig snapped nearby, and Ruby instantly crouched to her knee, Crescent Rose in rifle form, locked and loaded. For practical purposes, Ruby abandoned her usual thematic ensemble, opting for a more suitable loadout instead. Ghillie suit and cover for her Crescent Rose afforded her the level of camouflage her usual attire could never have. Unlike her usual choice of clothing, however, the ghillie suit itched like crazy, and she had to brush a few odd strands out of her nose lest she ended up sneezing at the most inopportune of moments.

Breath slowed and quietened, she stilled when a Beowolf padded into view, quietly growling. A quick scan showed that it was alone, which was hardly surprising – though Beowolves tended to hunt in packs, there were occasional stragglers that roamed alone. Researchers theorised that even Grimmkind weren't exceptions when it came to infighting.

Not that it mattered – that just made it an easy kill. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, the Beowolf suddenly froze, before it abruptly turned and howled, its glaring red gaze falling on Ruby.

"What the hell!" Caught off-guard, the shot went wild, grazing the lupine Grimm's side but failing to hit anything vital. With a snarl it lunged, and Ruby exploded into action, rolling to the side just in time to avoid the Grimm. Unfolding her Crescent Rose she swung at the end of her roll, ending the Grimm's devilish cry by bisecting it cleanly in half.

Even as its severed body disintegrated into blackened ash, her heart needed more time before it resumed its rhythmic tempo. She didn't understand, the way how that Grimm detected her presence was borderline supernatural. True, Beowolves had keen sense of smell, but Ruby had that already covered, having taken steps to blend in with the local flora. The Beowolf lumbered past her without even being aware of her presence before, so how could it-

Her train of thought came to a halt when something cold and sharp prodded against her neck. "Tag."

"Crap." With a sigh she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"That didn't take long," Qrow chuckled, sheathing the knife. Ruby noticed he hasn't even bothered to draw his Dainsleif. "That was, what, fifteen?"

"This one didn't count," Ruby argued. "That stupid Beowolf-"

"But nothing," Qrow cut her off. "Whether that Beowolf found you or not isn't the point here. The point is you were so focused on taking down that Beowolf you utterly failed to notice that I was sneaking up on you."

"That isn't fair. You're using your Semblance-"

"Life isn't fair, and neither are Grimm," Qrow riposted, causing the girl to wince. "Just imagine if instead of me it was another Grimm, or some other assassin out for your blood. They won't stop just because you didn't see them first. They'll just kill you and you know what? You'll have no one but yourself to blame for not noticing them coming."

Ruby said nothing, quietly taking in the admonishment in silent shame. With a sigh Qrow rubbed his brow. He seemed just as uncomfortable, despite the fact that he was supposed to be training her.

"Look, I understand, the past few weeks have been nothing but shit. Coming to grips with this new Semblance probably doesn't help either, but in the end, you have to learn to stand back up. The world won't wait for you to get your shit together. Trust me, I would know."

Ruby meekly nodded. Bluntness of the delivery aside, she knew Qrow had a point. She acknowledged her natural talents, but even she knew that she was lucky to have survived the ordeal in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, and the subsequent siege of Midgard. The fact that they failed to stop Torchwick was a constant weight on her shoulders, despite being reassured that there were some things in life that spiralled out of control.

Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet, Crescent Rose back in her hands. With an approving nod, Qrow vanished again, and this time, Ruby attempted to do the same.

This wasn't the first time she used her newfound Semblance, but she had yet to acclimate to strange… sensations associated with it. It was difficult to put into words, but if she had to make comparisons, melding into the shadows felt a lot like drowning. Foreign sense of being overwhelmed, suffocated, catching strange glimpses of another plane of existence, the flailing, the sheer panic, the muted screams-

Whatever shred of determination she managed to gather disappeared, and she was not ashamed to admit that her eyes may have been more watery than usual when she found her uncle steadying her.

For an instance, Ruby swore her uncle levelled her with a look that almost seemed like pity, before it hardened to a blank mask of neutrality. "Again," he said.

Ducking under a spinning backfist, Yang threw quick jabs in retaliation. All of them hit the mark, and she was rewarded with a gasp from the impact. Seconds later her knees buckled as an elbow hammered her right shoulder. A sweeping kick, though poorly executed, at least forced some space between the two combatants, allowing for a moment of reprieve.

Taiyang closed the gap first, lunging forward with a vicious kick. Taking a leaf out of her partner's book, she twisted her body at the last minute, her left arm snaked around her father's leg while her other arm's muscles snapped taut as she delivered a clean but powerful strike to Taiyang's unguarded torso.

Her triumph was short-lived, as she felt his other feet slamming into her face, and the next thing she knew, she was spitting dirt from her mouth. It took her vision a little longer before they stabilised.

"Whew! I was not expecting that!" Taiyang said, far too cheerful for someone who got punched in the guts. Those who received similar treatment usually weren't as chipper, assuming they were still conscious. "Picked up some moves, eh? And Mistralian style of grappling, at that."

"Yeah, well, let's just say the first year in Beacon's been a bit of an eye-opener." Her style of combat, prior to her entrance to Beacon Academy, mainly focused on pure aggressive stances. Her overwhelming strength also reinforced this, for what use was strategy and finesse when all she needed to do was flatten her opponents by knocking them out with savage blows? Her perspectives on the matter was forced to an abrupt turn when she faced off against one Lie Ren. Despite giving as good as she got, there was no denying that the introverted Mistralian adept's aptitude for unarmed combat trumped hers. For the first time since her days in Signal, she found an opponent she could not easily beat.

Suffice to say, her time in Beacon Academy, if nothing else, was a bit of a revelation.

This time Yang threw the first literal punch, following it up with a roundhouse and an axe kick, though Taiyang managed to snake his foot around hers before pulling it, pushing her off-balance. Quickly recovering she used the momentum of her rise to throw a surprise kick to the face, and this time it connected, sending the older Xiao Long skidding back a few steps.

"Getting sloppy, old man," Yang taunted, fists up.

"Old man!" Taiyang cried in mock anger. "A man nearly pushing fourty is not old!"

"Looks like someone's in denial," Yang smirked as she threw quick jabs in his direction. "Just a year ago you pretty much tossed me all over the place. Guess you spent too much time sitting and not enough on training."

"Or maybe you've gotten better. Beacon Academy's quite good at what they do, making Hunters out of snot-nosed kids," Taiyang said with a grin, effortlessly deflecting her strikes before countering with his own. "But don't get too cocky just yet, you still have years left before you graduate, and then you still have that final examination to worry about. Becoming a Huntress isn't a walk in the park, you know, and staying as one is even harder."

"Way to state the obvious," Yang grunted as she pivoted and delivered a side kick, grazing past his guard. "But what about that Death Stalker? That huge-ass Viverna? Mountain Glenn?"

"The first two was a team effort, so it doesn't really count. And I've read Oobleck's real report – you and your team were lucky to have got out of that mess alive." Yang bristled at that, her eyes taking on a decidedly crimson hue as her attacks grew more savage. "Look, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you don't have the skills. Ozpin told me that you and your team were one of the top of your peers in the Academy, and that doesn't surprise me at all."

"Then what's the problem?" Yang growled, throwing a haymaker. "All I need to do is get stronger, and I WILL. Anyone who gets in my way, I'll grind them to dust with my own two fists."

Taiyang sighed, his face tightening. "All right, then." Thrumming orange glow enveloped the elder Xiao Long as he channelled his Aura. The sudden display of power gave the irate blonde pause.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked as her father raised his arms, taking a defensive stance.

"Leave your kid gloves off, and come at me. You break through my guard, I'll take back everything I said."

Yang stood, gobsmacked. "You're kidding."

"Not kidding. Now you gonna make your move or are you just gonna stand around all day talking?"

There was no hint of his usual jocularity, she realised. Cracking her knuckles, her lips curved with a hint of feral as she willed her Aura into her fist. "You asked for it!" With a roar she ran towards the older Xiao Long, her fist colliding into his arm with a blast as opposing Aura clashed.

Seconds later, Yang Xiao Long staggered back with a cry of pain, clutching her bloodied hand. Her Aura shattered then, and she dropped to her knee. Looking up, through the haze of pain she saw her father's arm encased in stone, its relatively smooth surface with nary a scratch.

"Fuck… fuck…"

Yang heard crunch of gravel under boots, and saw her father's extended hand. With reluctance she took it, allowing him to guide her to the nearest garden chair. He disappeared into their home, reappearing moments later with a first-aid kit. Both father and daughter were silent as he tended to her hands, applying the disinfectant and the antiseptic before wrapping it up in bandage.

"Nothing looks broken, which is good. Let your Aura do the rest and it'll be back to normal in no time."

Yang mutely nodded, lightly prodding her bandaged hand. Already she could feel her Aura slowly replenishing, dulling the pain. It was a pity Aura couldn't do much for embarrassment.

"Now do you understand?" Taiyang said softly. "You're strong, that's a fact, and you'll only get stronger. But strength alone doesn't make a Huntress. If you just take a step back and think for a moment, you'll see that there are other ways to win in a fight."

"Like what?"

"For instance, when I told you to break through my guard, you took that quite literally." Upon seeing her confused look he elaborated, "Not once have you stopped to think about the loopholes. I never said you had to straight-up punch me in the arm. You could've, I don't know, pulled a feint and kick me in the legs to trip me up, or circled back and hit me in the back. Heck, you could've even thrown dirt in my eyes and score a hit when I was distracted."

"I… oh…" Yang was lost for words. In hindsight, it did seem rather obvious. "But that would've been a cheap move."

"If you're in a fight for your life, would you rather prefer to fight fair and die, or use whatever means possible to win, even if it means resorting to dirty tricks?" Taiyang replied.

"You do have a point…" Yang muttered, her face flushing. In hindsight, it did seem rather obvious.

"That's not all. You know you've got quite a short fuse, right?" Taiyang added with a hint of amusement.

Yang groaned. "Can we not talk about this right now? I get it, I lose all patience and just bum-rush the obstacle, and that's the perfect way to get my ass kicked, yada yada. I've heard this before, my teammates made sure to remind me at every turn."

"And that just makes them all the more valuable. The kinds of friends who are willing to point out your faults are the ones you should try to keep close for as long as possible," the Huntsman advised. "And trust me, those kinds of friends are the ones you'll want covering your six when you're neck-deep with Grimm."

"I smell a story coming," Yang said, rolling her eyes.

"You might find this one interesting, actually."

"Oh?" That piqued her interest.

"Well, 'interesting' is quite subjective in this context, but-"

"Just tell me the bloody story already."

"It concerns your mother." That got her attention, and a swirling mix of emotion that she couldn't easily identify. "When I was your age, I was just like you. Stupid, naïve, hot-headed and feeling like I was at the top of the world. Your mother was the blunt one of our team, not hesitating to call me out when I was being stupid. For a time, I found her irritating, like, where did she get off for telling me what to do?"

Yang said nothing, paying close attention as she hung on to his every word. Taiyang never spoke much about her mother, and Yang never really asked. The woman who popped her out left her as a baby, abandoned her flesh and blood without so much a word. To say that she resented the female Branwen was an understatement.

Even so, there was still a part of her, however small, that wanted to know more about Raven Branwen.

"During our second year, we were out on a reconnaissance mission. A nasty storm caught us with our pants down, and our team ended up getting separated. While I was trying to locate the rest of my teammates, I was ambushed by a pair of Hanumans."

Yang sharply inhaled. She could still remember facing off against one when she jumped out of a Bullhead, stopping it just before it could kill Jaune and her baby sister during the Initiation. Even when fuelled with rage, she still needed assistance from Ren to bring it down. A hulking mass of thick muscle and aggression, it could easily classify itself as a Class B. The L and Y of team RALY only won because they had the advantage of surprise and number on their side. Had it been a one-on-one back then, she wasn't certain of the outcome.

"Mind you, I was hungry and tired and, most of all, majorly pissed. I'll admit, I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I just charged in without a thought. I managed to almost kill one, until I remembered that it had a partner. That mistake would've gotten me killed, but thankfully, Raven had this habit of being punctual, and she turned up just in time to rescue my sorry ass."

Yang couldn't help but snort. Not just at her father's sheepish look as he recounted the save, but also at the irony of it all. She had a feeling that if she was in her father's shoes in that moment, she'd have acted exactly the same.

"I was bracing for the whole 'I-told-you-so' speech, so imagine my surprise when instead she helped me up and said she was glad to see I was okay."

"Wow. I… she said that?"

Taiyang scratched his chin. "Well, I'm making it sound nicer than it actually was. She was all stiff and professional about it, but that was actually the first time I heard her express any kind of concern, so it was a big thing at the time."

'Too bad she didn't care enough to stay,' came the venomous thought. Shaking her head clear, Yang continued to listen.

"Ever since then, well, we got along better. I was shaping up to be a better person, and she was being less, well, stiff about things. In our last year in Beacon I asked her out and, to my surprise, she said yes."

Yang was stunned to see a genuine smile gracing his rugged face. It was an expression she seldom saw on him nowadays.

"Of course, Qrow bitched and moaned about it, going on about how I was too thick and just all-around an asshole, how his sister deserved someone better, all that good stuff," Taiyang laughed as he remembered the exchange, which later led to a messy brawl, then followed by trips around multiple pubs as they tried to drink each other under the table. For all his words, he knew Qrow cared more than he let on, since he himself stepped up as Tai's best man on his sister's wedding.

With a stretch he rose to his feet, helping Yang do the same. "That's enough story for today, I think. What do you say, another quick round before dinner?"

There was more she wanted to know. She wanted to ask why Raven married him and gave birth to her only child when she left without a word. Why she never bothered to even drop a line after all these years. She wanted to know if Raven even gave a shit about them anymore.

Instead, she forced it down and grinned. "You're on!"

The Frostpeak Spire, according to history, once served as a keep for a line of nobility whose names were lost in the abyss of the Dark Ages. After a disastrous earthquake that shook the very foundation of Asgard, currently the capital city of Atlas, the ruins of the keep and its surrounding acres of land was purchased by a family of wealthy, enterprising merchants who went by the name Schnee. Now, after years of investment and construction, a grand mansion carved from snow-white stones sat atop the hill, a shining jewel in the land of ice and snow.

A keep it was no longer, but its name still lived on. Apt too, for the interior seemed just as cold as its exterior. If Weiss didn't know any better, she would've assumed the entire mansion was built with ice, not stone.

Her father's disposition towards her was just as cold and hard, as she laid on her bed, recovering from the terrors that befell on Midgard an ocean away. Then again, she knew that regardless of the manner in which she returned, he'd always give her that same look, always finding her wanting.

A quiet knock directed her eyes and thoughts to the door, before it swung open, admitting a portly, moustached man bearing an ornate silver tray, carrying on its mirror-like surface several bowls and a mug, all of them steaming and giving off pleasant aroma.

"Your supper, Miss Schnee, French onion soup and salad," the man announced jovially.

"It smells good, as always, Klein," Weiss beamed, the aroma of the butler's culinary excellency instantly uplifting her mood.

"Only the best for you, young miss." The butler leaned in closer, and quietly whispered, "I've also taken the time to, ah, secure your frozen stash in your personal freezer. I shall bring you a portion once you're finished supping."

Weiss let out a little laughter. "You're the best." In this cold, empty castle full of rules and order, the only thing that was remotely rebellious was her continued supply of mint chocolate chip ice cream, courtesy of the only person who genuinely cared about her, aside from Winter.

Well, the ice cream and keeping in touch with her friends, most which her father no doubt would disapprove, given their 'commoner' status. Not that she gave a damn what her father thought about who she associated with. The year that she spent in Beacon with her team and Regalities showed her that there were people in the world that saw her more than her family name. To her, those handful of 'commoners' were worth more to her than hundreds of social elites.

Klein left to her own devices, taking leave with a curt bow. Not for the first time she was grateful for his presence. Having lost her mother before she was old enough to see her third summer (an odd notion in a continent perpetually covered in snow and ice), the only form of 'home-cooked' meals she had was not from tender hands of a mother, but that of a butler. While she had to admit Beacon's kitchen staff clearly knew their way around the kitchen, nothing could compare to Klein's culinary skills. It also helped that the man in question also cared about her wellbeing.

Just as she finished the last of her supper, her scroll vibrated on her nightstand. Reaching for the scroll, she saw Ruby's number on the screen. Without a moment of hesitation she opened up the vid comm link.

"Yoooo," Ruby drawled.

"Heeeey," Weiss replied back in kind, before the pair broke into peals of laughter. "Never gets old."

"I'll say. So how are you holding up?"

"Much better. Getting bored actually. You have no idea how dreadfully dull it is to laze around the bed all day," Weiss replied with an eye-roll. "My family physician was practically fretting like mother hen when I told him enough was enough. It's almost as if I'm not a Huntress-in-training or something."

"You're so weird, I'd give anything to muck around in bed all day," Ruby sighed. "But I can see your point."

"Too bad he didn't. Not that it matters, come tomorrow morning I'm heading down with Winter to train. I've already wasted a week in bed, I can't afford to waste any more, not with the tournament just around the corner."

"Oh shoot, that's right, completely forgot about the tournament!" Ruby gasped. "But that's still like months away, though."

"Three months, give or take," Weiss corrected. She was rewarded with an eye-roll from the caped leader of Regalities.

"You're so weird, did I mention that?"

"From my perspective, you're the weird one," Weiss shot back. "And you're lazy too, no table manners, no grace, no-"

"Thanks, princess," Ruby snarked. "Besides, I've been busy training too. My uncle's been helping me with my… well, this new Semblance I guess…"

The sudden shift in the younger girl's tone did not to unnoticed. "So your old Semblance is gone, then?"

Ruby wordlessly nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You told me your mother had the same ability."

"What I don't understand is how this happened! Semblances don't just- they don't just change like that! And why-!" Ruby drew a deep breath, before exhaling heavily. Weiss could see it still bothered the girl. Small wonder as to why, she'd have freaked out just as much if her Glyphs suddenly disappeared without warning, replaced by foreign powers she had neither knowledge nor control over.

"I'm sorry, I was supposed to call you to check up on you, and instead I'm just venting," Ruby shakily forced a chuckle.

"Don't be," Weiss assured. "But I find it rather odd that your new Semblance just so happened to be the exact same as your uncle's."

"I asked uncle Qrow about that, actually," Ruby answered with a frown. "He wasn't sure why, either. He said that our kind of Semblance used to be pretty common a long time ago, and it's possible that my mother had an ancestor who happened to be one of those kinds of people."

"Is that right?" Weiss raised her brow, sceptical. "So how come your mother didn't have this Semblance, then?"

"We don't know. I asked my dad, too, and he didn't seem to know either," Ruby groaned in frustration. "Turns out, my mom wasn't much of a talker, and she didn't say much about her family, so…"

Ruby trailed off, and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why did this have to happen? I was perfectly fine with my old Semblance, I never asked for this." She knew she was whining, but at the moment she could care less.

"I can understand your frustration, but whining about it isn't going to help," Weiss pointed out.

"Aren't you supposed to be saying something along the lines of 'it'll be okay,' or something?" Ruby grumbled.

"I would, if you were a child," Weiss stated. "And while technically you are one, you're also a Huntress-in-training and, more importantly, a leader of your team. How can you expect to lead others when you can't even act the part?"

Ruby winced. That stung more than she wanted to admit. Before she could protest, Weiss beat her to the punch. "Besides, in your haste to bemoan your misfortune, you seem to have conveniently forgotten that there are many others who weren't as fortunate as you were. Have you seen the news? So many people died, and the ones who survived aren't much better off."

"I know, I know…" Ruby buried her face in her pillow. "You can be so mean sometimes."

"I'm trying to help you grow up." Weiss' features softened. "Trust me, I don't want to say harsh things any more than you want to hear them. But I also don't want you to stay as a kid. Life deals unfair hands more often than not, and at times you need to learn to just brush it off and keep going." Her father's constant looks of disappointment came into the forefront of her mind.

"My uncle pretty much told me the same thing. But you're right," Ruby mumbled. "I know you care, so thanks."

Weiss nodded. "Anytime."

Silence stretched between the two students for a moment, before Weiss spoke up again. "And speaking of Semblance, I heard Jaune finally unlocked his."

"Yeah, he did," Ruby grinned. She knew Weiss deliberately changed subjects, and she was thankful for it. "He told me it's still a work in progress, but his sister took him with her to help him train. He's in Asgard too, did you know that?"

"I did, actually. I saw him at the airport."

"Wow, really?"

"Yep. We just talked a bit, but that was it. He told me he was staying at her sister's place, you know, those fancy apartments complex exclusive only to Venator's Guild members?"

"Not as fancy as your house, I bet. Heck, it's not a house, it's a castle!"

Weiss sighed. "It's not as good as you think, Ruby." Not for the first time she wished the summer was over so she could head back to the cramped room she had to share with her Winterbournes. Granted, there were moments of disturbance and sometimes she wanted to smother Nora with pillows for much-needed silence, but if she had to choose, she'd take their chaotic antics over this cold, sterile mausoleum of a mansion any day.

"Have you called any of your teammates?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, but that was a while ago. Pyrrha said she was going back to Mistral, but last I heard, she was still in Midgard, helping up with the clean-up efforts. Nora's still in Midgard too, and so is Ren, I think?"

"Yeah, he told me neither of them has a family in Mistral, so they didn't see any reason to go," Ruby said with a sad look. She couldn't fathom the idea of living without a family to return to. "At least they're all doing okay. What about Blake?"

"Elusive, as usual. She called me once to let her know she was okay, but didn't say where or what she was doing," Weiss sighed. "It's just like her to be vague about things." She hasn't forgotten about the stunt that the feline Faunus pulled when she suddenly took off during their day in Vale, only to turn up days later with Sun Wukong in tow. The story Blake spun to explain her absence was all too transparent, but for her sake the rest of the Winterbournes kept quiet.

"Guess everyone's busy this summer, huh?"

"We're being productive, which is good," Weiss said. If there was one thing she learned from the siege of Midgard, it was that they still had a long way to go. Learning skills and technique was only one part of the equation – experiences in the field was another. Her injuries from the Alpha Beowolf that mauled her told her that she was lacking in the latter. They all did.

Her scroll suddenly dimmed, and Weiss noticed that it was nearly running out of battery. "Sorry, low battery. Hang on, let me just find the charger-"

"It's okay, it's getting late here, so we'll catch up again later." The clock on her scroll read two minutes until nine in the evening in Atlesian time zone. For Ruby, that meant two minutes before midnight.

"Agreed. I'll call you next time. Until then, try not to do anything too stupid, okay?"

Ruby scoffed. "Who, me? When did I ever?"

"If you want evidence, then I'll be more than happy to provide them."

"You make it sound like I'm the only one who does the stupid things around here," Ruby muttered.

"That time with the whole 'floor is lava' fiasco? The time when you smacked Nora with cake and instigated an all-out food fight?" Weiss raised a brow, unimpressed. "How about that time when you accidentally 'murdered' Yang and asked me to help bury the body?"

"C'mon, that was funny! The look on your face-"

"Do you know how long it took to remove cranberry juice stain from the carpet?! And I haven't even mentioned all those stupid pranks you and the others pulled-"

"I get it, I get it!" Ruby knew if she didn't stop Weiss now, she'd never hear the end of it. "Okay, so sometimes I do stupid things-"

"Sometimes?"

Ruby threw her arms up. "Okay, fine! A lot! I do stupid things a lot! Happy?"

"It's a start," Weiss said, lips curved in mirth.

"You're impossible."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Just hang up already. I'm losing my beauty sleep here."

"You? Beauty sleep? That'll be the day," Weiss snorted.

Ruby blew a raspberry in lieu of verbal response, then terminated the call. Shaking her head, Weiss placed her scroll back on her nightstand. At the very least, she hoped that brief call cheered her younger friend even a little.

With a content sigh Ruby rolled on her back, staring blankly at the ceiling. The time on her scroll had less than a minute before midnight, but sleep was taking its sweet time getting here. It looked as if it was going to be one of those days, then.

A quick scroll through her, well, scroll, she found the contact number she was looking for. His number was on speed dial (after Yang's, Qrow's, and her dad's) in her old scroll, which was lost in the underground tunnels of Mountain Glenn. It was a good thing she uploaded all her data into Cloud on a regular basis. It also helped to have a billionaire as a friend. Scrolls were expensive, considering her small allowance from Taiyang.

It took a few rings before the line connected. "'Ello?"

"Jaune?"

"Ruby? Hang on, just a sec." The screen went dark, and something rustled in the background before she saw his face reappear, hair damp and towel hanging around his neck. "Sorry, just got out of the shower."

"You take your scroll with you in the shower?" Ruby looked faintly amused.

Jaune rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I have to. One time I left it on the coffee table, Iris went through my scroll."

"Oooooh, something you don't want the world to see?" Ruby raised her brow suggestively. "Let me guess, uh, porn?"

"Hell no. Well, I mean- actually never mind, I'm NOT going down that road. And besides, do you even know what that is?"

This time Ruby rolled her eyes. "Duh. I'm fifteen, not brain-dead. Besides, I live with Yang, remember?"

"Like I could ever forget. I'm still having flashbacks about you 'murdering' Yang and asking me to help bury her body-"

"Not you too," Ruby shook her head. "I called Weiss like, minutes ago and she was all too happy to remind me about the prank too. And she called me stupid."

"Hey, what'd you expect? You were all serious and like "Jaune, I killed Yang. Can you help me and hide the body? Also, NEVER tell anyone about this,"" Jaune said, his voice deepening as he mimicked Ruby.

Ruby laughed at his terrible impersonation. "The looks on your faces were priceless, though!"

Jaune grinned in reply. "So was yours when you woke up the next morning."

"I still can't believe you managed to pull that off without waking either of us up," Ruby said with a shake of her head. The males of team RALY, along with the pranked Winterbournes, returned the favour the next morning, and the Patch sisters found themselves tied to their beds, socks taken off. What followed next was uncontrollable laughter and wheezy pleads for mercy as their feet were tickled mercilessly with feathers.

"To be fair, the ropework was all Ren's," Jaune admitted. "I did come up with the idea though."

"Remember that look on Goodwitch's face when she barged into our rooms?"

Jaune chuckled. "Yeah, that was suuuuuper awkward though. Like, how were we supposed to put that into context?"

"Yang and I got detentions too, and we were the victims! Where's the justice in that?" Ruby said in mock indignation.

"It died when you killed Yang and asked us to help remove the evidence," Jaune snarked back in good humour. "Funny how Goodwitch was the only one who seemed even remotely pissed off. The other professors were like, super chill about it."

"Everyone has standards, I guess," Ruby sagely opined.

Jaune nodded in agreement. "So how's Weiss?"

"Not bad. Still bedridden though, doctor's orders."

Jaune snorted. "Bet she had something to say about that."

Ruby chuckled. "Yep. Apparently, she told her doc to get bent. And it looks like she's going to train with her sister over the summer."

"Looks like it's gonna be a busy summer for everyone, then," Jaune said, unknowingly mirroring what Ruby said to Weiss earlier.

"Have you called up the others?"

"Actually, yeah. Pyrrha called me a few days ago," Jaune admitted.

"Pyrrha?" Ruby wasn't sure why that annoyed her. "What for?"

"Oh, you know, just catching up, kind of like what we're doing now," Jaune smiled. "She said she was planning on staying in Vale with Ren and Nora, you know, help clean out Grimm around Midgard area for a while."

"Yeah, Weiss said as much."

"She uh, she also asked if we wanted to hang out."

"Pyrrha did that? Really?" Ruby asked, incredulous.

"Really. Only, I told her that I was going to spend the summer in Atlas."

"Oh." She could already imagine the look of disappointment the redheaded Mistralian wore at that revelation. For some reason, Ruby found that image oddly satisfying.

"Yeah. I did tell her that if I managed to get back earlier, I promised to hang out with her."

"What about me?" Ruby said with a pout. "You're gonna hang out with Pyrrha but not with your cute, adorable partner?"

"Ha! 'Course not! We're like, best buds, right?" Jaune chuckled. "Tell you what, if I make it back to Vale before the summer is over, you'll be the first one I'll call."

"Really? Promise?" Ruby asked, hopeful.

"Arc's honour." Jaune bumped his fist on his chest. "Though I'll have to tell you now, that's a big 'if'."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not sure how long I'll be staying here in Atlas," Jaune clarified. "Sis just told me that she was gonna train me for as long as she could, but we don't exactly have a set schedule or anything. We're kinda doing this blind, just in case that wasn't obvious."

"Oh. Does this mean you might not actually get back before the end of summer?" Ruby said, deflating.

"I-I don't know, actually," Jaune stammered. "And… if I have to be honest, I'm… kinda hoping for it."

Ruby simply stared, her brows creased into slight frown. "What do you mean?"

Jaune rubbed his face tiredly. "Big sis, she's a Venatrix. Even better, she's an Arc. She has the same Semblance. She can teach me how to use it properly."

"We can train together, like how we've always done," Ruby offered weakly.

"I know, and it's only thanks to you guys that I managed to not trip over my own feet and fall on my stupid face," Jaune forced a grin. "But it's different with big sis. She knows what I need to get stronger. With her help, I can finally stop being a nobody and actually become someone better. Someone who can actually fight beside you guys, instead of being a dead weight to the team all the time."

"Oh, Jaune…"

"I know, I know, no more pity party. I'm mostly over it. But it's the truth. Back in Mountain Glenn, back on that train, I…" Jaune trailed off, taking shaky breaths as he tried to hold himself together. "I-I don't want to be weak anymore, Ruby. I don't plan to."

"You're not the only one," Ruby quietly added. "I'm the one who failed to stop the train, remember? You all risked your lives to give me that chance, and I blew it."

Jaune shook his head. "No, we failed to stop that train."

"Jaune, you weren't the one in the control compartment, I was. I was the one Torchwick wiped the floor with, not you, or Yang, or Ren, or anyone."

"And you think any one of us would've done a better job?" Jaune countered. "Don't answer that, 'cause it's a 'no'. Look, you did the best you could, and that counts for something."

"My 'best' counted for nothing," Ruby disagreed. "I tried my best, and that didn't stop the train."

"So we get stronger. Faster. Smarter," Jaune reasoned. "That way, next time we can make a difference when it counts."

"You make it sound like it'll be easy."

"Of course not. No one knows what'll happen in the future," Jaune shrugged. "But we won't know unless we try."

Ruby closed her eyes. "You really came a long way, haven't you Jaune…"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"It's nothing. Just-" Ruby couldn't help but smile. "I can't help but think how things would've turned out if you were our leader instead."

"Me? A leader? Yeah, no," Jaune snorted dismissively. "I'll probably- wait, hold on-" Ruby heard a woman's voice off-screen. Though she couldn't make out the words, judging by the tone she could surmise it was anything but kind. "Okay, hang on! Fine, I'll take this outside!"

The screen flickered into mish-mesh of lights and colours as Jaune took the scroll and carried it with him until at last it stabilised with Jaune's face staring back at the screen again. "Sorry, that was Iris. She wasn't too happy that I woke her up."

Ruby checked the time on her scroll. "Wow, does she normally sleep this early? It's like, only 9:30."

"And it's like past midnight where you are, right? Your dad okay with you staying up this late?"

Ruby shrugged. "My room's up in the attic, and the wall's pretty thick here, so as long as I keep the volume down, he won't know."

"That's useful. And no, usually she stays up waaaay later than she should, but we've got an early start tomorrow, so…"

"Ooooh, going somewhere?"

"Yep. Remember when I said my sis was gonna train me?" Ruby nodded. "Well, turns out her idea of 'training' was dragging me for an extended camping trip."

"Hey, that sounds…" 'great' was the first word that came to mind, but then she remembered where Jaune currently was. "Wait, a camping trip? In Atlas?"

"Yeah." Jaune didn't sound too thrilled. "She said that was how they trained Venators and Venatrixes here, and Iris wanted to give me a taste of it."

"Well, uh, hang in there?" Ruby offered. "Wait, does this mean you'll be spending months out in the wild?"

"Oh HELL no!" Jaune's eyes widened in horror. "Probably like a week or two, hopefully. I know I said I wanted to train. I never said I wanted to freeze to death."

"And you were looking so determined earlier," Ruby jested. "What, getting cold feet, Jaune?"

"So cold-hearted, Ruby," Jaune clutched his chest in dramatic gesture, adding in the scrunched face for effect.

"Hey, I'm just expressing concern for my directionally-challenged partner. What happens if you get ice-olated out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Watch it, you're treading on thin ice, young lady," Jaune cautioned.

Ruby laughed. "What, no comebacks about the 'directionally-challenged' part?"

"That's it. The next time I see you, I'm giving you the cold shoulder."

"Woah, chill out, Jaune, no need to get angry."

The pair dissolved into carefree laughter. Yang's proclivities for puns were contagious, it seemed.

"Ahhh, that was pun-tastic."

Ruby giggled. "Yang will be sooooo proud."

"Or, she'll be pissed that we're stealing her thunder," Jaune offered.

"I thought that was Nora's thing." Neither Regalities could forget that one time when the hyperactive redhead, against all odds, was struck by a rogue lightning one rainy day. The remaining Winterbournes and three-quarters of Regalities dissolved into frenzied panic, until Ren all-too calmly stepped in to restore order. That was when they found out that Nora possessed a rather 'shocking' Semblance.

"Yeeeah, let's not go there, otherwise we'll be at it all day," Jaune said.

"That's right, you should get some sleep."

A yawn escaped Jaune's mouth as he shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. Besides, I don't know when we'll be able to talk like this, so I wanna make the most of it."

"Aww, thanks Jaune."

"Anytime. By the way, did you hear about that…"

A/N: So, apparently, when an author chooses to delete a chapter to re-write it, it still considers the act as an upload, despite the fact that nothing has actually been updated. Apologies for the false alert, hopefully this chapter makes up for it.

I didn't like the original chapter much - in hindsight it just felt a little rushed, not to mention that huge chunk of exposition in the beginning. My usual modus operandi, if you haven't noticed yet, includes a little bit of lore as part of the world building (and plus, I'm one of those guys that like to spend time reading lore and details in RPGs), but I have to admit, the original story about the whole deity-thing was pretty wordy.

Admittedly, this chapter came out more dialogue-heavy than I intended. Hope I did at least somewhat decent job expanding on character relationships. I also wanted to show the contrast between Jaune and Ruby with regards to their respective Semblances, as well as their growth, however slow it may seem. And yes, Blake's identity as Faunus have been revealed to her friends off-screen. I've already sunk a sizeable chunk of time with her own arc, I didn't think it was necessary to add more drama as well.

In a completely unrelated note, is anyone still playing RWBY game? I just downloaded it again and gave the multiplayer a spin. Instead of a simple game I ended up having some rather... interesting conversations.