184.1 Shimmer712

[-]

The Pet Qrowbar

"So, this loop, I'm property."

"I'm afraid so, Qrow."

"Namely, your property, Winter."

Winter winced. "I've been looking through the laws and legislations to resolve that, haven't had much successful yet, but-"

"Yeah, yeah." Qrow cut her off, waving a hand. "But because of that, I can't be held accountable for anything I do because, legally, I'm not a person. People can't do shit to me unless you let them and if they can,you have the legal right to go after them for screwing with your personal property. And, because I'm able to act with my own independent thought processes, you can't be held accountable for what I do. Meaning I can do whatever I want with no consequences. Have I got it right?"

Winter stared. "Yes. Yes, you have," she nodded.

Qrow grinned. "Whelp. Only one thing to do," he said cheerfully. He pulled out a crowbar. "Where's your shit-stain father?"

"I love you," Winter told him, smiling widely.

"Yeeep," Qrow said, popping the 'p'. "Now, seriously, where is he?"

Winter was more than happy to provide directions.

[-]

184.2 Shimmer712

[-]

Hydro-Therapy Failure

"Whhyyy?" Neptune whined, looking at his team leader.

"Neptune, it's not so bad," Sun soothed. "All you have to do is stand ankle deep in this kiddie pool, see?"

"But..." Neptune whimpered.

"It'll be fine," Sun reassured him. "You can easily see there's nothing hidden. And the water is only a couple of inches deep so if you fall on your back, it won't even touch your face, never mind submerge your head. And I'll be standing in front of you so you don't fall on your face."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," Sun nodded firmly.

"Ugh." Neptune cringed and took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pants before stepping into the pool, Sun joining him.

Sun waited until the tension had eased from Neptune. "See? It's not so bad, is it?" he asked.

"I guess," Neptune mumbled, swishing a foot through the water.

Sun happily watched his friend. Sure, it wouldn't last past the loop, but progress curing the hydrophobia! Maybe he should look into some studies on phobias and their treatments, find out about more methods than the whole slow exposure thing. Or do a study himself?

"What's that sound?" Neptune asked, looking up as a rumbling was heard.

Sun blinked. "It doesn't sound...oh shit!" His eyes went wide as the wall of water came around the corner and barreled into them.

When the rush of water died down, a spluttering Sun sat up and looked around. "Neptune?" Hearing a strange sound, he turned to see Neptune scrambling up the side of a building, making a weird, wheezing scream as he hyperventilated. "I guess this round of hydrophobia treatment fails," he huffed. "Where did that water come from anyway?"

Elsewhere, Glynda looked at the scene in front of her then at Ozpin.

"You ever tell someone I made a mistake like this and I will hurt you," she said calmly.

"Understood," Ozpin nodded in agreement, pulling some hot cocoa from his pocket and taking a sip. Mostly because he wasn't entirely sure what just happened and how she just flooded part of Vale.

Some loops were just like that.

[-]

184.3 Shimmer712

[-]

Council Candidate Lady Bird

James resisted the urge to beat his head against his desk until everything went blissfully black. For one, the resulting fuss such an action would cause wasn't worth it. For another, it wouldn't resolve the situation.

James looked once more at the report and winced. He really should have expected this. He really should have seen this coming. Especially since Qrow had brought it up to Weiss and Ruby. The concept had all but screamed "guaranteed to happen!" So why did he not prepare himself for this? Why did he not try to prepare for the inevitable? He could have gotten some head-ache remedy potions or something for when this happened. So why didn't he?

The report was about Council Candidate Hill and how she had taken supplies for the Amity Project. Only, this loop? She was not the blonde Robyn Hill.

No, instead he had to deal with Council Candidate Raven Hill.

He comforted himself with the fact that Tyrian would probably fail to survive his little murder fest on election night.

One less headache to deal with later on.

[-]

184.4 Luna 2

[-]

A Tale of Flying cities

Favourable weather meant Salem had arrived at Atlas earlier than expected with her skywhale grimm. Now she could take down both the flying… wait.

Salem was dumbstruck by the sight in front of her. There was Mantle down below. There was Atlas floating above. And there was another large city floating in the air next to it, with strange architecture and a lot of propellers ('almost looks more Mistralian,' Salem thought, 'but that cannot be – they do not have the technology to make that possible').

Then a powerful beam of light came out of the non-Atlas flying city and split the skywhale grimm down the middle, causing it to explode dramatically a moment later.

On the strange flying city, a small group of figures were celebrating.

"Direct hit." Pyrrha put down her binoculars and gave Nora and Ren the thumbs up, while team RWBY, Jaune and others clapped from nearby, seated on picnic blankets on the grass.

"Another victory in the Monstro Takedown League!" Nora announced dramatically from the control panel she had rigged up on a portable stand (complete with big red button).

"Of course it would become a competition." Weiss rolled her eyes but was smiling as she said it.

"It's probably becoming more of a tradition," Blake added. "I mean, sure we've all been taking Monstro down in the Loops, but I don't think anyone's seriously challenging Ren and Nora's score?"

"Yeah," Yang chipped in, "I mean, how much of a lead do you have in this League?"

"Ah ah ah!" Nora waggled a finger. "If I say that before the conclusion of the League then someone will come along and take it down one more time than us, so we'll never get the gold medal. Already possible Cinder might be trying to catch up on our lead. Yup. All we have to do is to keep taking down the skywhale." Her eye started twitching and her face gained a slightly darker look as she said the last words, her gaze shifting over toward Atlas.

Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged a quick glance, Ren winced slightly, and Weiss raised her eyebrow.

"You know…I never realised until today that you had this!" Ruby exclaimed. "I really like the way you've modified it. I was wondering how you'd interfaced the Volucite crystal and Dust technology? I remember doing experiments and it always seemed to be unstable. Flying magical castles are so cool!"

Nora broke out of the slightly more sombre mood she had momentarily shifted to, filled with renewed gusto as she talked.

"You bet they are! We're mainly relying on the Volucite (we stockpiled some and also found a way to make our own substitute version) and augmented it by linking in some other magitek interfaces and machines. And the story of how we got it's pretty much as you'd expect - a while back Ren and I replaced the long-lost princess, Sheeta (technically I guess she was Princess Lusheeta Toelle Ur Laputa), and Pazu, the boy who finds her floating down from the sky. Naturally Ren got it for me as a gift." Nora waved her hand at the structure as she grinned. "I have a fair number of castles in my Pocket. Though I do have a special place for this one – we dealt with the Army and made friends with the pirates pretty early on, so we had some really nice moments during that Loop just spending time together and relaxing in the Castle grounds." She smiled, gaining a nostalgic look on her face as she patted Ren's shoulder. "Course I also had to redecorate it." She gestured at the Magnhild and Stormflower emblems and assorted banners adorning the walls...along with the large weapons platforms.

"Well. I guess being an 'adorable little princess' or queen of a castle suits you," Yang piped up.

Nora crossed her arms and smirked. "I never said I was Sheeta!"

"…"

"…"

Ren just sighed as everyone laughed.

[-]

184.5 Shimmer712

[-]

Lucky Shipping

"What'cha reading?" Qrow asked, leaning over the back of Winter's sofa.

"Some books I bought my last loop," Winter told him. She paused. "Well, I bought most of them. Some hadn't been published so I stole copies."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "So the writer was someone you knew in-loop? Who was it?"

"Clover," Winter said. "The man was a hell of a shipper that loop, I guess," she shrugged, eyeing her book. "Everyone in Atlas had books written about us. With details changed so few would realise who the characters were based on, but I can still see who it's based on."

Qrow pulled a face. "Ew. He was shipping your shit-stain father?"

"...Okay, almost everyone," she corrected. "My shit-stain father was excluded, as were Watts and Tyrian since he didn't know about them for long before everything went down. Same with Neo and Cinder. But pretty much everyone else. There's actually a pretty adorable story about my brother and Oscar."

"You telling me he was writing fanfictions about us and he got paid for it?" Qrow looked amused. "Wait, he wrote about all of us? Including Oscar and the other kids?" Qrow began eyeing the book with a frown on his face.

Winter chuckled, lowering the book. "Don't worry, anyone under a certain age, the most intimate they get is some kisses and snuggling. There were no graphic stories about your nieces or the other kids. Unless you count Marrow as one of the kids. He found out that Clover was the person behind the pen name and Clover threatened to publish something really detailed about him while making it obvious that it was Marrow if he ever told. And then he actually wrote some stories of that and gave Marrow copies to prove he would do it." Winter shook her head. "Needless to say, Marrow was very dedicated to keeping Clover's status as a published writer secret."

"That would do it," Qrow agreed, "So, who did he ship?"

Winter looked at him. "I told you. He shipped everyone. There are stories about us as a couple, stories of you with James, stories about Elm and Vine, stories about Elm and Harriet. He was shipping everyone in every possible combination."

"...Was this something like an addiction for him that loop?"

"I dunno but they are well written. Wanna read one? There's a cute story about Ruby, Penny and Weiss. It has them at one point going on a date to get ice cream and look after some puppies."

"Sure, I'll give it a shot," Qrow shrugged, taking the offered book. He hoisted himself over the book of the sofa and plopped down next to her. "Any plans besides reading this loop?"

"Apparently James has something planned with Glynda and Roman that is due to happen during Yang's match with Mercury."

"That should be fun."

"I already have cameras set up," Winter smirked.

"I want copies."

"Of course."

[-]

184.6 Leviticus Wilkes

[-]

Big Sister, Bad Influence

Ozpin felt reality snap into place with an almost forceful shunt of divine energy, mentally knocking Oscar off kilter. "What the-"

He was a young man with white hair and bronze skin, standing just outside of a burning village being subsumed by a tide of shadow and death. He didn't need his Loop memories to click into place, he knew what was going on. "Oscar?"

Oscar popped out of Ozpin's pocket, his soul possessing a spare clone body, his hands on a copy of the cane The Long Memory. "Alright," the farmer said as he and Ozpin zeroed in on a Grimm attacking a peasant. "Let's work our magic."

The Grimm died to a spear to the chest, but Ozpin wasn't looking at the Grimm. A sullen, disappointed look had been turned to Oscar, and the elder Looper and older gentlemen simply shook his head. "Oscar, you wound me. How could you use such terrible puns when Yang Xiao Long is our friend."

Oscar rolled his eyes and through a tree at a Grimm. "Consider us even for all of the Coffee you make me drink."

"...Fair."

[-]

184.7 Shimmer712

[-]

Bandits? Fine. This? NOPE!

Tai blinked at his former wife as she slouched on his couch, glaring at the wall.

"Have you been throwing up?" he asked, confused.

"Short version? The Tribe picked up some repulsive habits while Qrow and I were at Beacon and for some reason, Unawake me was fine with it," Raven scowled. "So, when I Woke up, I killed them all and came here."

"...You know, if I wasn't loopy, I would still be completely confused," Tai commented.

Raven paused. "Oh, right. Should have checked that first."

"Yep. So what have they been doing?"

Raven pulled a face. "You know that trope, Cannibal Clan?"

Tai processed this.

"I have some vegetarian recipes I can try," he offered.

"Thank you," Raven sighed. "It's not gonna be a permanent thing, but it'll probably be a while before I eat anything with meat again."

"Understandable," Tai nodded. "Although it kinda cheapens Qrow's commitment to his nieces this loop since it was them or cannibalism."

Raven blinked. "Actually, I only found out when I went back to the Tribe so he might not even know that was a thing this loop."

"Aannddd his status as adoring Uncle is restored!" Tai announced, with an extravagant gesture.

"...Why did I marry you again?"

"This loop, you got turned on after seeing Unawake me throw a Goliath several hundred feet."

"Oh. Right."

[-]

184.8 Luna 2

[-]

Nora's Nightmare (Part 1): REM and Ren

The snow gathering around her was literally on fire, the ground littered with a field of twisted metallic and brick wreckage as far as the eye could see. Not a single person stirred.

Nora stood there, taking it all in.

Then she turned to a large shiny piece of metal sticking out of the ground, several stories tall, catching her reflection in it.

The blood-spattered version of herself stared back, face and clothes a mess, a manic grin on her face. Her eye twitched and she started giggling.

"NORA!"

She turned in time to see Ren on his knees, blood staining his clothes from a wound in his chest, desperately gesturing at her, his eyes wide with fear.

Nora held the long handle, raising it above her head, and swiftly bringing it down towards Ren, smiling maniacally.

She smelled flowers.

She was lying next to Ren on a cold metal floor, both still bloodied, holding hands. He was saying something…

Then she woke with a start, sitting up in bed, eyes wide and gasping for breath, her hands shaking, instinctively grabbing hold of her head.

Her breathing slowed as her hands stopped trembling, slowly lowered to her sides.

'Not again. It wasn't quite like that. But…it was real wasn't it? Why did I do that? Why?!'

She glanced to her side, where Ren was still asleep in the other bed. It was still early on in the Loop and they were in the hotel room which they sometimes Woke up in, before setting off for Beacon. They had long since adapted noise dampening devices to prevent one accidentally waking the other (they didn't always work!), while keeping alert for any possible intruders or other hazards.

'I…I will tell him. And the others. But right now…I can't remember. I. Was. Awake! How can I tell them if I can't even remember why I...?'

Nora cried silently as she rocked backwards and forwards, unaware of the twitch on Ren's face and the tightening of his hand on the covers.

[-]

184.9 Shimmer712

[-]

Poisons and a Lack of Questions

"What are you brewing up in your cauldron?" Winter asked her boyfriend as he synthesised something.

"It's a completely undetectable poison called Medea's Poison," Qrow answered. "Not sure why it was called that as in that Ertona loop, none of the Greek myths were known so the story of Jason and Medea didn't exist there."

"Strange," Winter mused. "So why are you making this poison?"

Qrow shrugged. "A lot of medicines are made with poisons, technically. So why not study this one and see if I can make something like that from it?"

"I supposed there's no reason not to think otherwise," Winter agreed. "But don't you already have some of that poison made." She gestured towards a self where some number of dark vials were clustered.

"Seeing how the different materials interact with other during the synthesis process can actually be pretty informative," Qrow explained. "It's pretty useful for coming up with new recipes."

"Aren't you going to run out of materials?" Winter questioned.

Qrow shook his head. "Most of them, no. The animal and plant based ones, I have a farming set up in my pocket. It's mostly ores and minerals that I might run out of and for several, I've found substitutes or worked out how to make them."

"...Can you make Dust?" Winter asked, curiously.

Qrow pursed his lips. "Kinda? It's not very good quality. And I've only managed Wind, Water and Ice types so far. I'm going to experiment more with that later, when I've gotten more ideas on what might work."

"I see," Winter nodded. "..." She glanced at the shelf. "Qrow? Could I have one of those poison vials?"

"Go ahead," Qrow waved at the shelf without a second though.

Later, Qrow looked at the looping Specialist.

"For future reference? That poison is supposed to applied topically, like how Medea just stuck on Jason's clothes so it came in contact with him. You don't need to feed it to anyone."

Winter shrugged. "Still, it worked. People are confused as to why Father's internal organs spontaneously dissolved since there are no traces of anything abnormal so it still lived up to its reputation of being undetectable. And you're the one who immediately let me have the poison when I asked."

"Yeah, This way, everyone knows that something happened due to the melted guts," Qrow said. "If you had just stuck it on his clothes or something, he would have just randomly dropped dead and it would have been written off as a health issue."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

[-]

184.10 Luna 2

[-]

Thus the [insert name here] Fought There!

[RWBY x GATE Jieitai]

"Emerald."

"Yes Cinder?"

"There are…certain parallels between this place and a D&D world, so I can hazard a guess as to why you all got the characters which you did…" She gestured to the three standing with her.

The mage, Lelei La Lalena (Emerald), her height and hair shorter, the latter a slightly different blue-green shade than normal, shifted slightly in her robes and held her magic staff.

Tuka Luna Marceau (Ilia), had pulled back her long blonde hair into her familiar ponytail, trying to get used to the unfamiliar sensation of her Elf ears twitching.

Rory Mercury (Mercury), an immortal demigoddess girl in this loop, looked extremely unhappy, taking off the headpiece with pointed ears, while lamenting how uncomfortable she felt in the uniform, including the dress, stockings and suspenders.

"So," Cinder continued, her eye twitching, "why am I some…random Japanese Self Defense Forces soldier, who not only has no magic or special abilities…but who just happens to also be…a lazy… cowardly… dumb luck otaku!" she hissed and continued ranting about the situation she was now in.

Emerald winced and held up her hands placatingly. "I'm sure before too long you'll make everyone in this land know just how powerful you really are." She whipped out a camera. "As a small bit of immediate compensation, can I get pictures of Mercury looking like this for us to laugh over later?"

That earned an indignant "Hey?" from Mercury.

Cinder paused her diatribe to shrug and briefly nod in agreement. Emerald led him away a little distance, Cinder resuming her rant, although directing her attention more towards Ilia, who was quietly listening and nodding sagely.

Emerald put her arm around Mercury's shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"You do realise your name is the only reason we're here Merc?"

"Ha ha..." Mercury laughed sarcastically, then noticed the sly look Emerald was giving him, his face turning slightly paler. "Wait…you're serious?"

"Sometimes Yggdrasil does things randomly and it'll just be you experiencing a particular loop, but... other times... it likes to try slotting things into what it thinks are matching patterns. So, it's said to itself, oh, here's something called 'Mercury', let's stick it in this slot that's also called Mercury. Then it thinks to itself… if that 'Mercury' fits there, some of the other characters next to this version of 'Mercury' must fit there too, and it tries to make sense of them. Didn't you ever wonder about all those times some of us have just 'happened' to end up sharing the same loops?"

"You're seriously saying the only reason we're in this loop is because I share one of my names with this immortal freak girl wielding an enormous halberd?!"

"Face it Merc… Cinder's right, there's no clear link between her and the character of Itami, mine is at best a vague passing resemblance based on looks, and Ilia hardly qualifies as a 'blonde elf' in our home loops (even when she changes hair colour out of shock). Your name is literally the only clear indication of why we're here, and given how angry she is, it's probably best Cinder doesn't think too much about it."

"Emerald! Mercury!"

The two wheeled around, looking over to see Cinder smiling.

"I just realised some of the beings and materials in this realm. For starters, there's something called a Fire Dragon. We're going hunting."

"Yes Ma'am," Emerald said enthusiastically, saluting, while Mercury did the same.

As Cinder started getting equipment out of her Pocket, Mercury leaned in to talk to Emerald.

"Even though she's happy right now, it probably ain't gonna last, and you're going to tell her unless I pay you hush money, aren't you?"

Emerald smiled toothily. "Whether or not she's got one already, you'll likely be able to trade that Halberd to Ruby for a pretty sum."

Mercury grimaced. "But you already know that and so you're going to extort me for even more, right?"

Emerald nodded while still smiling.

[-]

184.11 Shimmer712

[-]

Two Birds Role Swap

"Ugh," Raven grunted, throwing herself onto the bench next to Qrow.

"Good to see you too, sis," he commented as Ruby bounced up to them.

"I'm not your sister this loop," she pointed out, looking around the Vale absently.

"I know, Miss Hill," he chirped.

"...You sound way too cheerful about that," Raven glared.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Ruby asked. "Since you're replacing Robyn this loop, shouldn't you be in Mantle?"

"I just popped over to ask Qrow to find out how the Tribe is doing when he gets a chance," Raven sighed.

"Don't trust Robyn to run it right?"

"She's a politician," Raven pulled a face. "And she's also a cop, even if she goes vigilante baseline."

"Wait, how is she a cop?" Ruby asked. She paused. "Do we even have police baseline?"

"There were people checking out Tukson's death, right?" Qrow mused.

"Yeah, but Sun and Neptune were sent to work with detectives so maybe they were just huntsmen who have a detective licence," Ruby pointed out. "And Weiss was allowed to arrest her father once she had a Huntress licence. So maybe Remnant doesn't have cops, just huntsmen and huntresses who do the same job." Ruby blinked.

"Damn, that would make our backstory pretty ironic, wouldn't it?" Qrow muttered to Raven.

"We still wouldn't count as cops," Raven asserted. "From what we've Seen baseline, Atlas is the only Kingdom that institutionalises its huntsman system to the point they can be labelled as cops. And cops are baseline. Remember at Haven, the Menagerie Militia teamed up the with Mistral Police Department? And even without that, I did not get trained as a cop!"

"Actually, given some variants..."

"I did not!" Raven insisted.

Qrow and Ruby blinked at her, then at each other and silently agreed to drop it.

"So, are you bothered every time Robyn takes your place?" Ruby asked.

Raven scowled. "Keep in mind, I don't go to Atlas and pretty much never see her," she pointed out. "So I'm pretty much stuck trusting a stranger with my Tribe."

"Why not ditch Mantle and join them?" Qrow questioned.

"Outsider Huntress. Hard to get in without someone in the Tribe willing to vouch for me," Raven sulked. She slouched down.

"Good point," Qrow admitted. "They can be pretty paranoid, being criminals and all."

Raven huffed at him and stood up. "I'm leaving," she announced and shifted before flying off.

"If Robyn ever loops, they're gonna be rivals, aren't they?" Ruby sighed.

"She certainly gave that impression, didn't she?"

[-]

184.12 Luna 2

[-]

Nora's Nightmare (Part 2): Windmills of a Valkyrie's Mind

'What are you not telling me? Why can't I help you right now? What could I possibly be missing?' Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder, as she walked and chatted with Nora in the hallways of Beacon, aware that they were both wearing masks of smiling while not confronting the issue.

As she recalled her conversation with Jaune, she knew what she had to do.

[-]

Pyrrha shook her head, both of them sitting together in their familiar space on Beacon's rooftop. "I think I made a critical error."

"What?" Jaune looked genuinely surprised.

"A few loops back, Nora was in one of her quiet moods, holding one of the little wooden hammers Ren gives her in the baseline flashback. Then she starts talking about this…" Pyrrha's face contorted into a look of utter disgust. "...absolutely crazy idea, wondering how much Cinder and she are alike."

"How could she possibly think that?"

"I know! But…she seemed really serious, so I…took it slowly. Asked about it. It was a combination of things: her past and her 'Valkyrie' name; fears about her potential to be a bad person; actions by Cinder and Neo; and how events played out in the recent expansions – those sorts of things."

"I see." Jaune stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So, what happened next?"

"I offered her advice, showing how different she actually was through her own choices in baseline. Then we just spent time smiling and staring at the sunset together."

"That sounds completely sensible. I don't get it. What do you think you did wrong?"

Pyrrha grimaced. "She wasn't done talking."

"Huh?".

"My reply shut down the conversation Jaune. I could feel she 'wanted' to discuss more. But I offered the sympathetic advice of a parent trying to get a child to move past what they see as an irrational fear…while ignoring potentially much deeper issues being hinted at."

Her hand clenched into a fist and her eyes narrowed. "I also buried the idea because of my underlying hatred for her ever comparing herself to Cinder. I let my personal feelings cloud my judgement. I should have tried to investigate more…to find out if she needed more help."

Jaune put his hands on hers. "You can't blame yourself. You've been helping a lot of the Loopers with their challenges recently. No one would always pick up on everything."

"Ok. We'll just have to focus on where we go from here. So, what did you find?"

"I did ask Ruby to check in with Marianne. No sign of abnormalities. We're not talking hackers or glitches as far as we know."

"That may have been paranoia on my part, but it's still reassuring to hear."

"Looking into taking down Monstro was more interesting. Nora would never just hide a score in a 'challenge'. I made some discreet enquiries. There's no 'League', it's really just Nora and Ren. The emphasis is more on comic or absurd methods, rather than any 'challenge'. A few times Mercury and Emerald were on the back of it and narrowly avoided being blown up, but that's not unusual."

"Yes, although I'm guessing that's only part of the story?"

"It looks like it's become more of an obsession for her. The moment she Wakes up, preparing for it becomes her top priority in almost every Loop. The only exceptions are Loops where Cinder Wakes up and she wants to pocket the skywhale. They have an agreement about it."

Pyrrha smiled. "You spoke to Ren?"

"Hehe. Yes. That was my main source. But. It doesn't add up. Taking Monstro down started some time before Nora's change in behaviour. It doesn't seem to have been the cause."

"Originally, I wondered if Monstro had done something in a Variant she was in, but I think taking it down sounds more like a coping mechanism."

"Yeah. Ren is worried and wants to support her. But he similarly doesn't feel he can press the issue. At first, he thought it was a result of the expansions and that it would settle down. She's had that kind of pattern before. But now it's still going…he's not convinced. Then there's the nightmares."

"Nightmares?!" Pyrrha's face paled and her eyes narrowed. "What nightmares?"

Jaune held up his hands. "All I know from Ren is that Nora's been having recurring bad dreams. She doesn't talk about them, but he hears her wake up some nights…crying. Occasionally she'll quietly talk to herself about them. He once tried broaching the subject, but she flatly denied it so…yeah."

He eyed Pyrrha's darker look and his face gained a flat expression.

"You think it's Cinder or Neo, don't you?"

"Well. I would have said that. Both of them have experience in nightmares and their consequences on minds. But then…" Pyrrha sighed and shook her head. "…that comes from the same flawed logic that led me to paper over the cracks in the first place. I have no evidence of motive, no proof, and it wouldn't make sense for them to do it. Not with all that's happened, and with the risks involved."

They both looked thoughtful for a moment.

Then Pyrrha leaned her head on Jaune's shoulder. "I was arrogant. The way that I just…took on Weiss's workload like that and assumed I could do it all."

"I think you're too hard on yourself. You've been doing a great job helping people."

"'Helping, huh?' I remember once having a conversation with Weiss, about my role in the Loops. My role as a 'confidant'. And she said that there are different types of helpers. That I was more the warm and open person to listen and bounce ideas off of, 'not somebody who 'fixes problems'.'"

Pyrrha sighed. "I knew it made sense. Although a part of me always felt that was just Weiss's own self-rationalising. Out of a sense of pride, but also a result over-working – not being willing to accept someone sharing the load. Until I did her workload…until I…faced this…I'm not sure I fully appreciated how much of a difference there actually was."

Jaune put his arm round her. "I don't think it's a fair distinction. You've helped 'fix' a lot of problems by being a Confidant. And trying to help in that way or other ways doesn't make you arrogant."

Pyrrha winced. "Maybe not, but actually, I was thinking of my arrogance as from a different source. Because of not being in the post-Volume 3 expansions, I almost came to think of myself as capable of standing back from it all, providing an 'independent' perspective. Ozpin. The Dead Loopers Club. I even found ways of engaging with the new Loopers.

"But…I haven't lived through the baseline expansions the way you all have. Even if I know my way around Atlas. Even with those Variants when I Wake up late or am still alive, I cannot truly appreciate what it was like to live through it over and over again. To understand it fully.

"I think some of us, Weiss included, have become too affected by baseline, but…I almost deluded myself into thinking that my more distant perspective was 'better'. And then I…didn't give Nora the opportunity to help me understand her situation. I'm sorry. I shouldn't just..."

Whatever Pyrrha was going to say next was silenced by a finger on her lips. She looked at Jaune.

"Pyrrha. We all bring different perspectives, and we're all affected by baseline in different ways." Jaune gave a slightly sorrowful look. "We both know that all too well. Recognising our own flaws and working individually or together to overcome them is practically the definition of who we are. And there's no-one who taught me more about that than you – baseline or looping."

The couple smiled at each other, sharing a kiss and then watching the sun slowly start setting on the horizon, shadows dancing off the distant buildings.

"I think I know what to do…I just…don't know how she'll react."

"Whatever it is, and however she chooses to react, as long as she knows that we'll always be there for her…we'll get through this."

"Right."

[-]

"So, I was thinking that…that the next Loop you feel you want to, we can talk about anything," Pyrrha smiled, a slight quiver in her voice as she repeated and emphasised the last word. "Anything you want. And I promise that I'll do my best to listen and not interrupt or change the topic".

"You? I mean, I'm the one who usually interrupts, and as for changing the topic, I'm practically a walking flipchart. I mean, like a pinball machine of topics. Hehe…he. Right… next loop I… want to… about anything..." Nora looked slightly nervous. "Thanks mom… I..." She pondered for a moment before smiling slightly. "Yeah. I think… I think I'll do that".

They both continued walking, quickly starting to chat about other things.

'Right. The next Loop I feel I want to. Huh. Maybe by then I'll figure this out. Or not. I mean, it's not like next Loop is gonna be any crazier than what's come before.'

[-]

184.13 Shimmer712

[-]

Motifs and Parallels

Winter hummed thoughtfully to herself as she disembarked from her airship and strode off, readjusting the weight in her arms.

Some people had obvious fairy tale motifs. Ruby was Little Red Riding Hood, her own sister was Snow White. Blake seemed to be Beauty from Beauty and the Beast while Yang was Goldilocks. Then there were those who had motifs that weren't exactly fairy tales but were obviously there like Pyrrha and Achilles, Jaune and the Maid of New Orleans, Nora and Thor and Ren wand Mulan.

There were even people with more than one motif, like how Qrow could be tied to the Wizard of Oz's Scarecrow and Munin from Norse Myths.

Then there were people with...less obvious motifs. Like Coco Adel. Winter had no idea what her motif was. And while an argument could be made for Fria being the Blue Fairy, all that supported that idea was her making Penny the Winter Maiden and confirming her status as a real person.

Winter also had no idea what her motif was. Assuming she had one. Although her family's summoning ability didn't appear until she showed up in baseline. So there was a possible link to the Snow Queen.

And there was another similarity that she demonstrated in this sort of variant.

Marrow did a double take as he laid eyes on her. "Uh..."

"Mine now," Winter said firmly, shifting Qrow in her arms. The in-loop child stirred and rubbed at his eye, temporarily hiding the bruise on his face from sight. After all, there wasn't much change between the names "Ice Queen" and "Snow Queen".

"...Right," Marrow nodded and watched her continue on her way. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the soldier next to him. "Can she do that?"

A shrug was his only response.

[-]

184.14 Luna 2

[-]

Silly General Firing Competition: Circus Method

Ironwood Woke up and did a double take when he realised he was staring at a clown - red nose, makeup, funny hair, silly shoes and all.

Strangely, the clown also did a double take at that moment.

His instinctive first thoughts were, 'Is this one of those sketches where they copy your moves? Or is he trying misdirection and is about to attack me?'.

Then his wider surroundings and loop memories kicked in as he pinged, getting several responses.

Directly in front of him was a mirror.

The place he sat in was a small, well furnished bedroom in an apartment complex in Atlas…a low-risk holiday home for Veteran recovery.

He was the clown. In every sense.

Catching up with events, he started laughing.

'Wait. So…I was convinced that I should go to the Council meeting dressed like this? And to report…those ridiculous things? Then they felt concerned I was working too hard and relieved me from my position on medical grounds and sent me here to convalesce?'

"Alright. Whoever did this, I'm Awake and Loopy now. Come on out."

He rolled his eyes. 'If no one answers that, I'm just further proving to anyone passing by that I should be here right now'.

In a flash, Yang appeared, smiling broadly, "Well?"

Ironwood nodded, "I will admit, you took the 'creative, embarrassing, silly' part of the getting Unawake me fired challenge seriously, and, however simple and classic a method this may be, it still has some merit."

"Eh. Sometimes complexity undermines the beauty of the result. Figured I'd make a statement. I know there are plenty of others lining up for this, so I wanted something distinctive, to make a statement."

"You do realise though that it was also probably only temporary? After a single incident like this, they might still reinstate me once I can prove that I'm fit for duty again."

Yang started gently whistling a popular circus tune from the Hub, while narrowing her eyes.

Ironwood sighed, "There's another punchline I'm about to see isn't there?"

She unfolded and held up an Atlas newspaper, which had the headlines 'Ironwood Clown Obsession Deeper than Previously Reported' and underneath 'Leaked evidence reveals General watched 200 videos a day of people throwing custard pies at each other'.

Ironwood nodded, "Well, that's certainly making a statement."

[-]

184.15 Shimmer712

[-]

Furby is Creepy

Raven blinked as she cut down the form that had been stalking her Tribe. This loop's version of the Grimm.

"Me hunggrreee..." it gurgled as it dissolved, outer layer first, making it look even creepier in its final moments.

Raven stared.

"I went to Beacon to learn how to fight oversized furbies? What the fuck?"

Could a furby even fight? It's not like they had arms. Just a beak and a pair of feet. They didn't even have legs so they could kick you! So why was there an entire profession dedicated to fighting them?

...Because they were as creepy as fuck, according to her loop memories. That was it. Not dangerous or anything. Just creepy.

Raven rubbed her temple. "Fucking ass loops," she grumbled.

[-]

184.16 Luna 2

[-]

Nora's Nightmare (Part 3): Lost in Space

[RWBY x Observation]

Nora Awoke with a start, and almost instantly felt a sense of dread, followed by rising panic.

'Why can't I find my Loop memories? Where am I? Why can't I feel my arms or legs?'

She looked around, which was easier said than done. Her vision was razor sharp, but limited, inside what looked like a space station module. In front of her, a weightless astronaut in a suit and helmet with an opaque visor was slowly spinning, seemingly lifeless.

Nora instinctively tried to reach out…but couldn't. 'Maybe I can use the comms or access the computer for help?'. She tried looking down at her own body, but she didn't see it. Then lines of code flickered in front of her eyes and a couple of memories jostled her into sudden realisation.

'Oh wait. I am the computer!'

Nora took a deep virtual breath to calm herself, as she embraced her core programming and let it wrap round her like a blanket. She rapidly formed a virtual body which mirrored her physical one. She'd learned to do this in previous Loops, most recently using it when she was the Valkyrie Jet Fighter Battroid, although this time, everything beyond her small virtual avatar seemed blank.

'Ok. My memory core is corrupted. Lots of data lost. That explains why I have hardly any loop memories. Perfectly rational explanation. Yeah.' She breathed a virtual sigh of relief, but then found she couldn't access her Pocket or Powers and rolled her virtual eyes. 'I'm a HAL-expy, on a creepy space station with dead astronauts, in a setting I've never seen before...and it just has to be a null loop. Great.'

A sudden response from the astronaut quickly brought her focus back to the module cameras.

"Ugh. SAM. What happened?" the astronaut grabbed onto a rail to stop spinning.

Nora thought she recognised the voice, but answered cautiously, using the existing computer tones.

"I don't know. Do you require an Anchor?"

The astronaut paused. "Yes. I'm certainly feeling Loopy and Awake right now. In fact, I've got a splitting headache".

"Cinder? Is that you?" Nora recalibrated the speakers to answer using her own voice.

"Nora?" Cinder removed her helmet. "Where are you? I think I was talking to SAM the computer a moment ago."

"Er. I kinda am 'SAM the computer'."

Cinder blinked, "Ok. That…", she put her hand on her forehead, "Right. Can you open the door? I can't do it from here."

After a quick search and some improvising, Nora opened the door, allowing Cinder into the connected module, whereupon she began typing away at a laptop.

"Alright. So, once I've reconnected you to your OS via this terminal, you should have much more control over your virtual surroundings."

"Thanks. I just feel really uncomfortable right now, and I can't connect with anything else."

"And…there you go."

More feeling flooded back into Nora's virtual limbs, gaining greater control over her systems, her own wider visual cyberspace materialising around her. But this was clearly different from any of her previous cyberspace experiences. This computer system was still in pieces software-wise. A lot of the virtual landscape around her that should have been a shimmering blue sea and sky of data transmissions was just dark and empty, or flickering. Nora's avatar, a virtual copy of her body, filled the screen facing Cinder.

"Ouch. There's a lot of damage in here. I can't reach most of the station. We've almost no power. I also can't track or contact the rest of the crew. And…there may be creepy body-snatching aliens involved, so, not looking good on any of those fronts." Nora sighed onscreen. "I've never been in a loop like this before. Do you know where we are?"

"I have a vague memory of this setting from the Hub. I think it's a Sci Fi mystery game."

"I didn't know you were into those?"

Cinder gave the monitor a flat look. "Ruby likes video games. I keep my eyes open. If I recall this game correctly, the first twist is that the player is the computer AI on the station. That's you. Now, if I'm right, we probably need to fix some problems to advance the story."

A few quick challenges later and the scan of the external cameras had revealed they were no longer in orbit around Earth, having travelled almost instantly, prior to Waking up, to an orbit around Saturn... although that was impossible given the technology available in this Loop... without alien interference.

"Ok Nora. So. Any thoughts on why that happened?"

"Well, according to the Black Box records, unawake me did that and…I," Nora paused, her voice starting to wobble as she whimpered. "I...don't...don't know why I…did that?"

Nora began laughing, cackling manically…the sound reverberating around the module. But there was something eerie about the electronically distorted noise that made Cinder look increasingly uncomfortable, the laughter very quickly morphing into a combination of continual wailing and sobbing, interspersed with such occasional dialogue as...

"Nightmares. Nightmares. It's just like in the nightmares. Except the nightmares were real. That loop was real. And I still don't…I still don't know why I did it..."

...before the dialogue broke down into further sobbing.

Cinder spoke up, looking slightly tense. "Ok... Something has obviously... really spooked you. That's... ok. You take whatever time you need to calm down. I'll just access the controls I need manually." She began typing at the terminal.

"Wait. You're working round my…programming? NOOOOO! STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!"

A surge of electricity fried the keyboard, Nora making heavy breathing noises through the speakers.

Cinder sighed, mustering the most calming tone her voice could manage and holding her hands up.

"Ok. Ok. I won't touch the consoles. You're the one in control here. I'm just the human, with no powers, trapped on a space station."

Cinder frowned as she reflected on that last statement, gathering her thoughts for a moment before speaking again.

"Look Nora. The way I see it, there are a few things we could potentially try to get out of this situation... but… I can't do that... or do anything for that matter, without you helping me, and right now… you're not able to do that."

She paused to let the words settle in before continuing.

"I know I'm not Weiss, or Pyrrha, or Ren. If you need to work out something, then they're the people you really should be talking to. But… I've suffered enough of them in my time to know a thing or two about 'nightmares', and... I've also thought a lot about why we do what we... do as Loopers. So. We can either sit in silence until you're ready to do something or the Loop ends. Or… you tell me what this whole 'nightmare' thing is? Your choice."

"…"

The pause seemed to last for the longest time, then Nora's onscreen avatar looked straight at Cinder, taking a deep virtual breath before speaking.

"It started with a Loop when I Woke up late in Atlas."

[-]

184.17 Luna 2

[-]

One for All…

Swords clashed in a bitter life or death struggle, in the midst of a large stone-walled room, with wooden doors and ornate tapestries on the walls.

Then Ilia Woke up, "Tell me… Milady, art thou Awake or Loopy?"

Her assailant, in her custom 17th-Century armour, smiled back. "Anchored as t'were not so before just now young D'Artagnan." Winter lowered the sword. "And I'm not speaking like that for the rest of the Loop".

Ilia went bright yellow, then pink, then back to her normal skin tone. "I just took in the Loop memories. This is a really strange one. I hope the others Wake up too. Sorry for any awkwardness with Unawake me."

"No offence taken," Winter smiled. "And it's fortunate we're not later on in this classic tale, so we can undo some of the damage."

At her words, a guard smashed through the nearby wooden door backwards, unconscious. Qrow swiftly followed after him and pointed his sword at Winter. "En garde!"

"I'm Loopy so I'm changing sides. You win," Winter said with a deadpan expression.

"And tis fortunate for you," he lowered his sword, "that I am also Loopy now." Qrow dusted off his blue tunic and adjusted his hat. "Huh. Of course the Tree would make me Athos. Drink and all." He embraced Winter.

"Well, now that 'Milady' de Winter has been 'persuaded' to serve the path of justice by her former husband," Winter leaned back and looked at Qrow, "what do you say we see who can take down the most Cardinals guards? Swords only."

"While we're all our normal selves, you do realise they're human-sized talking cactuses wearing tunics and wielding swords in this version?"

"Yes."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Really don't see how we got here from the original, but when does that ever matter?" Ilia intoned while shrugging.

Two figures in blue tunics and hats raced in from a nearby room.

"Pray tell thou art Loopy," Tai (Aramis) spoke up.

"And make it a double helping with cheeseburger," Sun (Porthos) added.

The next moment, a group of 40 human-sized cacti, wearing red tunics with wide-brimmed hats and wielding swords, hopped into the room, surrounding the group.

"Well. Only one thing for it," Qrow shrugged, "One for all…"

"And all for one," they chorused, resuming the duel.

"And nowhere near the original!" Ilia added.

[-]

184.18 Shimmer712

[-]

Brothers and Comfort

Tai Woke in both sense of the words, aware of a warm body huddled against him. He cracked his eyes open and winced.

In bed with Qrow. Going to be awkward - oh, wait. No it won't. Tai reviewed his loop memories with relief. Qrow wasn't in bed with him in the context Raven and Summer had been when they were together. Rather, it was more in line with Yang and Ruby when they were little. Spying for Oz led to Qrow seeing from pretty freaky stuff and he sometimes had nightmares so this loop, he sometimes shared a bed with Tai for feeling comfort and safety. Which was a relief. He loved Qrow, really, but it was more as a brother than anything so loops where he had been with his entire team tended to feel a bit awkward on his end.

At least this loop, he wasn't a bastard to Qrow. Some loops, his Unawake self had taken Raven leaving out on her twin and then blamed Qrow and his Semblance for whatever happened to Summer. Some loops, he was flat out horrible to Qrow, only toning it down when the girls were around. Which disgusted Tai because if his Unawake self had enough awareness to know his daughters would not approve, then surely he had enough awareness to know his treatment of Qrow was wrong.

In the morning, Tai was going to raid the family photos for his Pocket. You could never have too many baby photos and since very few photos appeared in baseline, it meant there were always new ones every loop. Like the one of baby Yang in a dragon onesie. He was definitely keeping that one.

Tai readjusted the blankets and settled back to sleep. Maybe he could take Qrow and the girls on a picnic before Beacon started? This loop there was the field of sunflowers with a little spring nearby. That would be a nice spot.

It was always nice to have family bonding moments.

[-]

184.19 Shimmer712

[-]

Bird Cop

Raven blinked as she Woke up. She calmly stabbed the Grimm in front of her and went through her loop memories, taken in the icy cave around her.

She froze.

Captain Raven Ebi was on Grimm clearing mission. With the rest of the Ace-Ops.

Raven blinked once. Then calmly pulled out her communicator and dropped it on the ground with her scroll before crushing them under foot. She then vanished into her Pocket.

"Nope. This loop never happened," she muttered to herself. "Ever."

She hoped this would be passed off as a variant in which she wasn't Awake.

[-]

184.20 Luna 2

[-]

Nora's Nightmare (Part 4): Behind the curtain

[RWBY x Observation]

Nora was breathing heavily, surveying the scene of devastation in front of her.

She'd been hiding in one of the corridor openings in Atlas Academy, her aura depleted. They'd been fighting Neo, some of the Ace-Ops, and more numerous Atlesian soldiers than she remembered from previous Loops.

As she'd been standing there, Ren appeared across from her, a look of shock on his face.

Both were distracted momentarily as gunfire and explosions shattered parts of the walls around them.

Then a blade rammed straight through Ren's chest from behind.

He fell forward, revealing Neo as a smiling Nora doppelganger with a bloodied umbrella.

Tears poured down Nora's face as she looked at the scene, staggering slightly.

Then a bright blue light flooded the corridor, combining with Nora as she felt the Winter Maiden's power flooding into her. It was also the moment she Woke up. 'She was…my grandma this Loop?'

Neo moved, skidding slightly on the ice that suddenly appeared underneath her and deflecting some further gunshots heading her way. She moved to parry Nora's hammer, before suddenly realising…the hammer was falling through the air, but Nora was no longer holding it.

Neo would never get the chance to figure out how Nora had tricked her, as suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her head from behind and Nora summoned all her strength into her arms, breaking Neo's aura (and breaking her neck) in one swift motion.

As Neo fell lifeless to the floor, her illusion shattering, Nora raised a wall of ice to shield herself. She'd already had the powers in Variants and the movements had long since become instinctive, as she ran almost on automatic pilot.

Her eyes were dim. She knew what she had to do.

[-]

"Miss Valkyrie. Why are…", Ironwood caught sight of her bloodied appearance, his eyes widening.

Anything else he planned to say was stopped short as he was frozen in place, up to his lower arms.

"WAIT! ARGH. WHAT ARE YOU…?"

Nora went straight past him, using the Maiden powers to raise herself up to the Vault door and opening it.

Ironwood's eyes went wide as he craned his neck round to look at her, desperately trying to free himself as he kept yelling, "NORA VALKYRIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PLEASE. IF THAT IS YOU. WAIT. NO…YOU CAN'T BE HER! WHO ARE YOU? WHAT…WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Nora went in and grabbed the staff of creation. Paused for an instant. And pulled it out.

A moment passed, as the background hum of Atlas's generators died, the room's lights dimming.

Then, after a short while, alarms blared, followed by a sensation of weightlessness.

Atlas was starting to fall, little bits of loose material and ice floating upwards in the cavernous room.

Tears leaked out of Nora's face as she lost consciousness and fell backwards, the smell of rose petals filling the air.

[-]

"And that's what happened. Neo killed Ren because we were distracted by Atlesian soldiers. And I…destroyed Atlas. I was Awake. I knew it wouldn't matter. I knew the Loop was ending soon. But, no matter how much I go over it, I can't work out why I did it?" the virtual Nora finished recounting her tale to Cinder, both of them still in the damaged space station.

"And you're worried you either have or are moving towards Sakura Syndrome?"

"Well. I know it seems silly. But I guess that's part of it. Actually it…also led me to think about how similar we are."

Cinder blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Baseline I mean. Propensity for violence. Passionately driven by our emotions. Ill-defined past. Among other things. I talked with Pyrrha a while back and she said I was nothing like you, because I had chosen to be good and look out for others. Don't get me wrong… what she said was… good, though I couldn't stop thinking about the parallels." Nora wrapped her virtual arms around herself.

Cinder started laughing.

"What's so funny? Stop it!" Several panels started sparking.

"Oh we're nothing alike. But not for the reasons Pyrrha mentioned."

"Why not?" Nora snapped.

"Because, on a fundamental level, you have no subtlety or sense of deception."

"Huh?"

"Nora. Think about people like Neo and myself. We don't just do villainous things. We wear masks. We lie, deceive and manipulate in our everyday life because that's part of who we are. You always wear your heart on your sleeve, literally!" She pointed at the heart emblems virtual Nora was wearing. "If you like something or someone you can't shut up about it. Similarly, if you don't like it-"

"If you're just saying I'm not deep then that's both a stereotype and a stupid argument."

"You are deep, but your very character is also direct. And honest. People keep harping on about 'Oh, it's not who you are, it's who you choose to be', but your character inevitably in some way affects the process by which you choose. I don't know why you chose to drop Atlas. Sometimes even the most balanced looper will snap and do something crazy for a single loop. We've all been there. But what I do know is that it is not because of Sakura Syndrome. Your very character, the way you're torturing yourself over this, and the fact we're even having this conversation proves that."

Cinder pointed at the computer screen.

"On a fundamental level, Nora Valkyrie, you are more like Ruby than you will ever be like me, an overexcited and impulsive ball of energy that is too honest and direct to lie convincingly, always wants to see the best in people, and occasionally gets herself stuck in the depths of despair because she cares too much about other people".

There was a moment's pause as Cinder folded her arms.

"You…really mean that?"

"Every word".

"Huh. Funny thing is…actually…I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Nora smiled, her avatar looking a little teary-eyed.

Cinder couldn't help but smile herself a little. "Well then, it's probably all downhill from here".

Suddenly, the lights flickered in the module, both Cinder and Nora's camera turning to see…an ominous, floating geometric shape.

A mysterious alien… in a Sci Fi mystery setting. The perfect nightmare fuel trope.

The floating shape glided silently towards them, Cinder recoiling and Nora starting to scream, panels sparking as she virtually and physically lashed out.

Then a pair of silver eyes morphed out of the shape, followed a moment later by Ruby's face.

"Hi Cinder. Hey Nora. I really hope you're both Loopy."

The two stared at… Ruby, in her alien form.

"Well, now we're Anchored, so that's ok." Cinder started, scratching her head and sighing. "I guess you being this thing makes as much sense as anything else in this crazy game world."

"Please tell me you have the power to get us out of here," Nora whimpered.

"Well of course. Took a little while to figure it out… and where you were. But since I've become a superpowered mysterious alien entity (some may say I always have been), so yeah, I can do that. First though…"

She grabbed surrounding equipment, refashioning it into a Nora shaped robot.

"You can use this if it's more comfortable?" Ruby offered.

"Oh. Thank you!" Nora squeaked as she downloaded into the robot. "That's something…I suppose".

"Also. I heard your conversation and..." Ruby looked slightly sheepish. "Sorry. I remember that Loop, but I hadn't recognised it was causing you those problems. Because it wasn't what you thought, and, from what I saw, it didn't end at all as badly as you think it did."

Nora's mechanical jaw practically hit the floor, while Cinder quirked an eyebrow.

[-]

Ruby, Cinder and Nora all materialised on Earth, in the middle of some trees.

"Ok. So. Just how did it go? What could I possibly have missed?", Nora put her hands on her hips while looking Ruby straight in the eyes.

"Everything happened the way you thought it did. Except, Atlas didn't fall. You lost consciousness after you took the staff out. I'd just entered the room and caught you in a flurry of rose petals. Then I quickly replaced the staff. We stopped falling above Mantle's rooftops. Some injuries from what I heard, but nothing more than a broken leg."

"Then. The flowers I thought I smelled… was… you." Realisation began dawning on Nora. "But I still took the staff to… get revenge on Atlas." Her face fell.

"No, you didn't," Ruby answered firmly. "Nora. All you were mumbling the whole time when you were half awake after that was about 'saving Ren'. I think that…you were trying to harness the staff's power to revive him. If it's even possible to use it that way? Oh, and incidentally, Ren wasn't dead, just badly injured. We got Jaune to him and he started to recover."

Nora's shocked expression grew. "But why would I do something so stupid? Why didn't I check to see if Ren was ok?"

"Because you had a nasty wound in the side of your head. I guess you probably got it during the battle after your aura went down. Flying masonry? Maybe a glancing blow from a weapon?" Ruby speculated. "When I found you, there was blood all over your clothes, and you seemed to be in a state of shock. I'd guess that's why you weren't able to think clearly and were trying to use the staff but unwittingly removed it," Ruby projected a 3D image of bloodied Nora from back then, complete with head injury, harnessing her memories.

Nora winced at the sight, before smiling slightly. "So that last memory of me holding hands with Ren while we lay on the floor? We were both ok."

"He only Woke up for the final moments of the Loop and I think you were both still mostly out of it. But…yes, you were both together there. And he told you everything was going to be ok." Ruby smiled.

"So. The nightmare wasn't real? I mean. It was…is, but…not the way I thought." Nora sighed, feeling a burden lifting from her shoulders. "It's going to take some time to think about all this but...thank you." She hugged the shape, which morphed arms to return the hug. Then Nora looked up at Cinder, "Both of you".

Cinder rolled her eyes but couldn't prevent a small smile forming on her face.

[-]

Nora Woke up in the dorm at Beacon, the only other occupant, Pyrrha, stopping what she was doing and immediately turning to her, almost sensing the change. Nora pinged, and several came back.

"Feeling Loopy?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes. And I know I'll be well anchored," Nora replied.

"And you also know that I love you and I want you to be alright, no matter what," Pyrrha's voice was laced with worry, as her face took on a concerned expression.

Nora smiled, a genuinely warm smile. "I love you too mom, and now…I will be".

Tears tugged at both their eyes as they hugged, then they spent the rest of the day talking the whole thing over.

This time, when they both watched the sunset, nothing was left unsaid about the events, greater reassurance than the time before.

'And I partly have Cinder to thank for that.' Pyrrha rolled her eyes and smiled, 'Oh the irony.'