Chapter II - The Next Morning

Nora Valkyrie woke up feeling so tired, she almost decided to go to sleep again. She always liked to sleep in on the weekends, and get up only when the others were already leaving for breakfast. Especially if it was Ren´s turn to cook, because that meant pancakes…

A lazy, happy smile appeared on Nora´s face at the thought of Ren´s cooking. Her bed was so comfortable… she stretched slowly, arching her back and sticking her feet out from the covers.

"Good morning, Nora," said a voice on her left, one she knew very well.

"Good morning, Ren," she replied automatically and got ready to open her eyes, when she realised Ren´s voice came from the left, and froze. Why would that be, when his bed was supposed to be on her right?

Then it all came crashing down on her, as she remembered everything that happened at the stadium, and after. Penny. The Grimm. Pyrrha. Ren, and everybody else.

She shot into a sitting position like a spring, and looked around, panicked. Where was she? And where was Pyrrha and Jaune? What did she hear about Yang? And was Ren alright? He was, probably. She remembered him sitting exhaustedly near her. Any what happened to the school? What was that huge flying Grimm up in the sky? Did everyone get out safely?

"Yes, Nora, everyone is safe," answered Ren´s calming voice, and Nora realised she was probably voicing her questions aloud.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around. Her bed was in a huge room, containing several dozens of such bunks, each one occupied. Ren was sitting, fully clothed, in the one next to her.

"Emergency sleeping quarters in Vale docks," replied her friend, "they had to find enough room for everyone to sleep, so they cleared out several warehouses and put together every bed or mattress they could find."

As Nora continued to examine her surroundings, she indeed saw that some of the people were lying simply in sleeping bags or on large mattresses on the ground.

"What about Jaune and Pyrrha? Did they find them?" she asked, inquisitively.

"Both are fine," Ren answered her with his small smile, "Pyrrha was injured, and will probably take some time to heal fully, but she´ll be fine. She´s in the building next door, with the rest of the people who got hurt. Jaune didn't want to leave her side, so he is sleeping there too."

"That sounds… promising for those two," she couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Yes, so I gathered," replied Ren simply in a neutral voice, but Nora could hear his approval hidden under it.

She sighed a bit, only on the inside, of course. Practice what you preach, she told Pyrrha, and the way she and Jaune were circling around each other these last few days, her friend probably finally took her advice, but Nora knew those words applied to herself, too… but that was nothing to dwell upon right now.

"And others?"

"Ruby and Weiss weren´t wounded badly, but they still put them both to the makeshift hospital. The last I heard, they were still sleeping, like certain someone I know," Ren´s dry tone couldn't be ever called sarcastic, but only just.

"Hey, I saved your skin in that fight," Nora said indignantly.

"And I am eternally grateful," Ren bowed his head, tone serious, and then continued. "Blake was also injured, but will recover in time. But Yang…"

"The arm?" asked Nora quietly.

"Yes," Ren simply nodded.

There was a long pause. Nora knew she couldn't imagine what it would mean for Yang. Losing an entire arm like that. Yes, she could get a robotic prosthesis, but it would probably never be the same. Of course, if she managed to install a grenade-launcher into it… that probably sounded better than mere flesh and bone, but so few people appreciated the beauty of proper firepower. She had a suspicion that, in time, Yang would certainly see the potential for upgrade in this, but for now… oh well.

"Then let's go visit them!" Nora exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms up in the air victoriously, flinging the covers off of her, only to realise she was shouting – still in her pyjamas – in a room full of people. She immediately curled herself into a small ball, her legs pulled up to her nose, and hugging them with all her strength.

"Ren…" she began in a scared whisper, "they are all staring at me."

"That would be because you just woke half of them up," stated Ren unconcernedly, picked up her covers and threw them over her. After a short while, he slipped Nora´s clothes under the pile of blankets, and added: "You should change, Nora, if we want to visit our friends."

There was only a small inarticulate sound, coming from under the blanket, and then it started moving and stretching, as Nora Valkyrie dressed.

They got ready, packed their weapons and whatever gear they had on them, and left the warehouse.

"First, where´s Jaune and Pyrrha?" asked Nora when she saw the number of people mingling among the warehouses. From the looks of it, maybe six or more building were converted into sleeping quarters, the entire part of the docks converted into emergency refugee camp for everyone who had no roof over their heads right now. The number of people walking around was astounding, it looked like a half of Vale was living here at the moment, even though it was just after sunrise.

"It´s this way," pointed Ren towards the building opposite of theirs with huge medical symbol hung over its entrance.

They got several suspicious looks from the guards – Ironwood´s soldiers – but once they introduced themselves, they were let inside without problem. It also took them a while to find their way in the maze of hastily built walls and portable screens. It took several minutes before they found their teammates.

It was a small room, if you could call it a room with walls made of paper and cloth in iron frames, held together by sockets. But it seemed to block sound well enough, since they could only sometimes hear muffled conversations, and it gave one certain privacy, and that had to be enough.

There were two beds in the small space, both occupied. Pyrrha lay in the more comfortable and hospital-y looking, which had several appliances connected to it, and monitors on them showed numbers and graphs, none of which Nora understood. Jaune was sleeping in a simple bunk, not unlike the ones in which Ren and Nora spent their night. To Nora, they both were sleeping like little angels, if maybe Jaune´s angel was a little bit worried, and Pyrrha´s a tiny bit exhausted. But it could also be the fact that Jaune wasn´t much comfortable, still wearing his armour, jacket and jeans, in contrast to Pyrrha, who was clothed in loose light-blue pyjamas.

"Come on, Nora," Ren laid his hand on her shoulder just before she decided to jump in joy and start yelling at them to wake up, "they had a hard night, maybe we could show some discretion."

"You´re no fun," grumbled Nora, walked up to Jaune´s bed, jumped on his legs and spoke in a mild, not-at-all-yelling voice: "Wake up, oh our fearless leader."

"Whhaaaa!" Jaune´s startled yell certainly was loud, as he tried to get out of the bed, only to find his legs pinned by Nora´s weight. Ren only rolled his eyes, and sat himself delicately on Pyrrha´s bed, careful not to disturb her.

"We come to visit," he stated stoically.

"Owww," Jaune groaned, "my legs. Nora, could you please get up? You weigh a ton."

"Is that a comment about my figure?" asked the girl in question, dangerously pointing a fully loaded finger at the boy. Ren rolled his eyes, again, even though his lips were curved in an almost invisible smile.

"What? No, of course not," Jaune defended himself, "I´m just saying that you are very heavy!" Ren closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable sound of a fist connecting to a face, but surprisingly none came.

"I can´t even make fun of you," Nora sighed, "it´s because of this hospital. I think I wouldn't even be able to ridicule one of Yang´s lame puns, and that girl learned from the best. Or the worst, depends on how you look at it…" not that she would probably be hearing any more of those in coming days. Poor Yang.

Nora lost her energy as fast as she gained it, and fell silent for a while, so it was up to Ren to pick up after her.

"What happened yesterday? And how is Pyrrha?" he asked. "We only saw you returning and heard you were both alive, but not much more than that."

Jaune looked over at the still unconscious body of his teammate. Even their loud antics hadn't woken her. All the displays still showed no change whatsoever.

"The doctor said she´ll be fine," he finally answered in a quiet voice, not exactly worried, but not calm either. "Her shoulder and foot were injured, and she probably hit her head pretty hard, but other than that, she´s alright. Only needs rest, they said she should wake up today, probably."

"Probably?" asked Ren.

"The doctor who treated her when we arrived said head-injuries could be tricky," explained Jaune. "There´s a small chance she might have problems waking up. Could take weeks, maybe months."

"But it won´t come to that," declared Nora loudly, suddenly in high spirits again, "not with our Pyrrha. She´ll be up and kicking your ass in training tomorrow afternoon."

"She certainly will," added Ren with a confident nod.

"Thanks, guys," Jaune smiled at them.

"So, what happened next?" reminded him Nora. "Did you have to fight a dragon to save her? Or some arch-villain? Did you have a white horse?"

"Where would he get a white horse, Nora?" asked Ren reasonably, then added: "Although, I did saw a dragon at Beacon last night."

"I didn't have to fight in the end," started Jaune the explanation. "Ruby took out that dragon-Grimm, it seems."

"Really?" asked Ren and Nora in unison.

"So everybody says," shrugged Jaune. "I wasn't there. We went to help Ozpin with… I don't know, some important stuff he had in his basement, but he sent us back, said he would handle it, and so we ran.

Only, after we got clear of the school, Cinder, the one who was fighting Ozpin, came out of the building. She probably defeated the professor," Jaune hung his head for a second, and Nora exchanged worried glances with Ren. "Then Pyrrha decided to confront her on her own. She… she told me goodbye, stuffed me into a locker and sent me to the other side of the Vale. That´s when I called you guys, but you didn't answer. So I tried Ruby, and she said she and Weiss were going to help Pyrrha. After that, I found General Ironwood, and he gathered several soldiers and we all took an airship back to the school.

We found Weiss unconscious, but she woke up pretty soon," Jaune smirked, probably at some memory. "Then Pyrrha, down at the courtyard. Weiss told us she saw her failing from the tower, and slowed her fall with glyphs, that's where she hit her head," he gestured towards their unconscious teammate. "Then Mr Branwen, he was with us for the rescue, brought Ruby from the top of the tower. He and General Ironwood seemed to think that it was Ruby who froze the huge dragon-Grimm in the middle of the school… I don't know.

And after that, we all went back, flew to the docks and doctors came to us and… here we are."

There was a moment of silence, soon broken by Nora.

"Well, except for the five million details that you will tell us later, you missed the most important part," Nora leaned in to Jaune, so that only a few centimetres separated them, her grin wide and her eyes gleaming. "Did. You. Kiss?"

Pyrrha Nikos woke up to probably the most embarrassing question she ever heard in her life.

"Did. You. Kiss?" spoke the voice of Nora, her teammate.

Her next emotion was something between indignation and horror. The horror part was because the question connected her to all the events of the last day, every mistake and sorrow she made and endured.

The indignation part was because she felt she deserved at least several seconds of blissful ignorance. Did Nora really had to throw all of it at her right at as she woke up? She might have slowly remembered all of the things that happened, ease into it, as if walking gradually into a lake, one step at a time. Not jumping right into the deep end as a cannonball. Leave it to Nora to push her off the edge like that.

"I… erm… well…" Jaune obviously wasn't going to answer that question coherently. He must have been blushing quite profoundly right now, and part of her wished she had her eyes open, so that she could see it. He could be really adorable when blushing.

"Ooooh, you did!" Nora evidently drawn her own conclusions. "How was it? Was there tongue? How long it lasted? Did she grab your head, or neck? Or maybe your a-"

"Nora!" Ren interrupted her hastily, and she could feel him shifting on her bed. "You´re embarrassing our patient!"

"What?" both Nora and Jaune yelped in unison, and Pyrrha knew she had been discovered.

"I recommend a change of topic, Pyrrha is getting quite red in her face," Ren explained.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune´s voice was coming from much closer than before.

She tried her hardest to open her eyes, but succeeded only partially, opening one of them for a tiny bit, but that would probably suffice for now. She could make out three silhouettes hovering above her, each head coloured differently. Yellow, orange and black with violet streaks.

"Hello, guys," she spoke quietly, managing a weak smile at the people around her. Everyone was alright. They waited for her to wake up, and she guessed from the sounds that some of them probably slept in the same room. Friendships to last a lifetime indeed… Her eyes started to water at seeing her team like this.

"Pyrrhaaa!" Nora shouted at the top of her lungs and prepared to lunge bodily at her, only to be stopped in mid-air by Ren, who caught her by the collar and pulled the enthusiastic girl back.

"How are you feeling?" asked Jaune, his grin wide. She was not sure, with only one eye and that full of tears, but it seemed to her that he was a bit teary too.

"Tired," she answered, still weakly. Speaking was not difficult, but she had to make an effort to move her muscles. Like after a hard workout, only her entire body felt that way. "Shoulder hurts. Also foot."

"Doctors said that the tiredness is usual with hunters that had a hard fight and drained all of their reserves," Jaune explained, and Pyrrha only now realised he had one of his hands over hers, holding it gently. "You should recover your strength in a day or so, now that you woke up. Or so they said."

"I´ll let you know when it starts," she spoke weakly, but felt that if she put her mind to it she could form longer sentences without exhausting herself.

"What happened? How did I get here? And what of Ruby? I saw her at the top of that tower..." she hoped her friend hadn't gotten hurt defending her. "I remember falling-" her eyes widened, "-how did I survive that?"

"That was Weiss," explained Jaune, and quickly told her what he remembered from the last night, and what they gathered from Weiss. That still left Ruby´s story though.

"I saw Ruby fighting Cinder," supplied Pyrrha when he finished. She hadn´t felt like getting up from her bed yet, but still managed to keep both her eyes open comfortably and speaking was getting easier with practice. "She came in at the last second. She managed to corner her and tried to make her surrender, I think, but Cinder threw those flames at me and that pushed me off, and I don't remember anything else."

"You said Cinder was exhausted," Ren said thoughtfully, "so it stands to reason that Ruby took her down quickly, but I am not sure about that dragon-Grimm."

"You said Weiss saw some blinding white light," shrugged Nora, "maybe that was it."

"I never heard of any semblance doing anything like that," countered Ren.

"Maybe it wasn't semblance," Nora didn't let up, "maybe-"

"General Ironwood and Mr Branwen knew something," spoke Jaune in a rather quiet and startlingly intense voice. "They were looking at each other, and I could tell there was something that they didn't want to talk about in front of us. They´re keeping secrets."

At those words, Pyrrha felt her stomach drop.

"You mean about Ruby?" asked Nora in a whisper.

"Probably," Jaune shrugged, unsure, "maybe… I don't know."

Ren and Nora exchanged concerned glances and Pyrrha lowered her eyes, but no one spoke for a while.

"I do not know anything about that, specifically," Pyrrha broke the silence, and her tone was almost sad, "but I have something I should have told you guys, all of you. I am sorry, I should not have kept it from you before, and-"

"You don't have to, Pyrrha," Jaune interrupted her hurriedly, "I didn't mean that at you. If you don't want to-"

"It is alright, Jaune," she smiled, glad that he was so accepting, but that didn't diminish her mistake in keeping everything from her friends. "I want to tell you, and probably should have told you in the first place. I was not sure it was my place to reveal anything to you, but now I am certain."

"But…" Jaune began, his expression thoughtful, forming his words, "could you maybe wait at least a little bit, before you drop it on us? Right now, I feel worried out for at least whole week in advance."

"Alright," nodded Pyrrha happily, "it can wait, we can talk this evening."

"Whatever it is, we will help you," said Ren in a serious tone, laying his hand on her shoulder, his simple statement carrying enormous meaning.

"Yeee!" Nora squealed and pumped her fist, teeth flashing. "And I hope we will break somebody´s legs doing it!"

"Why would be need to-?" Jaune began, confused.

"Mind her not, for she is but a simple woman, used only to toil with her vast hammer," Ren held up a hand, forestalling everyone´s questions.

"Heyyyy," Nora pouted indignantly, but then crocked her head, "I do have a large hammer, though."

Jaune and Pyrrha laughed, quickly joined by Nora and Ren.

Not long after that, they got a visit from doctor Mirquez, a middle-aged man with greying hair and piercing blue eyes. He asked Pyrrha various questions about her body, movement or pain, and played for a bit with the monitors next to her bed. After that, he confirmed Jaune´s words that she should recover her strength quickly, and added that her injuries were not serious, but still worth some concern. It seemed that Cinder´s arrows were made of some sort of unusual material, and had been scorching hot when she fired them. Pyrrha´s wounds had some serious burns around and inside them; that had been a mixed blessing, as it stopped her from bleeding out, but the damage to muscles and internal tissue was larger than it looked at first glance. Her calf injury wasn't big, but it was in a much more critical spot than her shoulder wound. Several key tendons and muscles were torn or burnt, and needed time to heal.

The good doctor informed her that she should avoid putting any weight on her foot for at least several weeks, only walking with crutches, and after that she would have to use a cane for month or two. It was similar with her left arm; for now it was put in a splint all the way from her shoulder to her wrist and hung on a sling, none of which was supposed to be removed for at least three weeks or more. The only good thing was that she had injured her right leg and left arm, which meant she could still use crutch with her right hand and would have some mobility, even though the doctor still recommended use of a wheelchair, which he quickly provided.

The entire visit didn't take all that long and Dr Mirquez quickly departed, wishing Pyrrha a nice day and promising to check up on her in the evening or the next day. He was obviously overworked, which wasn't any surprise when one considered the size of the emergency medical ward.

After that, Nora proclaimed she wanted to visit Ruby and Weiss, or find out where they were, at least. Pyrrha was ready to bid them all goodbye, for at least a while, but Nora simply nudged the wheelchair towards the bed and looked expectantly towards Jaune and Ren.

The two boys, with some assistance from Pyrrha herself, quickly manoeuvred her into it and they all set off, Pyrrha rolling in the middle of them and Jaune pushing. She felt a bit ashamed… well, a lot ashamed of her disability, as she found out during the transition from the bed to the wheelchair that she barely had strength to move her legs or arms. It was almost humiliating to be moved around like a doll. Not that she minded the boys – Ren was like a brother to her, after a year of living in the same dorm, and the way Jaune was so careful to touch on the ´safe´ areas of her body almost got her to laugh out loud – but she still felt so powerless. It reminded her too much of the moments she knelt disarmed in front of Cinder with a drawn bow, her mind giving up on hope.

"Are you sure you´re ready for this?" asked Jaune worriedly, probably after seeing her expression at that thought.

"Of course, Jaune," she answered, shook her head to clear her mind of such depressing thoughts and smiled at the blonde boy. She was here with her friends, and that meant she was not powerless.

The search for Ruby and Weiss took them quite a while, and complicated even more after they lost Nora in the maze of ward rooms and corridors. The orange-haired girl had too much energy and couldn't keep the pace with Jaune, who refused to run around, pushing injured Pyrrha at dangerous speeds. Ren managed to get her back at first, but after the fifth time their friend simply disappeared, and now they were looking after Nora too, in addition of Ruby and Weiss. Ren was starting to fret and dash around a bit too.

"Jaune! Pyrrha! I found them!" came Nora´s voice after a while, and Ren immediately sprinted in that direction.

When the other pair got there, ironically to a room not that far from Pyrrha´s, Ren was panting and holding onto Nora´s jacket with his fist. "Don't… again… again…" he wheezed.

"Right inside, come on," gestured Nora and disappeared inside a door, dragging the poor boy behind her.

Jaune and Pyrrha in her wheelchair followed her, and found themselves in the typical setting, a small space with two beds, both occupied, walls made of cloth and several appliances in the back of the room.

"Nora!" came in Weiss´s voice from ahead, "and what happened to you, Ren? Is there still some fighting?"

"No fighting," answered Jaune, laughing, "looking after Nora can be tiring enough."

"Jaune, you are awake, good. How is… Pyrrha?" the eyes of the Schnee heiress bulged out at the sight of the fiery-haired warrior.

"It is you!" Weiss jumped out of her bed, covers flying, and came to stand before them. She made an abortive gesture that seemed like an official bow, then handshake, then an attempt to tackle the poor girl, and in the end hugged her friend from the uninjured side, kneeling beside the wheelchair to do so. "You´re really alive, I wasn't sure I used enough glyphs, and then maybe I used too much and they were weak, and… I am glad you´re alive."

"So am I," nodded the young woman in question and hugged back with one arm.

"We´re all fine, how are you two?" asked Nora as she flopped down on Ruby´s bunk, as she was of course the other occupant of the room, dressed in her pyjamas and sleeping like a rock. "Ruby seems sleepy as usual."

"Doctors said she will not be waking up for a while," answered Weiss, sitting down on her own bed. Ren moved Nora a bit to the side, to make more room, and Jaune settled next to Weiss, Pyrrha´s chair parked at an angle to the both beds, so she could see them all without straining her neck. "I don't know what happened on the top of that tower, but if Ruby really took out that dragon-Grimm, it must have been difficult. That rascal of a huntsman said she will not wake up for several days, but what does he know…" the heiress sniffed disdainfully.

After that followed the inevitable exchange of stories and piecing together events of the last night, from everyone´s perspective. They were very surprised and impressed by Weiss´s running fight with the huge Grimm, and worried by the fact it was capable of laughter. They also thanked her several times for saving Pyrrha´s life with her glyphs; the snow-haired girl took it in stride, waving it off as the least she could do, but Pyrrha could tell she was proud of her skill and ability.

"I´m just glad I was there to help," she said in the end, her cheeks blushing pink.

"Have you heard anything about the others?" asked Ren. "I saw Yang and Blake only last night as they brought them in."

"They are both next door," said Weiss, "but still unconscious. Blake had that stab wound in her belly, and Yang, well… you know."

"Know what?" asked Jaune confusedly, Pyrrha also looking around uncomprehendingly. "I hadn't seen her last night, what happened?"

"She and Blake got tangled with the White Fang, some of their elite members…" Weiss got up, walked to one of the cloth walls of the room and pulled it aside easily, revealing two beds pushed together. Blake and Yang lay side by side in them, Blake with most of her torso in bandages, and Yang´s injury painfully obvious.

"By the dust," escaped Pyrrha´s lips as she saw the missing arm. And here she thought they all managed to escape last night battle without any lasting damage. And it probably was not the arm that was the worst. It was Yang´s face – her features were always so full of life and power, eyes burning with passion, hair flying and mouth smirking. Pyrrha only now realised that the vitality and energy made up so much of her personality, and seeing it all absent now… Without it she looked fragile, weak and afraid, and seeing her like that almost broke Pyrrha´s heart.

Blake beside her was almost complete opposite. She was usually the one hiding her emotion behind calm mask, and not giving much away, but her face, even in her sleep, had an angry scowl, and her cat ears twitched from time to time, almost as if she was fidgeting restlessly.

"Yeah," Weiss whispered softly, walking to the side of the bed and raising her hand, as if to place it on Yang´s shoulder comfortingly, but pulling it back quickly. From her angle, Pyrrha could see the heiress´s expression, and it was so tender and vulnerable, she suddenly felt as if she was witnessing something private, and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

But Weiss shook her head quickly, as if waking up from something, and turned to them. "Well, I can certainly see to it that she receives top of the line replacement," she declared. "I´ll have words with the right people, and Atlas´s best will be here in no time."

"I just hope she can cope without it in the meantime," said Jaune, voicing Pyrrha´s own thoughts. "This won´t be easy on her."

Weiss walked back to her own room and pulled the curtain-wall back in the place, separating them from their sleeping friends. "That's what we are for," Weiss stated confidently, with a hint of posh, "we´ll be there for her and support her, as friends should."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, unfortunately," said a new voice from the door, and everyone jumped.

General Ironwood stood in the doorframe, wearing a new, albeit more worn out uniform, his arms crossed, watching all of them.

"General!" all of them yelped and everyone stood up; only Pyrrha gave it up after confirming she still could not move her legs, bar few twitches.

"I´m afraid I have some unfortunate news for all of you, so I would recommend sitting," he spoke in a solemn voice, "and I also carry a message for Miss Schnee. And I´d like to talk to Miss Nikos alone, if she´s willing."

"What´s up?" asked Nora. "It is something about the festival? I guess it will probably be cancelled now, right?"

"The Vytal festival fell apart yesterday evening," said the general, "that much is true. Most of the students from other schools are leaving as soon as they can. No one is using the word evacuation, but... the festival is definitely over.

And it´s much worse, I´m afraid," his deep voice didn't carry much tone, but Pyrrha could hear the sadness and sense of defeat coming from him. "The Beacon Academy is ceasing its function. It´s a temporary measure for now, but so far nobody knows what will come in the future."

"You are closing the school?" asked Weiss, horrified. Nora and Ren just bulged their eyes out and Pyrrha noticed their hands seeking each other as they sat on the bed. She knew what the school meant to them, and also to her. What will become of them? Will they have to leave for their homes? Nora and Ren had none. But she also noticed that Jaune did not look as surprised as the others did.

"It's the Grimm on the tower, right?" he asked in a low tone. "It's still there, and you don't know how to get rid of it."

The general nodded. "Yes. The huge beast seems to attract Grimm from across half the continent. We can secure the Vale, and try to contain the migration towards the school, but retaking the castle and the grounds around it would be too difficult, and probably too costly for the possible gain."

"What is going to happen to us? And other students?" asked Pyrrha, her head spinning from the shock.

"Many of you will probably be given opportunities to continue your studies in one of the other schools. Miss Valkyrie and Mr Ren, as citizens of Mistral, you two have guaranteed places in Haven. To you, Mr Arc, I´d like to offer a place in the Atlas Institute, we would certainly welcome your strength and talent," he nodded confidently at Jaune, and then turned to Pyrrha, his face conflicted. "As for you, Miss Nikos… I am afraid that your position is somewhat more complicated. While you are an exceptional student, a true prodigy, the recent events would make it difficult for you to be accepted to any school or institute in the four kingdoms."

"You mean because half the Remnant saw what… what happened at the stadium? What I did to Penny?" Pyrrha´s voice was almost a whisper and she felt her eyes starting to water. "That I killed her?"

"You don't know? Well, I´m glad to deliver at least some good news today then," to everyone´s surprise, Ironwood smiled. "Miss Polendina was indeed severely damaged, and it will take some time to reassemble her properly, but I assure you, her core matrix and memory banks were intact, and she will be all right once we get her to her creator."

"You can repair her?" asked Nora surprised. "And she will be the same Penny?"

"Indeed," Ironwood was still smiling, "her… injuries… only put her out of action, but as long as the key parts survive, she can be repaired as good as new, still the same personality and memories. And we made those key parts very, very durable. I would be as bold as to claim that you wouldn't be able to damage them even if you wanted to."

Pyrrha simply gaped, half of her mind having problems comprehending what the general just said. It was the one thing about the last night she did not yet dared to think about, avoiding the issue in her mind until a quiet and private moment, because she was sure she would break down in tears and despair. She thought she had killed Penny, tore her to pieces in panic, and truly ended someone´s life. It did not matter that the life was robotic, she was obviously a living, thinking being with emotions.

But she had not ended anything… It felt as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders, the dark blanket covering her heart was gone. Was it possible that everything bad that happened yesterday would be undone?

"Miss Poledina will be alright," the general spoke up again, "but that doesn't change the fact you already mentioned, Miss Nikos. Half the Remnant saw you seemingly kill an opponent in a championship match. Your face probably won´t appear on any Wanted posters within the kingdoms, but… be prepared for some negative reactions. The way our enemies presented it made sure your face will be very well remembered among the population."

Pyrrha had a feeling her mind was starting to go numb from all of the sudden shocks. Now she had to acknowledge that she would be a pariah in most of the civilised world? No, her brain seemed to be saying, I had enough, let us process it later. I am not dealing with all of this right now.

"That´s fine, as long as my friends know what really happened," Pyrrha´s smile was tired, but it was nonetheless a smile. She felt Jaune´s and Weiss´s hands grip her arm from each side, and saw Nora´s encouraging smile.

"And we do indeed," added Ren and nodded at her seriously.

"Sir, but what about us?" asked Weiss after a short silence. "I guess I can go to the Atlas Institute also, but what about Ruby? And Blake and Yang?"

"Taiyang Long will be taking both his daughters home," the general inclined his head towards Ruby, "he is just now speaking with the doctors about their treatment, and I expect they will both be sleeping in their own beds this evening. What will they do next is up to him, or more likely, up to them.

Miss Belladonna will certainly be accepted at the schools in Vacuo or Mistral, the decision, again, being up to her. But as for you, Miss Schnee," the general turned towards Weiss, "I am here also to deliver a message from your father. He is waiting for you at the Vale´s lower landing platform."

Weiss let out a high pitch yell and scrambled across her bed, away from Ironwood, and it seemed she was trying to crawl under her blankets, despite the fact that Jaune was sitting on them.

"What does he want?" she asked in an uncertain voice.

"I have no idea," the general shrugged, "but judging from the fact that his private airship is spooling her engines, ready to take off at moment´s notice, I guess he means to leave soon, and expects you to accompany him."

Weiss looked like a cornered animal for a moment, scared and desperate, but then she let out a deep sigh and her features smoothed over into a mask of calmness and serenity.

"It looks like there isn't much I can do, is there?" she asked in a resigned voice, getting up from her bed.

Ironwood didn't answer for a long while, watching Weiss starting to put together the few things she had on her when they fled the stadium, and then pick up the Myrtenaster. Only after she was finished and obviously ready to leave, which took only about ten seconds, he spoke up again. "I have to take back my words towards you from the last time we saw each other in your father´s house, Miss Schnee. In some ways, you are truly Winter´s sister, and I wouldn't dream of adding little. I look forward to seeing you in the Atlas Institute, young lady."

Weiss beamed up at the tall man with gratitude, and then turned to her friends.

"Pyrrha, I´m so glad you´re alive and well, and the same goes for all of you," she told them sincerely. "Send Ruby my love and tell her I will miss her, once she wakes up. I will do what I can for Yang, but I don't know what it will be, now that my... I just don't know. And tell Blake I won't forget her words, and thank her for opening my eyes, she will know what it means. I´ll try to get in touch. May you all be in good health and spirits," the words spilled from the Schnee heiress like water, Pyrrha and her friends almost having no time to react before she was at the door, the general sidestepping for her.

"You´re just… leaving?" asked Nora, uncomprehending. Others were just staring, completely stunned.

Weiss stopped and turned around as she was leaving the hospital room. "Yes. I don't want to keep my father waiting," she answered and even though her face was calm, they could all see the sadness in her eyes. "Seriously, guys, I´ll miss you all… well, except you, Arc, of course," she added dismissively, but her lips were twitching.

"Ooh, you wound me with your words!" Jaune fell theatrically from the bed, clutching at his heart. "Everything is turning black, I am dying!"

Weiss giggled along with the others at the blond-haired boy´s antics, then quickly turned and left the small ward. There were a few seconds of silence, during which Ren helped Jaune get up, and when Pyrrha opened her mouth to say something, the head with long scar across one eye and long, pristine snow hair appeared once more in the doorway: "Don't forget what I said! Tell Ruby I´ll miss her!" and then she was gone.

"Just like that?" asked Nora, still flabbergasted.

"Her father is probably a very strict man," said Ren.

"You have no idea," answered General Ironwood, stepping back inside the room, but gestured towards the exit. "Miss Nikos, if I may have a moment of your time?"

Pyrrha straightened her back as much as she could, straining her protesting muscles to the limit. "I will be telling my friends everything, as soon as I can," she declared defiantly.

General Ironwood considered her a long moment, before shrugging: "Under the circumstances, that may probably be for the best. Without professor Ozpin, most of us have differing opinions about how to proceed with our… mission, and your judgement is now probably as sound as everyone else´s."

"Is he really gone, then?" asked Jaune in a defeated tone.

"You are leaving it up to me?" Pyrrha was more than surprised.

"I don't think he´s dead," general sounded thoughtful, but convinced, "but he´ll probably be unavailable to us for some time. And yes, Miss Nikos, you are free to do what you think is best. We would certainly like to advice you, but the final decision is up to you. And right now, I had most of my work of the last several years pulled down around me. Glynda will have her hands full of securing the Vale and trying to sort out all the students. Your best bet now would be Qrow Branwen, but don't expect him to be available all the time. He is not the socializing type. I´m almost sorry to say that we´ll have to leave you on your own for the most part."

Pyrrha sat in silence for a while, thinking hard, while her teammates watched her, mostly confused, and Ironwood waited patiently. After a minute or so, she shrugged her good shoulder a tiny bit.

"I do not think I have to worry right now about what I want to do in the future," she said, "since I will not be walking properly for at least two months and my arm will be in this sling for at least as long. Then I can decide what to do."

"You´re probably right," the general nodded, starting towards her wheelchair, "now, if you will allow me, we have several points we need to discuss."

"Jaune," Pyrrha turned to her blonde friend, her eyes uncertain, "could you please come with me?"

The young man was startled, to say the least, but he quickly nodded, got up from the bed and grabbed the handles. Pyrrha felt her heart surge at his immediate response. He didn't even hesitate… She knew she probably took his earlier remarks about keeping secrets too hard, but it still bothered her. Jaune rarely got angry, but he certainly didn´t like being kept in the dark, and from the several looks he threw at the general during their conversation, she knew he had issues with the man. And even though he obviously didn't hold it against her personally, she still felt immensely guilty for not telling him, or Nora and Ren, anything. She made a mistake, instead of accepting the help people around her offered, she pushed them away, literally showing Jaune into the flying locker to send him away. Her friends were there for her, but she chose to ignore them. She kept telling herself it was because she did not want to see them hurt, but there was also the possibility, although she didn't like to admit it, that it was her unwitting arrogance – she knew she was better than her teammates, so she pushed them away so they would not hold her back. Maybe it was a little bit of both? She wished she knew the answer to that.

And as the result of her choice, she lost, and lost hard. If not for the intervention of Ruby and Weiss, who were sent there by Jaune in the first place, she would be dead now. It was that simple. All of her friends tried their hardest to get to her, to help her, after she pushed them away, and they all almost lost their lives doing it. Maybe if they went to confront Cinder together… Weiss held her own against that monster of a Grimm for quite a while, and Ruby somehow miraculously froze it, and defeated Cinder at the same time. And while Jaune and Ren weren´t the hardest hitters, they could certainly help, and Nora´s hammer definitely counted as a hard hit. She felt so much shame and regret for mistreating her friends, she half expected them to shun her now. But the first thing she saw, as she woke up, were the three heads of her teammates. And Weiss hugged her as soon as she had a chance, even though Pyrrha´s actions almost got her killed.

It was because of all this, that Jaune´s words about keeping secrets hit her so hard; it was exactly the angry reaction she expected from him, and even felt she deserved in some way. Yet he was not directing it exactly at her, and his actions spoke of simple, unquestioning trust in her. That was better than she felt she was worth, but all she could do was to accept it, and try not to betray the trust of her friends for a second time. She would not repeat the same mistakes. Her friends deserved infinitely much better than that.

"Thank you," she said, and for once did not feel powerless, despite having almost no strength in her muscles. She was done pushing her friends away.

She woke up annoyed and tired. She once again wedged her arm under her at a bad angle as she was sleeping, and now she felt only a phantom tingling from it. It was always this way, since she couldn't sleep on her stomach – which she loved to do as a kid. Some parts of her just… got in the way. She was always searching for the perfect sleeping position, which involved her parts safely tucked somewhere they didn't get in the way, and her arms and legs comfortably stretched. But arm-cramps in the morning were part of her life since she got those damned parts.

She didn't really mind all that much. The attention was surely flattering and she certainly knew how to use it to her advantage, but sometimes she envied her sister… or Weiss. Now those were nice, practical parts. Get the job done, but not get in the way.

She tried opening one eye to survey the room, and to decide if it was truly necessary to get up. Ruby and Weiss would be running about already, but Blake in the top bed was probably still curled in a ball. That girl truly lived up to her faunus heritage.

But what she saw confused her. Blake was already on her feet, crouching next to the bed, her back turned. Was that a backpack over her shoulder?

"What got you up so early in the morning?" she asked, her mind still only halfway to conscious. "Isn´t it a bit too late for a moonlit stroll over the rooftops?" the cat-jokes were her favourite ever since they found out about Blake´s ears.

Her teammate jumped and turned around, her eyes huge.

"You´re awake!" she yelped, but for some reason kept her voice down. Were Ruby and Weiss still sleeping and she was being polite? She thought she heard Weiss talking somewhere nearby, so that wasn't true.

"Of course," she answered with a yawn, "just give me a minute, I´ll get up in a sec. But really, what´s with the bag?"

The eyes of her partner had a strange shine in them. They weren't tears, but what…?

"I´m sorry, Yang," spoke Blake, voice breaking, and her form suddenly darkened into black shadow and quickly dissolved to nothingness. The faunus was gone.

She tried getting up from her bed, and immediately fell down. Her damn hand was still asleep, the tingling wasn't getting any stronger to signify the blood flowing back into it. Well, at least she could use it as a leverage.

She reached with her left hand to grab her right and put it under her to prop herself.

The fingers found only empty air.

Once Jaune, Pyrrha and General Ironwood got outside, it was only a short walk – or a ride in her case – to an improvised military camp, where Ironwood´s soldiers were sleeping. There were only about fifty of them left, but that did not mean anything to Pyrrha, since she did not know…

"General Ironwood?" she asked, as they neared a tent set a small distance from the others. "How many soldiers arrived here with you?"

"Eighty six," he answered in a heavy voice, and suddenly seemed much older to her. "I have forty five now."

Jaune almost lost his balance, and Pyrrha had a tense moment, since it seemed he would lose control over her wheelchair.

"Sir, I knew there was heavy fighting, but… that many?" the blonde boy was stricken. "We haven't lost any students, as far as I know. I just thought it wasn't all that bad."

"That's what we soldiers are here for," the general´s voice was as hard as steel, pride and sorrow mixing together. "So none of the students and civilians have to die. And sometimes, it´s up to us to do the dying in their place."

Jaune and Pyrrha didn't have any reply, so they travelled rest of the way in silence. And because of that, they could hear an exchange from inside the tent, before they entered.

"…I´m simply saying, it might be quicker, to-" spoke a female voice, but was interrupted.

"A search might draw attention to him," there was the other voice, man´s. "Right now he´s probably weak and vulnerable, and if they find him…"

General Ironwood stepped inside, cleared his throat loudly and both voices quieted. When Pyrrha entered with Jaune, they saw a small table with several maps and other papers, and Glynda Goodwitch and Qrow Branwen standing on the opposite sides of the table, arguing. Or at least, they were, because now they turned their attention to the newcomers.

Qrow Branwen simply smiled crookedly at the pair, and nodded at them, but deputy-headmistress Goodwitch scowled.

"James, we agreed we won´t involve any more people in this," she stated in a disapproving tone.

"I´d say the lass deserves to make her own choice, don't you?" Qrow raised one eyebrow at the general, who nodded.

"We don't have Ozpin to guide us right now," he said. "And can you honestly say you know better than her?"

"After the way the bad guys sucker-punched us last night?" added Qrow. "Those kids did better job at stopping Cinder than any of us."

Professor Goodwitch harrumphed, but didn't say anything. They all settled around the table, the general, the hunter and the teacher on one side, the two students on the other.

"First thing first, we need to know everything that happened in the dungeons," started the general. "The last thing Ozpin told us was that he planned to start the transfer between you and Amber. How did it go?"

Pyrrha shuddered a bit at the memory. She still could not describe, even inside her head, how it felt, the connection with the previous Fall Maiden. Like receiving a dose of pure, wild energy, like having her blood pumping at twice the normal rate. But that did not even come close, and left out the weird intimacy with the person on the other side of the transfer, and that creeping unnaturalness of the whole process. And when Amber got shot with Cinder´s arrow, Pyrrha almost felt the pain herself, as if it was her who was dying.

She shuddered again, but took a deep breath, and in quick, simple sentences described to the trio everything that happened last night, from the moment she chose to follow Ozpin inside the school.

"This complicates things," spoke professor Goodwitch, after Pyrrha finished. "It seems like you received some of the Fall Maiden´s power, but majority went to Cinder."

"And from what you said, she was able to use that power immediately, and quite successfully," continued the general in a thoughtful tone. "That is worrying."

"But… did not Ruby defeat Cinder? Should not have her part of the power come to Ruby?" asked Pyrrha.

"The pipsqueak didn't kill Cinder," answered Qrow. By his voice, he neither agreed nor disagreed with the act, "though I suspect she had her chance. But Cinder ran, with most of the Maiden´s power."

"I can understand Ruby beating Cinder," spoke up Jaune. Pyrrha was appreciative of his willingness to simply listen, even though he probably didn't yet comprehend what they were all talking about. "But how did she take out that dragon-Grimm? That thing was huge."

Pyrrha noticed that even general Ironwood and professor Goodwitch both raised their eyebrows a little bit and glanced towards red-eyed hunter.

"That… might be difficult to believe," started Qrow evasively, but Jaune did not say anything in response, simply stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. Pyrrha was uncertain about this direct and intense young man, who was very much unlike the clumsy, jovial Jaune Arc she knew from the school.

"Have you ever heard of the Silver-eyed warriors?" asked Mr Branwen after a short while.

"That´s an old myth," shrugged the general, but none of the others seemed to catch.

"It´s no myth," said Qrow and lowered his voice, so it would not carry far, and they all had to lean in to hear him properly. "It was from the time even before the hunters and huntresses. Those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior, and they were the very best. Fearsome fighters and killers. It was said that even a single look of those silver eyes could freeze a Grimm into stone. They were the one thing even the creatures of the dark feared."

"Don't be absurd," waved professor Goodwitch her hand dismissively. "Grimm have no higher emotions, no fear, and I never heard of anyone freezing one of those creatures."

General Ironwood rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Have you looked at the Tower of Beacon lately, Glynda?" he said, and then narrowed his eyes at Qrow. "And you think that Ruby Rose is one of those Silver-eyed warriors?"

"I don't think, I know," said the hunter, irritated. "The trait is inherited, and you both met Summer. You can't tell me that woman wasn't a top tier fighter." That made both of the adults think for a long time, and meanwhile, Qrow continued: "Ozpin knew all of this, that's why he accepted her into the school early. And she´s still the best fighter in her year, with the exception of you, kid," he nodded towards Pyrrha. "And she only started growing. The stare thing is probably not conscious, like a semblance, but something that triggers by itself, when she really needs it to. I have a feeling she won´t remember much of her fight against Cinder, and nothing about taking down that dragon-Grimm. I´ll talk to her once she wakes up, and explain things, but even I don't know that much."

"Well, are we supposed to train her?" wondered the general. "I can take her to the Atlas Institute, but I probably won´t have much time for her myself. And her personality…"

"She wouldn't fit it with your boys and girls in uniforms," smirked Qrow. "You got that right. And Glynda," he turned to the teacher just as she was opening her mouth. "I know you´re a good teacher, great even, but look at the state of Beacon, Vale city and the kingdom in general. Do you really want to look after the hyperactive little tyke? In this chaos?"

"You obviously plan to teach her yourself," professor Goodwitch´s eyebrows were knitted together dangerously.

"Nope," the hunter threw his arms wide, "since I already taught her most of what I know. She only needs practice, experience and strength, but otherwise she´s as good as me."

"So what… we just leave her home, living with her father and waiting for Cinder to come for her?" demanded Ironwood indignantly.

"She won´t stay home," Qrow sat down on one of the chairs that were around the table, so far unused by anyone. "Ruby´s a fighting spirit, she won´t sit still. She´ll go hunting after Cinder and her crowd at the first opportunity she gets."

"Oh, the plan is for her to run blindly into danger?" professor Goodwitch was still frowning.

"Hey, either she goes after them when and where we can watch over her, or we try to stop her, and then she´ll gives us a slip and runs off to only Darkness knows where."

"And by we in this case, you mean yourself," clarified the general.

"You two are welcome to join up," the hunter spoke in a voice heavy with sarcasm, and then pulled out a small flask from a pocket and took a gulp. "I have some leads to follow up anyways, so I can sure use the help."

"I know we don't have much choice," said the teacher after a long pause, her tone sad and resigned. "But I still don't like sending such a small child into danger alone."

Qrow only snorted, and took another gulp from the bottle, and the quiet stretched, as the other two adults were lost in thoughts.

"We´ll go with her," said Jaune suddenly into the silence. Pyrrha was not at all surprised, as she was only half a second behind him with the same words. She did not miss the small twitch of Qrow´s lips.

"With all due respect, sir, general," Jaune continued, emboldened by Pyrrha´s reassuring grip on his shoulder, "I don't want to go to your Institute. If Ruby runs after Cinder and her allies, we´ll be right there with her."

"I understand you probably want to protect me right now," added the fiery-haired warrior beside him, "but I will not sit out everything in safety, while my friends are out there, risking their lives."

"You do know that you´re Cinder´s number one target right now," asked Qrow off-handedly, his fingers playing with the flask on the table, slowly rotating it. "She´ll want to kill or capture you and get the rest of the power for herself."

Pyrrha gulped at that, but nodded. "I won´t confront her alone again, sir," she said, yet her voice was not exactly steady.

"The best thing would be…" started the shabby hunter, still in the same tone, but his eyes left the rotating flask, and pierced her with a look so intense she broke a sweat. "If you managed to kill Cinder yourself, and make the Fall Maiden whole again."

"Qrow!" the professor reacted immediately, turning furiously on the man.

"You can´t ask her to do something like that," Jaune wasn't much slower. But the general was silent, and Pyrrha herself hadn't said anything. Partly, she was horrified that she did not flinch in the face of Qrow´s words, and accepted them as more or less truth. She probably knew right from the moment they realised that Cinder stole part of the Fall Maiden´s power, that she would have to face the woman again. The difficult part was coming to terms with how this particular road would end, even if Pyrrha won.

"It may not be necessary," spoke up the general after a short deliberation. "We still have the transfer technology we tried with Amber, and we now know it works. Capturing Cinder would probably suffice."

"Eh," the shabby hunter shrugged his shoulders, "that's probably true. I´m just saying the killing is easier… OW!" He yelped, as Glynda whacked him on the head with quite some force.

"Truly an example to the coming generation," she said caustically. Pyrrha could not help it and giggled a bit, and saw that Jaune was also snickering. The sight of their teacher berating the tall, cynic hunter, like he was a fifteen-year old student was just too funny. And the realisation that Pyrrha could probably avoid becoming a murderess certainly helped.

"You still have quite a recovery in front of you, Miss Nikos," even the general´s lips were twitching, "these questions can come later, and we all have a lot on our minds right now."

"If you would, I´d like you to stay with me and several other students that probably have nowhere to go," professor Goodwitch turned to Pyrrha with her kind face, which was a rare sight. "The Beacon Academy owns several buildings in the Vale city, and I can see to your housing and treatment. Your team is welcome to join you, of course."

"That sounds great," Pyrrha smiled in gratitude, "I think Nora and Ren would like to stay here as well."

"Will team RWBY be with us?" inquired Jaune hopefully. Pyrrha almost smiled at the image of all the mischief they all would get into together.

"I… don't think so," the general spoke up slowly. "Miss Schnee flew away about half an hour ago, as you know. And I have a feeling that Miss Belladona will not be staying here either."

"What do you mean?" asked Pyrrha, perplexed.

"We heard some grumblings from Menagerie, back where her folks live," commented Qrow, "I have to agree with the soldier-boy here, the girl won´t sit still."

"Can't you stop her?" Jaune wanted to know.

"Since the Beacon Academy is no more, we can hardly try to convince anyone to stay," said professor Goodwitch sadly. "Although I would be sad to see Miss Belladona go, I too half-expect her to do so, even though I still plan to convince her not to."

"Ruby and Yang are going home, too," Qrow stopped playing with his flask and got up from his chair. "Taiyang is picking them up, probably as we speak. Which reminds me I´m going with him, since we got through the important stuff here already."

"Can I count on you to stay within the refugee compound, Miss Nikos, Mr Arc?" asked professor Goodwitch, also heading to the opening in the tent. "I imagine we´ll all be quite busy in the days to come, and I could use all the help I can get, at least from those who can stand."

"Certainly, professor," nodded Jaune.

"I am… not sure what good will I do," sighed Pyrrha. "I cannot even get up from this chair by myself."

"Your job is to get better, Pyrrha," Jaune patted her shoulders lightly and turned the wheelchair toward the exit. "Leave the rest to us."

"Will you let us know what Ruby is up to?" Pyrrha asked Qrow as he was leaving.

"Sure thing, kid," the shabby hunter looked over his shoulder, "I´ll tell her she can count on you."

"Glynda, I want to talk to you about the Academy compound, we need to…" General Ironwood fell into step beside the professor, as they walked away from the pair of students. Qrow Branwen also disappeared quickly among the tents.

"It looks like everyone on team RWBY is going their own separate ways," said Pyrrha, looking around the refugee camp as they rolled through.

"But JNPR is staying together," countered Jaune in a confident tone. "We won´t let anything separate us, and then we´ll help RWBY get together once again."

Pyrrha smiled, her heart soaring with pride in the young man beside her. "Thank you, Jaune."

"For what?" asked the confused warrior.

"Everything," she answered.

"Alright… I guess?" he shrugged, still clueless.

The young hunter and huntress moved among the refugees in silence for a while.

"Do we now go find Ren and Nora?" he asked after they arrived among the warehouses once more.

"I think I would like to lie down and rest," answered Pyrrha. Despite the fact that she did not have to move, she still felt exhausted. "We also need to talk. Just the two of us."

Jaune´s ears reddened, but he nodded his head and then said: "Alright, to the hospital first. Then we can talk."

Disclaimer: Sadly, none of these wonderful characters belong to me.

A/N: This more or less concludes the prologue for my story - I had planned on a single short chapter, but ended up with something so long it had to be separated into two parts. From now on, while the story will take into account the events of 4th season, I will start making it my own. I´m looking forward to where this journey takes me, and hope many of you will like what I create. I´m very grateful for your reviews and follows (which I already got more of than expected) - it certainly fills me with hope and confidence to continue writing at my highest speed. I can´t promise regular updates, but so far the plan is about one chapter a month. We´ll see whether this survives contact with reality.

And of course, huge thanks to my betareader - Kasumi, who I more or less got me to start writing this all down in the first place, and who can stand and listen to me blabber about RWBY for gods only know how long.