Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Fall

Summer Belladonna-Xiao Long stared at the smoke filled orange horizon through her window, Patch was burning, the last holdout against Salem was about to fall, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

In truth she had known this day was coming, ever since her aunt died After all, without a silver eyed warrior, how could one hope to stop the Grimm's undying Queen? They kept fighting as best they could, weakening Salem's forces, killing her top lieutenants, destroying as many Grimm as they could. But deep down, Summer knew all that effort, every friend lost, every sacrifice made in the years since her aunt Ruby died, it was all just to push back this day as long as they could.

But there was only so much they could do to delay, and now Summer was about to see a war that had been fought for thousands of years come to an end, and all she could do was try and survive it.

The door nearly slammed open, pulling Summer's thoughts away from the smoke blowing in the wind. Her sister, Kali, was standing in the doorway, an urgent expression on her face.

"Mom's back," Kali declared, "Nora's getting the boat ready but they need time, so we're leaving in 15 minutes, make sure you're packed, remember only the essentials. Food, weapons, and-"

"Small things that can't be replaced, like photos, I know." Summer finished, the two yellow cat ears on top of her head pulling back as she looked at her backpack leaning against her bed, the brown thing nearly stuffed to capacity.

Kali looked at Summer, concern filling her bright amber eyes.

"I know this isn't the ending we hoped for but it will be okay," she promised, "We'll stay on Menagerie with Grandma and our moms will find some nice quiet place in the woods to live, it will work." She gave a small smile. "We'll even be able to visit them occasionally, Salem won't care."

Summer shook her head.

"You know they're just telling us they'll get their own place to make us feel better, right?" she asked, "Salem might leave us alone, but she will hunt mom for as long as she lives."

That was maybe the most frustrating part of this whole thing for Summer, even in victory, Salem was never going to give their parents peace.

"They'll find a way! They always have!" Kali declared, "We may not be able to stop Salem, but she can't be everywhere! They'll find a way to escape, I know they will."

"The Summer Maiden tried that and look at how far that got her," Summer rebutted melancholically.

"I don't care about the Summer Maiden," Kali's voice grew sharper, but not to a yell, Kali never yelled, "Mom will find a way to survive, she always has. She wouldn't let Aunt Ruby down by dying now."

Kali grabbed her sister in a brief but tight hug, her hand holding the back of Summer's head.

"Our moms are more than strong enough to handle this, and we've gotten out of worse situations," Kali assured her, "We'll make it out of this alive, I know we will."

Summer smiled sadly. Kali's optimism often proved off the mark but this was not the day to crush it. And Maybe she was right for once, their parents had survived a great many things, and they'd all seen the impossible happen more than once.

"Here, you should put on the red scarf I gave you, it's always been lucky," Kali said, offering her the scarf in question. It had been Kali's birthday gift to her twin sister a few years before.

"Yes I'm sure this will come in very handy on a tropical island," Summer replied with a smirk before taking it, wrapping it around her neck. It was lucky after all.

Summer collected the last of her things, mainly the broken remnants of her mentor's weapons. She had intended to fix them before they left but like with so many things, she simply ran out of time.

Besides that she grabbed two photos that she had on her work bench, the first was them as young children, held by their parents as their Aunt Ruby, Weiss and their grandfather Tai and great uncle Qrow gathered round, all smiles. The other was much more recent, only taken a few months ago, it was just the four of them standing in front of the house, the smiles somehow still there.

"Mind if I take that one?" Kali gestured to the one that was just the four of them, "I want to make sure it gets a good place on grandma's mantle."

"Sure," Summer nodded as she handed the photo to her. Kali gently placed the photo in her black backpack.

"All set?" Kali asked.

Summer looked around at their bedroom one last time, at all the stuff they had to leave behind like her tools and Kali's books. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Her sister gave a reassuring smile before grabbing her hand.

"Come, our moms are waiting outside," she said.

The two rushed downstairs and outside, Summer doing her best to avoid looking at their home as they left. They found their parents, Blake and Yang Belladonna-Xiao Long, standing by the garage. They had all too familiar smiles on their face, cheerful and warm but poorly hiding their exhaustion and worry.

Her parents were always so tired, Summer realized, rare was the time she saw them where they didn't look exhausted. That might have been due to how rarely she saw them. Usually they were away on missions, or Summer and Kali were.

In retrospect, maybe staying on Menagerie while her parents hide in some remote corner of Remnant wouldn't be that big of a change compared to their normal routine.

"Alright, we're ready!" Kali, her cheerful tone making it sound like they were going on a trip instead of fleeing for their lives.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke, no hint of blood though, and the wind was free of the sounds of Grimm, for the moment they were still relatively safe.

"Okay, the important thing to keep in mind is Salem knows we are on the island but she doesn't know where, so we need to move quickly and quietly," Yang explained. "If she finds us she'll more than likely swarm us, so it is absolutely important we stay hidden. Don't let yourself get drawn into a fight unless you absolutely have to. Remember, we're not making a final stand here, we're evacuating, along with most of the island."

"Help the others when you can but use caution," Blake warned them, "We're still huntresses, at least for the moment," her voice becoming dejected, "and we have a duty to protect people, but if we get caught it will be putting those same people in danger."

Summer and Kali nodded.

"Good, now let's get-" Their mom was interrupted by the blaring siren of a proximity alarm, and in an instant everyone pulled out their weapons, preparing for an attack.

Summer trained her revolvers on the tree line as she looked for any hint of Grimm.

Summer quickly realized what triggered the Alarm wasn't a Grimm, nor was it any of Salem's minions or even the Queen herself, it was something else entirely, something far stranger.

Summer could only describe it as a hole in the very air, like someone had someone ripped apart reality itself and just left a massive scar in the air just above the trees. Inside the scar was pure blackness, a void far darker than any night that Summer had ever known. And it was growing, threading through the air, ripping it further apart with each passing second.

Then the wind started, a great howling gust that somehow wrapped around them, clawing at their clothes.

The sight of the impossible void had Summer so entranced she almost missed the wind beginning to lift Kali up, until her sister screamed that is.

Immediately Summer grabbed her sister's hand and held it as tightly as she could.

"I got you!" Summer screamed over the wind as she struggled to maintain her foot, the wind dragging them

She felt her mother wrapping her arms around her waist, soon the entire family was holding onto each, desperately trying to resist whatever the hell this thing was.

Summer grip grew tighter and tighter but somehow Kali was slipping away.

"Don't let go!" Summer begged.

The ground pulled out from under her feet, her mother's grip slipped away, the wind began to pull even harder at the two of them, dragging them towards the void.

Summer could barely hear her parents screaming behind her.

One hand came loose, so Summer grabbed Kali's other arm, but it wasn't enough, her sister slipped away.

"Summer!" Kali screamed in terror before the void took her, disappearing into the all consuming blackness.

All Summer could do was watch helplessly, staring numbly ahead before the winds took her into the void as well.

For a moment there was nothing, no Remnant, no noise, no smell or sight, just Summer alone in an endless nothingness, her mind filled with little more than pure terror, her screams silent in the void.

Then she began to fall, slowly at first, as though she was traveling through water, then much faster, and soon the nothingness gave way and Summer was greeted by the sight of a half finished building in ruins below her.

*CRASH*

Sense returned to Summer as she found herself among a pile of old timber and broken white washed panels.

'I'm not dead,' Summer realized in shock, having expected to meet her end in the void.

Summer looked around, realizing very quickly something was very off about her surroundings.

The sky above her was not the smoke filled glow of early morning and the air was far colder than it had been a few moments ago. The building she'd fallen into looked like nothing on patch, the design was all different and the building itself was abandoned and unfinished, no one wasted a building this large on Patch.

"Are you okay?" A male voice called out, the voice sounding almost familiar but Summer couldn't quite place it.

Summer staggered to her feet, her mind swimming as her body threatened to collapse, her stomach felt like it was doing revolutions inside of her, It was all she could do to prevent herself from puking out her guts.

She wiped the dust off of her face as she cautiously pulled herself out of the ruins. Her hand near her revolver as a precaution. Experience had taught her that coming with weapons drawn when dealing with new people often just made things a lot more complicated but one also had to be prepared for a fight at almost all times, particularly in unfamiliar surroundings.

Summer looked around, surrounding the now largely collapsed building she fell on were more ruins, sagging lumber covered with moss, white walls that have gone gray with age, a large road of stone stood before her, in the center of it was a fountain that had never been used.

"I'm in Mistral?" Summer said in disbelief as she stared at the white walls and red roofs of the surrounding buildings.

Summer could vaguely tell there were people standing near her but in her shock she barely noticed them.

How the hell was she in Mistral, and why? This didn't make any sense to Summer, Salem was powerful sure but this didn't seem like something she would do, not to her at least. And Summer couldn't think of anyone alive who had semblance that could send people across Remnant.

"You fell from the sky," one of the voices said in disbelief.

Summer paused, her blood running cold as she recognized the voice of the man speaking to her. She turned to see Lie Ren staring at her in shock.

Lie Ren, a friend of the family since before she was born, Lie Ren; a man who had saved Summer's life on more than one occasion, Lie Ren; who had been dead for two years now, having fallen in the same battle that took her Aunt Ruby.

And yet he was standing before her, alive. To make it even more confusing, he looked like a teenager, barely older than her.

"Wha-" Summer stammered, her brain on the verge of shutting down from sheer confusion.

"You might want to sit down," Jaune Arc spoke up, despite having been dead for five years now, "that was quite the fall." Like Ren, he seemed to be barely more than a child. Nora was standing besides him, while someone who Summer couldn't make out was right behind them.

The expressions of alarm and surprise across Ren, Jaune and Nora's face quickly turned to confusion and bewilderment as they stared intently at Summer. The fourth figure moved forward.

"Yang?" Ruby Rose said in disbelief.

Summer stepped back in shock at the sight of her fallen aunt, somehow returned from the dead.

"Wait, no," Ruby said, cautious and confused, "You look a lot like her but the ears," She gestured to the top of Summer's head, "Who are you?"

Joy overtook Summer and she rushed to hug her aunt as tightly as she could. Tears began to fall, tears lead to open crying, and soon Summer was sobbing onto the shoulder of a very confused teenage girl.

Nothing made sense, she was surrounded by people who should be dead in a city she didn't recognize, her family nowhere to be seen. But for the moment it didn't matter.

Her aunt Ruby was alive, and for the first time in a long while, Summer had actual hope.

—-

The world returned to Blake Belladonna-Xiao Long suddenly and jarringly, one moment she was desperately trying to grab hold of her daughter and the next, she was lying on a couch, staring at the ceiling of her living room.

Blake bolted up right, terror seizing her, she needed to find her family, she needed to find Kali and Summer.

"Wow, easy there," a familiar, blurry shape urged, "you took quite a fall there, Blake."

Every part of Blake hurt, her body was sore and battered, and her head was pounding so hard she could barely think.

"What happened," Blake half mumbled, still trying to get her bearings, "Where are the-"

"Summer?" Blake said in confusion as she stared at the youthful face,

The girl recoiled, a distraught look on her face.

She looked young, like a teenager, her concerned face free of any stress lines, her long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, with a noticeable lack of cat ears on top of her head.

"Yang?!" Blake said in disbelief. The girl looked and sounded exactly like her wife, but back when they attended Beacon together. It was impossible and yet Blake knew it had to be her somehow.

"Why did you mistake me for my mom?" Yang asked, staring at Blake skeptically.

"I…I don't know," Blake mumbled, "My head's still foggy and-" She paused, noticing that Yang was somehow missing an arm. It was completely gone just below the shoulder, replaced with an artificial arm with yellow armor. Something Blake was certain her wife distinctly lacked,

Blake quickly diverted her eyes away from the arm, whatever was going on the last thing she wanted to do at this moment in her weary state was cause a scene.

For a moment, awkward silence filled the room as Blake and Yang stared at each other in confusion.

"I take it you're just as confused about the fact that I'm 18 as I am about you looking like you're about 40 or so?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded, she was confused about a lot more but she wasn't quite ready to get into that right now.

"I told you, time travel." Taiyang, Yang and Ruby's Father, said as he leaned against the wall.

The sight of her father-in-law somehow returning from the grave was almost as startling for Blake as Yang's youthful appearance.

"That's an awfully bold assumption to make so quickly," Blake said wearily.

"To be fair we had a few hours to spitball ideas after you fell off our roof," Yang replied.

Tai shrugged.

"I know it's a radical claim, but I've never seen anything quite like that hole you fell out of," he explained, "I've seen semblances that transport people across distances sure, but this was something else entirely! It hurt my eyes just to look at the thing!" He shuddered.

"Plus I could tell it was you, Blake, even if you look older," Yang added, "Your style hasn't changed much."

"This is a lot to take in," Blake pinched her nose in confusion.

It sounded insane frankly but Blake's mind struggled to even begin to come up with an explanation that made any sort of sense. Maybe Salem was playing mind games with her but this was a real weird way of doing that.

"Time travel would explain some of this, I guess," Blake hesitantly admitted as she pulled her legs off the couch and sat up, "What was the last major thing that happened?"

"Well, Beacon fell a few months ago," Yang replied bluntly, "So there's that."

"That explains why you're…here," Blake said hesitantly, her gaze drifting to Yang's metal arm, "Which means Ruby's traveling with Jaune and the others, Weiss is stuck in Atlas, and I'm fleeing to Menagerie like a coward."

A flash of…anger? Frustration? Passed across Yang's face for a moment.

"That would put me about twenty five years in the past," Blake froze up as she spoke, realization hitting her hard.

Yang and Tai both stared at her in shock.

If she was in the past, that meant Ruby was alive, Weiss was alive, as was her father and so many other people as well. Salem had yet to begin moving in the open, so many horrors had yet to occur, and so many could be undone.

It was too much, Blake could only stare at the ground. This all felt like a mad fever dream.

"Is this real, Yang?" she asked, "Is this actually happening?"

Blake felt a hand touch her shoulder, she looked up to see Yang staring at her, uncertainty in her eyes but a small smile on her face.

"This is real, I promise you Blake. I don't know what's going on but I'm real and I'm here, I swear." Yang assured her.

Blake inhaled deeply, her hands shaking as she tried to steady herself.

"I hate to interrupt," Tai interrupted." but there's something that's not adding up."

Blake stayed silent as she looked at the man, afraid to give voice to confusion over Yang's arm.

"I do apologize but we looked through some of your things when we found you," Tai said apologetically, "While Yang was convinced you were Blake from the moment we found you, I needed to verify for myself. We found a picture of Team RWBY."

Tai handed the picture over to Blake. It was an old one of the team, though one that wouldn't be taken for years if she really had traveled back in time, the thought was hard to wrap her brain around. They were back in Mistral, celebrating Ruby's birthday, Weiss had wanted a picture of them all together, celebrating that everyone on the team was now officially an adult. Ruby was still wearing her birthday hat, Yang had her arm wrapped around Blake while Weiss stared at the cameraman, Jaune, in annoyance for something dorky he had said.

"I couldn't help but notice that Yang had both arms in that photo." Tai remarked, "Now I know technology has come a long way in the past few years and I'm sure technology will advance even more in the future, but regrowing arms is a lot. So what's the deal?"

"I don't know," Blake admitted, "I've never seen Yang with that before," she gestured to Yang's arm, cause Yang to look at her in bewilderment, "I know Fennec Albain stabbed her but-"

"Who?" Yang blurted out.

Blake tilted her head as she looked at Yang in disbelief, "Fennec, he led the White Fang attack on Beacon."

Yang shook her head, "That was Adam."

"Adam!?" Blake replied with alarm, "No, no we didn't encounter him until we reached Atlas."

Blake was pretty sure Yang shouldn't even know who Adam was yet, so how was he at Beacon? Something had changed.

"He was there," Yang declared, "He was basically running the whole attack alongside Cinder Fall."

For a brief moment, Blake stared at Yang, unsure of how to respond, finally she asked the only question she could think of.

"Who's Cinder?"
—-
Ruby stood there as the strange girl who looked almost exactly like her sister, but with cat ears, hugged her tightly, crying and sobbing loudly as the rest of team RNJR looked on in confusion and worry.

Suddenly the sobbing came to an awkward halt.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" The girl asked, face still buried in Ruby's shoulder.

"Uuuuh, nope" Ruby admitted, "Sorry, you're a complete stranger to me."

"So this is just incredibly awkward for you, isn't it?" The girl replied.

"A little, yeah," Ruby said, trying to be tactful. It was super awkward.

The girl quickly pulled away, her face red as she nervously tried to wipe her tears off of Ruby's shoulders before she realized that too was still rather weird and retreated, holding her hands up in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry," The girl apologized, "Just really glad to see you, and really confused," Her attention turned towards the sky, to where the hole used to be, "You guys saw that thing right?"

"The great big hole in the sky that you came tumbling out of?" Nora replied, "Yeah, kind of hard to miss."

"Right," The girl nodded, "You guys have any idea what the hell that was? Because I sure don't."

Ruby shook her head. The thing had just appeared out of nowhere, and vanished just as quickly.

"Who are you?" Ren asked.

"Oh, right, introductions," The girl said awkwardly as she looked at Ruby, "Well there's no way to make this not incredibly weird so I'll just be blunt. My name is Summer Belladonna-Xiao Long, I'm your niece."

A wind blew through the abandoned and unfinished town as Ruby stared at the girl who called herself Summer.

"Pardon?" Jaune said in disbelief.

Ruby couldn't deny that this girl did look, and sound, a lot like Yang, but that couldn't be possible, for starters Summer was Ruby's age if not older.

"I know this is a lot to believe, but I have proof," Summer quickly grabbed a photo in her backpack and thrusted it into Ruby's hands.

Summer went on talking as Ruby looked at the photo, "And I know a bunch of stuff about you, how you got into Beacon early because you beat up a bunch of thugs stealing dust, that you have Jaune as vomit boy on your scroll, that when you where a kid you were terrified by a talking raven that called your mom a liar, all kinds of things."

Ruby stared at the photo, her silver eyes wide with shock.

It was Team RWBY, Only they were adults, besides them were her uncle Qrow and her dad Tai, only both of the men were visibly going gray. The older Yang and Blake were both holding children, maybe three years old. Blake was holding a girl with raven-dark hair and warm amber eyes, smiling broadly at her mom, while Yang was carrying a fussy looking girl with blonde hair and two small cat ears atop her head.

The photo had creases and looked slightly aged, it felt very real. She couldn't imagine someone faking such a weird story, but none of this seemed possible.

Ruby looked back at Summer, "How are you here?" she asked.

"I don't know," Summer shrugged, "You saw that thing, it just grabbed my family and-" She paused, looking at the sky for a moment before turning back to Ruby.

"Did you guys see any other giant holes in the sky?" Summer asked

"No," Ruby replied.

"Damn," Summer grunted in frustration, "We were all taken at the same time, you would think we'd all end up in the same place. This would be so much easier if my parents were around to convince you." she sighed, "Of course if Kali were here she would probably embarrass herself even more than I did."

"So you're really from the future?" Ruby questioned, she wasn't sure what she believed, but this girl who had called herself her niece didn't seem like a liar.

"Near as I can tell yeah," Summer replied, "I mean guess that's the most sensible explanation for what's happening here, but I have no idea how–" Summer trailed off, her expression growing serious as one of her ears twitched.

Ren tensed as well, holding at hand out to silence everyone as he listened.

"Someone's coming," He warned.

Summer immediately ducted behind the wall of a fallen house, hiding herself from the main road as she pulled out two revolvers, one fancy and ornate with wild vine designs all over the barrel , one looking like it came from Atlas.

"Why are you hiding?" Ruby questioned, "it could be your parents."

Summer shook her head, "No, you said yourself you didn't see anything else like that void appearing, so it can't be them."

On that, Ruby and the others pulled out their weapons.

The sound of heels clacking against stone filled the air.

"Ruby Rose, it is most fortunate I was able to find you," An elegant but somewhat cold voice called out.

Ruby turned to see Winter Schnee standing near one of the entrances into the town.

Ruby rubbed her eyes in disbelief, why was Weiss's sister here in the middle of Mistral?

She looked her normal self, calm and sincere, with a stern air about her, but something felt off. Even from this distance, she looked tense and tired.

"Winter, what are you doing here?" Ruby asked as Jaune and the rest of the team looked on.

"It's quite fortunate I've found you, General Ironwood needs to see you immediately. Come, Weiss is waiting in the Manta," Winter said calmly as she approached

"Liar!" Summer screamed as she burst into the streets, guns trained on Winter, her lilac eyes burning with hatred.

Winter's expression changed drastically, from calm and sincere to a look of horror and shock, her lip tensing for a moment before her whole expression became icy cold.

"You," Summer snarled, "Why are you here? And where are my parents?! Where's Kali!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Winter said coldly, "Ruby you and your friends need to get away from this woman, she's a maniac and a terrorist."

Ruby didn't move, something felt distinctly off about Winter.

"Why isn't Weiss with you?" Ruby questioned, "Why did you have her wait in the Manta?"

"There's been bandit problems in the region recently, I requested she stay by it for her safety, now please, General Ironwood needs to speak with you urgently, we don't have time," Winter said, her tone growing urgent.

"Where is this Manta?" Ren questioned, "We didn't hear an airship at all before you arrived."

"I landed far away," Winter explained "I've been searching for Ms. Rose here for quite a few hours."

"Oh for crying out loud, Winter you look closer in age to Weiss's mom then her sister!" Summer shouted in annoyance, her ears pulled back. "Drop the act, it's obvious you're from the future, just like me."

The moment Summer said that, it all clicked, Winter wasn't just tired, she was older. She had wrinkles around her eyes and her already stern expression was somehow even more severe than Ruby remembered.

"Fine, I'm from the future," Winter admitted, "But that doesn't make what I said any less true, Summer is a dangerous terrorist who's attacked Atlas numerous times. I don't care what your niece has told you but she is not to be trusted, she is a criminal trying to bring civilization to its knees."

"And you're a cowardly thug who sold her soul," Summer replied, "How do you think Weiss here is going to feel when she learns you and your entire wretched city are working with the people who attacked Beacon and nearly got her killed. You get to experience betraying your sister all over again."

"You're working with Cinder?" Ruby said, her voice low and dangerous as she glared at Winter.

For a moment, Summer looked back at Ruby, looking a bit confused, before quickly turning her attention back to Winter.

"I wanted to resolve things peacefully," Winter relented, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but once again, Summer Xiao Long, you have forced my hand!"

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Tyrian!" she called.

A tall man suddenly leapt into the air, somehow jumping over the barriers into town, sailing over the heads of everyone before crashing into one of buildings. The man emerged from the building a second later and jumped from hole he made, striking a pose as he landed next to Winter.

The man was tall but skinny, his brown hair tied up in a ponytail, a scorpion tail jutted from his backside, twitching slightly as he stood up, his yellow eyes staring at Ruby with disturbing glee.

"Oh ho ho," The man giggled manically as he extended the bladed gauntlets on his arms, "This should be fun!"

—

It took all the energy Cinder had to keep from collapsing the moment she entered her room, Salem was not an easy mentor to learn under, she pushed to your very limit and then drove you until you gave her even more.

But it was worth it, no matter how sore she felt, after every training succession, Cinder felt even stronger than before. She was finally getting a real taste of the power she had spent so long craving.

Cinder looked around her room, making sure Emerald or Mercury weren't waiting around for some asinine reason. The room itself was decent, sparse but not spartan, with a desk, a window to the barren landscape below, a bed, a few bookshelves and a display case containing her original weapon, Midnight. No longer needed considering her new power but they had been far too useful to just throw away. All lit by the same candles and glowing purple rocks that filled the rest of Salem's castle.

Content that no one was in here, Cinder carefully pressed her ear to the door, Salem was not the type to invade her allies' privacy but the same could not be said for Dr.Watts and Hazel.

No one was outside her door, she was alone, good.

She flopped hard onto her chair before rummaging through the desk, opening the hidden compartment she had built into it years ago. She knew it was silly in a way, this was hardly secret and few of the others would care even if they knew the truth, Emerald Mercury would have questions but she could ignore them.

But this was a part of her she wanted private, a small piece of herself the others did not need to see.

Carefully she pulled out the picture and placed it on the desk. The years have not been kind to it, it was burned in one corner and lines had formed where it was folded. At least the faces were still clearly visible, her, her sister, and their mothers, all happy, despite all the grief, despite all the pain they endured at that point, they still all looked so full of joy.

The sight of her family brought a smile to Kali Belladonna-Xiao Long's face. It had been so long since she had seen the real people behind the smiles but the photo was enough to keep the memory alive.

Sometimes she talked to the photo, venting her fears and voicing her hopes, but her throat was still healing from her battle with Ruby.

Her Grimm hand tightened at the memory of the fight

She wondered what her family would think of her now, how strong she had become, what she had endured to get here. They would be skeptical at first, maybe even outraged. But in time, they would understand, even her parents would come to realize she was right and that Ruby Rose was just going to get them killed.

Sooner or later, she would find them again, Cinder was certain of it. She didn't know when, she didn't know where, but in time she would find her parents and Summer, and then at long last they could be a family again.

It was only a matter of time.

Chapter Text

Part 2

"Don't let them grab you!" Summer shouted to Ruby as Winter and Tyrian charged them.

She propelled herself towards the Schnee Soldier with a shot from Due Process, colliding with her mid-charge. Winter's sabers clashed against Summer's stolen revolvers with a metallic clang.

Her heart was pounding in ears, fear and adrenaline surging through her like a raging storm. Summer had fought Winter before on more than one occasion. She had survived, even won once, but that was always with support from her parents or another adult who was just as skilled, if not more, as Winter.

They had numbers on their side, but it was five teenagers against one of Salem's top henchmen and Atlas' number one thug.

"Why are you here?!" Winter angrily demanded.

"I could ask you the same question," Summer smirked, "What, one Atlas kissing Salem's feet wasn't enough for you? Or was Ironwood's gray hair reminding you too much of your father and you wanted to trade in for a new one?"

Winter launched herself back with a black glyph, firing a barrage of jagged ice shards at Summer as she did. Summer barely dodging out of the way, the ice embedding itself in the stone road where she stood.

Out of the corner of her eye, Summer spotted Ruby and the others fighting Tyrian, the madman dancing around them as they fought.

Winter unleashed a small storm of tiny Nevermores towards Summer next, the icy phantoms screeching as they tried to peck and bite at Summer.

Another gravity round from Due Process pulled her free from the squall. Summer tried to pin the Atlesian with more gunfire, but Winter casually deflected each shot with her swords.

'She's being more cautious than I expected,' Summer realized. She'd seen Winter turn herself into a whirlwind of ice and blades during a fight. That Summer wasn't on her butt already was a sign something was up, either Winter was taking it easy for some unfathomable reason, or this wasn't her first fight today.

Winter landed, raising her sword and dagger for another attack, giving Summer the smallest of openings; without hesitation she took it, firing a shot from Watts' revolver.

The dust exploded on contact with Winter's leg, encasing it in a thick layer of ice. Winter would be free in moments but this would give Summer the chance to-

*CRASH*

Summer was on the ground, Ruby draped over her after being kicked around by Tyrian like a ball.

Ruby groaned as the two tried to push themselves up.

Tyrian was barreling towards them, his manic laughter filling the air. Summer pulled out a revolver, firing blindly in a desperate attempt to stop him.

Jaune, Nora and Ren were staggered, barely standing after barely a few moments of fighting with Salem's madman.

Summer could hear footsteps frantically approaching from somewhere in the distance.

Winter was racing towards them, both blades drawn as she walked towards them.

Tyrian was nearly upon them, his hand and eyes glowing purple as Summer realized in horror that he was aiming for her.

He jumped, arm outstretched, diving towards Summer-

Only to be met with the flat side of Qrow Branwen's blade. The huntsman using his sword to bash Tyrian aside, sending him crashing into Winter.

Qrow stood above them, staring down at his niece with a small smile.

"Hey," he greeted casually as he helped Ruby up.

Summer stared at her great-uncle in disbelief, the sight of him filling her mind with memories of sand and blood, so much blood.

Summer shook the images from her mind as she stood up, Qrow giving her a confused look before turning his attention to Winter.

"Ice Queen," he addressed, his voice low and dangerous, "I didn't expect to see you here, care to explain what you're doing attacking my niece?"

Winter inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"Qrow Branwen," she coldly stated, "You should not have gotten involved, you have no idea what's at stake here."

Tyrian laughed like a madman at the mention of Qrow's name.

"So why don't you enlighten me?!" Qrow shouted.

Winter went silent, glaring harshly at the man.

"Yeah you're not going to get an answer from her," Summer snarked, "Kind of hard to justify kidnapping a teenager to help ensure her city completely sells out to the Grimm in the future."

Qrow looked at Summer for a moment before turning back to Ruby, a deeply confused look on his face.

"I don't know! She fell out of a hole in the sky," Ruby gestured towards Summer, "she started saying she was my niece from the future and then the next thing we knew these two had shown up, and apparently they're also from the future? Nothing makes sense!"

"Just Winter," Summer clarified as she trained her guns on Winter, "Tyrian here has been dead for years in my time."

For some reason that caused a deeply disturbing smile to appear on the scorpion Faunus' face, so wide it threatened to break free of his cheeks.

"Not sure I believe any of that." Qrow said skeptically.

"Doesn't matter," Summer gave a half shrug, "Just know that both of these people serve Salem."

"Who?" Ruby asked.

'How far back am I?' Summer wondered in bewilderment. Her Aunt Ruby not knowing who Salem was absurd, like not knowing what a semblance was or how dust worked.

Summer brushed it aside as for the moment, another question for the pile when this was all over.

"So, Qrow I know your semblance means you don't want to risk fighting together," Summer said quietly, earning a surprised look from the man, "So let's make a deal. You handle the madman and leave Winter to us."

"Are we just going to stand here and talk?!" Tyrian shouted, his words dripping with manic frustration.

Qrow glanced at Summer, "Deal."

Tyrian threw himself at Qrow, his gauntlets clashing against Qrow's sword.

Summer grinned, now things were a lot more even, now they had a shot.
—

"Who's Cinder?"

The question was so absurd that Yang was almost convinced the woman before her was some sort of imposter, but one look at those amber eyes made Yang certain this woman was Blake.

And the more they talked, the more it was clear Blake's memory of Beacon was generally solid, talking about how they first met, the night she ran after her argument with Weiss, their fight on the train with Roman Torchwick, even their night on the town and the Sunflower pop.

"You lured me out with a laser pointer," Blake explained, "Then we talked about your mom, Summer Rose, and your search for Raven."

Everything Blake said fit, until the Vytal Festival.

"No that doesn't make any sense," Blake said, shaking her head for what felt like the dozenth time in as many minutes. "Emerald was on the same team as Coco, Velvet and Fox,, she's basically Professor Greene's daughter for crying out loud! Why would she be working with Neo and Mercury?"

"Emerald was here from Mistral, Like Cinder and Mercury. Mercury and Emerald fought Coco and Yatsuhashi in the doubles round," Yang explained, "We're pretty sure she's the one who tricked Pyrrha into accidentally killing Penny."

"No no, that's not what happened!" Blake declared, frustration filling her voice as she paced back and forth. "Penny's first death was because Mercury ambushed her right after the airship she was on crashed, Pyrrha never fought Penny, it was Urusla and she tricked the crowd into thinking Pyrrha had killed her. This Cinder woman wasn't there! The entire attack on Beacon was Urusla's plan!"

Blake grabbed her head, clutching it in disbelief.

"Maybe whatever took you here messed with your head?" Tai suggested.

Yang voiced the first thought that came to her head, "Maybe things were already changed before you arrived?"

Blake looked up, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I, well-" Yang stammered as she tried to form a coherent thought, "Well I mean if this has happened to you, it could have happened to others, right?"

It's true that Yang had never heard of anything like this before but if something like this could happen to Blake, whoever or whatever cause it could have easily done to just about anyone else.

"I've seen a lot in my time as a huntress but I have never heard of something like that," Blake said skeptically, " Until that thing appeared in the sky and sucked up my family I assumed something like this was completely impossible."

Her Family

Blake had mentioned her family a few times in passing a few times before but Yang couldn't bring herself to ask about them, but the question of who they were was refusing to leave her head.

Was it Sun? Some boy she hadn't met yet? Was it someone truly surprising like Weiss? Was it-

'Why do I care so much?' Yang thought

"Your family, who are they?" she finally mustered up the courage to ask.

Better to just get this out of the way rather than let it fester any longer.

Blake smiled at her, warm but with an uncomfortable tension in her jaw.

"This will be an awkward conservation," she sighed.

"Don't worry Blake," Yang reassured her, "It can't get much weirder than it already is."

"And I should put the word out to the neighbors, see if anyone has seen them around Patch," Tai added. "Who knows, more of those portal things could have appeared and we just didn't see them."

Blake leaned forward, steadying herself, "There's a reason I called you Summer when I first woke up, Yang," she explained. "It's because I mistook you for one of my daughters. You and Summer have the same long blonde hair, same lilac eyes. Just about the only thing she got from me was the ears" Blake gestured to the top of her head.

Yang stared at her, shock rendering her temporary mute.

"Wait, are you saying?" her father added, in similar disbelief.

Blake nodded, "Yes, out there, hopefully somewhere close by, is my wife, Yang, and my daughters, Kali and Summer."

Yang could barely believe what she was hearing. She had known for a very long time she was only attracted to women and sure, there were medical options for two women who wanted to have kids, but she never pictured herself ever settling down enough for that to happen. Marriage, sure, if there was a woman adventurous enough to keep up with her, but kids? With Blake?

'With Blake?' The thought echoed in her head.

Blake, who left her when Yang needed her the most, who twice abandoned the team. Yang wasn't even sure if she would ever forgive Blake if she ever returned. And now she was here, talking about the future they had together, with two daughters who were as they spoke, probably roaming around Remnant.

Only that future wasn't even possible anymore since somehow things had already changed somehow!

Yang's hand shook at her side as she bolted up out of her chair, her chest growing tight. This was too much, nothing made sense.

"I can't take this, it's too much," Yang stammered as she bolted out of the room.

"Yang!" She heard her father call out. She ignored him as she pushed the door open, her knees nearly giving way as she reached the porch.

She quickly grabbed hold of the railing, her breath becoming louder and shaky as she tried to steady herself. The cool air doing little to clear her thoughts.

This morning, Yang had a clear plan in mind. Track down Raven, convince her to send Yang to Qrow, where she would find Ruby and then join in with what they were doing.

Now Blake was back in her life, having literally fallen out of the sky and onto the roof, only it was somehow Blake but not Blake. Blake from a future that didn't match up with the past.

Every time Yang tried to make sense of it her brain felt like it was about to explode.

'And Blake is probably just as confused as I am,' Yang realized suddenly.

A short time later, the door slowly creaked open, Yang didn't have to turn around to tell it was Blake, her soft footsteps gave her away.

"I'm sorry for running out like that, it's just a lot to handle," Yang said apologetically.

"It's fine," Blake replied, "I should have found a better way of telling you."

"No no, it's fine," Yang insisted, "I was the one who asked."

Blake leaned up against the railing, a small gust of wind blowing her short dark hair around a bit

"Blake, what the hell is going on here?" Yang asked flatly.

"I don't know," Blake admitted, "I think you were on the right track, I can't be the first arrival here, someone changed something."

It was just about the only explanation that made sense of how Blake could be Blake but somehow have completely different memories of the fall of Beacon. But what did that mean, who was changing the past and why?

Yang looked at Blake's concerned expression, "You think Cinder might be a time traveler?"

"I don't know," Blake said, "She could just be Ursula using a different identity. She pulled that a few times when we fought her, maybe someone else was sent back and accidentally changed things somehow."

"Maybe your family could have arrived earlier than you somehow," Yang suggested.

Blake quickly shook her head, "No, not possible. Y-My wife," she quickly corrected herself, "she would have gone to Ozpin straight away, same with Kali and Summer, they would have come here or gone to Beacon. They must have arrived the same time as I did... They're just... just not here."

Blake stared at the forest, a longing look in her eyes.

"We'll find them." Yang assured her, "My dad will ask around the island, maybe we got lucky and they just landed near Signal Academy."

Blake nodded, fighting back tears. "Thank you."

Yang noticed Blake had a look in her eyes, even beyond the pain and confusion, she looked like she wanted to tell Yang something but was scared to.

"Is there something you want to say?" Yang asked.

"There's a lot we need to talk about, but not today," Blake sighed wearily, "Today was a long day even before I fell out of the sky. Just know there's a lot we need to talk about, regardless of how much has changed." Blake's tone was deadly serious.

Yang didn't realize it until just now but Blake looked exhausted, even after being passed out for a few hours she still had heavy bags under her eyes.

"Future isn't all sunshine and lollipops I take it?" Yang replied.

Blake shook her head.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised.' Yang mused.

"So," Yang said awkwardly, trying to shift the conversation to something more pleasant. "Your kids, what are they like?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you're ready for talking about that?"

In truth, Yang probably never would be ready for talking about Her and Blake's future kids but Blake needed something lighter to talk about.

"I won't run away I promise," Yang smiled, "Besides I'm going to meet them sooner or later, I should know what they're like beforehand."

"Okay," Blake smiled as they sat down on the patio chairs, "well, Kali's a sweet girl, probably one of the nicest people you'll ever met, fierce in combat but an absolute sweetheart outside of it, always ready to help others. Adores Ruby like you wouldn't believe."

Yang tried to picture Ruby as an aunt, she probably would either spoil the kids rotten or act like a third child.

"Summer, well she probably won't believe I said this," Blake went on, "But she's a good kid, a bit rough around the edges, and terrible at picking friends, but she's a determined girl, and resourceful, with a good heart, a real fighter to the end."
—

As Qrow deliberately led Tyrian away; Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora moved in, forming a semi-circle around Winter.

Summer stowed one revolver while keeping Due Process trained on Winter. She had a plan but no time to convey it to Ruby and the others, hopefully that wouldn't matter.

'This would be a lot simpler if Kali were here,' Summer thought wistfully. The two of them operated well together, Summer could always count on her sister to have her back.

"We don't want to fight you, please stand down," Ren asked calmly.

"Why are you doing this?!" Ruby shouted in disbelief, "Weiss is our friend and my teammate."

"Don't talk to me about my sister," Winter declared, anger creeping into her voice, "Weiss died because of you!"

Ruby recoiled in shock, a horrified expression on her face.

"Weiss died fighting for what she believed in," Summer replied, "Which is more than I can say for you, who's spent the past decade or so fighting for the people who killed her."

Winter's fury turned towards Summer.

"It must sting, being the only Schnee left without principles now that your dear old dad has passed," Summer mocked. "I mean your daughter is an absolute lunatic but at least she has her principles."

The mention of her daughter was enough to push Winter past the breaking point. She let out a howl of rage and launched herself at Summer.

A quick shot from Due Process launched Summer into the air, not high enough to completely avoid Winter's attack but it wouldn't. From the moment her feet left the ground a small pool of magic surged through her body and in a few short moments the blonde haired and cat eared form of Summer Belladonna-Xiao Long was replaced with a lilac eyed, black feathered crow.

Summer could hear Nora audibly gasping in confusion, thankfully Aunt Ruby didn't let her surprise distract her, her scythe clashing with Winter's sword.

Summer flew up before banking away and quickly darted through the nearby abandoned buildings, doing what she could to break Winter's line of sight, all the while the others fought. The sound of Ren's bullets filling the air alongside the clash of metal as Qrow and Tyrian traded blows, Qrow's strength matching Tyrian's manic speed. Jaune swung uneasily at Winter, who simply turned away his blade before ducking, Nora's hammer coming within inches of her head.

Finally, Summer saw an opening, immediately she began diving towards Winter, the world almost becoming a blur around her, just as she was about to reach Winter, Summer transformed back into her normal self, allowing herself to collide with Winter's back at considerable speed, knocking the Schnee to the ground.

Immediately Summer grabbed her throat, the Aura around her hand glowing yellow.

Winter fought back furiously, glyphs appeared around them and Summer found herself under an icy bombardment as Winter struggled against her.

Summer grunted as she endured the fight, she just needed a few moments more.

Finally the Aura around her hand turned from yellow to a glacial blue.

Summer launched herself off Winter, landing a short distance away, a few feet off the ground as she stood on another glyph.

"Ahh Schnee family semblance, an old favorite of mine I must admit," Summer mocked, "Though I must say, Aunt Weiss' Knight is so much more fun than anything you have."

As Winter's expression grew even more furious, Summer summoned glyphs of her own, the spinning snowflakes launching dozens of tiny Nevermores of her own. Not to be outmatched, Winter used her own glyphs to unleash another icy barrage.

The two assaults collided in mid-air, the air filling with the sound of breaking glass as phantasmal Grimm collided with spears of ice, creating a thick fog, far more than Summer expected, that engulfed Winter, Ruby and the others.

Summer's mood quickly soured, this was not quite what she planned.

'Where are you?' she wondered nervously as she stared at the fog, her whole body tense as she prepared for an attack.

Winter leaped out of fog, rising high into the air, sword and dagger at the ready.

"Got you!" Summer smirked.

She did not see Winter's Manticore until it was too late to move out of the way.

The ice specter slammed into Summer, locking her between its horns as it stampeded across the abandoned town, dragging her across the street as she tried to break free, before tossing her like a ragdoll into a crumbling house. A wall shattering as she hit the thing, reigning chunks of broken wood and plaster on Summer.

Summer coughed up dust as she felt her aura break, her body aching all over. Outside she could hear the loud rattling of Tyrian's guns.

Summer pulled herself up, dragging herself out of the half collapsed home. She found Winter waiting for her, her cold blue eyes alive with fury.

Tyrain about flew by, thrown backwards by one of Qrow's attacks.

"Why are you here?!" Winter shouted as she swung furiously at Summer.

The word and dagger struck Summer's stolen gun in a furious scrapping of metal against metal.

"I don't know!" Summer screamed back as she struck Winter across the face with her gun, "Why are you here?!"

"Things could have been so easy!" Winter screamed, her breath becoming more and more ragged with every swing of her sword, "But once again, you had to go and ruin everything!"

Summer pressed the attack, using her pistol like a club, trying to take advantage of Winter's bizarre exhaustion. It didn't make sense, Winter may have been pushing 50 but she shouldn't have been this tired this quickly. Clearly this wasn't her first fight of the day.

Not that it made much of a difference, even with Winter not fighting anywhere near her peak, it was all Summer could do to hold her own. She couldn't afford a mistake, she needed to find some sort of opening

"Oh are you blaming me for Frost again?" Summer mocked as she deflected another attack. "News flash, your daughter was a psycho well before I even met her!"

'Get her angrier, she needs to be angrier,' Summer told herself.

Winter was pretty easy to provoke, but that wasn't enough, she needed to be enraged. A pissed off Winter was still a fully capable fighter but an enraged Winter made mistakes. Summer just needed her a bit more pissed off.

*Crack*

A support beam on the standing part of the house snapped, causing what was left of the roof to collapse, directly on top of Winter, burying her under a pile of moldy lumber.

'That works too' Summer thought.

She turned to Qrow who was standing nearby, fighting Tyrian, and gave him a thumbs up.

Tyrian's tail suddenly whipped out towards Summer, his venomous stinger cutting across her side, ripping through her clothes, blood dripping down her side.

The world seemed to slow for Summer as she watched Tyrian smile broadly at what he did, his eyes turned purple. Qrow seized on the moment immediately, slicing Tyrian's tail in half, his stinger falling to the ground.

Tyrian's joy quickly turned into screams of agony, the madman thrashing around, cursing out Qrow as Winter pulled herself free of the debris.

Summer's whole entire side of her body was screaming in agony, everything from her ribs down to her legs felt like it was on fire, it took every ounce of strength just to keep standing.

Winter prepared herself for a fight with Qrow. Ruby quickly came to her uncle's side, followed by a storm of rose petals. Jaune and the others joined them a few moments later.

Winter looked around uneasily, realizing just how outnumbered she was now.

Tyrian's curses quickly devolved into feeble cries and begging Salem for forgiveness as he limply retreated to Winter's side.

Winter's eyes darted around, sword and dagger held tightly by her side. For a moment Summer thought she was actually going to try and fight her way out but then Winter suddenly pointed her sword down, summoning another Manticore to carry her and the nearly catatonic Tyrian, the icy construct just barely avoiding an attack from Qrow before flying away with its passengers.

Summer collapsed to the ground, the pain becoming too much for her to handle. Her head was pounding like a drum as the pain spread throughout her body.

"Are you okay?!" Ruby asked as she rushed to her side, voice filled with concern.

"You know what's messed up?" Summer replied, smiling weakly "Compared to what I thought would happen when I got up this morning, today is going spectacularly so far."

Her aunt was alive somehow, Remnant had hope again.

A fresh surge of pain reminded Summer that she had in fact just been very badly poisoned.

"Could you grab some medicine out of my bag?" Summer asked Ruby, motioning towards her backpack, "because I'm in quite a bit of pain right now."

As Ruby looked through her backpack, the questions began.

"Who was that guy?" Nora asked

"Why is Winter Schnee attacking us?" Ren inquired,

"Why are people trying to take Ruby?!" Jaune asked frantically.

Qrow approached Summer, kneeling beside her.

"You know kid, I'm beyond grateful for you helping to defend my niece like that," Qrow said deliberately, "But I would really like an explanation for what the hell is going on here."

'So would I,' Summer mused to herself.

She couldn't answer how she was here, or why. But maybe that didn't matter right now, if she really was in the past, then there were a lot of things she could do, wars she could stop, people she could save. Salem's victory could be averted.

"Tell me Uncle Qrow," Summer replied through wheezing breaths, "How would you like to know your future?"

Chapter Text

Part 3

Blake felt rather optimistic, though that feeling came with a small amount of shame and guilt, for the first time in so long she had something to be optimistic about.

Yesterday the best she could hope for was a quick escape from Patch, and that once Salem inevitably came for her and Yang, the final destruction of team RWBY would appease that witch and she'd leave their daughters alone.

Now, Weiss was alive, Ruby was alive, the Kingdoms were intact, things were far from perfect but defeating Salem was now possible again.

Still, Blake couldn't ignore the welling pain within her chest as she stared at her home, particularly since it wasn't and likely never would be the home she knew.

It was Tai's home, where he raised his daughters. Her daughters had yet to even set foot in this place, there was no trace of them here, no toys, no books, no photos, nothing.

Losing those was more than a fair price for getting the chance for Blake to give her daughters the future they never had in their time, but that didn't mean the price didn't hurt.

Zwei, the Xiao Long family's Corgi, trotted up to Blake, barking happily at her.

"Well hello," Blake greeted casually. Giving the dog a quick scratch behind the ears.

Blake did not like dogs, something even her parents teased her over. But Blake had to admit it was good to see Ruby and Yang's pet again, she had quite a few memories of him back at Beacon

"Well it looks Zwei is happy to see you," Yang remarked as she approached, her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Blake replied, pulling her eyes off the house.

No one on Patch had seen or heard of the giant hole that had sent Blake here and no one had seen any strangers wandering around asking weird questions.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to stay a few days more?" Tai asked with concern as he approached the two, "Maybe come up with a plan."

Blake shook her head, lingering here would cause more pain and they needed to get to Mistral as soon as possible.

"We already have a plan, dad," Yang replied, "Well the beginnings of one at least."

"We need to get to Raven, she has Weiss and she's Salem's key to getting the relic," Blake explained, "I doubt we can convince her to side with us, but it should be fairly simple to stop her from making a deal with Salem. Once we're done there we'll head to Mistral and deal with Lionheart."

Hopefully once they reached Mistral, Ruby would have already met up with Oscar and Ozpin. if there was anyone who might have a chance at figuring out what happened, her best bet was Ozpin.

Jinn might work as well but Blake remembered her having issues with talking about the future, which complicated things.

Tai scowled at the mention of his ex. Explaining Raven's involvement in the attack on haven hadn't been easy, particularly with Tai. Even if it was something that hopefully would never happen this time around, Tai's understandably massive disappointment with Raven was clear.

"The boat leaves in a few hours and there won't be another one heading to Mistral for a week, we need to leave now." Yang added.

"Fair enough," Tai replied, "I wasn't about to stop you yesterday and I won't stop you now. Just be careful, it sounds like things are a lot more dangerous than we realized."

"It does," Yang agreed with a nod, "but we can handle it."

Tai turned his attention to Blake, "I'm sorry we didn't get more of a chance to talk but it was nice meeting you, Blake. I'm more than happy that you're part of the family."

"Thank you, sir," Blake replied warmly, "it was great seeing you again."

"Make sure your wife and daughters come to visit sometime," Tai replied, "I would like to meet my grandkids."

"Will do," Blake replied, her expression turning serious as she pulled a thick letter out of her pocket, "I have a note here explaining, more or less everything that's going on to the best of my knowledge, I figured you shouldn't be left in the dark."

"Oh," Tai was surprised, "Thank you."

"Don't open it until you're sure you're ready to handle it," Blake warned, "The future wasn't exactly pleasant."

"I'll be careful," Tai nodded.

Blake and Yang made their goodbyes and headed towards Yang's bike, Bumblebee.

"So anything dangerous between here and Raven?" Yang asked as she put on her motorcycle helmet.

"Honestly I don't know," Blake admitted as climbed onto the back of Yang's motorcycle, "You didn't really talk about your journey there."

"Good," Yang smiled, "I think we both can use a small adventure, don't you think?"

Blake nodded.

In truth, Blake wasn't sure if she would be able to fully enjoy the trip, not with her kids and her wife missing, but she wasn't going to let that stop Yang from enjoying things, at least for a while. Yang had been through so much already, and some dark days lay ahead for both of them.

Sooner or later they'd have to talk about Ozpin and Salem, about the future, about a great many things. But that wasn't a conversation for today.

So why not let Yang enjoy herself? At least for a little while.
—

Summer stared at the campfire, watching the logs crack and splinter in the heat, causing the flames to hiss and shift every so often.

The forest outside was quiet but far from silent, the occasional sound of a small animal running up a tree and the chirping of insects filled the night air.

The animals were a sign that at least for the moment, they were safe from Grimm.

They were all sitting around the campfire on logs, all save for Qrow who was pacing about the place, staring at the photo Summer had given him, the photo of her family.

"Look, kid; I'm not saying I don't believe you are who you say you are. You're the spitting image of Yang after all," Qrow said as he paced anxiously, "but your story doesn't entirely add up. Like your mom in this photo has both arms still."

That had been quite a shock. Summer realized something was off when Pyrrha didn't show up at all during their fight with Winter, and Ruby's mention of this Cinder woman had thrown her for a loop, but it wasn't until they actually stopped to talk that Summer realized it wasn't the scope of the changes.

Summer ran a hand across her sweat slicked brow and sighed, "I know, it doesn't make sense to me either. Adam Taraus was here instead of one of the Albian brothers, Urusla is nowhere to be seen, and Emerald Sustrai is working for Salem. Someone's been changing things."

'Emerald,' That bit of info was banging around Summer's head like a bullet. Emerald wasn't a friend of her family here, she wasn't even a Beacon student, she was a pawn of Salem.

Someone had taken her mentor, her friend, and conned her into not only being one of the bad guys, but working for the very people who got her killed.

Summer gripped the log she was sitting on tightly, fingernails cutting through the bark.

Whoever was behind this sick act was going to pay when Summer got her hands on them.

"But who?" Qrow pressed.

"I don't know," Summer groaned into her hands, ears curling down as she sucked in a weak breath. "By now you know as much as I do, and with Winter around, well... Clearly someone else came back before us and changed things."

Summer hissed in pain as a sharp jolt through her side reminded her of the venom currently trying to kill her. She had some medicine that would buy her some time, but Faunus venom tended to be rather potent, she was going to need anti-venom sooner or later.

"Look," Summer said wearily, "Some things have changed but most things are the same. Team RWBY was still formed, Beacon was still attacked, you're still on the road to Mistral hunting down the people involved in the attack on Beacon. Maybe my past isn't your future but it's close enough."

"I..." Qrow trailed off, before giving up, "fine, I guess that makes about as much sense as everything else that's happened today." His expression hardened. "So I imagine you have quite the story to tell."

Summer laughed humorlessly at the absurdity of his statement.

"Yeah I guess you could say that," she replied. "Though I should warn you, what I'm about to tell you, you're not going to like what you hear, but you need to hear it."

Ruby nodded, determination filling her silver eyes. Nora and Ren looked nervous but nodded as well, Jaune looked tense and pained as he sat there, looking at Summer.

Thankfully Qrow had already explained some of the basics to them, like the Maidens and the relics, but there was a lot more she had to discuss.

"Whoever this Cinder woman is, she may have organized the attack on Beacon, but she wasn't the mastermind," Summer explained. "No the attack was merely one part of a much larger war, one that has been raging for centuries between Salem and the man you know as Professor Ozpin."

Summer paused, considering her next words as everyone save for Qrow stared at her in surprise.

"Ozpin can explain the personal details when we find him so let's keep it simple for now," she summarized, trying her best to avoid getting bogged down.

"Basically there are two gods, well two gods who played a role in this at least. They created people and gave them magic, but one day Salem managed to lead some kind of rebellion against-them. They uh, well they killed everyone except her and made her live forever as some kind of morality lesson and bailed."

She took a moment to let the wide eyed staring and sickened stomach turning pass the group before continuing. "Salem apparently tried to get rid of the curse but all it did was make her into some kind of Grimm witch. It's around this point humans comeback into the picture, somehow, along with Faunus. "

Taking in a slow breath she moved to wrap it up, "Eventually, the gods revived Ozpin to deal with her and so he keeps reincarnating till his job is done. For over a thousand years they've fought, but always in the shadows, bandits wiping out a secret society of warriors, kingdoms being driven to war by hidden advisors, agents assassinating huntsmen and huntresses in the field, that sort of thing. Few ever knowing that there was even a war going on, or that the Grimm had a queen. Well one day, Salem decided to stop fighting from the shadows."

Qrow's eyes went wide in alarm.

"Haven will be attacked, by the White Fang and Urusla, though I suppose this Cinder person will lead the attack now," Summer explained, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Long story short they fail but with the headmaster dies and the vault is compromised, you have to take the Relic of Knowledge to Atlas. Two relics in the same place gives Salem quite the incentive and she goes on the attack, launching an all out assault on the Kingdom. Ironwood's resolve breaks at the worst possible moment and he uses the relic of creation to have the entire city of Atlas flee, abandoning Mantle to its fate."

"No" Qrow suddenly declared, "James wouldn't do that! Ironwood may have a stick up his ass, but he isn't the type to just abandon his duty like that."

"I did warn that you wouldn't like what I had to say," Summer replied tersely as she glared at Qrow, "The man broke at a critical moment and decided his duty to Atlas only extended the flying city itself, leaving everyone else in the kingdom to Salem's mercy."

She pulled one of her revolvers out and held it in her hand.

"I have his gun for crying out loud!" Summer said angrily "And he sure as hell didn't give it to me willingly."

Summer took a deep breath, a dull but notable ache filling her chest as she breathed. She needed to be calm, anger would only make this worse.

"Okay, so, Salem eventually gave up on attacking Mantle and moved on to Vacuo," Summer went on, "You guys along with the rest of team RWBY and a few others followed her, eventually stopping her attack on the Academy there. After that, Salem went quiet, for a time it even looked like she had gone into hiding. For a few years there was peace, but it did not last."

Summer looked at the trees surrounding them, largely just to stall for a bit. She caught sight of a bird, a red-eyed Raven to be exact. For a moment the bird stared at Summer as she stared back, then it flew off into the night.

'Apparently Grandma doesn't want to stay and chat,' Summer mused

She sighed wearily, this next part was going to be the hardest, for all of them.

"I was too young to really understand what was going on at the time," Summer explained, "But I've been told that Atlas rather quickly discovered it couldn't sustain itself just flying around, when no one wanted to trade with them, Ironwood took to raiding for supplies, and that pissed off the other kingdoms so much they actually started rebuilding their armies. A few years of the other kingdoms kicking Atlas around made Ironwood desperate and a desperate Ironwood is a very stupid Ironwood."

"He didn't," Qrow said in horror.

"He did," Summer replied, "In exchange for her help, Ironwood agreed that Atlas would now serve Salem. Ironwood had been ruling the city as a tyrant for years at this point so no one dared dissent. Soon Atlesian raiders were joined by hordes of Grimm, after that, Salem stopped hiding again, for good this time."

Qrow bolted up, cursing under his breath before taking a large drink from his flask.

"James, how could you do this?" he questioned in disbelief.

"I don't understand, Ironwood was at Beacon, his forces were hurt almost as badly as Beacon. Why would he side with someone like that?" Ruby said in disbelief.

"Fear and desperation," Summer shrugged. "The man will do anything to hold onto power and Salem has a unique talent for making pawns of people who should hate her."

"This war against Salem, we don't win do we?" Ren asked,

Summer shook her head, "The forces of Atlas and the Grimm beasts, combined with Salem's schemes, proved too powerful for any kingdom to stop. We came close though. Two years ago, Team RWBY attacked Salem's castle. They had Salem on her knees, begging for mercy, but it wasn't enough. My moms were the only ones to come back from that mission. My aunt was the last of the silver eyed warriors. Without them, it's pretty hard to do much to Salem."

Ruby looked at Summer with bewilderment. There was clearly a lot Ruby needed to learn about silver eyes, sadly Summer had no idea how to help her.

"We kept fighting for a while afterwards but after Emerald-" Summer paused, her voice choked. "After Emerald died three months ago, even mom stopped pretending we could win. Patch was the last bastion against Salem, and it fell this morning."

None of them took the news well, horror etched everyone's face, even the normally stoic Ren seemed terrified, while Jaune looked on the verge of tears.

Ruby was doing her best to not show just how much this was hurting her but the pain on her face was obvious to Summer.

"You know I'm only telling you this because I believe you can stop it, right?" Summer hastily assured them, "Yes, we lost in my time, but you guys have pulled off the impossible before and we have a chance to set things right here. We just have to stop Ironwood from leaving and giving Atlas to the Grimm. Without Atlas going rogue the kingdoms will be far less divided, and we can do far more than just bring Salem to her knees this time."

Of course before any of that, they still had to go to Mistral and make sure the relic stayed out of Salem's hands.

"Brilliant plan," Qrow said with bitter sarcasm, "Except Salem probably already knows all this because she has a time traveler of her own. She probably already knows how to counter whatever plans you come up with."

"Winter seemed pretty surprised by my arrival," Summer pointed out, "I don't think she knows me or my family are here."

"Wait," Jaune said, his eyes suddenly wide with realization as he stared at Summer, "If you hadn't arrived when you did, we would have had no reason to suspect anything was up with Winter."

"What's your point?" Qrow asked.

"If Summer hadn't arrived, Ruby would probably be on her way to Salem as we speak," Jaune explained, "So clearly whoever sent her here is trying to prevent Salem from winning, or at least giving us some sort of advantage."

That was actually a pretty good point, Summer realized. The fact she even landed anywhere near Ruby was a sign whatever caused this was no accident, and her timing was remarkably good when it came to stopping Winter, even if the resulting venom coursing through her body was far less than ideal.

"Who else is still alive?" Ren asked, "Maybe whoever or whatever grabbed you and your family also grabbed them."

It felt like a longshot to Summer, an interesting thought for sure but fate rarely ever made things that simple.

"Well Nora was waiting for us by the boats," Summer explained. "I think Coco's still around, somewhere, haven't seen her in years though, and of course Pyrrha is hiding out-"

Summer froze, her ears pulling back as she realized what she just blurted. In an instant, Jaune's downright optimistic expression vanished in an instant, replaced with horror.

"Pyrrha?" He said in disbelief, "She…she was alive in your world?"

"Yes," Summer admittedly wearily, "You died about 5 years ago fighting some bandits but Pyrrha is still alive. She-"

Jaune stormed off with tears in his eyes.

"Jaune, wait!" Nora called out

"Let him go," Ren urged.

The news clearly made an already depressing situation all that much worse. Summer understood completely, it wasn't that they had lost a friend, they also now knew she had an entire life that was never going to happen.

'Just like Emerald,' Summer thought.

Qrow wandered off as well, still drinking heavily from his flask.

"Let's end it here for tonight," Summer said, her voice shaking as a new surge of pain hit her, "There's more but that can wait for another day, I'll explain how I can transform into a bird tomorrow."

They were already stressed as it is, no need to make it worse by mentioning that Salem wasn't just immortal but effectively unkillable as well, or by explaining just how hard fought the war against Atlas was and the questionable choices and allies she made during the fighting.

And Summer sure as hell didn't want to explain that not only did Pyrrha survive, she and Jaune had a family. Not only Jaune lost Pyrrha, he lost four daughters and a son who would never exist now.

Though perhaps with the last one that was mercy.

'And how the hell am I going to explain his son?' Summer wondered.

How do you tell a man that his son that will never exist went completely insane when he died and joined up with Salem?

That was not a conversation she was remotely prepared for.

"Summer," Ruby said as she approached Summer, "This is a lot to take in, and a lot of it sounds terrifying and crazy. Do you really think we stand a chance of winning?"

"Without a doubt in my mind," Summer replied.

Ruby nodded, her expression filling with resolve.

"Then I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win," Ruby declared.

Summer smiled, she may not have shared her sister's nearly unending optimism but she knew that as long as Aunt Ruby was alive, anything was possible.
—

The arrival of a Seer brought Cinder's training for the day to a sudden halt. The mere sight of the floating Grimm orb instantly tore Salem's attention away from Cinder.

Cinder looked on in confusion as Salem stared into the orb, the Queen's expression unreadable.

Emerald and Mercury were standing in the corner, watching with their typical fearful ignorance.

"Tyrian has returned," Salem declared, "with an unexpected guest."

Cinder raised an eyebrow, Tyrian was not the type to just bring random people back to the castle, alive at least.

She watched as Tyrian came crawling in, a pathetic shadow of the madman he normally was. He was on his knees, whimpering and mewling for forgiveness, his wounded tail shaking behind him. It would be amusing were it not so disturbing.

The sound of heels tapping against the stone filled the air, and then, to Cinder's great surprise, Winter Schnee walked into the room.

Emerald and Mercury instantly prepared themselves for a fight but Cinder held out a hand, restraining her disciples for the moment. Salem said nothing, a thumb on her chin as she looked upon Winter.

Cinder looked upon Winter, her crisp white outfit and her stern but aging expression.

'It's her,' Cinder realized in shock.

It was the Winter Schnee of her time, the one who stood by and did nothing as Ironwood gave over their city to Salem.

Someone else from Cinder's time was here now, and it wasn't one of her family, but one of Atlas's wretched elites. Only a sense of intrigue kept Cinder quiet and observant.

Winter looked around the room, raising an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Emerald and staring at Cinder in blank confusion before returning her focus to Salem.

"I apologize for the confusion my arrival brought," Winter calmly stated, "I also humbly request your patience as I explain my situation, as I imagine it will be difficult to believe."

"Hardly," Salem replied evenly, "You are not the first time traveler I have encountered."

Emerald and Mercury began muttering in confusion as Winter's eyes went wide in shock.

"You have?!" Winter said in bewilderment, before her icy demeanor reasserted itself, "Of course, I should not be so surprised. No doubt you have seen much in your time."

Salem's gaze shifted towards the cowering Tyrian, who seemed to wither beneath her cold, black eyes.

"I imagine with the additional help you had no problems completing your objective," Salem said expectantly. "Were you successful in your mission?"

Tyrian mumbled nonsense in between small pleas for forgiveness.

"There were complications," Winter added, the barest hint of fear in her voice. "A miscommunication occurred upon my arrival in this time. Tyrian mistook me for my younger self and we ended up fighting. Neither of us were operating at full strength by the time we found Ruby Rose. And there was another unexpected situation when we found Ruby Rose: she was traveling with a girl from my time, named Summer Xiao Long."

Cinder's heart about burst from her chest, it took every ounce of willpower just to keep standing.

Summer. Her sister, her sister was here. After all this time, all these years, someone had finally found part of her family.

"I see," Salem replied, the smallest hint of disappointment in her tone. That alone was enough to send Tyrian into hysterics.

"I do apologize for our failure," Winter said, keeping her head low, "Summer was thankfully stung by Tyrian so the odds of her interfering again are remote."

All thought left Cinder in that moment, her mind filled with nothing but rage, her body felt like it was moving on its own, before she even knew what she was doing she had a burning sword in her hand, as her feet rushed towards Tyrian.

A scream of rage erupts from her damaged throat as she lunges at Tyrian.

Winter put herself between Cinder and the broken maniac, her saber clashing against Cinder's sword of burning glass. Winter grunting as she struggled against Cinder's maiden strength.

Cinder screamed again, rage overwhelming her.

Suddenly her rage turned into a howl of pain as her Grimm arm was suddenly filled with a deep burning pain, like a million white hot needles where suddenly stabbing her arm. The grimm began to bubble and contort out of her control. Cinder collapsed to the floor, her sword clattering on the ground next to her.

Cinder looked up to see Salem starring at her, a disproving look in her eye.

Sense reasserted itself in Cinder. However much she wanted Tyrian dead, now was not the time to go after him.

She nodded meekly to Salem, the pain going away in an instant.

Winter stared at Cinder in bewilderment as she pulled herself up.

"You'll have to forgive Cinder's outburst," Salem said calmly, "she is quite protective of her family."

"Family? What are you talking about?" Winter asked, before a sudden look of realization filled her eyes, "Kali?!"

It felt strange hearing that name again after all these years, it sounded almost alien to her ears somehow, like it was both her name and the name of a stranger.

"Ahh I see you two know each other," Salem remarked.

"Cinder, what are they talking about?" Emerald asked in confusion.

Cinder ignored her.

"If Summer dies I'm going to make you wish I had just killed you," Cinder threatened, every word hurting her but she ignored the pain.

"Be calm, Cinder," Salem urged, "If your sister is half as resourceful as you were when I found you, I have no doubt she will survive Tyrian's attack."

The anger inside of Cinder cooled. That was a fair point, Summer was strong and capable, far more so than any huntress of this generation. Summer would survive this.

'She has to,' Cinder told herself.

Winter studied Cinder with a very openly bewildered expression. The normally stoic Schnee demeanor was shattered for a moment.

"You've changed," was all Winter could muster.

"I've grown stronger," Cinder whispered.

She and Winter had fought before. Cinder could remember how she and Summer struggled to hold off Ironwood's puppet. Much had changed since then, now Cinder was more than strong enough to defeat Winter if she needed to. With the power of the Fall Maiden alone she would be more than capable of protecting her sister. Soon she would be strong enough to protect her whole family.

First things first, she had to get her sister back. If Summer was with this time's Ruby Rose, that made things a great deal more complicated. But far from unfixable.

Cinder smiled despite the situation, her sister was here in Remnant, injured and in the hands of a fool, but she was here at long last. IT had been so longer since she'd seen Summer, having her back in her life would change so much for Cinder. The two of them fighting side by side once more, they'd be unstoppable.

"Now while I am disappointed, your mistakes are understandable considering the situation," Salem replied, causing Winter to let out a small sigh of relief, but only worsening Tyrian's madness.

"Of course, I imagine you didn't just come here to apologize," Salem went on, ignoring Tyrian's mad screams, "Everyone who comes to me wants something. So what is it you desire, Winter Schnee?"

"My Lady," Winter nodded, "I will serve you faithfully as long as you have need of me, I have but one request, I wish for you to find a way to send me home, to my time, to my Atlas."

'What a surprise, the coward wishes to flee back to her floating palace, how typical,' Cinder thought.

As much as Cinder had longed for her family back over the years, at no point had she even considered going back home, what would be the point? There was nothing left for them there besides the buried dead.

In her time, Kali was nothing more than a soft, silly little girl who barely had any place on the battlefield, but here, Cinder was so much more than that.

"A reasonable request. Now come, Winter," Salem said as she motioned to the door, "I imagine we have a great deal to talk about."

Winter nodded and followed Salem as she strolled out of the room, paying little attention to Tyrian as he openly sobbed on the floor.

Cinder followed close behind, Emerald and Mercury clung close to her shadow, clearly full of questions she had no intention of answering.

In truth, Cinder cared little for Winter Schnee or what she had to say, she was an Altesian after all. But Summer's arrival, that changed everything.

Soon Cinder would have her sister again, she just needed to kill a few brats who were in the way first.

Chapter Text

Part 4

Summer awoke to find herself enveloped in dull throbbing pain, wrapping around her like a blanket of warm agony.

A quick look around revealed Aunt Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren were still asleep around the remains of the campfire, the barest hint of daylight stretching over the trees.

She struggled to her feet, wiping off the sheen of sweat on her face before checking her wound.

The bandage was stained with blood but it wasn't purple yet, good. Purple meant the venom was doing some real nasty stuff to your insides and you needed to get treatment immediately if not sooner. As Summer rewrapped her bandages she spotted Qrow watching them from a distance.

She approached her great uncle, using the nearby trees to steady herself.

"You should go back to sleep," Qrow urged wearily. "We have a long day ahead of us, particularly for you."

Summer shrugged as she leaned into a tree.

"Wouldn't do me any good, just be lying on the ground in agony for an hour," Summer replied. "Besides, this way I get to enjoy the sunrise," she added with a weak smirk.

"You're awfully upbeat for a dying girl," Qrow remarked.

"I've survived far worse than this," Summer replied as she gestured to her wounded side, giving Qrow a weak smirk before breaking into a small coughing fit.

Each cough felt like she was being stabbed directly in the lungs.

"Messed up isn't it?" Summer asked rhetorically, "This is somehow the best and worst day of my life. I'm poisoned, I don't know where my parents or my sister are, everyone's miserable, I'm traveling to a city I hate, someone's gone and driven my mentor into the arms of the enemy, and yet…" Summer trailed off, her gaze shifting to the sleeping form of Ruby.

"I have my aunt back," Summer went on. "Hell, I even have you back. Once we find my sister and parents, our family will be whole again, maybe not the same, sure, but this is more than I ever dared hope for."

As happy as Summer was that they finally had a chance to defeat Salem, the more she thought about it the more she was simply glad to have Ruby and Qrow back, soon enough she would have Aunt Weiss back as well.

'Things may be different,' Summer mused, 'but that's okay.'

Ruby and the others may not have any memories of her, but they were still the people she knew, and Summer had plenty of time to build new memories.

Qrow's expression stiffened as he stared at Summer, his eyes widening with dread.

"So I take it, you got the bird thing from me?" He asked.

Summer sighed, her ears drooping as she winced in pain, "I don't think that's a conversation you're ready for."

She'd never known her great Uncle before he gave up drinking but the stories she heard painted a very ugly picture. The last thing they needed right was Qrow drowning his sorrows in a gallon of whiskey.

Qrow let out a small, humorless laugh, "Relax kid, I'm not gonna drink myself into a coma while you're barely holding on, your mom would kill me."

Summer stared at him skeptically.

"Besides, I ran out last night," Qrow added sheepishly, gesturing to his now empty flask.

"I was ten," Summer relented, "A woman named Carmine Esclados kidnapped me and my sister, you were able to track Carmine down in Vacuo, a fight ensued. Kali and I escaped, you didn't. Next thing I knew I was able to turn into a bird."

Summer looked away, trying to force the memories of choking on burning sand out of her mind.

"Huh," Qrow replied flatly, "I just figure it would die with me"

"It's a little quirk of Ozpin's curse," Summer explained weakly, "Any power he gives out can be inherited, it's just outside of the maidens most are so weak they fade after a couple of generations. So I might not be able to pass it on myself, hell I might lose it in time, but for now I'm a strange cat-bird," she added with a smirk.

Summer's joke failed to produce even a smirk from Qrow.

"Just how much was Ozpin hiding from us?" he wondered.

"You can always ask him when we get to Mistral," Summer pointed out, Qrow only grunting in response.

The two didn't talk much for the next hour as they waited for the others to wake up; Summer spending most of the time resting against a tree, pain stretching out each minute she sat there.

They were all up by the time light enough out to safely travel. Everyone had an air of tension and concern about them, even Ruby. Jaune looked miserable still, more than understandable considering that situation.

"Right," Summer dragged herself back to her feet, "the sooner we get to Mistral the better. Now if my memory is correct the nearby road should take us to the mountains. If we set a fire up there, a patrol should see the smoke."

Looking to Mistral for help felt insane, but Summer didn't have a lot of options. It was either that or try to travel through a likely Grimm infested abandoned town Summer couldn't remember the name of but that would take longer and after

"How do you know that?" Ruby questioned.

"Was on a mission with Kali a few months ago and we needed an airship into Mistral, it's a long story," Summer explained weakly.

And not one Summer had any intention of explaining anytime soon considering how her last trip to Mistral ended.

"Okay, so we just have to reach the mountains then," Ruby said with a smile, "Should be pretty easy."

"The mountains are a rather steep climb though," Ren said with concern, "I'm not sure Summer could handle it."

"Hey, I'm still upright!" Summer protested feverishly before being overcome by a coughing fit.

The others stared at her with worry.

"I can handle the climb," Summer reassured them.

"Even if that's true now, I am not sure you'll be able to manage it after all that walking," Ren observed, "We should build a stretcher, it will be quicker and safer for you. "

"But that will delay us," Jaune argued.

"Yes, but we don't have any other option," Ren insisted.

"I could carry her there on my back," Qrow chimed in, "That way we're not slowed down and Summer can save her strength,"

'And all it costs me is my dignity,' Summer thought as she let out an annoyed grunt.

She didn't have a lot of options though, transforming into a bird and sustaining it for any length of time was basically impossible when she was in this amount of pain.

"Relax, kid," Qrow tried to assure her, "I've carried your mom lots of times."

"Yeah, when she was five," Summer protested before relenting, "Fine, just know I'm going to probably be coughing the whole time."

The walk towards the mountain was nothing short of humiliating for Summer, coughing and sweating the entire time as she clung to Qrow's back.

Then came the climb, it wasn't a hard climb, rather steep in places but she'd climbed far worse, last time had been a quick and easy affair, this had been nothing short of a nightmare. Each step up the better parts felt like she was climbing up a mountain, her legs and lungs protesting with every step.

Then came the parts too steep to simply walk, Summer was still able to climb, but only just. The entire time she felt like she was going through a thick fog of heat, her fever battling her with every hand hold.

She could feel the worrying eyes of everyone on her. It was so frustrating, she had been fighting since she was a child, she had survived so much worse than this, she still had the scars on her back from her last trip to Mistral for crying out loud.

The higher they went the warmer it felt, sweat pouring down Summer's face, and the world wasn't quite spinning yet but it did feel floaty, unreal almost.

Finally, they stopped climbing, finally having reached a decently high enough point that even a small fire would be seen for miles around.

A few trees still clung to the side of the mountain but most of the surrounding plant life were stubborn leafy vines that clung defiantly to the rocks surrounding them.

"Perfect for producing a lot of smoke." Emerald's voice echoed in her head.

Summer shook away the thought as she looked around, they had set up here last time, just the three of them, her, Kali and Emerald.

"We should start a fire," Ruby said.

"Yeah," Summer breathed weakly as she sat down, "that sounds like a good idea."

Ren and Nora quickly pulled out some logs they had brought with them as Jaune gathered some of the vines.

Summer's attention drifted as they started the fire, her gaze turning towards the nearby cave entrance, wind blowing through its vast entrance.

For a moment Summer thought she heard her sister whispering in her ear again.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

Summer looked over and saw her Aunt as she was, the proud warrior she had known all her life, with a faint scar just below her left eye, Summer blinked and she was once more looking at the worried face of a young teenage girl.

"I'm fine," Summer replied as she coughed, "Just a lot of memories, we ambushed a Mistral patrol here, used one of their airships to sneak into the Kingdom. Strange being back."

She could almost picture herself back in the cave, hiding among the rusting swords and broken arrows as they waited for the patrol to arrive. Summer inspecting her pistol over and over again as Kali did her best to hide her terror.

"I'm sorry, if there was any other way" Ruby began.

"It's fine," Summer insisted, "We need to go to Mistral, we don't have a choice."

"I know you're scared but we don't have a choice," Emerald's words echoed in her ear, "This our only chance, if we pull this off, Mistral will be free from Salem.'

"And how well did that turn out, mentor?" Summer asked aloud.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

Summer waved her away.

She sat there, pushing away bad memories for some time, she wasn't sure how long, until finally-

"I see an airship," Ren called out, only a hint of eagerness betraying his usual calm. "It's coming this way,"

In the distance she could faintly see the brown sail of a Mistral airship.

"Great," Summer said, her voice barely a whisper as she tried to stand up, her arms shaking beneath her for a moment before giving way, sending her face first into the rocks.

With a grunt of pain and annoyance, Summer pulled herself back up, struggling for a moment before Ruby rushed back to her side, steading her.

"I'm fi-" Summer's protest erupted into a violent coughing fit, her lungs threatening to rip themselves apart with every cough. The world was spinning more and more with each passing moment.

Summer sighed slightly as the pain subsided, only to realize her hand felt wet.

She looked down to see her palm and wrist stained with blood, purple blood.

"Well, crap." Summer breathed before passing out.

—

With Hazel away helping the White Fang and Tyrian currently having a violent mental breakdown, the conference hall of Evernight Castle was a bit empty. It was just Salem, Dr. Watts, Cinder and their guest of honor, Winter Schnee.

Of course Emerald and Mercury were there as well, listening in with their shocked expressions as Salem explained much of Cinder's history, but they didn't matter in these meetings. They were Cinder's disciples, not Salem's.

Cinder shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Salem finished explaining the situation to Watts. Part of Cinder always knew this day would come, there was no way her deals with Salem would work unless everyone serving her knew about them. Tyrian's attack on Summer had made that painfully clear.

But part of Cinder couldn't help but feel vulnerable, having her past, her family, exposed like this. She knew the history of Hazel, Watts, even Tyrian, their motivation and goals were always laid out plainly, the same could not be said for Cinder. Her true motivations were always hidden, none of them knew her stake in it or her reasons for siding with Salem, until today.

"With the utmost respect, I must ask why we were not told of this sooner," Dr. Watts said diplomatically, doing his best to avoid any possible offense to Salem, "Cinder's history and family relations could have caused significant bias in her recent operations."

Cinder glared at Watts, wishing she could snap his pencil neck for even suggesting such a thing. The Yang of this time was maimed and was nearly killed along with Blake by the man she recruited, that alone should have proven the past version of team RWBY meant nothing to her.

"I would not have entrusted Cinder with so much responsibility if I had anything less than the utmost confidence and trust in her," Salem replied calmly. "Part of my agreement with her involves protection for her family, but that only extends to her sister and her parents, not their counterparts, and only if they agree to lay down their weapons, which Cinder is confident she can achieve."

Winter's eyes went wide with shock for a moment before her usual calm, cold demeanor reasserted itself.

"I must admit I find myself skeptical of Kali's ability to do that," Winter replied, "Kali's sister is a fanatic who once tried to assassinate General Ironwood, and their parents spent decades fighting against you, long past the point any sane person would have given up. I do not think they will see reason."

"Summer is not Frost," Cinder replied with her ragged voice, "She will see reason."

Winter scowled slightly, earning a broad smile from Cinder in return.

"The war was over, we lost, we were fleeing" Cinder went on, her throat burning with every word

Even her parents had realized in the last few months it was impossible to win, talks of liberating kingdoms had turned to talks of delaying Salem, then simply figuring out how to survive. Arriving near Ruby might renew some false hope within her sister, but Cinder knew that in time Summer would realize that this Ruby wasn't their aunt, and they didn't have a chance of beating Salem.

'Summer will understand,' Cinder told herself, they all would in time.

"Fair enough," Winter nodded, "I suppose my next concern is what Kali has changed. If Ursula didn't take part in the attack on Beacon I imagine quite a few events have been altered."

"Some yes, but I prefer to avoid changing things too much, keeping Ozpin more predictable." Salem replied.

"I see," Winter replied hesitantly, "So Oscar Pine is-"

"Untouched, yes" Salem nodded, "Even leaving aside what changes Cinder's arrival might have caused, killing him did not suit my plans. If I had killed the boy I would have no idea who Ozpin would choose as his next host and risk the possibility, however small, of raising Ozpin's suspicions."

Cinder kept her silence, Salem had long told her to be beyond cautious with her knowledge of the future. It was frustrating in a way, Cinder would have quite enjoyed taunting Ruby Rose with the knowledge of all of her failures, past and future, but it was an acceptable trade off for how strong Salem had made her.

"Naturally, the arrival of Cinder's sister changes things," Salem went on, "Our most pressing concern right now is the location of the Spring Maiden," Her gaze shifted fully to Winter, "Anything you know would be greatly appreciated."

Winter pondered for a moment, thumb briefly touching her chin.

"That was decades ago," Winter said, "But I do remember Qrow Branwen's report on the attack, I should be able to give you a general location of where Raven Brawen and her bandits might be."

Cinder's eye went wide in surprise.

"Excellent, you have my thanks," Salem said, a small smile appearing on your face before she turned towards Cinder, "Cinder, Dr Watts, when we have determined the Spring Maidens whereabouts, you both shall make contact contact with Raven Branwen. Convince her and her little band to join hands with us, or if that proves impossible. Remove her from the board."

Cinder nodded.

"Of course, your grace." Watts replied.

Salem shifted back towards Winter, "As for you Specialist Schnee, I would like you to make contact with the White Fang near Mistral, Hazel needs to prepare for the Faunus militia."

For a split second, Cinder could see confusion etched across Winter's face, but only for a second.

"It will be done." Winter replied.

Cinder was beyond pleased, soon she'd have the power of the Spring Maiden, and after that, she'd have Summer back. After so many years she would finally have her sister back in her life.

It was strange, years had passed for Cinder yet it seemed Summer had fought Winter mere moments after they had been taken from their home. Cinder was a grown woman while her twin was still just a child. Things would be different, Summer would probably need some convincing, but that was more than fair price to have her sister back.

The chance to expand her power, kill her enemies and reunite with her family, what more could a woman want?
—

Patch was a large island, one with few roads once you got beyond Signal academy. This combined with having to look out for Grimm and pirates made travel rather slow, so by the time they arrived at the docks it was already noon.

Yang's bike came to a stop just short the docks, the kickstand digging into the dirt.

Blake hopped off, a few hours of riding on the back of a bike, most which was spent on the lookout for pirates and bandits, had done a number on her back, she needed to stretch.

Blake groaned slightly as she stepped onto the sand, at least it was a nice day out. A cool breeze in her hair, gentle waves lapping upon the sand.

Something shiny in the water caught her attention, a yellow cap among the blue waters and white foam.

Blake picked it up, her eyes growing wide as she realized what she was holding.

"A Sunflower pop bottle cap," Blake muttered in surprise.

"Well how about that," Yang said as she approached.

During their time at Beacon, the two had several nights out on the town together, their first dates in a sense, one of their first nights out was particularly memorable. For the first time Blake had been completely open with someone about her interests, and they listened, they cared.

It had been a great night, minus the brawl and the bar exploding at the end, and Blake kept the Sunflower pop cap as a memento of that night.

Only to throw it away like an idiot as she fled Vale.

For a brief moment, Blake entertained the idea it might be the same one, but the odds of it somehow drifting to Patch's shores seemed absurd, and she had no idea if her counterpart had made that same stupid mistake.

"Do you want it?" she asked Yang.

"What, oh…no. It's probably just a bottle cap," Yang said awkwardly as she turned away, her sunglasses doing little to hide the growing redness in her cheeks, "You should keep it."

"Okay," Blake smiled.

'Well at least we know that much is the same,' she told herself.

The two made their way to the docks and the awaiting ship.

Blake found herself with a strange sense of familiarity as they got on the ship, a sense that only increased with each passing moment.

The ship was an ocean liner, with a wooden hull, with three rows of decks above the waterline and a paddlewheel in the back. She'd seen a number of ships similar to this but something about this particular body was scarily familiar.

Yang got the keys for their cabin and placed her motorcycle against the side of the ship.

The captain of the ship approached them, an older man with a distinctive white beard and a black and gold suit. Like the ship there was something incredibly familiar about the man but she couldn't quite place how.

"I do apologize for how this sounds but do you have any family that traveled to Menagerie recently," the ship's captain asked politely. "I only ask because you look strikingly similar to a passenger I had a about a month ago."

That's when everything clicked inside Blake's mind, it was the captain, the one who ferried her back to Menagerie all those years ago. This was the ship she protected from the Sea Feilong, the one she used to flee like a coward.

"Ahh yes, you must have met my cousin, Blake," she said quickly, "My name is Velvet, Velvet Belladonna."

Yang watched on as the two talked.

"Ahh, of course," The Captain nodded, "your cousin is one of the bravest huntresses I've ever met, saved the life of everyone aboard this ship along with the help of her friend."

Normally Blake wouldn't be sure how to handle being complimented like this, particularly since the Captain didn't know he was complimenting her, but her mind was already focusing on other things.

She remembered this ship didn't just get her to Menagerie, it was also the ship that transported her, her parents and the Faunus militia to Mistrial. In a matter of weeks, maybe even days, her past self would be aboard this ship.

That opened up a number of possibilities.

"Thank you so much for your kind words," Blake replied, "Would you mind passing along a message to Blake? If you ever see her again of course," she hastily added.

The captain nodded.

"Thank you," Blake replied before turning to Yang, "We should head to the cabin, I have a letter to write."

Blake felt in her pocket, making sure the sunflower pop cap was still there. It may have been just a bottlecap, but it was a great way of proving who she was to her younger counterpart.

The two made their way into the inside of the ship, walking through narrow stairways and hallways lined with doors, then just as they were about to reach their cabin, a flier caught Blake's attention.

The flier declared in big bold letters, followed by several pictures with their names below. Neo and Mercury looked basically the same, no real change there.

Seeing Emerald's red eyes again in a poster labeling her a dangerous criminal was heartbreaking. Emerald may have done some dubious stuff, and Summer definitely picked up some less than stellar behavior from that woman, but she was still a friend and a hero

Then there was the mysterious Cinder Fall. She looked like was somewhere in her twenties, twenty five max, so about the same age as Urusla, maybe a bit younger. She had shoulder length raven-black hair, and bright amber eyes.

Blake's stomach turned to ice.

'It's not possible,' She told herself, 'It's simply not possible,'

She couldn't deny there was something disturbingly familiar about this woman, but there was just no way, it was impossible.

"Is something wrong?" Yang asked, voice filled with concern.

"This…Cinder woman," Blake said haltingly, barely able to speak, "Do you know what her semblance is?"

Yang pondered for a moment, "Qrow mentioned something about her using some sort of heat shimmer to hide her face when he first encountered her, and if she was the lady who helped Torchwick escape right before we joined Beacon, she was definitely throwing fireballs around-"

It was all Blake could do to stop herself from throwing up, her stomach twisting itself into knots as she stumbled backwards.

"What's wrong?!" Yang asked in a panic.

"It's her," Blake said, barely believing her own words as tears fell down her cheeks. "I don't know how but it's her. Cinder Fall is my little girl, Kali."

—
Ruby watched over Summer as she slept. They were in Mistral now, in a private room in one of their hospitals.

Summer hadn't woken up since she collapsed but the worst was over, the anti-venom had done its job, her blood was no longer purple, Summer would survive.

Ruby placed her hand gently on her niece's cheek.

She couldn't deny how strange it was that Summer was here, Yang's daughter who was somehow nearly the same age as her, a girl Ruby barely knew but who had known Ruby almost all her life.

Then there was what Summer had told her of their future, of the true enemy they were fighting, Salem.

Ruby thought Cinder was just some incredibly ambitious criminal with connections to the White Fang, not a pawn in a war that had been going on for generations. How could Ruby even hope to stand against something like Salem?

"Please Aunt Ruby, five more minutes," Summer mumbled sleepily.

Ruby tried to bury her concerns as Summer began to stir.

Summer opened her lilac eyes and looked around.

"Huh," Summer said in surprise, "we're in Mistral."

"Yep," Ruby replied with a nod.

Summer stood up, her expression growing tense as she looked out the window at the city around them.

"Can't believe I'm back here," she muttered.

"That mission, did it have any chance of working?" Ruby asked softly.

"No," Summer shook her head, "Even if-" She hesitated for a moment, "Even if Emerald had survived we still would have lost. We didn't realize how little power Dr. Watts had by that point, he was just a puppet for his advisors and Salem. Killing him didn't change a thing.

Ruby turned away, her fears rising again for a moment.

"Don't let that get you down though," Summer added as she stared at Ruby, "That was an act of spite in a war we'd already lost. This war is far from over, even with Winter and this mysterious Cinder on Salem's side, we can still win this."

There wasn't a shred of doubt in Summer's eyes, the girl had total confidence in their ability to beat Salem.

Ruby smiled, burying her fears once more, she needed to be strong for her family.

"So what now?" Ruby asked.

"Not sure," Summer admitted with a shrug, "Talk to the headmaster I guess, then find Oscar and prepare for everyone else to show up. A lot of people are coming here, good and bad, and we need to be ready."

End of Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Familiar Faces in Unfamiliar Places

"Blake, stop and think about this for a moment," Yang urged, her face tense with worry, "from what you've told me, your daughter doesn't sound like she's capable of doing any of the horrible things Cinder has done."

"I know!" Blake replied, cradling her head. "But that woman looks so much like her!"

The two were in their cabin, Blake almost wearing down the wooden floor as she urgently paced up and down the tiny room, Yang watching uneasily as she sat on one of the beds.

"Your daughter is Ruby's age, this Cinder woman is easily a good five or seven years older," Yang argued.

"But her eyes, they have the same eyes," Blake said mournfully, "And someone had to have changed the past, brought in Adam, killed Pyrrha,"

Blake let out a choked cry.

"She…she killed Pyrrha," Blake said in disbelief as the realization hit her.

Kali, her daughter, had not only killed a family friend, she had recruited that monster Adam, nearly killing Yang and Blake's younger selves.

How could Kali do such awful things? What had Salem done to her?

"Why would she do that though?" Yang questioned, "Why would your daughter do all those horrible things?"

Blake paused, her face red with tears as she looked at Yang.

"Salem must have found her," Blake replied simply.

It was the only explanation that made any sort of sense. If Kali had shown up years before anyone else, she would have gone back home to patch, Tai or Qrow would have directed her to Ozpin, unless Salem found her first.

Blake put her hand on the wall as her knees started to shake beneath her.

"Salem?" Yang questioned, "Who is that?"

This was a conversation Blake had been dreading since almost the moment she woke up on Tai's couch. Yang knew the future wasn't great, but Blake had yet to explain just how awful it was.

This wasn't the best time to explain it but explaining it was the only way Yang would understand what happened to Kali, and Yang needed to know the truth regardless.

"We aren't just fighting against the Grimm and the people who attacked Beacon, they are all, man and Grimm alike, controlled by one woman," Blake met Yang's stare, her voice hushed and tense. "A woman named Salem."

At the Xiao Long House, Blake had hinted at things, that there was more to the attack on Beacon, and she explained a bit about magic and the relics, but it was only bits and pieces. Now Blake explained everything, from the Two Brothers, to Salem and Ozpin's long running war, to team RWBY's own struggles against Salem, and their eventual failures and the deaths of Ruby and Weiss.

It took easily over an hour to explain everything, by the end of it, Blake was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and Yang was standing in the corner, arms shaking at her side.

Yang then suddenly let out a guttural scream, eyes burning bright red.

She stood there for a moment, the only sound in the cabin was Yang's heavy breathing, finally she turned and looked at Blake.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice heavy with tension, "I'm not angry at you."

"I know," Blake nodded "It's a lot to take in."

"They lied to us!" Yang said angrily, "The entire time we were at Beacon; Ozpin, Glynda, even Qrow, they were just lying to us!"

Blake nodded, "Believe me, we've chewed him out more than once over it."

Yang about collapsed onto a bed, head in her hands.

"So we were all that was left at the end?" Yang asked

"Just us and Nora," Blake said sorrowfully, "Pyrrha and Coco were around but they hadn't been in the fight for years at that point. The only one keeping up the war was Winter's daughter, Frost, and that girl is nothing but a dangerous lunatic."

Blake remembered the night they decided to stop fighting, what finally pushed her and Yang into giving up was the thought that if they kept this up, all it would mean is their daughters would spend the rest of their probably short lives fighting, becoming no better than Frost in the process.

At least hiding in Menagerie would have given them a chance at a normal life.

"Salem isn't unbeatable, no matter what anyone says," Blake insisted, "But she is very good at convincing people she is. Lionheart betrayed Ozpin out of fear of her, Jaune's son joined up with Salem for similar reasons."

Yang stared at her surprise at the mention of Jaune's son.

Blake sighed, "It's a long and painful story I don't really want to get into right now,"

Talking about the absolute mess that was Saph Arc was just too much for Blake to handle at the moment.

"So...so you think this Salem woman found your daughter and convinced her to switch sides?" Yang asked hesitantly.

"Convinced is too nice a word," Blake said with sudden sharpness, "But yes, it's the only thing that explains everything I've seen."

As far as Blake knew it was only the four of them sent back, so they had to be behind the changes, and Cinder had the same eyes as Kali. As much as Blake hated it, it made sense.

A thought suddenly struck Blake, a terrible one that left her cold, a sharp shiver running down her spine.

She had proof, more or less, that Kali was not only here but had been here for years, allowing Salem to twist her into a monster. But she hadn't seen any trace or hint of Summer or Yang yet, had they arrived yet? If so, how long ago? Were they scattered across time or were her and Kali the only ones to show yet?

'What happened to my family?' She wondered fearfully.

—
"How much further to Haven?" Nora asked impatiently, "I feel like we've been walking forever."

They left the hospital the moment Summer was fit to walk, a couple of days sooner than the doctors would have liked but she had no intention of staying in a Mistral hospital a second longer than she had too.

From there, they decided they needed to go to Haven Academy and talk to Headmaster Lionheart, though for some reason Qrow seem to be taking a bit of a meandering route. At the moment they were in a tunnel leading into Mistral itself.

The same tunnel that Summer and Kali had used to escape Mistral after it became clear Dr. Watt's death hadn't changed anything.

Her ears twitched as she listened for the sound of stranger's footsteps.

"I figured I'd take you kids on the scenic route," Qrow replied, "Give you a chance to enjoy the sights before we talk to Lionheart."

"Isn't that a bit risky?" Summer questioned.

"Why would it be risky?" Qrow said with a small laugh

"Because there might be Grimm attacks," Summer replied, confused, "Or people following us or…"

Summer trailed off as she noticed the confused looks she was getting from the others, the smile vanishing from Qrow's face.

"I mean there could be," Qrow replied, "But Mistral has plenty of defenses, no way we're getting attacked this close to the city without some kind of warning."

"Oh," Summer said, a bit surprised.

In her experience, going to a city meant one of two things, either it was already controlled by Salem and thus you had to keep you head down and to avoid security. Or it was free in which case you didn't walk in the open unless you have one hand on a gun at all times, in case a Grimm attacked.

"Anyways, welcome to Mistral," Qrow said as he opened the doors at the end of the tunnel.

The sights were nothing new to Summer, a stone walkway with a small wooden railing, beyond which lay Mistral itself, numerous red and black roofed buildings, each stubborning clinging to the mountainside, connected by numerous stone pathways, plantlife covering almost every square inch not claimed by construction.

From this angle the city was rather charming, of course that charm quickly wore off once you saw all the shops with "No Faunus Allowed" signs hanging on their doors, or dared to venture into the lower levels

"Oooh," Ruby said, completely in awe of the sights surrounding her.

Summer smiled at the childlike awe for a moment before the sight of a nearby market caught her attention.

Rows of vendors lined the streets, people of all shapes and sizes browsing for just about everything under the sun. Potted plants shaped like a heart, clothing, fruit, perfumes, even weapons, the latter earning a great deal of approval from Ruby.

It was almost just as Summer remembered it, almost.

Her expression began to change as she noticed the differences, the stalls were open, airy, some having giant holes in their roofs, all of them were made almost entirely out of the wood. No signs of heavy construction, no spikes on the roofs for defense, and strangest of all, few if any weapons.

There were dozens of people out in the market, nothing above them but the sky, and the only huntsmen or huntresses around were gathered around one of the weapon stalls, staring at blades, everyone else seemed to be completely without weapons.

Seeing this many people at once outside of somewhere controlled by Salem was rare at best for Summer, seeing that many people with so few weapons was almost impossible to believe.

How could these people be this carefree, this safe from the dangers of Grimm and bandits?

'Is the past really this much better off than my time?' Summer wondered.

Most of the group wandered ahead, the sights of the marketplace distracting them from their mission for the moment. Qrow drifted to the back, his expression growing more serious as he neared Summer.

"Tell me kid," He said in a hushed tone, "how much do you know about Professor Lionheart?"

"The headmaster? Basically nothing," Summer admitted, "Honestly didn't even know his name until you mentioned him back on the road. This whole period of time is basically ancient history for me, you know."

"So you have no idea if he or any of the other teachers might be traitors?" Qrows asked, his voice dead serious.

Summer considered for a moment, searching her brain for any mention of Lionheart by her family, only to come up blank. She shook her head.

Qrow's expression turned dower

"I've known Leo for a long time and normally I wouldn't even dare accuse him of such a thing, but you mentioned that Raven was at Haven the night everything went down," He said.

"Yeah," Summer nodded, "One of the few things I do recall hearing about this was Raven's involvement, started siding with Ursula but the two turned on each other and Raven ended up running away or something."

Summer's mom rarely talked about her biological mother, but when she did, she could go on quite the rant about Raven.

"Right," Qrow, looking like he just ate something rancid, "That's the part that's making me wonder. Raven, even with this, wouldn't go to Salem, she's not that bold. So Salem's minions must have discovered her location, the question is how? I'm normally the only one who knows where she is, but Leo is one of the few people in this kingdom who has the resources to track her down"

That was worrisome, Summer's mom had always described Raven as a coward and a bully, not the kind of person to seek out an alliance with the queen of the Grimm.

"So what do we do?" Summer questioned.

"For now, just play things safe," Qrow sighed, "I don't want to accuse Lionheart without any proof, but it would be best if, for now at least, we don't mention anything about Raven or your history."

Summer nodded, even if Lionheart wasn't the traitor, there could still be a leak within Haven Academy. Winter Schnee was likely talking to Salem at this moment, no need to make it worse by giving them any more info.

Qrow quickly gathered the others up and they went on their way, traveling further and further up the city, through stairways and public elevators.

Last time Summer was here, the trip had taken days, and often involved dangerous climbs up the mountain itself in the middle of the night.

Eventually they reached it, Haven Academy. As the others gasped in wonder at the sight of the Academy, Summer found herself flooded with memories of months prior.

The Academy looked almost the same as it did now, only lacking the dozens of security cameras Watts had installed all over the place.

It had been night when she was here last time, wind and freezing rain battering the three of them as they snuck in. Things went smoothly at first, Emerald was in her element, sneaking through hallways, disabling cameras in a split second, silencing guards without making a sound, no one even knew they were even there until they hit Watts' office.

Unfortunately they had underestimated just how well protected Watts was.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, pulling Summer out of her thoughts.

Ruby was looking at her, a concerned expression on her face, the others turning towards Summer as well with similar worried looks.

"I'm fine, just a bit distracted-" Summer mumbled a reply before freezing up again as she realized she was now standing in the courtyard leading to the Headmaster's office. Four pathways lead out from a concrete circle in the center of the courtyard like spokes on a wheel.

This is where everything happened.

"I think I'm going to stay out here for a moment," Summer said, her voice choking slightly, "you guys should go on ahead."

Qrow looked at them pensively for a moment, before his gaze shifted towards Ruby, some unspoken conservation happening between them.

"Maybe it will be best if you kids wait out here while I talk about Cinder with Lionheart," Qrow suggested.

Ruby nodded.

Summer barely noticed as Qrow walked away, her heart pounding in her ears as she stared at the ground, her breath growing shorter.

"This is where Emerald died, isn't it?" Ruby asked.

Summer nodded as her eyes remained locked on the edge of the concrete circle.

"The fight started in the Headmaster's office, but it ended right here," she said, pointing directly to where she was staring at.

She could feel the rain pouring down on her again, Emerald was some distance away, guns trained on Watts. They were all wounded, Emerald was barely able to stand, her green shirt soaked with blood. But Watts was on his last legs as well and he was distracted, as long as his attention was on Emerald, it would be easy for her and Kali to attack him from behind, one shot from Summer or an arrow from Kali and it would all be over.

"Stay!" an echo of Marrow's rings in her head.

Summer gasps in pain, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm," She says as she forces herself to look away, "I know how absurd it is that I'm mourning someone who's done nothing but cause you pain, but Emerald was my friend."

"It's okay," Ruby said gently as she placed her hand on Summer's shoulder.

Emerald had saved countless lives, entire villages were alive because of her, she had died fighting one of the worst men in Remnant.

'And no one is going to remember any of that,' Summer realized, 'no one but me.'

"It's like Cinder killed her in a sense," Jaune said sympathetically, "ripped away the life she could have had."

"Yeah I guess she did, didn't she?" Summer replied.

Emerald and Pyrrha, one twisted, the other murdered. This Cinder woman must have hated Summer's family and friends with a passion. Who else would do something so cruel?

"Maybe you can still save your friend." Ruby said suddenly.

Summer looked at her in bewilderment.

"How?" Summer questioned, "The things she's done-"

"I know," Ruby replied, "She's hurt my friends, but she was a hero in your time, right?"

Summer nodded. Her parents didn't always approve of Emerald, often telling Summer that some of the things Emerald was teaching her were just criminal behavior, but they never denied she was a hero.

"Cinder couldn't have corrupted all of that, maybe if she knew what Cinder stole from her, that might change her mind." Ruby explained.

Summer pondered for a moment, Emerald did talk about how much the teacher who saved her inspired her, and how much she cared for her team even if she had fallen out of contact with Coco. She had friends, people who cared for her, people who loved her, knowing they lost all of that would be a lot for most people.

"Maybe," Summer said hesitantly, "I don't know what Cinder has done to her though."

"Cinder will be the one leading the attack on Haven, correct?" Ren asked.

"I mean Ursula attacked all of the Academies at one point," Summer replied, "If Cinder replaced Ursula, or is her, she'll be here."

"Then it stands to reason, Emerald will be here as well." Ren said, "Maybe you could talk to her then?"

The thought was terrifying, the idea of seeing Emerald again, alive but with no memory of Summer, twisted into fighting for the very people who killed her. And yet, if there was a chance to save her. It wouldn't be the same, but Emerald would be alive.

"Maybe, it's worth a shot," Summer replied, a small bit of hope lifting her voice.

At least she had a goal to look forward to now, save Emerald, and kill Cinder before she could hurt anymore of her friends and loved ones.

—
Emerald watched as Cinder drank some kind of herbal remedy to help heal her throat. Whatever it was in it, it must have tasted vile judging by Cinder's sour expression.

She, Emerald, Mercury and Dr. Watts were all crammed in a Manta, flying off to track down this Raven Branwen woman.

Emerald found herself glancing constantly at Cinder since the flight began, her mind swirling with a thousand thoughts. In a few moments everything Emerald knew about Cinder had been upended. Cinder was somehow the child of some of her sworn enemies, and Emerald had never known.

Cinder hadn't lied to her, Cinder would never do that of course, but she had withheld something of great importance. Why? Emerald desperately wanted to know but couldn't dare bring herself to ask.

"So, are you a Faunus?" Mercury said out of the blue.

Emerald and Cinder both turned to stare at him.

"What?" Cinder said, more surprised than anything, her voice largely healed.

"Simple question, are you a Faunus?" Mercury repeated.

Emerald's mouth about fell open in shock, why was he being so blunt with her?

"Why do you care?" Cinder asked, more annoyed now.

Mercury shrugged, "Curiosity, I figured if you were hiding the whole 'from the future thing'," He made air quotes as he talked, "there might be other stuff you're not telling us. Plus it makes sense, I mean your sister is a Faunus, your mom is a Faunus."

"One of my moms is a Faunus," Cinder corrected.

For a moment Emerald thought Cinder might just kill Mercury then and there but to her surprise, Cinder just shook her head in frustration.

"No I'm not a Faunus," Cinder replied wearily, "Not that it matters. When we find my sister I expect you to give her the same level of respect you're supposed to give me, same goes for my parents."

The idea of Cinder having a sister, indeed an entire family, was perhaps the hardest part of this. She had always pictured Cinder's life as something similar to her own, an orphan abused and abandoned by the world, that's why she recruited her after all. At least, that's what Emerald thought.

"You knew me, right?" Emerald dared a question, flinching slightly when Cinder's gaze shifted to her, "In your time, you and your sister knew that other me?"

The idea of there being another version of her, someone with their face who led a completely different life was frankly disturbing. It was like this other Emerald was both her and a total stranger.

"Yes, we did," Cinder said dryly.

This was getting even weirder for Emerald, imagining herself as an adult and Cinder as child. Frankly Emerald couldn't wrap her brain around it, Cinder was her protector, her only family, the only one who cared about her, she couldn't picture their dynamic being so radically different.

"What was she like?" Emerald's curiosity dragged the question out of her.

For a split-second, Emerald saw Cinder's gaze shift to Watts before quickly moving away.

"She died pointlessly, fighting a war that was already lost," Cinder replied.

"Oh," Emerald was a bit stunned by that, "I guess I owe you twice now for saving my life."

"Yes, you do," Cinder replied coolly.

Emerald had no use for heroics, she didn't enjoy needless cruelty but she didn't see the point in trying to save a world that had treated her like trash for so many years. Cinder was the only one who cared about her, Cinder was the only person in this world worth fighting for.

Still one question refused to leave her mind, too important to ignore, too terrifying to dare give voice to it.

'Why didn't she tell me?'

—
The rest of the trip was fairly quiet, Blake spent most of the time silently processing what had happened to her daughter, often torn between grieving acceptance and holding out some small hope she was wrong about everything.

Yang on the other hand spent most of the time trying to come to terms with everything Blake had told her. In the span of a few hours it seemed like everything she knew about the world had turned on its head. Grimm weren't just some malevolent force of nature, there were the remnants of some ancient god that now served a Queen who had existed since before Mankind did.

And then there was Blake's future. A few hours with this new Blake had been enough to tell Yang that whatever future she came from, it wasn't good, but she never expected it to be this bad. They'd lost, utterly, their friends were dead, Weiss and Ruby were dead.

Yang felt like she had failed utterly as a teammate and sister. Whatever happened, she would not allow the same fate to befall them again, and Salem would pay for all the pain and suffering she had caused her family.

Yang watched as Blake handed off her letter, complete with bottle cap, to the captain, her sunglasses masking Yang's growing frustration.

Yang wasn't upset with Blake, this Blake at least, but she found herself growing impatient, they had been waiting near the docks for several hours, held up by some minor accident another ship had gotten into. Every hour they waited was an hour they could have spent looking for Raven. The sooner they found Raven, the sooner they would reunite with Weiss and the sooner they could get to Ruby. The sooner they could make things right.

"Did you travel all this way to see me?" An unfamiliar female voice called out, the tone jovial yet somehow bitter as well.

Yang turned to see just about the last person she expected waiting on the dock.

"I'm touched, truly," Raven Branwen finished.

She had only seen her mother in photos and half glimpses while she was barely awake, but there wasn't a doubt in Yang's mind who this was. Their faces were almost mirrors, the only differences being Raven's pale features, and the slight bags under her red eyes.

Raven's expression was strange, a cocky smile on her lips but the eyes didn't quite match, too wide, too worried.

The brief spark of joy Yang felt at seeing her mother was quickly buried under a wave of resentment and most of all, confusion.

"Why-" Yang began.

"Get away from her!" Blake shouted, ears pulled back as she rushed towards Yang's side, hand firmly on Gambol Shroud.

"I don't know who you are, lady," she growled, "but I suggest you back off." A hand came to rest on her odachi.

"I know exactly who you are, Raven," Blake replied sharply "So don't think your threats will work with me."

Raven's expression turned quizzical as she stared at Blake.

"Why are you here?" Yang finally asked.

Finding Raven was their goal but Blake mentioned nothing of her coming to them, And the Raven that Yang knew wouldn't seek her out. Only once in her entire life had Yang even seen her mother, and that was a tiny glimpse. Her mother hadn't come to visit after her actual mom, Summer Rose, vanished; she didn't protect her when Adam took her arm, Raven didn't care about her. So why was she here, what changed?

"That's a fine way to greet your mother," Raven bitterly snarked.

"Dad told me how your semblance works, you could have visited me at any time, but you never did," Yang said, hand shaking at her side, "You wouldn't be here unless you wanted something."

Yang could feel the eyes of the Captain and various passengers and crew members upon them.

"Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere private?" Raven suggested.

Blake glanced over at Yang for a split second, Yang gave the tiniest of nods.

"No," Blake declared, "You probably have bandits waiting in the forest or behind the dunes on the beach, we're having this conversation right here."

Raven looked like she had a snappy remark prepared but she bit it down for some reason.

Something was definitely off, from what Yang knew of Raven from Qrow, Raven was not the type of person to met someone in public like this, they were surrounded by dozens of people, and Raven was a known bandit, this was a risk, and yet Raven was still here, showing no signs of leaving. She must have needed something from Yang, and judging by the occasional hint of fear and worry in her eyes, she was desperate.

But what could Raven possibly need from her?

"You saw something didn't you? Something you can't explain," Yang stated, "Something that doesn't make sense and for some reason, you think I can help you."

It was a wild guess but it was the only thing Yang could think of, if this was somehow connected to whatever sent Blake and her family back in time, they would know soon enough; if it wasn't, well all she's done is confuse Raven.

Raven gave her a measured look, like she was searching Yang for an answer to some unknown question.

"That's an oddly specific yet vague question," Raven remarked, "What makes you think you understand what I'm going through?"

"I'm standing next to my teammate, who's now over twice my age and fell out of a hole in the sky, whatever you're going through can't be nearly as weird as what I'm experiencing," Yang remarked, her tone hushed to ensure others didn't hear her.

Raven's eyes went wide before she turned to Blake again, before nodding slightly.

"So, you're the lucky woman then, interesting," Raven snarked.

"What are you talking about?" Yang questioned.

"A few days ago I was watching your uncle," Raven explained as she paced, adjusting her grip on her helmet slightly as she did. "Wanted to make sure my foolish little brother wasn't getting himself killed; so imagine my surprise when I found him, along with your little sister, talking to some strange Faunus girl with long blonde hair. I was even more surprised to learn she called herself Summer Xiao Long,"

Yang's eyes went wide, Raven had one of Blake's daughters, her daughter as well in a sense.

"Where is she?! " Blake asked frantically as she grabbed Raven's shirt, "Is she okay?!"

If Summer was with Ruby, that could mean she arrived around the same time Blake did, if the whole family had arrived at the same time that would mean there was no way Cinder was actually Kali.

"Like I said, she's with Qrow," Raven replied as she pulled Blake's hands off her, "and I think she's fine, she looked injured but she seemed to be doing okay."

Something didn't quite add up to Yang, why would Raven go to her over this?

"So you just came here to tell me I have a time traveling daughter?" Yang questioned.

"No," Raven admitted, her expression growing serious, "The kid's story was rather interesting, and concerning, sadly I didn't get to hear all of it. I would go back but your uncle and I aren't on the best of terms and there's no telling what sort of nonsense Summer has been told about me."

Raven spat the name like it was rotten.

"So let me guess," Yang said as she folded "You thought you could use me to get to Summer and she'll tell you everything you missed?"

'Of course she just wants to use me, why would I expect anything different?' Yang wondered.

She glanced over to Blake, a small but hopeful smile had appeared on her partner's face, though her attention never left Raven.

"If I was, clearly that's not needed anymore," Raven said as she gestured to Blake, "After all you've brought your future wife with you."

Raven pulled out her sword and in swift motion cut through the air behind her, a spinning portal of red and black energy forming from her sword cut, earning a gasp of surprise from numerous onlookers.

It was interesting to behold, it was strange but it felt natural, like Yang was seeing an usual but perfectly natural animal. Looking at the portal Blake had fallen out of almost hurt her eyes, like she was beholding something that should not be able to exist.

"So why don't we go back to my tribe and have a nice chat about what the future has in store?" Raven said, gesturing to the portal

Chapter Text

Part 2

Qrow's talk with Professor Lionheart proved unproductive. The professor's explanation for how Cinder and her group sneaked their way into Haven Academy's students at Beacon seemed plausible enough, but a lot of his other behavior seemed odd, even to Ruby.

According to Qrow, the campus was basically empty as most of the students and teachers were off defending other parts of the city, and Lionheart seemed loath to increase security on the relic, even with recent events, saying that getting council approval for greater security at the school would take time.

Qrow left the meeting frustrated and uncertain of were exactly Lionheart stood at the moment.

To Ruby's complete lack of surprise, Qrow quickly headed towards the nearest bar after that, sending Ruby and the others to the place he'd been renting from a long retired huntsman who was away in Argus. Apparently the two had known each other for a while and Qrow a huge discount on renting the place out for a month or two.

It had been hours now since they arrived at the house, noon had given way to the orange glow of late afternoon, and still there was no sign of Qrow returning anytime soon. Not that Ruby was surprised, her uncle had been barely holding it together since the first night with Summer.

The group was doing their best to keep busy while they waited for Qrow to return, hopefully with Ozpin in tow. Ren was making dinner, with Nora helping him of course, Jaune was setting up a practice area in the rear patio so they could do some training, Summer was unpacking her things and Ruby-

Well Ruby was just trying to relax, in the living room, humming a bit as she worked her way through a small pile of comic books. Dark times may lay ahead but there was no reason Ruby couldn't enjoy a few issues of the Adventures of Captain Cosmos in the meantime.

As Ruby flipped through tales of an adventurous woman traveling across the stars, fighting strange and otherworld beings with advanced weapons, she spotted Jaune out of the corner of her eye, his eyes were downcast as he approached.

"Hey Ruby, can I ask you a question," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. A few beads of sweat ran down his neck as he recovered from his work.

Ruby put down the comic

"Sure, Jaune, what's up?" she asked.

"Are you comfortable with what we said to Summer earlier?" He replied, looking at ruby with a worried expression, "I know she's important to Summer but it's Emerald, what she did to us-"

"I know," Ruby sighed, "she lied to us the entire time, she hurt our friends, she-" Ruby hesisted, her voice cracking slightly with grief, "She probably helped kill Penny. But Summer insists in her time that Emerald was a friend of ours, there has to be a good person in there somewhere."

Jaune stared at Ruby, his lips pulled back tightly.

"We don't have to forgive Emerald, I don't think I can," Ruby admitted, "But Summer thinks she can get through to her, help her change."

Jaune looked at her with uncertainty

"We have to give people, even people like Emerald, the chance to do the right thing," she insisted, "or no one will ever change.

There was also something deeply unsettling about the whole thing, Cinder had taken someone who would have been their friend and made them into a lying backstabbing servant of Salem. What if it hadn't been Emerald? What if Cinder had done the same to Nora, or Jaune, or even Weiss?

Ruby shook off the thought before it haunted her. She couldn't forgive Emerald for what she had done, but she deserved to know about the life she should have had, the friends she would have known.

Jaune offered no further protest and sat on one of the chairs, trying to unwind.

A few minutes later Summer appeared, making her way down most of the stairs before catching sight of Ruby, adjusting her red scarf slightly as she leaned on the rails.

"So quick question," Summer said, "should I put explosive mines on the window?"

Ruby's eyes went wide as she and Jaune stared at Summer in shock.

"You see normally I would, because Grimm attacks and whatnot," Summer explained, "But things seem a lot more casual here so I wasn't sure."

"Yeah Summer, that's not really necessary," Ruby assured her, "don't worry."

Ruby bit down her horror at the question, Summer didn't need to be reminded just how bad off she was until she arrived here.

"Yeah, I figured as much," Summer shrugged, "Guess I'm done with unpacking then,"

Summer made her way to the living, looking far more cheerful than she had since she first arrived, though she kept glancing at Jaune as she walked over.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, noticing her looks.

"No, nothing," Summer replied awkwardly, "just still a bit weirded out by you guys being my age."

"What's so weird about that?" Jaune questioned.

"Cause I only knew you guys when you were old," Summer explained, "How would you feel if you were suddenly hanging out with a teenage version of Qrow?"

"That would be pretty weird," Ruby admitted, trying to picture herself interacting with teenage versions of her dad and uncle, back in their Beacon days. The thought was hard to wrap her brain around.

Jaune nodded.

"I imagine it's gonna get even weirder for you when Blake and Yang show up," He added

"Oh yeah, that's gonna be something all right," Summer laughed at the idea, revealing some rather big canines, "It'll get even weirder when my parents show up."

"Two Yangs," Jaune mused, "yeah that will be quite the sight to see."

Ruby hadn't given it a whole lot of thought, Summer and everything else she told her occupying most of Ruby's thoughts the past few days, but there were now two Yangs and two Blakes out there now. She had two sisters, and a sister-in-law now. Her team, her family just got a lot more complicated.

Not bad, it was good, great even, Ruby always wished she had more people she could call family, but it did things more confusing and complex.

At least it was the good kind of complicated, it could be so much worse, it could be Winter.

'How are we going to explain that to Weiss?' Ruby wondered darkly.

They had to tell Weiss about the other Winter, more than likely they were going to see her again and even if they didn't, Ruby wasn't going to keep a secret like that from her teammates. But the truth was going to hurt Weiss, a lot.

Ruby couldn't even begin to imagine how awful it would be for Weiss, she couldn't imagine any of her own family doing what the other Winter did.

"So since I'm done putting away my things, I'm gonna head out for a bit," Summer's sudden announcement pulled Ruby out of her dark thoughts.

"What?" Ruby tilted her head slightly, "Why?"

Considering how many bad memories Summer had of this place, and how cruel it was to Faunus judging by the number of signs they saw banning them from various places, Ruby found it strange that Summer was just casually going out.

"Well I need new tools to repair my guns," Summer explained, "And I figured I'd look for Oscar Pine while I'm out, I know he's probably looking for Qrow but I figured if I might be able to find him sooner."

Summer paused for a moment, looking hesitant as she stared at Ruby, some small debate playing out in her head.

"Would you wanna come with me, Ruby?" Summer asked, her voice a bit hesitant.

"Huh?" Ruby said in surprise.

"Yeah I mean, we haven't really had a chance to hang out besides you sitting by my hospital bed, it could be fun," Summer said warmly, "Also, I have no idea if my future lien is any good here, so I kind of need money," she added, a bit sheepishly.

"Sure, I'll go with you," Ruby replied cheerfully, "It will give a chance to browse all the awesome weapons Mistral has to offer."

The comics weren't keeping away her darker thoughts as much as she liked, and Ruby certainly wasn't going to turn down a chance to look at some cool guns and get to know her niece better.

"Great, let's get going then," Summer said.

—

Yang followed Blake through Raven's portal, the wooden deck of the dock giving way to dry dirt.

They were now surrounded by a barrier made of huge logs held together roughly with scrap metal, each easily twice as tall as her, their ends cut to a sharp point. The tops of trees could be seen just outside the barrier.

 Inside the fence were rows upon rows of tents, their canvas looking like scraps that had been stitched together from various scraps, each was adorned with at least one tooth or claw of some large beast. The burnt out remains of campfires were scattered around the place, along with some trash and old stumps.

The whole place smelled of sweat, leather, and burnt wood.

Dozens of people were staring at them as they walked in, Men and women in gray and red, each carrying a gun or crude blade of some kind and a rather dangerous expression on their faces

'This is it?' Yang thought in disbelief, 'This is what she abandoned us for?' 

She knew from Qrow that Raven and the whole Branwen tribe was dangerous but she expected something more than just a bunch of bandits squatting in the forest.

Blake glanced at a nearby cage, her ears pulling back as she stared at the empty prison

"Weiss isn't here yet." she noted in frustration.

Yang sighed.

"You may notice I didn't have anyone else with me," Raven stated, "So no, I didn't have any of my men waiting to ambush you."

"That just means you were in a rush," Blake replied sharply.

Raven scowled at the reply but brushed it off, her attention turning to an approaching woman with short brown hair, and blue eyes.

"Vernal, do a quick perimeter check, make sure no one is watching the camp," Raven ordered, "When you're done, meet us back in my tent."

Vernal nodded and quickly walked away.

Raven motioned to her tent, the largest in the camp, sitting on a large wooden platform with a couple of steps leading up to it.

Yang watched Blake as they made their way to Raven's tent, Blake's hands were balled up tightly into fists and her ears remained flattened as she glared at Raven.

"Are you okay?" Yang whispered.

Blake gave a small shake of her head, her eyes boiling with anger. She wasn't just angry at Raven for being a bad parent or the things she did, Yang realized, there was more to her anger than that.

Yang's interest in meeting her mother had largely faded on the boat, the many things Blake had told her were far more pressing than Raven Branwen. Even now, mere moments after meeting her mother for the first time, Yang found herself far more focused on Blake's distress than anything else.

Yang stopped for a moment to park her motorcycle outside the tent, casting a warning look at all the bandits who had their eyes on it.

Raven's tent was equal parts bedroom and trophy hall. A fancy clock stood against one of the edges of the tent, the clock face lined with gold. An old map of Remnant dominated the opposite wall, its edges torn, burnt and faded with time, feathers from some massive bird filled another wall. Talismans made of red stained wood and bone lined the ceiling, chests and barrels were scattered about the place. And near one side of the tent was a simple low desk with some red cushions placed near it, the only thing on the table itself was a simple blue teapot decorated with golden vines and cherry flowers.

"So I'm curious, did you have any intention of coming here?" Raven asked, her gaze focused on Yang, "Or was this all your wife's idea?"

"Oh I was on my way," Yang replied calmly "You were the fastest way to Uncle Qrow and my sister after all."

Raven shook her head, amusement fading from her face.

"Typical family," she said with a roll of her eyes, "only coming around when they need something."

"You're one to talk," Blake fired back sharply.

Raven glared dangerously at her.

"If you were smart you'd keep your comments to yourself," Raven warned.

An uncharacteristic smirk appeared on Blake's face.

"You really think you're the first Maiden to threaten me?" she asked, "I'll say whatever I want."

Raven's expression was torn, her mouth caught halfway between a snarl and a smirk, her red eyes going wide as she stared down Blake.

Yang stepped between the pair, "Look, let's make this simple. We'll tell you everything you want to know about Blake's future; in exchange, you'll help us find our friend, Weiss, take us to Uncle Qrow, Summer, and my sister, and help us deal with Salem's forces at Haven."

The more Yang saw of Raven, the less she wanted to do with her.  She had spent all these years looking for her, wondering why her mother had abandon her before she was even old enough to crawl and for what? Had she really wasted all that time searching for a selfish bandit who cared only for herself? The disdain she had been feeling since they left Patch was beginning to turn into outright loathing.

"Oh is that all?" Raven snarked.

"It's a fair offer," Yang replied.

"You know, I'm curious," Raven said as Vernal entered the room, "What are you planning to do once you reunite with your sister? Do you just want to find them or is there something else you have planned. "

"Why does that matter?" Blake asked.

Raven's gaze shifted to her.

"Because I may not have heard much of Summer's story, but I did hear her mention Salem and that there's going to be an attack on Haven soon," Raven stated, "So I'm left to wonder, are you trying to save Ruby and the others, or are you throwing yourselves into a war you know can't win?"

The petty disdain in Raven's voice every time she mentioned Blake's daughter was almost hilarious if only for how utterly childish it was.

"Did Summer mention who was involved in the attack on Haven?" Yang questioned, hand shaking beneath the table.

"Let me guess, I was there as well?" Raven asked smugly.

"Yes, you were, on the side of Salem, until the two of you betrayed each other and you fled." Yang answered.

The picture Blake had painted was both terrible and hardly surprising, Ursula found Raven through Lionheart, forcing Raven to work with her in exchange for her freedom. Raven had willingly attacked Ruby and even tried to kill Qrow. When she turned on Ursula it was only out of self interest. She hadn't taken the Relic but that seemed largely because she feared the attention it would bring.

Everything Blake said made it clear that Raven was a coward who would easily stab her own family in the back for her own survival. The only reason Yang wasn't screaming bloody murder at Raven right now is this Raven hadn't done any of those things yet and Blake seemed certain she could deter her from ever allying with Salem.

Raven showed only the faintest hint of surprise at Yang's words, Vernal glanced at her boss with a questioning look in her eyes but said nothing.

"If you're expecting me to apologize for something I haven't done, you're an even bigger fool than your uncle," Raven replied.

Yang glared at Raven as her anger boiled within. This woman had the gall to insult her family after what she'd just heard?!

"I don't know what my counterpart's reasons were but I'm willing to bet she would tell you the exact same thing I'm going to tell you, what your friend here should have told you from the beginning," Raven's declared.

The bandit's voice grew stronger and sharper with each word. If nothing else, she was serious.

 "There is no stopping Salem, Ozpin's trapped in a war he can't win, I thought I found someone who understood that but it appears the future is full of fools." She finished.

Blake's expression remained unchanged the entire time, the anger never leaving her eyes.

"It wasn't Salem that killed you," Blake said flatly.

That caught both Raven and Vernal off guard, their eyes growing wide, Raven's smug smile vanishing from her face.

Yang stared at Blake in surprise as well, she had suspected Raven was dead in Blake's time but she hadn't outright said it.

"That's what this was all about right?" Blake asked rhetorically, "You wanted to know how to survive Salem, stay one step ahead of her? That is why you brought us here after all."

Blake straightened her back as she matched Raven's gaze.

"Well I'm here to tell you that you were successful in that regard, because it wasn't Salem or her minions who killed you. It was your daughter."

The entire room stared at Blake in disbelief.

Yang struggled to breath as her chest tightly contracted, however much disdain she felt for Raven, the idea of killing her left Yang horrified.

Blake turned to Yang, a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Blake said quietly, "I was going to tell you on the way here."

"Now why would she do that?" Raven asked, trying to maintain a confident attitude but failing, her eyes wide with doubt and confusion.

"Because you were so desperate to escape Salem that you showed up to our house and threatened the lives of our infant daughters!" Blake replied, her voice shaking with rage.

The expression on Raven's face was not one Yang expected, she wasn't angry, she was horrified, her mouth open slightly as she stared wide eyed at Blake.

"Liar!" Raven declared suddenly

"Find my wife and ask her for yourself," Blake snapped back, "She'll be more than willing to testify that you pulled a sword on our daughters while they were still in their crib!"

Raven reached for her sword, before Yang even realized what was going on, Blake was out of her seat and on the table, the blade of Gambol Shroud barely an inch away from Raven's neck.

The blade was different then Yang remembered, the black metal now laced with an almost spider web like pattern of gold.

Vernal quickly trained her own weapons on Blake as Yang scrambled to her feet. Her back going tense, her arms held out in front of her as she prepared to strike at Vernal the moment fighting began.

Slowly, Raven began to raise one hand, her eyes never leaving Blake as she motioned for Vernal to stand down.

Reluctantly, Vernal obeyed.

Blake withdrew her blade but remained standing, Yang relaxed slightly but kept her eyes on Vernal.

"So what you're telling me my only options are to fight in a war I know I can't win or become the kind of person who threatens to stab their own granddaughter?" Raven asked as she stood up, disgust filling her voice.

Yang stared at Raven skeptically

'Is she actually offended by what she would have done?' she wondered, 'Or is she just scared of dying?'

"You put yourself in this situation the moment you killed the Spring Maiden," Yang said unsympathetically.

Raven turned her head towards Yang but for some reason wasn't looking her in the eyes this time.

"Here's what is going to happen, you're going to help us find Weiss and take me back to my daughter," Blake declared, "Then Salem's agents are going to come here and make you a deal, you're going to accept that deal, except instead of helping them you are going to lure them into an ambush at Haven."

Blake had discussed the basics of her plan on the ship, whoever Cinder was, she had no idea Blake was here or that anything or had changed with Raven, that should make it easy to get the drop on them at Haven.

Provided Raven helped of course.

"Once that's done," Blake went on, "Salem will be crippled for a moment, I'll help you find a place for your tribe to lay low for a while, maybe point you to some old White Fang hideouts."

"All that's going to do is buy me time," Raven protested.

"More than enough time for you to figure out if you want to try and fight this war or make the same mistakes you made in my time," Blake replied, "It's the best I can do."

Raven studied Blake quizzically for a moment.

"You actually think you can win, don't you?" Raven said, almost bemused.

Blake nodded.

Raven let out a small laugh, devoid of any humor or mirth.

"Well isn't that just great, I'm making a deal with a lunatic," Raven said as she extended her hand, "You win, we have a deal, I'll send my men out to look for your friend as soon as possible. "

Blake took her hand, giving her a brief, and stiff shake.

"That's good to hear," Blake replied as she took Raven's hand, giving her a stiff handshake.

—

Part of Summer wished should could have done this on her own. Some time alone would have given her a chance to relieve every bigoted person she came across of their wallets and maybe a few rings, build her Lien reserves again,  but she wasn't going to miss a chance to hang out with her Aunt again.

Especially not when tool shopping was involved.

The two were standing in front of a rather large stand full of Huntsmen gear and weaponry, the last hints of sunlight were fading, replaced by numerous bright lights in the stalls themselves and in nearby lamps.

Summer was watching as Ruby carefully inspected a set of files, her silver eyes looking over each file closely. Ruby's carefulness made for slow going but there was no one Summer trusted more when it came to weapons knowledge then her Aunt.

"These are good, you should get them," Ruby said as she handed them off to Summer, who was now holding a small pile of tools.

"You know if these repairs are that important to you, I could do the job myself," The shopkeeper, a middle aged man with a big blonde beard and kind, green eyes, interjected.

"Thank you for the offer," Summer replied with a smile, "But the damage is rather bad and to be honest I'm not sure how long we're going to be here."

Summer did her best to be nice to the man, he was one of the few Non-Faunus merchants in this whole plaza who hadn't given her any sort of suspicious look, not even a questioning glance.

"Well let me take a look at it," The shopkeeper offered, "I've repaired swords that were half melted by acid, I'm sure I can get your guns fixed in no time."

'Well couldn't hurt,' Summer shrugged.

She pulled out the half broken remnants of Thief's Respite and placed them on the count. One half of the pair of revolver-sickles was mostly okay by this point, the blade was still broken, the chains were a tangled mess, but beyond that and some burnt paint, Summer had almost completely finished the repairs on that half.

The other half was a different story. A gouge in the metal dominated half of the barrel, cutting a thick line that nearly reached the muzzle, the attack that had given it that mark had also given the barrel a slight but notable bend to the right. The stock of the pistol itself was shattered and  its cylinder was scorched black.

The shopkeeper inspected the damage carefully, looking relatively unsurprised by the damage. Summer spotted Ruby curiously glancing at the guns as well.

"I take it you were fighting bandits?" the shopkeeper asked

"Yep," Summer nodded, "a real nasty bunch."

"Well this shouldn't take more than a few days," The shopkeeper said as he looked at the guns.

They were definitely gonna be there for that long at least.

"Sure that sounds good," Summer nodded.

"She's still going to need the tools," Ruby added.

"Hey, more business for me then," The shopkeeper replied cheerfully.

"You're okay with paying for all this, right?" Summer asked Ruby, her ears drooping slightly in nervousness.

Stealing from some asshole who treats everyone with a tail or extra ears like they're the scum of Remnant was one thing but Summer had zero intention of taking advantage of her family's good will.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Ruby assured her.

Summer placed the tools on the counter as Ruby pulled out her wallet and put some lien on the counter.

That's when a random thought struck her.

"Say, any of the Huntsmen who come here talk about seeing anything unusual recently?" Summer asked, "Something like, and this will probably sound weird, people falling out of holes in the sky?"

Shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

"We had a weird encounter on the way here, let's just leave it at that." Summer added.

Summer very much doubted any of her family was here but if Winter, or anyone else for that matter, had landed here it would be very useful to know.

The shopkeeper shrugged.

"People falling out of holes in the sky would hardly be the weirdest thing a huntsman has ever told me," he admitted, "Can't say I've heard anything about that, not that I can recall at least, sorry."

"It's fine," Summer replied.

She handed Thief's Respite over to the shopkeeper, carefully placing the weapons in his worn hands.

"Please take good care of them," Summer said somberly, "these guns mean a lot to me."

"Of course," The shopkeeper nodded.

Ruby and Summer made their goodbyes and left, making their way through the streets of Mistral.

"Thanks again for doing that," Summer said.

No problem, you are family after all," Ruby replied, before looking around nervously. "Should I be saying that?"

"It will be fine," Summer assured her, "We could even tell people I'm your niece. Just explain that you have an older sister from your dad's first marriage, don't even have to lie."

"That could work," Ruby agreed, "But what will we do when Yang shows up?"

Summer shrugged, lacking any real idea. She didn't have any real desire to hide who she was but going around screaming "I'm a time traveler!" would probably cause problems.

Summer's ear twitched as she heard someone talking in the distance.

"Is that the girl?" a boy said, his voice barely audible

Summer turned to see a boy standing near a row of apartments, his hazel eyes focused on Ruby. He was short, and young, his face full of freckles and his dark brown hair all in a mess. He looked out of place in this part of Mistral with his dirty white shirt, pants with patches on them, and orange suspenders. He looked like a farmhand had somehow wandered into the city.

Noticing he'd been spotted, the boy quickly turned away and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Is that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Summer admitted.

She knew Oscar pretty well, before he disappeared at least, but he was an adult, maybe not as old as her family but still an adult, with a mustache, this boy was basically a child. They did undeniably look very similar though.

Maybe it was him.

"Well only one way to find out," Ruby declared before her voice rose to a sudden shout, "Hey Oscar!"

The boy paused, as did several people nearby, and turned to face Ruby, a look of surprise  and confusion on his face.

'Well I guess we have our answer,' Summer mused as the two approached.

"You're Oscar Pine, right?" Ruby said, more a statement than a question.

The few others surprised by Ruby's sudden shouting moved on.

"Yeah," Oscar replied nervously, "how do you know my name."

"It's a long story," Summer interjected. "You and Ozpin are out looking for Qrow right?"

Ruby glanced around, making sure no one was giving them any undue attention.

Oscar backed up, looking completely bewildered.

"I don't know how they know," Oscar said to himself, or rather someone in his head.

"This is confusing, I know," Ruby said sympathetically, "a lot has happened recently, things even Ozpin wouldn't believe, please come with us and we'll explain everything as best we can."

"I don't know you," Oscar said hesitantly. "But Ozpin is telling me to trust you so, so I'm willing to give you benefit of the doubt."

Ruby smiled.

'Well that was easy,' Summer thought.

—

Blake stood just outside of Raven's tent, watching as Yang paced through the camp. Raven had her scouts out searching for Weiss but she was refusing to let either Blake or Yang leave the camp for the time being.

Blake felt uneasy about her deal with Raven, it was necessary but making a deal with her was almost as bad as making a deal with General Ironwood. Sooner or later Raven was going to screw them over, it was in her nature, and telling her the truth had probably put a target on Yang's back but it did the job they needed it to.

Raven was scared of something else besides Salem now.

Blake didn't believe for a moment that Raven actually cared that her other self had threatened her own grandchildren, but the knowledge someone outside of Salem's group could have done her in shook her just enough to make her agreeable for the moment.

Raven stepped out of her tent, causing Blake to tense up ever so slightly.

"So, this wife of yours, is she around or is she back in your time?" Raven asked, her eyes focused on Yang.

"My family was taken together," Blake explained, "She's around here, somewhere." If her worst fears about Cinder were true, that only left Yang unaccounted for, no sign or even a hint of where she had gone.

Blake's ears went flat as she thought about it, her stomach twisting in knots. Her wife was the strongest person Blake knew, there wasn't a doubt in her mind wherever Yang was, she could protect herself.

But that didn't mean Blake wasn't going to worry.

Raven inhaled sharply, her face awash with unease.

"She's not going to go after you unless you give her a reason," Blake replied coldly.

"Yes because that makes me feel so much better about the fact my murderer is wandering around somewhere," Raven snarked.

Blake stared at her with an annoyed look in her eye.

"So, any other Maidens from your time I should be worried about?" Raven asked.

"No, Yang is the last of them," Blake replied, "all the others are gone."

She turned, staring pointedly at Raven.

"Even the ones who sided with Salem were used up and discarded in time, Salem isn't the type of person to let people that powerful live if she can help it," Blake warned.

"I got it the first time, don't side with Salem or I'll end up threatening to stab a toddler. You don't need to belabor the point," Raven replied, her sarcastic tone doing little to hide the fear in her eyes.

"Patrol returning, with a guest!" one of the bandits cried out, adding a mocking tone to the last word.

The gate to the camp began to shudder open.

Yang and Blake both froze on the spot, Blake letting out a small gasp of surprise as she stood there. Her heart was pounding so hard it was almost painful.

In that moment, it felt like all of Blake's other concerns were melting away, all her fears, all her worries, those felt so tiny because in a few seconds she would be reunited with Weiss, one of her deepest friends and teammate.

Weiss and Ruby had been dead for two years and there wasn't a day that went by where Blake didn't mourn both of them.

Part of Blake realized from almost the moment she arrived at the Xiao Long house that Ruby and Weiss were somewhere out there, but now, with only a door separating them, it felt real.

Weiss was alive, Ruby was alive, her team, her family, they were all here. Death was supposed to be final yet they found a way around it.

The gate opened, revealing Vernal and a small gang of bandits.

And in the center of them was Weiss Schnee. She looked like something out of a distant memory for Blake, with her scared but still youthful face, off-set ponytail and sparkling dress that went from a gray blue at the top to a pale blue towards the bottom.

"We found the Heiress-" Vernal began smugly

"YANG!?" Weiss shouted in surprise, cutting off Vernal.

Blake found herself unable to speak  as Weiss rushed to Yang's side.

"They said they were looking for me," Weiss said in disbelief, "How did you even know I would be here? I crashed!"

"It's a long story-" Yang began, only to be interrupted as Weiss threw herself at Yang, embracing her tightly with both arms, her feet dangling just above the ground as she hugged Yang.

"I missed you so much," Weiss said, tears trickling down her cheek.

Yang placed her hand on the back of Weiss's head as she embraced her.

"I missed you too," Yang said softly.

Weiss's blue eyes opened and turned to Blake.

Blake went stiff, would Weiss recognize her? Accept her as her friend? Yang had but that didn't mean Weiss would.

"Blake?" Weiss said as she let go of Yang, her voice and expression full of confusion.

Blake approached, slowly and cautiously, her heart fleeing like it might break from her chest.

"Weiss," she breathed.

"What happened to you?" Weiss questioned, her voice emotional but confused, "You look different."

Blake couldn't even begin to muster the words to explain herself, all she could do was rush towards Weiss and grab her, hugging her tightly, like she was afraid the wind might rip her away again.

There was a time, long ago, when Blake would have been horrified at the idea of ever being friends with a Schnee.

But now, it felt like she was seeing a sister again for the first time in years. Their team was nearly whole again.

"You can't imagine how much I've missed you!" Blake sobbed.

She began to say more but her words were drowned in a torrent of tears, Blake's legs nearly collapsing beneath her as she held onto Weiss.

Yang joined in the hug, wrapping her arms around both Weiss and Blake and for a moment the three just held each other.

Her family, their team, wasn't quite whole yet, and it arguably wasn't even her team or family, but it was close, so painfully, wonderfully, close.

Chapter Text

Part 3

"After Ironwood made a bargain for Atlas's survival with Salem, things rapidly went downhill," Blake explained.

"Stop," Weiss begged, holding up her as she struggled to keep her lunch in.

Their reunion quickly gave way to questions, a great many questions. Blake and Yang explained everything as best they could but Blake's history was full of things that were painful to hear, especially for Weiss.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Yang said, patting Weiss on the back.

Weiss stared at her incredulously.

"We don't have to explain everything right now," Blake offered.

Weiss needed to know what the future held in store but Blake didn't want to cause her friend anymore distress.

The three of them were gathered around Raven's table, a hot kettle full of tea and three cups between them. Raven herself standing not too far away, pretending not to listen as she poured over maps of Remnant.

"Just tell me, I'm dead aren't I?" Weiss asked.

"Yes," Blake nodded, "I lost you and Ruby two long years ago."

Weiss sat there for a moment, staring at Blake in horror.

"Well... This is just awful..." Weiss said numbly.

"Yeah," Blake agreed.

Weiss winced, a look of guilt etched across her face for a moment before she gently grabbed Blake's hand.

"I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that, Blake," Weiss said softly, "I'm here for you."

Yang nodded.

"Thank you," Blake replied giving Weiss a smile, "It's really great to have you back."

"So, what now?" Weiss asked.

"Well we need to get back to Ruby," Yang replied, "She's been hanging around with Summer for at least a week so everyone should be relatively up to speed."

"Provided Raven keeps her end of the deal," Blake added , shooting a glance back at the annoyed Branwen leader, "things should go smoothly in Mistral."

If Cinder really was Kali that was going to make the ambush at Haven a lot more complicated but that wasn't something she wanted to bring up to Weiss, not until she talked to Summer about it at least. And there was no way she would tell Raven about that unless she absolutely had to.

"After that we have to go to Atlas, and that's where things get complicated." Blake sighed.

Weiss shook her head in dismay, pouting slightly.

"I just left there," she muttered.

"I'm sorry, I wouldn't ask if I had any other option," Blake replied sympathetically, "And we'll be with you the entire time."

Yang nodded in agreement.

"It's okay," Weiss nodded, "I don't want to see my home turned into the nightmare you described."

"Neither do I," Blake sighed

Atlas was going to be a nightmare to deal with even before they got to Ironwood. As much as Blake was looking forward to seeing Summer again, she was not looking forward to her daughter's reaction to Atlas at all, particularly her rage, however justified.

"Maybe Atlas will be easier than we fear," Yang remarked, "After all we were able to convince Raven, maybe Ironwood will be agreeable."

Blake inhaled sharply through gritted teeth while Raven let out a loud, mocking laughter.

"James Ironwood is many things, agreeable is not one of them," Raven said with a smirk, "If even half of what you said about what he'll do is true, your best option is to kill him."

"That's not happening," Yang said, glaring at her biological mother.

"He's not going to listen to you," Raven countered, "I've dealt with Ironwood enough to know that when you tell him what you know, he'll break before he accepts the truth. You need to prepare for that."

"We don't know how Ironwood will react," Blake said suddenly, "And we're not making any plans without our team leader here."

The first part was a lie, Blake knew exactly how Ironwood would react. In truth, Raven probably had the right to it. But she knew none of the others, least of all her younger self, would ever go along with that.

Raven scoffed, "You will follow a child?"

"I trust Ruby's judgment." Blake said firmly.

In that she was completely honest. Ruby didn't get things right all of the time, but if there was anyone who could resolve things peacefully with Ironwood, it was her.

"Blake's right, besides it will probably be weeks before we even get to Atlas, we'll have plenty of time to prepare," Yang observed.

"True," Blake nodded, "No point in worrying about Atlas right now,"

"You know, we are basically done here," Yang said as she stared pointedly at Raven, "You could just send us to Qrow, right now."

Raven glared back at her Yang.

"Not until my last patrol returns," Raven replied, folding her arms, "They're only out there because of your friend after all."

"You know it would only take you a moment to send us there," Weiss observed.

"That's not the problem," Raven replied curtly "The problem is until they return I'm down some of my best fighters. So I need you here if we're attacked."

Blake's ears pulled back but she said nothing, as much as she loathed this woman, she couldn't fault her for this.

"So I guess we'll just wait then," Weiss remarked.

There was nothing else they could do right now, at least it shouldn't be long.
—
Summer watched as Ruby, Nora, Ren and Jaune crowded around the young Oscar Pine. The poor boy was sitting at the end of the dining room table, looking very confused and flustered.

"I still do not understand how this works," Ren said, "Is he a reincarnation or possessed?"

"This is so weird!" Ruby exclaimed

"Yeah it is," Oscar admitted.

This whole situation was both amusing and unsettling for Summer. Seeing her Aunt Ruby and the others so confused by something that was a basic fact of her life still felt rather novel. But Oscar wasn't what she expected at all.

The Oscar she knew was wise, brave, always willing to give advice but only when asked, and while he rarely had a plan of his own he was more than willing to help others with theirs.

This Oscar looked like a scared country boy who had no idea what he was doing and what was going on. She should have expected it but it was still surreal for Summer.

To the boy's credit he did handle learning about her history pretty well, even if Summer had given him the barebones version.

"Could you back up, please? I'm feeling very crowded." Oscar asked, nervously.

Ruby and the others took a giant step backwards, laughing slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry, we're just not really used to this," Ruby said sheepishly.

"I understand, I've never really encountered huntsmen before," Oscar replied as his gaze shifted to Summer, "Or time travelers for that matter."

"To be fair we're a pretty rare breed," Summer remarked.

Ruby looked at Jaune, a look realization filling her silver eyes.

"Someone should go get Qrow," She remarked.

"Are you sure?" Nora interjected, "Bird man's probably pretty drunk by now."

Oscar looked up for a moment, nodded at something only he could hear.

"Ozpin is saying you should leave him for now, he needs time to prepare for a conversation with Qrow," Oscar explained.

Ruby and the others, a somewhat sour expression appearing on Jaune's face.

"I don't mean to be rude kid, but can you bring the old man out?" Summer asked, "Kind of have a few questions for him."

Oscar nodded, letting out a small sigh

"Right, so just keep in mind that while Ozpin will be the one talking, I'll still be here," he explained.

The boy closed his eyes, and then a moment later his whole body glowed green for a moment. When the light faded his whole posture changed, sitting up straight, his shoulders rising as he folded his hands in his lap.

He then opened his bright yellow eyes and gazed at the room.

Summer arched an eyebrow as she stood.

"It is good to see you all again, children," Ozpin said warmly, his voice sounding unreal, too deep for a boy Oscar's age.

'Well that's different,' Summer thought as she approached. There were always times when you could definitely tell you were talking to Oscar and other times when you tell it was Ozpin talking, but she had never seen the differences between them be so stark.

"I imagine you all have a great many questions," Ozpin went on, his gaze shifting to Summer, "though for once, I have a few of my own as well."

"Take it you're not used to time travelers?" Summer asked.

"No, you're the first I've met," Ozpin admitted, shifting slightly in his seat, his voice gaining a slight but notable edge of unease. "Until now I had assumed Time Travel was impossible, or at least forbidden by powers far stronger than myself."

Summer wasn't particularly surprised, she had hoped Ozpin might know more but it did fit what she knew.

It was vaguely amusing that she was something Ozpin had considered impossible. The whole situation was quite strange when she thought about it, the Infinite Man meeting a girl who hadn't even been born yet.

"Yeah from what my parents told me, the Brothers do not sound like they'd be cool with something like this," Summer nodded.

Considering how much they hated reviving the dead, it was strange she had a chance to prevent so many deaths.

Ozpin's expression grew severe, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward. The intensity of his gaze was a bit unsettling to behold.

"I would say whoever sent you and your family must be a powerful ally, but the presence of Winter Schnee throws that into serious doubt." Ozpin said

"Not to mention Cinder," Summer added, "Whoever she is, she or the people supporting her have changed a great deal."

Jaune shook his head, his expression twisting once again with anger and grief. Ren put his hand on Jaune's arm and Nora grabbed his hand in an effort to comfort him.

"That is particularly troubling I must admit," Ozpin admitted, "to think Salem had such a strong advantage and I didn't even know."

"You fought Cinder, right?" Summer asked, "What do you know about her?"

Cinder was both a mystery and a target for Summer. Who was this woman and why did she seem so determined to hurt her family and friends? If they were from the future why would they have killed Pyrrha and maimed Yang but leave Ruby alive? There were so many questions Summer wanted answered.

"I'm afraid I know little of the woman who ended the life of my previous incarnation," Ozpin admitted, "I can only tell you what I saw with my own eyes. I saw a young woman with raven dark hair and amber eyes filled with hatred and ambition .She was powerful and quite talented when it came to controlling fire, much to my misfortune."

Summer scratched the side of her face as she paced in frustration.

"Well that fits what the others told me," Summer muttered, "So a pretty generic looking woman with no hint as to her semblance."

"I'm not so sure about that last bit," Ozpin replied, "Cinder used fire almost exclusively and had quite the mastery over it, able to forge swords of burning glass and exploding arrows. Considering how new she was to her powers that suggests it might have strengthened an existing semblance."

Summer felt a cold chill dance across her spine as an idea formed in her head.

"How old would you say she is?" Summer asked.

"Early to mid twenties I believe, she seemed a student on the verge of graduating, maybe older," Ozpin.

Summer scratched the side of her cheek again.

"Well I would say it's clearly Ursula then but that doesn't make sense," Summer shrugged.

"What makes you say that?" Ruby asked.

"Urusla likes impersonating people, particularly her enemies," Summer explained. "So I'd say this is just her pretending to be my sister but she got the age all wrong."

'Maybe she just heard about Kali and based her disguise on that?' she wondered. It was certainly a far less horrifying thought than Salem capturing her sister.

Summer realized everyone else in the room was now staring at her with wide eyes.

"Why do you think this Ursula woman is posing as your sister?" Jaune asked.

"Well physically it sounds like they look similar, same eyes and hair," Summer explained, "and my sister's semblance is basically pyromancy. Can heat things up, make glass and Dust explode, that kind of thing."

Her words did little to improve the moods of those surrounding her.

"I hate to ask but by chance does your sister have any talent for archery?" Ozpin asked, his tone going from confused to flat and serious as the grave.

"Uhh yeah, her two swords also double as a bow," Summer replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ruby let out a gasp, recoiling in surprise.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" she asked

"Because we were busy," Summer replied, ears pulling back, "Why does any of this matter any-"

Summer paused, revelization striking her. They were terrified not because they thought Cinder was pretending to be Kali, they were scared because they thought Cinder was Kali.

The thought struck Summer like a cold wet towel. She stood there in silent shock for a moment.

Then Summer began to laugh, a small chuckle at first that soon grew and grew until Summer was barely able to stand as such clutched her stomach, howling with laughter.

"Hahaha! Oh that's good, that's great!" she said, wiping tears from her eyes, "Yeah no, Kali can't be Cinder, that's impossible."

"Are you sure?" Nora asked, "Because they sound awfully similar."

"Look, you guys don't know my sister, I do," Summer explained "I'm sure it may seem possible to you, but my sister is the sweetest, nicest girl you'll ever meet. There's no way in hell she could be Cinder!"

Sure Kali could be ruthless in combat if she needed to, but that was only because their Aunt Ruby had trained her to. This whole conversation was absurd.

"Why would someone pretend to be your sister?" Jaune questioned

"I…I don't know!" Summer stuttered, her smile dropping, "They're probably trying to confuse us. Look, it can't be her."

"Summer, Cinder had two swords she could turn into a bow," Ruby explained.

"Lots of huntresses have weapons like that!" Summer protested.

The idea they were seriously considering that Kali could be that awful woman offended Summer on a profound level. Were she talking with anyone else she would have started throwing punches at this moment.

"I know this is a truly awful thing to consider but we need to look at this objectively," Ozpin said carefully, "Someone has clearly been changing things years before you got here and you admitted Cinder looks a lot like-"

"No!" Summer snarled, "It's not her! If my sister had arrived earlier she would have gone to Patch or Beacon, there is no way Cinder is Kali!"

"Summer," Ruby's voice was full of worry.

"My sister loves everyone here more you can imagine," Summer went on, "She would never hurt any of us like Cinder has, Kali simply isn't capable of that."

'She would never use Emerald like that,' Summer told herself, 'Or kill Pyrrha, it's not her, it can't be her,'

Summer looked around, waiting for someone to admit they were wrong, to acknowledge how absurd the idea was. But no one did.

They all just stared at Summer, their eyes full of worry, and pity.

'It's not true, it's simply not true,' She told herself

Without saying another word, Summer stormed out of the room. Refusing to hear anymore of their stupid theory. Her stomach gnawed at her as left.
—
Emerald stepped out of the dark forest, the full moon above lighting up the dirt trail in front of her, the trail craved a simple path to a fortified bandit camp. The wooden gate guarding the camp was large but she could see there were only two figures in front of it.

This would be easy.

"This is the place," Emerald declared, as Cinder, Mercury, and Dr. Watts stepped out of the forest.

"Hmm, so it is," Cinder purred contently.

"Guess those bandits weren't lying," Mercury said with a smirk, "Shame we can't go back and thank them."

"Hmm, quite," Watts said with indifference as he looked at Cinder.

"Now remember," Cinder said "We're meant to be seeking Raven's cooperation but if she resists... Well, we do have other options in reserve, so be prepared for anything."

Cinder glanced at the eerily quiet forest.

"Yes but Salem would very much prefer we handle this diplomatically if possible," Watts said, giving her a pointed look, "Don't let your desire to see your sister get in the way of what we're here for."

Cinder's expression turned murderous as she turned her head towards Dr. Watts, for a brief second Emerald thought she might actually attack him but Cinder's expression quickly softened from rage to just annoyance.

"I know what we're here for," Cinder replied curtly, "I don't need your nagging, just stick to the plan."

"I'm not the one who needs to worry about that," Watts chided.

Emerald shifted uncomfortably, not because of the fight, Cinder quarreling with Salem's lesser servants was hardly new, it was the mention of Cinder's sister. Cinder was the only family Cinder had ever had, but Cinder had two moms and a sister out there somewhere.

'Where will I fit in that family?' Emerald wondered fearfully.

"Emerald, Mercury!" Cinder ordered, causing Emerald to snap to attention, "Go and say hello to the rats guarding the gate, tell them we're here to meet Raven Brawnen."

Emerald pulled out Thief's Respite, the Blades snapping into position with a sharp strike of metal on metal, a smile appearing on her face as her fears washed away for a moment.

"What do we do if they refuse?" Mercury asked, the sneer on his face obvious even in the moonlit night.

Cinder let out a small laugh, "Then make them."

An order that Emerald was more than happy to obey.

—

Vernal burst into the tent, a nervous expression plastered across her face.

"We have a problem," Vernal said urgently, "Salem's found us."

Yang bolted up in surprise, her hand shaking at her side nervously. This was far too soon.

Blake stared at Vernal in disbelief, quickly scrambling to her feet along with Weiss.

"You told me we had days to prepare!" Raven said angrily as she glared at them.

"This is impossible!" Blake declared "There's no way they could have found you this quickly."

"Well clearly something changed," Raven replied through gritted teeth.

This didn't make sense, Blake had been confident the general timeline for this wouldn't change, even if Cinder was who they feared her to be, how the hell would she know where Raven was camped out years before she was even born?

'Something is very wrong here,' Yang thought fearfully.

"How many are there?" Raven asked, her eyes glued to the tent flap.

"Four," Vernal replied, "A woman, an older man, and two teenagers."

Blake began to visibly shake as Yang's stomach became icy cold. Cinder was here, whoever or whatever she was, she was just outside the tent, waiting.

Raven glanced around the room before pulling out her sword. The red blade almost glowing in the candle light.

Yang flinched, backing up slightly.

"I'll take those odds," she declared.

"Wait!" Yang said urgently, struggling to keep her voice below a shout, "The plan could still work, just open a portal, they won't notice."

"No," Raven replied.

"Mom!" Yang called out in frustration, hoping the name might get a reaction from Raven.

"No," Raven insisted, "They know more than your friend here realized, they could kill me the moment my back is turned. We deal with this lot here and now."

"She's right," Blake said weakly, "Something's very wrong about this,"

Raven smirked.

"So prepare yourselves for a fight," She ordered.

"Wait," Blake put up a shaking hand, "I need to talk to them first."

Raven, Vernal and Weiss all looked at her in bewilderment.

"Are you insane?!" Raven blurted out.

"Blake, why?" Weiss questioned, "These people attacked Beacon and murdered Pyrrha, what is there to say to these monsters?"

Blake turned to Weiss and gave her a sad smile.

"There is something I need answered," she replied simply.

Blake reached the entrance to the tent, her hand gripping the canvas. Then she began to shake even more, nearly collapsing to her knees before Yang rushed to her side.

Blake's ears pulled back as she looked at Yang with wide, terrified eyes.

"What if it's her?" She whispered tearfully, "What do I do?"

"I don't know," Yang admitted, "But I'll be by your side the entire time."

She wasn't Blake's wife, she would never have that kind of relationship with this Blake, but she was still her friend, and now more than ever, her friend needed her support.

Yang's arm was shaking at her side.

They both did what they could to steady themselves, then Yang pulled open the flap and the two stepped outside, Weiss quickly following them.

There, standing in dirt, near standing torches and a guttering campfire, was Cinder.

Her black hair was shorter than Yang remembered, just long enough to hide one of her amber eyes, her dress was a long red thing with gold accents, with one long sleeve that hid an arm, like that entire side of her body was something to be kept from sight.

She kind of looked like Blake, the similarity was there but it wasn't striking.

Maybe Blake was wrong.

Standing next to Cinder was Emerald and Mercury, looking very smug at the sight of Yang. Besides the three of them there was a man in a purple and gold suit with a gray coat, a very large mustache dominating his upper lip.

"Hey Blondie, fancy meeting you here," Mercury said mockingly, "You know I think you owe me for-"

Cinder silenced him by placing a hand over his mouth as she stepped forward, staring at Blake with a wide eye.

The two stared at each other for a long, painful moment, their faces a cascade of emotions.

Finally Cinder spoke, saying the word that Yang had been expecting, and dreading, ever since that first night on the boat.

"Mom!?" Cinder said in disbelief, a broad smile across her face.

"Kali," Blake replied sorrowfully.

Chapter Text

Part 4

The worst part of all of this was Kali's expression. Blake had been expecting rage, her daughter screaming at her for being abandoned for so many years. Maybe even confusion or just a complete lack of recognition, Salem having wiped away any memories Cinder had of her childhood, transforming Kali into an almost unrecognizable monster. That would have hurt beyond measure but it was pain that Blake had prepared herself for. But this, this was somehow much worse than any of that.

A smile grew wide on Kali's face as she stared at her mother. Kali had killed dear friends and hurt their family, seemingly without a hint of regret, and yet she was overjoyed to see Blake.

'What have they done to you?' Blake wondered bleakly.

Kali approached, slowly and cautious, as if she expected her legs to give out on her at any moment. Blake could feel a dozen eyes staring at them both, the entire camp silent save for Kali's footsteps.

"Mother," Kali breathed, "You're…you're actually here, after all this time, you and Summer are both really here," Joy cracked her voice.

Blake reached out a hand, trying to comfort her daughter, only for arm to freeze at her side, torn between guilt over the years Kali must have endured alone, and horror at what she was seeing and hearing.

'How does she know Summer's here?' Blake worried. She only knew where Summer was because of Raven, how did Kali even find out she's here?

"Kali," Blake said, her voice filled with concern, "What's happened to you?"

Kali looked years older than when Blake last saw her, she was taller than Blake remembered as well, her hair far shorter than she ever kept it before. Half of her face was hidden behind hair and a dark mask but the scars were still clearly visible.

Blake wanted to throw up, Kali had years of her life stolen from her.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Raven shouted in disbelief, "You're telling me this is your other daughter?!"

"Cinder is your daughter?!" Weiss added, her voice filled with surprise and confusion.

"Were you going to tell me this or did you just intend to let me fight your kid without saying anything?!" Raven growled at Yang.

"We didn't know," Yang said defensively, "We had our suspicions but we weren't sure."

Kali's face's smile remained intact as the arguments began to brew around them.

"I know how this looks," she said assuredly as she approached Blake, "But it's not what you think, I swear. I made a deal."

"A deal?" Blake replied with worry.

"I found a way to keep all of us safe, you, mom, Summer, all of us. We're finally free." Kali said with a broad smile.

Arthur Watts placed a hand on Kali's shoulder, stopping her as he placed himself between Kali and Blake.

"Let me explain the details," he replied condescendingly as Kali glared hatefully at him, "you can have your little family reunion after Miss Belladonna agrees to Her Grace's terms."

Watts' attention turned towards Blake as he wiped his gloved hands.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Doctor-" he began

"I know who you are," Blake interrupted sharply.

She'd never fought the man before but so many of her friends suffered because of Arthur Watts, even before he joined Salem. Seeing him stand beside her daughter made Blake's skin crawl.

"Yes, well, I'll keep it simple then," Watts replied, a brief flash of annoyance appearing on his face, "Your daughter made a bargain with her grace some years ago. In exchange for her service, your many crimes against her grace have been forgiven. If you don't take up arms against the Queen again, you and your family will be left alone for the rest of your lives, free to live as you see fit."

Blake felt her chest tightened as she listened to Watts, every word feeling like a hammer to her ribs. She'd known on some level that Kali had to have made some sort of deal with Salem, yet hearing it was still almost too much to bear.

"We're prepared to offer you a similar deal," Arthur Watts' attention turned to Raven, "Provided you are prepared to assist us in retrieving the Relic of Knowledge."

"You're working with Salem?" Blake said, her voice shaking as stared at her daughter, "After everything she's done? You know what she's capable of, you know how she treats her servants!"

The smile vanished from Kali's face.

"What was I supposed to do?" Kali asked, "Wait for you to come back so I could watch you and mom wait to die again?!"

"Things are different, we have an actual chance here we didn't have back home," Blake argued.

"What chance?" Kali scoffed, "there's no stopping Salem! You know that better than anyone."

Her words struck Blake like a clap of thunder. How many times has she heard people justify working with Salem by claiming she can't be beat? And now her own sweet Kali was repeating those words back to her.

"You're wrong," Blake stated, "She can be defeated here, we still have Ruby!"

"No!" Kali roared, fire blazing in her eye for a moment as she stomped her foot, her heel digging into the dirt.

"No no no, Aunt Ruby's dead, and we're better for it!" Kali declared as she shook her head "She was a fool who convinced our friends, our family, to waste their lives on a lost cause. I am not going to stand here and watch you throw your life away, again, for some stupid little girl you don't even know!"

"What are you saying?" Blake said in disbelief.

"That girl," She stabbed a finger in Yang's direction, "is not mom. These people are not our family, we don't owe them anything. Aunt Ruby died a fool's death, and that little brat is going to share her fate."

The words were so hateful and angry, it was so unlike anything Blake had ever heard from Kali.

"We can't stop Salem," Kali went on, her voice shaking, "so don't throw your life away for something you can't change. We finally have a chance to be happy here, and free."

"That's bullshit!" Yang declared as she pushed her way forward, meeting Kali's gaze with a steely resolve, the two glaring hatefully at each other.

"You've already changed things, it's just you've made everything worse!" Yang argued as she clutched her artificial hand, "I would still have an arm and Pyrrha would still be alive if it wasn't for you!"

"Ah yes, a chance to live, grow old, see her husband cut down in front of her, and watch as her only son loses his mind. What a rich life I kept her from," Kali said contemptuously.

There was a coldness in Kali's words that Blake had never seen in her daughter before, never even believed she was capable of. Even at their darkest times, her daughter was always so warm and compassionate.

"Kali, stop it!" Blake warned.

"Why are you taking her side?!" Kali snapped childishly, her eyes going wide in disbelief.

"I'm not," Blake said, her voice getting softer but still urgent, "Kali, look at what you're saying, look at what you've done, this isn't you, Salem's twisted your mind!"

There had to be something left of Kali in this Cinder persona that Salem had created, the fact that she still cared for her was proof enough for Blake. She was certain if she could just find her little girl in all this anger and pride, she could bring Kali back to her senses.

"This is who I had to become!" Kali yelled, pointing at her chest, "You weren't there, none of you were! I was alone for years, and I still tried! I tried to be a huntress like you and mom. I even managed to kill Urusla but it didn't change anything!"

"That's just what Salem wants you to think," Blake countered, "The fact that we're back here at all is proof we have a chance."

"Whatever or whoever sent us is just trying to torture us," Kali replied, "Why else would they have sent back Winter Schnee?"

Blake recoiled in surprise as Weiss let out a pained gasp.

"Winter's here?" Blake shuddered.

"She helped Tyrian attack Summer," Kali spat, "She's already pledged herself to Salem once again."

"Could you kindly refrain from revealing our secrets to bandits and schoolchildren?" Arthur Watts intoned with a put upon sigh.

"No, no, no, you're wrong!" Weiss shouted at Kali, tears welling in the corner of her eyes, "Winter would never do that, she's not like you, she's not evil and twisted like you!"

Blake had assumed it was just her family that had been sent back in time, scattered through the years maybe, but just the four of them. If Winter was here, that meant it wasn't just one event that brought people back in time. There could be far more people here than she realized, friends and enemies alike.

"And you're working with her?" Blake said, her voice growing harsher, "After everything she's done to our family? After she's attacked your sister?!"

In the corner of her eye, Blake could see the horror on Weiss's face growing, regret striking Blake's heart in a painful surge.

"I don't have a choice!" Kali said defensively.

Blake approached, staring intently at her daughter.

"Look at what you're doing," she said firmly, "Do you really think Summer is going to go along with any of this, after you sided with Winter, after you made Emerald work with the man who killed her? You have a choice now, you've always had a choice, Kali."

"Wait, what?" Emerald said in surprise.

Blake pressed on, even as her daughter seemed to wither and recoil at her words, "You know as well as I do that Summer is never going to accept this deal, do you really want to fight your sister?!"

Kali's expression grew even more fearful as she turned away, her arms trembling at her side.

"This is our only shot at survival!" Kali pleaded.

Blake felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest, Kali was wavering, she could feel it. There was still a chance!

"No it's not!" Blake said as she grabbed her daughter by the arms, "We still have a chance! You're better than this, so much better than this. Whatever you've done, I forgive you, it's not too late to-"

Blake's voice trailed off as she noticed one of the arms she grabbed was distinctly off. Instead of the feeling of a warm arm beneath the red fabric she found herself grabbing something far colder than flesh and far too thin to be an arm.

"What the-" Blake blurted out in surprise.

Almost without thought she pulled at the sleeve, ripping at it as hard as she could.

"No mother, stop!" Kali begged as she fought back with monstrous strength. Blake's hold on the cloth was iron tight and soon the whole thing came apart with an almost defining rip.

Blake's screams of horror and anguish filled the bandit camp as she stumbled backwards.

Kali's arm was gone. Replaced with an abomination of Grimm flesh and bone. Her new arm was far too thin, almost skeletal, complete with a gap in the forearm big enough to stick your hand through. Her arm and hands were an inky black, her fingers bone white claws. What little remained of her actual arm was scarred , the skin swollen and red where it touched the Grimm arm, as if it was at war with Kali's body.

Blake covered her mouth, biting down another scream as her ears pulled flat against her head. She had seen something like this once, on the Ace-Op Harriet, years after she had become the Winter Maiden, it had made her dangerous, but it had also turned her into Salem's slave.

It was all Blake could do to keep standing, her whole body shaking in horror as she realized the full extent of what had happened to her daughter. Salem hadn't just warped her mind like she had with so many others, as long as that arm remained, she had a complete hold on Kali, mind, body and soul. Even if Kali did rebel against Salem, that arm ensured such an act would only end in agony.

Kali watched her mother, surprise and worry giving way as she scowled in anger.

"Ruby did this to me!" she snarled, "this is her fault!"

Blake wanted to scream until her throat was raw, she wanted to break down in despair, she wanted to beat Arthur Watts until he told her who it was that captured Kali in the first place.

'I'm going to kill Salem!' Blake vowed as anger erupted inside of her, 'A hundred times, a thousand times, however many it takes. She's going to pay for what she did to you, Kali'

Raven stepped forward, pushing Weiss aside as she stared down Kali.

"So what, you turned yourself into a monster because you lost a fight with a little girl?" Raven's mockery had little humor behind it, her hand firmly at the grip of her sword.

"I will not be judged by the likes of you!" Kali spat angrily.

"Settle down, let's just settle down," Arthur Watts urged as he tried to placate both Kali and Raven, "Let's not ruin a perfectly good deal with a few words you will all regret."

"What makes you think I'm interested in working with Salem?" Raven asked.

"Because it's your only way out," Watts replied, his voice taking on a distinctly threatening edge, "refuse us and there will be no place to run."

Blake, Yang and Weiss all started at Raven, Blake's hand drifting towards her sword should the worst happen.

Would she dare? Even with everything Blake told her, would it be enough to change her mind?

Raven shook her head for a second before turning towards Cinder, their eyes meeting in a hate filled gaze.

Then Raven laughed, it was short but distinct, filled with genuine amusement, Blake and Kali both stared at the woman in confusion.

"I don't know what's funnier, that you think I would be remotely interested in working with Salem after seeing that," Raven replied, gesturing towards Kali's Grimm arm, "Or that you think you're in any position to dictate terms to me, in my home, among my tribe?"

With a simple gesture from Raven, almost unseen in the darkness, Every bandit pointed their weapons at Kali and the rest of her group, rifles, pistols, crossbows, even clubs, where all pointed at them. Vernal in particular had her weapons trained on Kali.

Emerald and Mercury pulled out their weapons as well, ready to start fighting if someone so much as sneezed wrong.

Kali simply smirked, the expression making her look like a hungry wolf who just found a wounded deer.

"You're outnumbered and outmatched. If I had my way I'd slaughter the lot of you right now," Raven said casually, "But since I don't want your mother screaming at me, I'll make you a deal of my own. Surrender now and some of you might live to see the sunrise."

Blake pulled Gambol Shroud out of its sheath, earning a look of a stunned shock from Kali. Her daughters wide eyed terror felt like a punch to the gut for Blake but it was necessary, she didn't have a choice. She needed to stop them, no matter how much she loved her daughter. At least she knew there wasn't a chance Raven would kill Kali, not while Blake was here.

To her surprise, Watts began to laugh. It was the smooth, refined laugh of the Altesian rich. The kind of laugh they'd use after telling some small joke between sips of brandy in their plush office, it was like nails on a chalkboard for Blake.

"Did you really think we would come unprepared for your defiance?" Watts asked before raising his gilded gun in the air and firing.

A bullet full of fire dust streaked through the night sky like a tiny flare, rising high above the camp.

A moment later deep, guttural roar ripped through the night air, the noise making ever bandit in the camp go stiff with fear, it was quickly followed by another, even deeper roar that seemed to shake the very walls of surrounding the camp, then another joined, and another after; soon the forest was filled with the roars of dozens of Grimm.
---

Chapter Text

Part 5

The howls of countless Grimm filled the air, drowning out any other noise in the camp.

Yang's stomach went cold as she saw a cruel smile grow across Cinder's face.

The surrounding army of bandits, which a few moments ago seemed ready to murder Cinder and her gang, were now frozen stiff, their eyes wide with terror, powerless before the horrors that were about to unfold.

At least they didn't have to wait long.

The gate and parts of the walls of the camp exploded in a shower of broken timber and splinter, logs impaling themselves in the dirt as the Grimm barreled their way into the camp. Ursa, and Beowolf raced forward, joined by rat-like Capivara and Boarbatusks.

The bandits screamed and ran, a few proved braver than their comrades and fired off a few shots with their pistols or hacked at the incoming Grimm but most were quickly overwhelmed.

Experienced huntsmen would struggle in a situation like this, the bandits that made up the Brawnwen tribe had no chance here.

Raven launched herself at Cinder, a rush of air blowing Yang's hair around as she flew past. Cinder surrounded herself with spinning circles of fire, lighting up like an early dawn as the two Maidens' swords clashed, a clash of metal on metal louder than any of the terrified screams of the bandits or Grimm roars that otherwise filled the camp.

Yang assumed a fighting stance, gauntlets fully extended, as Blake, Weiss, and Raven's underling Vernal all drew their weapons.

Every instinct her time at Beacon had instilled was telling her to go after the Grimm, try and least save some of these people even if they were murderers and thieves, but the watchful gaze of Emerald, Mercury and Watts kept Yang locked in place.

It felt like they were in the eye of a violent storm, Raven and Cinder's fight ripping apart the walls that still remained as Grimm tore through the tents and cages that made up the camp. And yet the ground between Yang and Cinder's lackeys was completely clear, Yang could see the Grimm glance their way occasionally but none had attacked, yet.

"So,I think it's time you paid me back for my leg at Beacon," Mercury said with a cocky grin. "Breaking that metal arm of yours would be a good start."

Yang noticed Blake's attention shifting momentarily to Cinder and Raven as the two crossed swords, her ears pulling back, her lips pulled back tight.

Yang made a split-second decision.

"I'll go help Raven," she declared.

They needed Raven, if she died or fled without them it would take days or even weeks to get to Haven Academy, with Cinder hounding them the entire way.

If Blake went it could turn into a threeway fight if Raven tried to kill Cinder, and there was no way Raven would listen to Weiss.

"You're not going anywhere," Mercury taunted.

Before either he or Yang knew what had happened, Blake was upon him, her blade striking his shoulder, sending him reeling.

Weiss and Vernal launched their own attacks as Yang rushed off, she hated leaving, teams were supposed to stick together, but this was important, and Weiss and Blake were more than capable of defending themselves.

Worst came to worst, Blake had decades of experience as a huntress, she was more than capable of protecting Weiss from the madhouse they were in.

Yang ducked and weaved through the battlefield, launching herself with a shot from her gauntlets over a charging Beowolf.

As Raven and Cinder came into view, Yang stopped in track, sweat beginning to run down her face as her heart pounded.

A trained huntress could do things a normal person might think impossible, but this, the way they moved, how quickly they seemed to bounce around the camp, the way fire and ice seemed to flow around them, the sheer strength behind each blow, for a moment it seemed more a fight between two forces of nature then a clash between huntresses.

Yang steeled herself as best she could and fired both of her gauntlets, launching herself directly at Cinder.

Cinder wasn't looking in her direction and only noticed Yang at the last moment, allowing Yang a clear shot, her fist connecting with the side of Cinder's face.

A normal person would be missing a head by now, a huntress would be knocked over, Cinder was barely even staggered, staring at Yang with an almost amused look in her eye.

Yang ducked, narrowly dodging a swipe from Cinder's burning sword, before quickly retreating to Raven's side.

Raven stared at her, the annoyance in her eyes was clear, the fear even more so.

"Really, you're defending her?" Cinder said in dismay, gesturing towards Raven, "I hate you and even you deserve better family than her."

"You're one to talk," Yang snapped back.

Cinder had brought nothing but misery to Yang's life, she'd lost friends to this woman, been accused of being a criminal because of her actions, a week ago Yang would have loved for a chance to knock her senseless. But knowing they were related, that on some level this monster of a woman was her daughter, it left Yang with a pit in her stomach.

"We're not family," Cinder spat, "My mom was never as weak as you."

Her gaze shifted towards Raven.

"And she knew how to deal with criminals like her," Cinder added with a hateful smile.

Yang didn't give Cinder the pleasure of seeing her flinch over that remark. Whatever her counterpart did, it didn't matter right now.

"Do you really think your mom is going to be proud of you?" Yang asked, "Cause I get the feeling she's going to be just as disappointed in you as your mother is."

The fire in Cinder's eye flared for a moment as she dashed towards Yang, only for her charge to be stopped by a jagged chunk of ice fired by Raven.

"You can't change blood, kid. You're family whether you like it or not " Raven's mockery did little to hide the tremor growing in her voice, "But that isn't going to stop me from killing you."

Killing Cinder would just make everything worse, but this was not the moment to argue.

Raven launched herself into an attack, Yang followed her lead, mother and daughter against granddaughter.
—--

Blake dodged a kick from Mercury, following it up with a strike from her sword, which led into a slash from her sheath.

'Avoid letting him gain distance,' Blake reminded herself, 'The more distance he has the more chance he has to set the pace of the battle, deny him that chance.'

It had been years since Blake fought Mercury but she remembered his tactics well.

Blake couldn't say that this fight was an easy one, no fight in which one's life was on the line was, but it was going much smoother than one might expect.

Every strike from Mercury felt almost telegraphed, countered, blocked and dodged before any of them could hit while he struggled to keep pace with her.

Mercury's foot would meet air where he expected her arm, only for Blake to immediately slash him across the back. The Mercury would pull back, trying to gain leverage or distance only for Blake to roll towards him, stabbing at his legs. Weakening his aura bit by bit. Wearing him down and leaving him unable to land a single blow

It wasn't that surprising, Blake had fought Mercury half a dozen times while he had never fought her once, not to mention she had been fighting longer than this boy had been alive. He was well trained but that only counted for so much against her far vaster experience.

She glanced at Weiss, who was currently using her glyphs to bounce around Watts, trying to get around his small shield, while Vernal was holding her own against Emerald.

'Good' Blake thought as she dodged another strike, 'the sooner we're done with them the sooner we can get out of here.'

Bitter experience had taught Blake to keep her goals in combat restrained. They couldn't save her daughter, not now anyways, there were simply too many Grimm around for her to even attempt to win this fight. The sooner these three were dealt with the sooner they could safely retreat using Raven's semblance.

She could hear even more Grimm pouring the camp, replacing the few that had fallen.

It was cowardly, Blake knew that. Ruby would have tried to stay and fight for far longer, but experience had taught Blake that situations like this were simply beyond saving.

"You know I like working for Cinder," Mercury said as he kicked, his foot coming within inches of Blake's chin, "But she's a maniac. So I have to wonder, just how terrible are you and the blonde at being parents that you created a sadistic freak like that?"

Blake threw her gun towards the gray haired assassin, the ribbon wrapping his arm just long enough to drag him closer, right into Blake's next attack.

The cleaver edge of her sheath grazed Mercury's neck, any closer and the ground would probably be stained with his blood.

Mercury's eyes went wide in surprise and he lashed out with another kick, exactly as Blake had wanted.

This time, she didn't turn it away or duck, she let the attack come, going straight through her, or rather her shadowy copy, which turned to ice as she shifted to the side, trapping Mercury's leg within.

Blake brought her sword down a moment later, the blade breaking his aura and then swiftly slicing through his leg just below his knee. Gears and dust cartridges spilling out as Mercury collapsed to the ground in shock.

Blake stood over him, sword still trained on him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mercury said, his usually smug demeanor had vanished, giving way to visible terror.

"Experience has taught me the longer you live the more grief you will create for my friends," Blake said coldly.

Killing was not something Blake did lightly, but she knew Mercury, she knew he would never regret the things he'd done, never had a change of heart. He was a cold blooded assassin to his very core.

She raised her sword as Mercury tried in vain to crawl away.

Just before she could bring her sword down, she was forced to duck as a Beowolf lunged at her, its boney claws filling Blake's vision.

She rolled backwards, dodging another swipe before thrusting her sword through the Grimm's skull.

Black ichor dripped onto Blake's hand as the rest of the soulless monster began to dissolve. Blake wasted no time and immediately looked around.

The Grimm were no longer half ignoring them, Weiss was now fighting multiple Boarbatusks as Watts tried to pummel her with his pistol. Blake had lost sight of Vernal and Emerald entirely, lost among a sea of soulless monsters.

'Was this your game, Salem?' Blake thought bitterly as she rushed towards Weiss's side, 'Use one of your pawns to gauge how strong I'd become and bury us in Grimm?'

For a brief moment Blake finds herself looking for a Seer floating nearby before she banishes the thought and refocuses herself.

She leaped into the air, letting out a defiant scream to catch Watts' attention as she plummeted towards him, Watts turned his handheld shield towards her, preparing for a strike.

At the last moment Blake pushes herself hard to the left, towards Weiss, a fiery clone taking her place.

The almost transparent clone explodes on contact with the shield, engulfing Watts in fire and smoke. Not enough to kill him but with luck he was gonna feel that.

Blake grinned for a second as she thought of Ilia and all who suffered because of Arthur Watts.

The grin vanished as she saw Weiss fighting the Grimm, an ice forged greatsword slicing through the Boarbatusks.

"This is reminding me far too much of the attack on Beacon," Weiss remarked.

"Agreed," Blake nodded, her eyes scanning their surroundings.

A sudden spark of fire caught her attention, Blake watched as Kali hoovered in the air, spitting a stream of fire at Raven and Yang.

"We need to get to Yang, Now!" Blake said urgently
—-

Yang shielded herself as best she could with her arm as the flames washed over her. Raven had been the focus of her attack but even standing next to her, the intense heat was almost overwhelming.

The fight had not gone how Yang expected, at first things were going well, Raven was just as powerful as Cinder if not more and had added advantage of experience on her side. For the first few strikes Raven had the advantage, even getting in a few hits on Cinder herself, then their blades broke, the energy within the blades rushing out in a brilliant display of light that briefly created a false dawn above the camp. Cinder barely noticed but Raven was shaken, her attacks went wilder after that, more forceful but much sloppier.

Something that only grew worse after Cinder briefly got ahold of her, Raven about screamed in terror before Cinder's Grimm arm began choking her and started to drain her aura as she tried to absorb Raven's powers. A shift punch from Yang knocked Cinder to her knees, breaking her hold. After that though, Raven fought more like a cornered rat than a skilled huntress.

Yang was plenty aware of her biological mother's cowardice but this was different. Raven's wide red eyes and the massive shake in her hands that was now making her sword made it obvious Raven was barely holding it together.

Yang would be lying if she said she wasn't terrified by Cinder's power herself but the state Raven was in now was a far cry from the smug, self assured woman She and Blake had been arguing with a few hours ago.

'What happened to her?" Yang wondered, trying to make sense of why her mother was so utterly shaken.

Cinder of course noticed Raven's growing fear and had been pressing the attack harder and harder with slip up, getting more and more hits in as the battle progressed.

Raven couldn't keep this up much longer, Yang needed to find a way to distract Cinder, make her slip up.

"What do you think your sister is gonna say when she learns you're working with the people who attacked her?" Yang taunted.

"Shut up!" Cinder barked, "You don't know her!"

"No I don't," Yang shrugged, "but your mother told me how you'd been fighting for most of your life against Atlas, struggling against their oppression. How do you think she's going to feel about you siding with Atlas, with people who view her, your mother, and everyone like that as less than people?"

It didn't take a genius to notice Cinder was experiencing some heavy doublethink when it came to her family, doing everything she could to hurt them while convinced she was helping them.

"Summer knows Salem can't be defeated," Cinder said defensively, "She'll understand the sacrifices I've had to make."

"What if she doesn't?" Yang pressed, "What if your whole family reacts the same way Blake did?"

A roar filled the air as a pack of Beowolves charged at Yang, only for Raven to step between them, slicing the Grimm apart.

"You brainwashed my mother!" Cinder snapped, "You fed her the same lies your sister had been feeding us for decades!"

'Funny, I thought we weren't family,' Yang mused.

Cinder stopped talking, rage making her flames burn brighter as she realized Yang was drawing her into an argument.

Without another word she launched herself towards Yang, Two blades forming in her hands, one thin and sword-like, the only more akin to a cleaver with a handle in the blade itself instead of a normal handle.

Yang's eyes went wide as she realized Cinder had created copies of Gambol Shroud, Blake's weapon.

Yang fired her gauntlets, pushing her out of the way just enough to dodge Cinder's attack, her spent shells sliced in half by the glass blades.

Cinder was by far the stronger fighter but Yang was pretty sure she was smarter. The question is would that be enough.

She pulled her arms close as Cinder prepared for another swipe.She ducked and weaved around the first few swipes but Cinder was fast, the next few struck home, hitting her arms.

Even with her aura, each blow felt like a truck hit her. She wouldn't be able to take this for very long.

Raven joined the attack, forcing Cinder to divert her attention for just a moment as their swords clashed once more, fire and electricity swirling around them as they fought.

Yang sprang back into action, letting out a series of rapid punches that knocked Cinder around, then grabbing Cinder's arm when she swung at her, Leaving Cinder wide open.

Or so Yang thought, instead Cinder elbow dropped her, sending Yang into the dirt. Cinder then slashed at Raven, the blade striking true, causing Raven to stumble back, her Aura flaring dangerously.

Cinder turned her attention back to Yang, a sneer across her face.

"Before I kill her, I'm going to enjoy watching your sister's face as I present her the broken remnants of your arm along with Myrtenaster," Cinder said gleefully, "maybe I'll make a collection out of all your weapons, a reminder of how your team were nothing more than utter failures in this world."

A shot rang out, striking Cinder across the face. The shot barely made her move.

"Kali!" Blake called out, her yell somehow louder than every Grimm on the battlefield.

Yang turned to see Blake standing nearby, gun shaking in her hand.

"Mom," Cinder said in surprised horror. Her expression drained of any malice.

For a moment all Yang could see was a hurt and confused child, a girl who couldn't understand why her mother had hit her.

Then Yang noticed the glyph forming behind her. Thinking fast she fired a gauntlet, launching herself into an uppercut. Yang's eyes were glowing red as her fist struck Cinder directly on the chin, knocking her into the Glyph which then launched her towards the broken remains of the camp wall, snapping some of the remaining timbers on impact.

Weiss and Blake approached as Raven steadied herself, holding herself up with her sword.

"I shot her," Blake said, staring at her weapon in disbelief, "I shot my girl."

"I know," Yang replied sympathetically, "but we can't worry about that right now. We need to-"

"We need to run!" Raven cut her off as she sliced through the air in front of them, forming a portal.

"What are you doing?" Yang said in disbelief.

"If we don't leave now, your daughter is going to kill us all!" Raven said, her voice filled a frantic energy, her eyes wide, looking everywhere as she approached the portal.

"But we're winning!" Weiss protested.

"No, Raven's right. Salem's throwing every Grimm in the area at us," Blake gestured to the Sphinx Grimm now flying overhead, "We're outnumbered here."

Yang looked around, most of the bandits were scattered or dead and she could see half a dozen Grimm staring directly at her. They were right, there were simply too many of them.

Weiss was the first through the portal.

"Vernal!" Raven called out frantically "Vernal! Get to the portal!"

"She's tough, you can find her later!" Blake snapped, "Come on!"

Raven ignored her, "Vernal!" she called out again, more desperate.

Blake shook her head and stepped through the portal.

Yang hesitated, seeing Raven look so desperate, so scared for someone else, she didn't know what to make of it.

Yang looked around, none of the dead bodies looked like Vernal and those few bandits standing were all trying to get out of the camp.

"She's not close enough to get here," Yang said.

Raven didn't hear her, her gaze remaining locked on the horizon, looking for any sign of the girl.

"Mom, she's not coming!" Yang urged.

Yang's words finally seemed to have an effect and Raven reluctantly turned towards the portal.

She barely heard what came next, a rush of air followed a surprised gasp from Raven as air was seemingly forced out of her lungs.

Raven's aura shattered as she stood there, a stunned expression on face as she stared down at the burning spear that was now sticking out her chest. Cinder standing some distance behind her, arm outstretched, an almost animalistic look of pride etched in her face.

Yang's breath caught in her throat as she stared at her mother. She rushed to her side, grabbing her just as Raven started to collapse, barely pulling both of them through the portal before it closed.
—-

"This is such bullshit!" Summer snarled angrily as she paced around the patio. The distant sound of laughter and conversations from the homes below occasionally making her ears twitch as fumed.

The very idea of Kali and Cinder being the same person was just utterly absurd. Summer had seen people broken by Salem before, friends twisted by that witch. Saph Arc had gone from a kind boy who dreamed of being a hero to a bloodthirsty maniac but even as far as he had fallen, he would never have done half of the vile acts Cinder had.

Yang and Blake had been injured and nearly killed because of Cinder's actions, Kali would never hurt their parents, never in a million years. Anyone who knows Kali would realize how absurd any of this was.

'They don't know her though, none of them do,' the night wind bit at Summer as the thought entered her head.

They hadn't even met Kali, hell Summer was herself barely more than a stranger to them, that was probably the only reason she hadn't hauled off and punched Jaune during the argument.

The thought brought Summer no comfort, only a rancid feeling in her stomach. This whole situation was a miracle, a chance to do the impossible, yet her family and friends were almost strangers to her, Winter Schnee was here, and someone was trying to frame her sister.

The sound of the patio door slamming open stopped Summer in her tracks, the scent of beer and faint groaning making it obvious who it was on the other side before he even took a step out.

The drunken husk of Qrow Branwen stumbled outside, his hair was a mess, his eyes somehow even redder than normal, and part of his shirt was stained.

Qrow hadn't so much gone drinking as attempted to replace most of his blood with scotch and whiskey.

Her Great Uncle looked at Summer with a haggard expression, an almost accusatory look in his eyes, as if she was the reason behind whatever had driven him into the bottle tonight, and admittedly he wouldn't be entirely wrong, but whatever anger he had he had brewing quickly faded. Instead Qrow grunted and made his way towards a nearby bench.

"We found Ozpin," Summer remarked.

"I know, that's why I'm out here," the bitterness in Qrow's voice was obvious even as he slurred every word.

Summer watched as Qrow collapsed onto the bench, half of his arms and legs hanging over the side. The occasional groan escaping his lips.

"Well at least you're not bleeding this time," Summer remarked as unpleasant memories stirred to the surface.

A faint unearthly growling filled the air, causing Summer's ears to twitch as she turned around to see a portal of cascading black and blood red filling the air.

Summer stumbled back, hand on a gun before she could form a coherent thought. She glanced back to see Qrow already fast asleep, the booze making him completely oblivious to his sister's possible arrival.

Summer knew just enough about her biological grandmother to know that even if Raven Branwen was coming here with no ill-intent, things probably were going to get hostile very quickly.

Thankfully it wasn't Raven who emerged from the portal, instead out stumbled a girl with long white hair and a pale blue dress.

For a brief and absolutely horrifying second, Summer thought her ex-girlfriend had somehow appeared in front of her but thankfully a second look revealed it was a different, much friendlier, member of the Schnee family.

"Weiss?" Summer said, a smile growing on her face.

Weiss was family in all but blood, another Aunt to both Summer and Kali. Even after days spent living with her aunt Ruby's younger self, it was still bewildering to see Weiss look so young, and so much like her niece, Frost.

Summer's joy quickly turned to confusion as she noticed the state Weiss was in, covered in soot and dirt, sweat dripping down her face. She looked like she'd just traipsed through a battlefield.

The two awkwardly stared at each other for a moment, confusion leaving Summer speechless.

"Are you…Summer?" Weiss asked hesitantly

Summer's eyes went wide, there was no way Weiss should have any idea who she is now, not unless-

The portal answered Summer's confusion as out stepped her mother, looking just as battleworn as Weiss but otherwise exactly the same as she was back at their home.

"Mom!" Summer exclaimed with a smile as she rushed towards her.

"Summer?!" Her mom said in tearfilled relief, grabbing her tightly, "Oh thank goodness you're safe!"

Summer's mom held her face, tears welling in the corner of her eyes as she stared at her daughter, almost like she was looking for something in her face, whatever it was she didn't see it, the joy quickly growing on her mother's face.

For a brief second, Summer felt all the tension, all the doubt and anger start to unwind within her. Her mom would be able to make sense out of all this madness.

That moment of relief came to a sudden end as Yang Xiao Long stepped through the portal, a mechanical arm wrapped around the barely living form of Raven Branwen.

Raven was run through with a spear made of molten glass, a chunk of which was sliced off as the portal closed behind Raven.

The burning spear had skewered the older woman like a piece of fried meat, slow ragged breaths barely escaped from her lips, each one accompanied by a soft groan of agony.

Yang looked at Summer for a moment, her lilac eyes growing wide in surprise for a moment before turning her attention back to Raven.

"What happened?" Summer asked as she stared in bewilderment as the spear embedded began to melt, chunks of molten glass dripping to the ground, filling the air with a sizzling noise.

Her mother's expression twisted further, grief and anguish etched into her face.

Summer's seized in her chest, the pain in her mother's eyes giving her the answer, as impossible and horrific as it seemed.

"No," Summer muttered softly, "It can't be!"

Summer looked to the others, hoping desperately she was wrong, that she was somehow confused.

Even as they rushed the wounded Raven towards the door, the tension in other's faces dashed what little hope Summer had left.

Pyrrha's death, Emerald's fate, Yang's arm, to say nothing of the thousand other crimes done in Salem's service. And it was all Kali's fault.

Her sister, her best friend, was lost to her, possibly for good.

End of Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Not Quite Whole

Blake slammed the back door open, startling Ren, Nora and Jaune, the latter of whom nearly bolted out of his seat in surprise.

For a brief second Blake was stunned at the sight, seeing them all again, looking like children more than the adults she remembered, but she buried her feelings, Raven's life hung in the balance.

Blake helped Yang pull in the wounded Raven, dragging her towards a couch as Summer and Weiss followed them in.

It was strange, Blake felt desperate to save a woman she cared nothing for. In another life Raven Branwen had threatened her children and nearly killed her wife. If Raven died, Blake wouldn't shed a tear for her. The issue was her Maiden powers. In the best case situation those powers would go to Yang, a burden Blake knew her wife wouldn't want her younger self to share. If nothing else it would be better to have someone familiar with those powers at their side rather than a novice.

"What happened, who is this woman?!" Ren asked.

"It's my mom, she's been stabbed!" Yang said urgently as she placed Raven on the couch.

"Where's uncle Qrow?!" a familiar voice asked urgently

"He's passed outside," Summer growled, "I'll go get him."

Blake could barely hear the conversation, let alone acknowledge it, her mind focused on making sure this bandit didn't die on her in the next few minutes.

"Jaune!" She called out, "I need your help."

"Wha," Jaune blurted out, "what can I do?"

"Heal her!" Blake urged as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to Raven, placing his hands on her stomach.

Jaune stared at her with a bewildered expression.

'He doesn't know his semblance yet,' Blake realized. But that didn't make any sense, Pyrrha should have-

'Oh' The reminder struck her hard but only for a moment.

"Your semblance, it allows you to amplify other people's auras. Make them stronger, heal them," Blake explained.

"It does?!" Jaune was surprised, "I don't-I don't know how to do that."

"Just keep your hands on her and imagine it's someone else, someone you care about that's hurt and just, just-" Blake stammered, at a loss for what to say next. How do you explain to someone how to use what should be a natural extension of themselves?

Oscar Pine stepped forward, looking so small compared to when Blake last saw him. He had his cane in hand and his eyes had a faint glow to them.

"I think I know how to help," Ozpin spoke through Oscar.

Blake nodded.

Oscar stood besides Jaune, both hands clutched on his cane.

"Think of the moment you first unlocked your aura, imagine the surge of energy you felt in that moment. Now take hold of that energy again and let it flow out of you." Oscar urged.

Jaune closed his eyes, and for a few minutes the room went silent as they stared at him and then finally, the aura around his hands began to glow, causing Raven's to do the same. A soft groan from her indicating that it was working, she was healing.

Blake let out a small sigh of relief, that was one potential disaster averted.

"Yang."

Blake stiffened at the sound of Ruby's voice. She turned to see the girl staring at her sister, her silver eyes wide in surprise.

She looked so young, despite being the leader of the team, Ruby had always been the youngest, but now she looked like she was barely more than a child.

Ruby was her teammate and leader, her friend, her sister-in-law, her inspiration, anything had seemed possible as long as Ruby had been around, even on the blackest of days.

And then she fell along with Weiss, and everything went to hell.

A more pragmatic person might be more excited that they had someone capable of hurting Salem at the side again but in that moment that was the furthest thing from Blake's mind, all she cared about was that she had one of her best friends and family back.

Tears welled Ruby's eyes "Yang, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left how I did, I-"

Yang cut off Ruby's apology with a hug, holding her sister close as she put her hand on the back of her head.

"I love you," Yang said warmly.

"I love you, too." Ruby said with tears in her eyes.

Blake and Weiss watched as the two hugged, Blake's muscles straining as she fought the overwhelming urge to join them.

After a moment, they let go of each other and Ruby's attention shifted to her other teammates.

"Weiss, Blake," She said softly, her gaze focusing on Blake.

'She's young enough to be my daughter,' Blake realized. In fact she was younger than Summer by a good year.

Blake hesitated for a moment. There were so many things she wanted to say to Ruby, things she needed to apologize for, news Ruby needed to hear. Some many things ran through Blake's head that any words she could muster died in her throat.

So instead Blake did the only thing she could think of that made sense, she rushed towards Ruby and hugged her.

Blake wept freely as she held Ruby close. The Faunus struggled to stand as she grew lightheaded and her knees weakened.

Then Yang joined in the hug, embracing both of them, followed quickly by Weiss.

Part of Blake couldn't help but feel like a fraud, she wasn't their Blake. Their Blake was miles away, preparing to fight Adam.

Yet the warmth she was feeling this moment made it clear they knew that, and they didn't care. She was their friend, they were her family, and that's all that mattered.

For the first time in years, Blake had her team back, RWBY was whole once more.

The sound of the door opening brought an end to the emotional reunion.

Blake watched as her daughter dragged in Qrow, the man barely able to stand let alone walk.

Until he caught sight of Raven that is. The sight of his sister on the couch, clearly wounded, snapped Qrow wide away. He rushed to her side, nearly falling over on his way there.

"What's going on here?!" Qrow shouted, startling Jaune.

"Your sister was injured. Yang and her friends brought her here and Jaune is currently helping her heal," Ozpin explained, looking at Qrow with an uneasy expression, "Raven is going to be fine."

Qrow shot a dirty look at Ozpin before turning his attention, his bloodshot eyes growing wide at the sight of Yang before he noticed Blake.

"So, you must be one of Summer's moms I take it?" he asked, only slightly slurring his words.

"Good to see you again, Qrow," Blake replied with a nod, 'Though I can't say I'm glad to see you drowning yourself in booze again.'

"So what exactly happened?" he asked.

"We were attacked at Raven's camp by Cinder and an army of Grimm," Yang explained.

And with that, the brief illusion of joy created by the reunion with Ruby came crashing down around Blake as harsh reality reasserted herself.

Blake could feel the eyes of everyone in the room upon her now.

"Is she…" Ruby couldn't finish her question, but she didn't need to.

"She is," Yang answered, a bitter look on her face, "Cinder Fall is really Kali Belladonna-Xiao Long."

Faces grew tighter and more downcast but none of them seemed confused or surprised, indeed they all looked like they had expected news.

All of the save for Summer who was currently curled up in a chair, looking absolutely miserable.

"You knew?" Blake was stunned by Ruby's question.

"We suspected," Ren clarified, "Summer's description of her sister matched a lot of what we knew about Cinder."

"This doesn't make any sense!" Summer blurted out in anger, "I've barely been here a few weeks, how could Kali have done things that happened years ago?!"

Blake herself hadn't even been here a week. An icy pit formed in her stomach at the thought of what had happened to her wife, if she had even arrived or not.

"Kali, she looked a lot different than she did before we were taken," Blake explained mournfully, "She's been here for years, maybe even a decade."

"But Kali would never do anything like this, she isn't capable of it!" Summer said desperately.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Blake replied gently, "It's her, I didn't want to believe it either but it's her."

Blake wanted to hug her daughter desperately but experience had taught her that only made Summer feel worse when she was angry, and beneath all that grief and sadness, Blake could see the rage boiling inside her.

Blake collapsed into a chair of her own, exhaustion gripping at her whole body.

"What happened to the others at the camp?" Qrow asked.

"Some fled, some weren't so lucky," Yang replied, "There were so many Grimm and it all happened so fast."

Qrow collapsed backwards into a seat. Blake knew he had no real love for the Branwen tribe but once upon a time they had been his home, and now they were dead or scattered to the wind. There was no way even Qrow would be completely numb to that.

"What happened to Kali to make her like that?" Ruby asked.

"Salem got to her," Blake replied, "I don't know what she did to her but Salem convinced Kali that defeating her is impossible, just as she's done with hundreds of others."

Blake stared down at her hands, unable to look at Summer anymore as she continued.

"The worst part is Kali thinks what she's doing is helping us," she added, "Kali honestly thinks she's protecting our family."

"That's crazy," Nora piped up, "she framed Yang during the festival, and considering what that Taurus guy did-"

"She doesn't consider me or anyone of this time to be family," Yang cut her off, "she made that very clear during our fight."

"Why?!" Summer questioned angrily, "you're basically the same people we knew growing up. Aunt Ruby's still Aunt Ruby, just shorter."

"I don't know," Yang replied with confused frustration, "it didn't make any sense to me either, particularly since seemed to treat both Rubys like they were the exact same person."

"I hate to ask but during that attack, Cinder mentioned something about Winter, did you-" Weiss began

"Yep," Summer answered bluntly, "attacked us right after I got here along with Tyrian."

Summer was now pacing around her chair, arms folded in front of her as she scowled.

Weiss sank in her chair, her face etched with grief.

"I don't understand what's going on," Ren said in frustration, "Who or what did this? Why would they send you back along with your enemies?"

That same question had been nagging at Blake since the moment she heard Winter was here. Whoever did this had not just sent her family back but had also sent back at least one of their enemies, possibly more. What could they gain from that?

"I have some theories but none of them make any sense," Blake admitted, "And frankly I don't think we know enough to begin speculating. All I know is on at least two different occasions people from my time were dragged back to now. Of the five people who we know were sent back, four have already arrived. We can only assume that my wife either hasn't arrived or arrived roughly around the same time and is on her way here."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Yang asked.

"My mom is smart, but she's not often a subtle person," Summer replied, "if she had been here for long, we would know."

Blake looked around, most of the room looked upset and downtrodden, Ruby in particular seemed devastated by the idea that her niece was her enemy.

"Look, I know this isn't easy for any of us, this has probably been one of the worst nights of my life, but we need to begin preparing," Blake declared, "Is Professor Lionheart still headmaster?"

"Let me guess," Qrow slurred, "he's working with Salem."

"Yes," Blake nodded.

"Damnit!" Qrow cursed.

Summer clutched the chair tightly

"That is unfortunate," Ozpin said sadly, "I had always considered Leo a friend."

"You couldn't have known," Blake assured all three of them, "In all likelihood, Salem has tipped him off already and he's fled. Which is a problem when it comes to the Relic of Knowledge. We need Raven to open the Vault, but we need Lionheart's key to get to the Vault. So that does complicate things. We could break the statue once Raven wakes up but that attract to much attention, particularly from the police.."

If there was anything that make sense of their current situation, it was the Relic of Knowledge. Blake needed at least one of it's two remaining questions. But she also needed to get to Argus as they could once her counterpart arrived. Atlas was going to be far more of a challenge then anything they dealt with here and she didn't want an altercation with Mistral police complicating things.

"Perhaps we can talk to the Mistral Council, convince them that Lionheart's departure presents a danger to the campus and we need to launch an in depth investigation," Ozpin suggested, "Qrow is a respected huntsman, they might listen to him."

"It's a long-shot but it might work," Blake was non-committal, "Regardless, the Relic isn't our only concern, Salem also wants to destroy Haven academy. So regardless of what happened tonight, the attack on Haven is still on."

Blake wracked her brain to remember the full details of the battle of Haven, she remembered it well but had been decades ago.

"The bad news is with Winter's involvement, odds are Salem knows about my other self's involvement and the Faunus Militia, so odds are high the White Fang will be prepared for their arrival in two days." Blake explained, "The good news is I left her a letter warning her against such an attack so the Faunus Militia should be safe."

"You wrote a letter to yourself?" Ruby asked.

Blake nodded. The whole thing had been incredibly strange, hopefully she'd done enough to convince her other self that she was legit and not some sort of fraud.

"Anyways," Blake went on, "While we were lucky enough to escape with Raven, I very much doubt Salem has given up on the Relic, so we should expect an attack on both the Academy and the Militia, likely at the same time. "

"Is she going to throw another horde of Grimm at us?" Weiss asked.

Blake shook her head, "I very much doubt it, that kind of attack on a major city isn't Salem's style, not for a single relic at least. She won't make it easy for us though, not by a long shot."

"What about Cinder? Will she be part of the attack?" Jaune asked as he pulled away from Raven, his eyes focused on Blake.

"In all likelihood, yes," Blake answered with a sigh, "she will be there."

Without Raven it would take time to get to Mistral but with an airship two days was nothing.

"What are you going to do about her?" Jaune's gaze narrowed and his tone grew closer.

"Jaune, please." Ruby urged, clearly sensing the anger building within him.

Blake met his gaze.

"She's my daughter, Jaune. I can't give up on her," she explained.

"She killed Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed.

"I know," Blake said calmly, "But if it was one of your family or someone in this room who had been twisted by Salem, you would do anything you could to save them."

"Mom," Summer said, "The Kali we knew would never do anything like that. Whatever Salem did to her, it broke her, completely. She's lost to us."

Blake shook her head, "I can't accept that, we can still save your sister."

Summer then unexpectedly picked up her chair and with a feral yell, tossed it into the wall. The chair punched through the wood, sending splinters flying through the air. The chair itself was now clearly broken, its red upholstery ripped by the broken wood, and was now lodged firmly inside the wall.

Most of the room recoiled in shock at the act, but Blake remained calm, staring at her daughter sympathetically.

"How?!" Summer screamed, her chest heaving with every loud breath, "How are supposed we supposed to save someone who murdered a woman who saved our lives half a dozen times, allowed mom to get maimed, and twisted my mentor and friend into a fucking killer?! She's a monster!"

"I know what she's done is unforgivable, but didn't see what happened at the Branwen camp, she was wavering," Blake said, "There was doubt in her eye, I saw it, I was close. Whatever Salem did to her it's not full proof. If I hadn't freaked out at the wrong time I could have gotten through to her, I'm sure of it."

Blake stood and approached her still angry daughter.

"You don't know her like I do, mother," Summer said bluntly.

"I know, you know her better than anyone else," Blake said as she put her hand on Summer's shoulder, "which means if there's anyone here she'll listen to, it's you."

Blake hated putting that kind of pressure on Summer, she knew it was wrong, but Summer and Kali were twins and had been the best of friends, spending almost every day together. If there was anyone who could make Kali see reason, it was her.

Summer stared at her for a moment, her face twisting with uncertainty before settling on outrage. Summer brushed Blake's hand away and stormed off without saying a word.

Blake didn't try to stop her.

—
Summer laid upon her bed, staring at the photo of her and Kali as young children, surrounded by their family. The rage within her had burnt out a few hours ago, replaced by a wave of misery and grief that wrapped around her like a howling arctic wind, sapping her strength.

Summer couldn't even work up the energy to cry.

Her mother was probably right about Kali, as much as that hurt Summer to accept. She had come to realize if Kali, Cinder, whatever she called herself now, still believed she was fighting for their family and had wavered, even for a moment, then she could be reasoned with, pulled back from Salem's grip, maybe even truly be saved, but what then?

Nothing would ever be the same between the two of them, too much time had passed, Salem had done too much damage to Kali's mind and spirit, for that to be possible. Even if Summer made her sister see reason, could she ever trust her again after the horrible things she had done?

She'd gained so much by coming back, family, friends, a chance to stop Salem and Atlas, what happened to Kali didn't change that, no matter what Salem had drilled into her head, they could still stop the Queen, Summer was sure of it. So why torture Kali like this?

Why would whatever god sent them into the past allow Kali to fall into Salem's hand but also basically throw Summer and their mother right at the feet of the past versions of their family? Why help and hurt both sides like that? What was the game here? And what happened to their mom?

Summer's grip on the photo tightened at the idea that her family were being tortured for some god's amusement.

The door opened, Summer turned to see Yang and Weiss wearing borrowed pajamas, this soot stained clothes held at their sides.

"Oh we can find another room," Weiss said awkwardly.

"It's fine," Summer said as she stood up, "I'm done throwing chairs around for the moment."

Summer watched the two as they entered, the sight of her Aunt Ruby being shorter and unscared had been strange but she was starting to get used to it. Yang was something else though, downright surreal to look at. So close to her mom that she couldn't be mistaken for anyone else but the differences were glaring. Shorter hair, less muscles, no lines around her eyes, and a metal arm; she looked almost like Summer's mom did in her photo but not quite.

"Turning in for the night?" Summer asked

"Yeah," Yang replied with a small sigh, "Your mother and Oscar checked Haven, Professor Lionheart had already fled by the time they got there. With Raven still recovering, there's nothing we can do until tomorrow."

Summer nodded as her gaze shifted towards Weiss, the white haired girl was staring at the ground, misery written across her face.

Summer felt her heart clinch at the sight.

"How are you handling this, Weiss?" Summer asked, "I know that conversation couldn't have been easy for you either."

Weiss and Summer were in more or less in the same boat, and Summer wasn't sure which of them had it worse. Sure Weiss still had one sister who at least wasn't on Salem's side but her staying that way hinged on them somehow saving Atlas or at least stopping Ironwood.

"I just, I just can't believe Winter would ever do anything like this," Weiss said dejectedly, "She's a good person."

Summer nodded "Yeah you've told me before that you often considered Winter to be a hero, and you couldn't understand why she allowed Ironwood to drag her down with him."

"That's something I'm still struggling with too," Weiss replied, "I well aware that Atlas has a lot of problems and Ironwood has made his mistakes, but I can't imagine them-"

"Made his mistakes?" Summer interrupted, her sharp tone startling Weiss and Yang.

"Sorry," Summer apologized a moment later, her ears lowering a bit, "It's just Atlas has caused me a lifetime of misery, and the General sure didn't give me this gun willingly."

Summer pulled Due Process out from under her pillow. Weiss put her hand to her mouth as she looked at it in shock while Yang tilted her head, confused for some reason.

"I'm looking at the only good person from Atlas I ever met. Every other person from that floating rock of a city has left me with scars in one way or another," Summer sighed, "But it doesn't have to be like that, if we save Atlas from Ironwood's mistake, things will be a lot better."

Ironwood himself was another story entirely, men like that were beyond reason, beyond saving. For everything he had done, everything he would do, Ironwood needed to die, that was beyond question, but it was also a conversation for another day.

"What about Winter? We can save her too, right?" Weiss asked softly, staring at Summer with wide blue eyes.

The very thought made Summer want to scream. Save her?! After everything she'd done, all the pain she inflicted?

'They're probably saying the same thing about Kali,' Summer realized.

"I know she's done bad things, but she's still my sister," Weiss explained, blinking tears out of her eyes, "I don't want to fight her."

'Yep, same damn boat,' Summer thought.

"I mean you tried to make her see reason so many times," she said, "We all did, but every single time she insisted she would not abandon her duty. Always duty and orders with her, pretty sure that's what drove Frost insane right there."

"Who's Frost?" Yang asked.

Summer laid back down with a groan, cursing herself for being so careless with her words.

"In my time Winter has a daughter, Frost Schnee," she replied as she pinched her nose.

"I have a niece?" Weiss said in surprise.

Summer nodded, "She's also my ex-girlfriend, a terrorist and probably a psychopath."

"Well that sucks," Yang said sympathetically, "Do you think she followed her mother here?"

Summer's skin crawled at the thought.

"If she's here, she's not on her mother's side," Summer explained, "She has some weird ideas about Salem but hates Atlas even more than me. The problem is how she fights against Atlas. I'm not one to shy away from violence but Frost is the type of person who would flood an entire mine full of workers if it meant slowing down Atlas even a bit."

Experience had taught Summer that sometimes you had to be underhanded to do the right thing, that sometimes the people society labeled extremists; like Sienna Khan, had the right of things for the most part. But Frost was a different story, she wasn't trying to accomplish anything good, or change society for the better. Summer realized years ago that Frost was just venting her rage against her home and she didn't care if she burned down Remnant in the process.

It's part of why they were fleeing Patch that day. With Aunt Ruby gone they'd come to realize their choices were to give up or become like Frost, so they chose the former.

"If Frost is somehow here, and I really hope she isn't," Summer went on "Don't trust her, even for a minute, no matter how reasonable or friendly she might seem. I made that mistake once and it led me down a very dark path and were it not for my sister and Emerald, I never would have escaped her."

Seeing Weiss's horror at the idea her own niece could be such an awful person felt like a punch to the gut, but she needed to hear it, even if the chances of Frost showing up were one in a million.

"Cinder was the one to save you?" Yang asked.

The use of that name made Summer's ears pull back but she let it go without comment.

"Yeah, she realized from the beginning that Frost was up to no good and she finally convinced me that Frost was manipulating and abusing me." Summer replied.

"And Frost, did she make you feel like what you were doing was your only option, that doing this would keep the people you loved safe?"

Summer raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she nodded, "there was some other stuff too, but Frost was really good at convincing me that my parents 'half-measures' were only going to get them killed. What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying I think Blake, I mean your mom, was right," Yang replied confidently, "You might be the only person who can talk your sister down, you know her better than anyone else and you might be one of the people who can even begin to understand some of what she's been through."

That seemed like a bit of a stretch, no doubt Salem did far worse to Kali then Frost ever did to her, but it did sound like Kali still believed she was doing what was best for the family and did feel painfully familiar.

'And if I can save Kali, I will save Emerald as well,' Summer realized. If Emerald's relationship with Kali was anything like the relationship she had with her foster mom, Emerald was likely very loyal to her. If Kali switched sides, odds are Emerald would follow.

"And you said yourself that Winter obeying Ironwood's orders," Yang went on, "If we stop Ironwood from abandoning Mantle, show her things don't have to be that way, that should at least give doubts, right?"

Yang's sudden optimism earned an eager nod from Weiss.

"I suppose that makes sense," Summer said thoughtfully, "Winter always made it very clear she was serving Ironwood and Atlas, not Salem."

Which raised a question, one Summer didn't want to voice but nagged at her, why was Winter working for Salem now?
—

Blake Belladonna rested against the side of the ship, doing what she could to calm her nerves. They had a lot to do the moment they arrived on shore, making sure Mistral didn't see this as an invasion for starters, and she didn't want her nerves getting the best of her before she even start.

Panic could come later, for now she had to focus on her mission.

"Ahh, there you are Blake," a familiar older voice called out.

Blake looked over to see the captain of the passenger ship currently taking her and several dozen members of Menagerie's Faunus militia to Mistral standing there, something held in his hand.

Blake smiled, the old captain had proved, if not a friend, an ally to the Faunus and someone she could trust.

"I've been meaning to thank you," Blake said warmly, "I owe so much for agreeing to take all of us, and on such short notice."

"Nonsense," The captain replied, "without you my ship would be at the bottom of the ocean and my crew would be dead, I owe you more than I can ever repay you."

"I'm honored sir, thank you." Blake nodded.

"I have a message I've been instructed to give to you personally from a relative of yours, Velvet I believe?" The captain said as he produced a letter, a bottle cap tapped to it.

Velvet? Blake stared at him in confusion. She knew the captain well enough to know that there was no way he was making some sort of racist assumption that all Faunus were related and frankly you'd have to be blind to think Velvet looked anything like Blake, even beyond their ears, the two bore no resemblance to each other.

"She was traveling with a younger woman, Yang I believe. They left in a rather peculiar fashion," he went on.

Blake was barely listening by point, her heart pounding in her ears at the mention of Yang, pounding that only grew louder as realized it was a sunflower pop bottlecap taped to the letter. The same kind of cap she had kept as a memento from her night out with Yang, the same cap she foolishly threw away.

Yang

Her partner, her friend, her confidant, the woman who pulled her back from the brink while Blake was running herself into the ground searching for the White Fang, the teammate she abandoned like a coward.

This didn't make any sense, why would Yang be running around be walking around with someone who was pretending to be related to her, using the name of their old classmate?

Blake nearly ripped the letter in half as she frantically opened it.

Dear Blake,
I know this is probably going to be the strangest message you have ever received, and I know you will be inclined to not believe it but I urge you to keep an open mind. I am you, or rather a version of you from over twenty years in the future. If I'm right you are currently traveling with our parents, Ilia, Sun and the Faunus Militia to stop Adam's attack on Haven Academy. Yang and I are currently traveling to find her mother in the hopes she will take us to Ruby. I found the attached bottle cap not far from the docks at Patch. While the odds of it being the same cap were remote it reminded me, as I'm certain it reminds you, of our night out with Yang. You remember it, right? We spent hours talking about our favorite horror novels with her, before some gangsters decided to harass Yang, turning it into a brawl.

Blake's hands shook as she stared at the letter. It should have been impossible, sure news of the brawl at that bar might have been public knowledge, but Blake was almost certain no one outside of herself and Yang knew what they talked about that night, or the bottle cap. And there was no way Yang could know she was here or what she was doing.

Desperate for something to make sense of this, Blake read on

You're likely more than skeptical of my claims and have a great many questions. I and the rest of team RWBY will try to answer your questions as best we can once you get to Mistral. For now what I can tell you is that my wife, our kids, and I were ripped away from our home, and thrown back in time. I landed on Yang and Ruby's house, I don't know where the rest of my family is but I will find them.

Blake found herself wondering how that reunion went down, if it was even real. Was Yang angry at this other Blake? They must have reached some sort of accord if they were traveling together but that didn't mean Yang wasn't still upset. Blake did her best to push the thought out of her head as she finished the letter.

The past I remember has been changed, I don't understand the full details yet but things are wrong, Pyrrha should have never died, Adam should not have been at Beacon. I don't know what or who is behind these changes but I have some ideas. The point is there is every chance Adam knows you are coming and the White Fang are waiting for you either at the docks or at the Mistral airstrip. Be prepared for the worst. Show this letter to no one besides our parents. We will have a great deal to discuss when you arrive.

Blake read the letter at least a half dozen times, then she showed it to her parents. The the three of them were currently in their cabin, trying to make sense of something that seemed madness.

"Every instinct is telling me this is nonsense," Her father, Ghira said as he stared at the letter, "but it is your unmistakably your handwriting."

"Are you certain the girl traveling with this woman was your teammate?" Her mother, Kali, asked.

"Yes," Blake replied, her voice near frantic from sheer confusion, "I asked everyone in the crew, twice. Her hair, her style, her behavior, it all fits Yang."

They had also talked about her mechanical arm, Blake had no idea if Yang had one but it did fit with the injury she had suffered because of Adam.

'Because of me,' she reminded herself.

"What this letter says is impossible, yet whoever wrote it knows too much for us to dismiss out of hand." Her father growled.

Blake did her best to calm herself, refocus on the mission at hand.

"Either way, I think we need to be prepared for the worst," Her mom said.

Blake nodded in agreement. "If this letter is really from me," Blake stumbled over the sheer insanity of that statement, "then Adam and the White Fang are waiting for us. If it's a fake, someone else knows we're coming, someone we can't trust. We should be prepared for a fight regardless."

Her parents agreed.

Blake had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Beyond the sheer madness of the letter itself, the possibility that her team might be there, that Yang might be at Haven Academy made her excited, and terrified.

What would she think of her? Would she be angry? Would she forgive her?

'Should she forgive me?' Blake wondered.

Then there was this other Blake, if she was even real. She had a wife, a family. The letter hadn't named names, presumably that was one of the many things they wanted to explain once they arrived in Mistral, but they were out there somewhere in Remnant, she had family she didn't know somewhere out there. The thought was at once exciting and terrifying.

The other stuff, the idea that Pyrrha's death, Yang's maiming, were somehow things that weren't "supposed to happen '' , Blake didn't even know how to begin wrapping her brain around that and did her best to shove it aside for the moment.

Blake did her best to calm herself and mentally prepare for what was to come, Because either way, she and the rest of the Faunus were now likely walking into ambush and they needed to be ready.

Chapter Text

Part 2

'She left me,' Kali realized.

The thought echoed through Cinder's head as she stood in the ruins of the Branwen camp. She found her mother, after years of looking for so much as a hint of her family, she found her mother just days after hearing Summer was back, for a moment the family seemed almost whole again.

But her mother rejected her offer, rejected her, fleeing with a coward and that broken blonde brawler.

Kali kicked aside some dirt as she searched through the camp, seeing if mother had left something behind.

None of this made any sense, she had been the optimist, she had been the last to agree to stop fighting, her parents were the ones who gave up less than a week after Summer and her return from Mistral.

Kali had expected some resistance over her decisions, over what she had to do to protect their family, but not like this.

Aunt Weiss was dead, so was almost every friend and family member they had, nothing could change that, not even here.

Kali paused as she caught sight of a yellow motorcycle laying next to a burning tent. It was a compact sporty looking thing, one that reminded her of mom's motorcycle when she was young.

Cinder's expression soured as realized this belonged to the maimed woman who shared her mother's name and face.

'She left me for her,' Cinder stewed, fireball forming in her hand, 'She abandoned me for a fake and the girl who maimed me!'

Cinder wanted to drown the motorcycle in fire until it melted to the ground and yet, she found herself hesitating, her gaze drifting to the arm Salem gifted her.

And that's when it all clicked for Kali, memories of her mother's haunting scream flooding her mind.

Things had been going fine for Kali until her Grimm arm was discovered, emotions were high for sure but her mother was coming around, Kali was certain of it, before she accidentally grabbed the arm. Her mother was upset but she would calm down eventually, and next time things would be different.

'Maybe Summer will be able to make her see reason,' Kali mused as she picked up the bike

Emerald and Mercury approached Cinder, Emerald supporting the gray haired assassin as one of his mechanical legs had been sliced off.

"Your mother did this to me!" Mercury seethed.

Cinder lazily looked him over.

"Considering who you were facing, you got off lightly," Kali remarked.

Kali had been young when the Mercury of her world died fighting her mom and Aunt Weiss, but the sight of his mangled corpse was still quite vivid in her mind.

Emerald looked around for a moment before her gaze returned to Cinder, a look of sorrow in her red eyes."

"I'm so sorry, I can't believe she would leave you like-" Emerald began.

"I don't need your pity!" Cinder snapped "I need you to be better, they should have never had a chance to leave in the first place!"

Emerald recoiled pathetically from Cinder's words.

"What's the old expression," Watts mused as he approached in a casual stroll, "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools?"

Cinder did her best to ignore the rogue Atlesian aristocrat. Regretfully for her, he had much more to say.

"I just got done explaining the situation to our Queen," Watts went on, "Luckily her grace was in an exceptionally understanding mood and is willing to forgive your mistakes."

Cinder glared at Watts, anger burning within her.

"My mistakes?" Cinder questioned sharply

"Yes, if you hadn't wasted so much trying to convince a woman who clearly was never going to listen, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Watts snapped.

"The Spring Maiden would have run regardless," Cinder countered, "Her daughter poisoned her against our offer."

"Because of your mother," Watts snapped back, "and thanks to her, now both the Spring Maiden and the Relic have slipped entirely out of our reach!"

"No, they haven't," Cinder, "I know those brats, they won't leave without the last of their little team. If we leave now we should reach Mistral before the Faunus Militia."

"So we can watch as you fail all over again?" Watts snarked.

"Do you have anything useful to say," Emerald angrily interrupted, "or are you just going to stand there and complain?"

Cinder held up her hand, silencing Emerald. She didn't need anyone defending her.

"I'm saying your master's judgment here is compromised," Watts said with an insufferable sneer.

"I was surprised, it won't happen again," Cinder said coldly

"Really? You expect us to believe you'll be able to secure the Relic even with your mother and sister standing against you?" Watts asked with an insufferable smirk, half hidden by his Walrus-like mustache.

Part of Cinder wanted to reach out and strangle the smug doctor right where he stood, but she stopped herself, that would be giving him exactly what he wanted.

"Salem put me on the mission knowing full well my history," Cinder replied with a grin, "Are you doubting our Queen?"

Watts' face twitched ever so slightly in frustration.

"No, of course not," He said evenly, "Just don't expect me to help you when Haven Academy turns into your funeral pyre,"

"Actually I was going to advise you to sit this one out," Cinder remarked casually.

"Why?" Watts asked as he glanced at Mercury, "I'm not going to play mechanic for your little pet assassin."

Mercury and Emerald both glared at the fallen doctor.

"No nothing like that," Cinder replied as she approached Watts, "it's just Mistral has history for me and my sister, years ago for me but only a few months for her."

"Let me guess," Watts said, "this history involves me,"

"Something with your face, yes," Cinder clarified gleefully, "Though his hair was much greyer and he had put on a few pounds,"

The last remark actually seemed to fluster the man, much to Cinder's delight.

"That man caused my sister a great deal of grief, though we managed to kill him in the end," Cinder went on, "I'm mature enough to realize you're not that man, but I can't speak for my sister. So unless you want to stare down the barrel of a copy of your own revolver, it might be best if you sit this one out."

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with this," Watts remarked, "And at this point, I don't care. This is your mess from this point on."

"Good," Cinder smirked

Kali knew her sister would listen to reason, she always did in the end, but someone like Watts could easily piss her off. Having Emerald around should be enough to keep her sister placated but she didn't want to take any chances. This was her second chance and Kali had no idea if and when she would get a third.

'Summer will understand,' Kali reminded herself, 'she has to'

—

The walk to the city from her Bull Head was long and dangerous, no roads, no lights, nothing that could even so much as hint to the city of Mistral that she was here. Which meant long hours of treading through thick, Grimm-infested woods.

Winter kept her mind occupied during her long trek by imagining what she would do when she arrived. She would greet Hazel and the leader of the White Fang, explain her situation if need be, and then when their guard was down, she would slaughter the both of them.

If she was lucky she could have her blade in Adam Taurus's throat before he knew what was going on. If not she would have to find a way to keep Hazel pinned while she dealt with Adam.

After Adam was dealt with, Hazel would be a much tougher fight, an immunity to pain and strong aura meant she couldn't afford a battle of attrition. She had to focus on high damage attacks no matter how risky.

Once they were dealt with, presuming she was still alive, she would find Weiss, get on her knees, confess her crimes and beg for the forgiveness she didn't deserve but desperately wanted.

Of course none of that was going to happen. Those were the actions of someone who was brave, someone who had some sense of honor still, and Winter knew those parts of her had long since eroded away.

She needed to get home, she needed to get away from this nightmare parody of the past and back to Atlas, where at least things made sense. Nothing else mattered more, not Penny, not her family, not even Weiss.

'Weiss'

Winter tried to shake the thought out of her head but to no avail. Weiss was alive again, and likely within Mistral itself by now, she was so close.

'If only Summer hadn't been there, things could have been different,' Winter grumbled.

It was a pointless bit of anger, Winter realized. What's done was done, she couldn't change what happened, she couldn't change anything. All she could do was complete her mission, and hope that was enough to get her back home.

Eventually she made her way to the location Salem had told her about, an abandoned hovel on the edge of the lowest part of the mountain city.

Winter entered to find Hazel and Adam already waiting for her. She knew both by sight already, in better times she had fought against both to protect Atlas.

Hazel showed only mild interest in her arrival, the massive man assessed her coolly but said nothing.

Adam by contrast approached her immediately, his mask doing nothing to hide the hatred written on his face.

"So, you weren't going insane after all," Adam said as he glanced back at Hazel, "We really are getting help from the future. Why did it have to be a Schnee though?"

"This situation isn't ideal for either of us," Winter replied coldly, "But we cannot let that distract us from our mission."

'No matter how much I wish I could break off one of your horns and stab you with it,' Winter mused.

"She's right, especially now considering Cinder's recent complications," Hazel spoke in that low booming voice of his.

"Complications?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"Cinder arrived at the Branwen camp to discover her mother, Blake Belladonna-Xiao Long, had arrived and already made an alliance with the Spring Maiden," Hazel explained, 

Adam slammed his fist against the wall as he jealously cursed out Blake.

"Negotiations fell through," Hazel went on, ignoring Adam's outburst, "And in the ensuing battle, the Spring Maiden, along with Blake and the other members of team RWBY that were present, managed to escape."

Winter's lips tightened but otherwise she showed little emotion, inside she was all but screaming.

Kali and Summer were little more than deranged children, even though the former was now somehow an adult. They were pests, but ones that Winter knew how to deal with. Blake on the other hand was a skilled huntress, a veteran of hundreds of battles, and someone who knew how to organize resistance against Atlas.

Worse, if the rest of her family was already here, then that meant there was a very good possibility that Yang Xiao Long was here, and if that was true, Winter was all but a dead woman walking at this point.

The news did bring her two small bits of comfort though. The first was the knowledge that Weiss escaped. Winter had assumed Weiss was already in Mistral; the idea that Kali, Cinder, whatever she called herself now, had the chance to get revenge for Summer's earlier injury was concerning.

The second bit of comfort was Adam's clear discomfort at the news, the red-haired Faunus cursing venomously under his breath.

"What about the Relic of Knowledge?" Winter asked, "Is it still secure?"

"For the moment," Hazel replied, "Professor Lionheart has been dealt with and the key is firmly in our possession."

'That's not going to stop a Maiden,'  Winter realized.

There's no way they would just leave the Relic where it was, Blake and her daughter must have been desperate to make sense of what was going on. They wouldn't leave it there unless they had a good reason.

"They're likely waiting for the Faunus Militia," Winter surmised. "Team RWBY won't leave without one of their own and Blake no doubt intends to build an alliance with her father. What are your plans for the Militia?"

"Leave those traitors to the White Fang," Adam said, his voice full of self-confidence, "I'll deal with both Blakes myself."

"I'm not sure that's wise," Winter said evenly, "in my time the Faunus Militia-"

"They got lucky," Adam interrupted, "And they had the element of surprise on their side. This time around. my men will make sure they're dealt with the moment they set foot on Anima."

"The Faunus Militia is the White Fang's responsibility," Hazel stated as he stared intently at Winter, "And unless they interfere in our operations they are not our concern. Our priority is the Relic and the Spring Maiden."

"Of course," Winter said, "What are my orders?"

"For now, hold here," Hazel replied, "Cinder should be here in roughly twenty four hours, once she's arrived we can begin preparations."

Winter gave a quick nod, her face a mask of military discipline, while inside she was dreading the battles that awaited her.

—

Blake nursed a cup of coffee as she opened the patio doors, to her surprise, Ruby and Yang were already out there, leaning against the railing, taking in the early morning sights of Mistral.

They both turned at the sound of the door opening.

"Morning, Blake," Ruby greeted warmly.

Hearing Ruby again still felt unreal, a waking dream of sorts.

"Morning," Blake replied with a smile, "How are you two holding up?"

"This is all so weird but I'm okay," Ruby answered, not quite able to hide the doubt in her eyes.

"Well I just spent the night sleeping across from a girl who's barely more than a year younger than me but is somehow my daughter," Yang remarked, "so that was pretty weird."

"This is gonna be strange for all of us," Blake remarked, before her ears lowered slightly. "How is Summer doing by the way?"

"She slept with a gun under her pillow," Yang replied, "Which I would get if we were out in the woods but we're in the middle of a city.'

"That's normal for her," Blake explained, "There weren't a lot of places in our time that were truly safe, after all. It's gonna take time for her to adjust to how things are here."

In truth Blake was having a hard time adjusting herself, she had to remind herself that there was no point in scanning the horizon to look for Grimm right now, or that the doors didn't need to be barricaded at night. Things were a lot safer now then they had been in a very long time for Blake.

For the moment at least.

"Has she calmed down about last night?" Blake asked nervously.

"She's on your side now," Yang assured her, "Apparently she thinks she might get through to Cinder, like her sister got through to her when Frost was messing with her head."

Blake suppressed a shudder at the reminder of her daughter and Frost Schnee's toxic and dangerous relationship. It had been so frustrating to see her daughter repeat the same mistake she had and be powerless to stop her. Thankfully Kali had made Summer see reason after everyone else failed, even if it did take a punch to the face.

Ruby's expression grew sullen, her lips tightening.

"Blake, about your plan..." she began

"I know what Kali's done is beyond forgiveness, I know, '' Blake assured her. "She'll probably always be Cinder to you. I can't change what she's done, but I have a chance to save my daughter, I have to try."

"I understand," Ruby said sympathetically, "But even if your plan works, what are we going to do with her? We can't take her with us to Atlas."

"I wouldn't dream of even suggesting such a thing," Blake replied, "If we get through to her I want her as far away from this fight as I can get her."

"So what do we do, lock her up?" Yang asked.

"Salem would find her," Blake replied, "Best option I can think of is to send her back to Menagerie with my parents. About as far away from Salem's focus as you can get, that's why we were sending my girls there in the first place."

It wasn't an ideal option, it would be putting her parents in danger and would probably require Blake to travel back with her, taking her away from the team and Summer for weeks, maybe months, but this wasn't a situation with ideal or even good options.

Their conservation was interrupted by the sudden sounds of angry shouting coming from the living room.

It appeared Raven was awake, and to no one's surprise, she was not happy.

Blake, Ruby and Yang rushed in to see Raven pointing her sword at Summer, who had Ironwood's revolver trained on her face, Oscar standing to the latter's side, nervously clutching Ozpin's cane.

Qrow, still clearly recovering from his heavy drinking, watched uneasily from the side, joined by Weiss and the others.

"Summer, put the gun down!" Blake urged.

"She's the one who tried to stab Oscar!" Summer said defensively.

"Ozpin's the one who dragged us all into this hell!" Raven spat angrily.

"Both of you, calm down!" Qrow ordered.

"So you're taking his side?" Raven scoffed, "Do you have any idea what he's done, little brother."

"You would have died on that couch last night if it wasn't for Jaune and Ozpin," Blake retorted, "So save your grievances for another time."

"It was your daughter who nearly killed me in the first place!" Raven spat, her cold gaze fixed on Blake.

"And I was the one who carried you here!" Yang interjected.

Raven's expression faltered for a moment and slowly she returned her red bladed sword to its sheathe, Summer lowered her pistol a moment later.

Raven looked at her brother, a small smile appearing on her face as she noticed how haggard his appearance

"Man, you look like you had a worse night then I did," she said with a smirk.

"Nice to see you too," Qrow grumbled.

Raven's gaze turned to Blake

"So, how soon are we grabbing this relic?" she asked, "Because I don't know about you, but I have just about my fill of family reunions."

Blake shook her head.

"We have to wait," she explained, "Lionheart's fled, taking our easiest way to the vault with him and sparking an investigation. If we go after it now, we'll have the entire city's police force on us."

Raven's gaze narrowed.

"So what, you're giving up on the Relic?" She said, her tone gaining a distinct edge.

"No," Blake replied, "We need to wait for Salem's attack on Haven if we're to have any chance of grabbing it and getting out of this safely."

"We have a plan to deal with Cinder," Ruby assured her.

"Oh you have a plan!" Raven replied angrily, "Your friend here had a plan as well, even had me almost convinced it might work. And then next thing I knew her daughter was kicking down my door and slaughtering my men!"

"That was only possible because your clan lived in the middle of the forest, Salem won't do that here," Blake assured her.

"So she'll find some other way to kill us!" Raven shot back, "For all you know we'll walk into Haven to find your wife and daughter waiting for us,"

Blake's gaze narrowed as Summer's ears pulled back sharply.

"Yang wouldn't do that," Blake said in cold anger.

"Are you sure?" Raven questioned mockingly "Because I'm willing to bet you would have said the same thing about your daughter-"

Raven never saw Summer coming, her fist connecting with the back of the Bandit's head, sending her stumbling forward.

Raven turned around, eyes alight with maiden fire. Summer returned her glare without a trace of fear.

"If my mom really was here and had turned evil," Summer growled, "Ruby would be a million miles away from here in a tower somewhere and you would be long dead."

Blake realized her hand had drifted towards Gambol Shroud and swiftly jerked it back.

Raven's eyes went wide at Summer's words, one of her hands twitching slightly.

"Please, there's no need to fight," Ruby urged as she put herself between Raven and Summer.

Summer lowered her fists but Raven remained guarded.

"I know things seem bad now, but Summer and Blake's arrival has given us a chance," Ruby went on, "Salem can be defeated, if we keep Atlas out her hands, everything changes. I know that seems impossible but everyone here has done the impossible before, we just need to work together."

Raven stared at Ruby with an uncertain expression.

"You sound so much like your mother," Raven said softly, "Too much like her."

The comment surprised Ruby, stopping whatever else she had to say.

"Look, Cinder wasn't expecting Blake," Yang stepped in, "Which means whatever plans she had for Haven didn't account for Blake being here, or you for that matter and they barely have two days to adjust, if that."

"And Salem only has so many people she trusts for missions like this," Blake added, "Almost all of them I've fought before and defeated. We have an advantage here."

Raven stood there, contemplating her options. Blake honestly thought she was going to simply open a portal and flee and for a moment it looked like she might as she tightly grabbed her sword but after a moment, she sighed and let go.

"Whatever you're trying in Atlas is a fool's errand," Raven said bluntly, "I want no part of it."

'Not like we want you there either,' Blake thought

"And if I so much as hear another horde like that I am gone," Raven declared, "You understand me? Gone."

Blake nodded. "I understand completely,"

"And I want the first go at the Relic," Raven demanded.

"Just as long as we get the second," Blake replied.

Raven shook her head, groaning in frustration.

"Can't believe I'm agreeing to this," Raven said in dismay.

"It's not all bad, Raven," Qrow snarked, "We finally get a chance to fight together again, it will be just like old times."

Raven glared at her brother with murderous disgust.

Part of Blake wished Raven would just take the Relic and flee, it would make the attack on Haven so much simpler. But truth be told, Blake was borderline desperate to get her hands on the relic. She needed the answers it could provide, about how they came here and what happened to Kali.

She couldn't trust Raven, particularly now after everything that had happened, but the two needed each other, and for the moment that would have to do.

Chapter Text

Nothing had been going right in Summer's life recently, so perhaps being ripped from her home, from her family, by some swirling nightmare nexus and dumped in the middle of Grimm infested wilderness was just par for the course.

That didn't mean she wasn't still mad about it, and thus she'd used her impromptu punching bags as a means of gaining some relief while screaming herself hoarse for her family. Bullets ran down to zero and constant use of Shadow wore on her as more and more Grimm seemed to descend on her and she was forced to bash their brains in with her weapons.

Then, when she was finally, finally done, staring in a clearing swirling with Grimm miasma, her chest heaving and Aura fading, she heard more roars approaching, but also the sound of engines.

Summer looked up as a new wave of Beowolves burst through the clearing, only to be mowed down by uniformed fighters bedecked in white and black, with a snarling wolf head with three claw marks on their backs. Their jeep engines roar matched the Grimm and the turret ripped through the feeble beasts like it was nothing.

Sagging, Summer felt her gut clench at the sight of their strange, grimm like masks, her vision fading, "Who... Are you?"

Then she blacked out.
____________________

Sienna Khan was tired, she had always worked long hours, but it hadn't been since the war, or her early days as High Leader, that she'd felt this bone deep exhaustion. Vale was a disaster zone, the White Fang's reputation had been gutted, hundreds of her soldiers were dead and countless more civilians, while communications strained to keep her informed.

In the end she'd been forced to send most of her forces abroad, to defend the settlements against increased Grimm and human harassment. To smuggle Faunus out of Vale and protect those who remained under pseudonyms of all things, and with Atlas cut off, so too was their easiest source of Dust.

It was a great deal, and all of it compounded by Adam having strutted into Fort Castle on a small fleet of aircrafts like he was some swaggering conquering hero. The rather stern reception had at least mitigated his blooming pride, but that just left the new arrivals, hundreds of them, many new recruits on edge as she tried to find some way to handle them all. Let alone the question of what to do with Adam himself given his evasiveness and rambling promises and preening excuses when called to account. She'd never thought him so slippery before now.

'And now we have Grimm trouble, how did so many get so close to Fort Castle!?' They had scouting teams for a damned reason!

She was drawn from looking over their munitions stock when the doors to hall opened. A figure in elaborate red robes and an even more elaborate gas-mask array attached to her face slid in. "Please forgive the interruption High Leader, but I would speak with you."

Putting her Scroll away, Sienna cracked her neck and answered, "I always have time for you Meister Technicus. Is this about our guest?"

The robed figure nodded, a wheezing sound accompanying every word, "Yes, they are still in recovery for acute Aura exhaustion, but I was looking over their equipment and found some... Oddities."

"Oddities? That's rather vague for you, Technicus," Usually their old companion was one for extremely precise language.

Finally reaching the top of the dais, red Salamander tail flicking, the Faunus nodded, "I know, but I have no explanation for what I am seeing." They held out a pistol that tickled some familiarity in Sienna's mind as she inspected it, "I checked it against our files and this is General Ironwood's side arm."

"Interesting, maybe she killed him," That would be a satisfying thought if Ironwood weren't a hammer whose blunt response to the White Fang often made him easier to handle than someone with any sense of subtly.

"I considered that... But with other matters I am unsure it is so simple a story," The other Faunus brandished what looked to be a Scroll, but far more compact than even the latest Atlas model.

Sienna held it delicately between black claws and arched her brow and flicked it opened, the password already cracked and revealing a photo album. An album containing pictures of the girl they had found half exhausted to death in the woods, but also of others, redheads, a Schnee who did not match any on record, and a woman who looked startling like Blake Belladonna.

"This could be a coincidence," She said, not entirely believing it herself, but what else could it be?

"I thought as such," Technicus wheezed, "But I checked her blood work against our records, and there is a match with Belladonna."

'What in all the Quiet Lands could this mean?' Sienna finally rose to her feet, "She's scheduled to wake up soon, let's pay her a visit."

"Yes High Leader, capital idea."
__________________________

By the time Sienna arrived it seemed their guest was already awake, judging by the fact several soldiers were currently being tossed around the hallways as the blonde Faunus flickered and fought her way through their number.

"Where's my stuff!? Who the fuck are you!? Where am I!?"

The blonde's lilac eyes levelled on Sienna and her rampage stilled as she braced for an attack.

Sienna merely let her ear twitch before lazily tossing the girls side arm to her, "Here's you gun, not loaded of course," She added as the blonde levelled it at her, only to switch to a striking hold the moment she sensed its weight.

'Someone with a lot of combat experience, twitchy as well, like a war veteran,'

Holding up the girls Scroll she clasped it between her claws, with just the slightest pressure it could snap and the girl knew that, snarling, "Give it back."

She did not, instead saying, "To answer your other questions, this is our base and we are the White Fang, my forces saved you out in the wilderness, so the least you could do is not attack them."

"Oh yeah," she rolled her eyes, "I feel so safe being surrounded by fucking Grimm cultists... Wait, White Fang?" She didn't sound relieved so much as befuddled.

"Was it somehow not obvious?" One of her Crimson Guards snapped.

"Screw you dipshit, the White Fang has been old news since before I was even born, what is this, some Salem backed resurrection?"

Now it was their turn to be befuddled, "Who?" Technicus hissed, while Sienna's mind flickered through old rumors and hearsay, a vaguely ill feeling blooming in her gut. Sienna motioned for her angry, muttering guards to silence and said, "I've no idea who that is, but the White Fang serve no master, and certainly no Grimm. The masks are simply a... Ill advised fashion statement," She said, unable to keep the contempt out of her voice.

"Yeah, pull the other one its got bells on," The girl answered.

"I speak only the truth, if I meant you harm child, you'd know," Sienna added ominously and strangely it did seem to, if not reassure the girl, at least make her more contemplative.

Deciding to risk it, Sienna tossed her Scroll back, "You fell out of a rift in the sky, the only Semblance I know capable of that belongs to the Branwen Gang and yet you clearly used a different Semblance just now. So I ask again, who are you?"

"Just... Me?" She asked quietly, looking through her Scroll and scanning the recent messages which had been equal parts confusing and worrying, despite their sparse nature.

"Just you," Sienna stepped forward, she was within reach now and clapped her tattooed hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Summer, and I don't think you'll believe me if I tell you but, I'm from the future."
____________________________________________________________

'Lets discuss this over tea'

It had been such an odd thing to hear, and yet so familiar, something her mother and grandmother always suggested after a long night or harrowing day. Even the intonation felt familiar and as Summer knelt at the small, richly carved wooden table in Sienna's quarters, she could tell even the tea itself was familiar, a pleasing mix of jade and lilac.

Sienna, the woman had introduced herself on the way up, tended to the tea pot like nothing was out of the ordinary, leaving Summer to her thoughts. The woman's red clad guards were all hovering around the door, two on one side, two on the other.

The chambers themselves were nice, but not as fancy as she expected from Sienna's dress and manner. Dark, well carved brick, a singular cupboard and draws, some book shelves and tapestries, some of which looked ancient, and a small side room for training, with off side bathroom and a respectably sized bed with red sheets.

At the clink of a saucer, very intentionally made as Sienna put it before her, Summer looked to the taller tiger striped woman, her burning golden eyes practically radiated with intensity but everything in her motions was calm and collected.

"Tea ceremonies have a long history amongst those of our kind, both in Anima and as far as the Southern Islands; I rarely get to indulge in them, but I find they serve well for days and meetings like this..."

Summer finished the speech for her, "Because the art of brewing, pouring and presenting give one time to think and tea soothes the senses."

Sienna smirked and poured her tea into a well crafted clay saucer before tending to her own and saying, "Now then Summer, why don't you tell me a tale."

"All right, but I can't promise it has a happy ending, at least, not my version."
____________________________________________

Summer hadn't been joking about how bad things got but she hadn't expected hecklers to come breaking down the door!

"You are a liar!" The ram howled, barely being held back by another guard.

"Fuck you, I bet you work for Adam!" She snapped, barely held back by two guards.

There shouting match was cut off by a roar, a deep, echoing, rumbling roar that sounded more at home in the maw of a beast than a person, it shook the room and made the guards shudder.

All eyes turned to Sienna, her golden eyes blazing, "If you need to be separated like squabbling children, I shall be forced to treat you as such, now calm down."

"But, High Leader she's mad!" The guard snapped, while Summer grudgingly ignored him and sat back down, forcing herself to not react.

"Ube, you have had one warning," Sienna intoned firmly.

A different guard, a rabbit Faunus whispered, "Ma'am you can't possibly believe this, I mean, a civil war, a Grimm Queen, Atlas taking over!"

"That part I believe, the bastards," Muttered an exhausted looking lizard Faunus, forked tongue flicking out.

Summer put a hand to her chest, "I know it must sound crazy to you, but I promise its the truth. The White Fang gets chewed up and spat out thanks to Salem and that's not even close to as bad as it gets."

The final guard rumbled something in her throat, paw-like hands clenching, "Its still rather hard to believe given..."

"Yes," Sienna murmured lowly, "There are some discrepancies."

"Discrepancies?" Summer asked, arching her brow and leaning forward on the table.

"Yes," answered the High Leader, watching her carefully, "For instance your timeline is wrong, the attack on Beacon has already happened."

"What?"

"And it was not the Albain's in command, but Adam himself."

Summer felt like her jaw was unhinging, this was a story she knew since she was young, this story was the foundation for the world as she knew it, it can't be wrong.

Ube was smirking, "See, she's lying!"

"I am not! If I came back maybe someone else did and things got changed by them!" She couldn't imagine who or how, but there was that whole thing with butterflies and typhoons right?

"I wonder," Sienna intoned, surprisingly gentle in tone, her expression contemplative, "If she was an agent sent to disrupt us the cover story is too baseless. If she were delusional, then I doubt it would so coherent a story and yet, not everything is as you say Summer. This bears investigation, especially given your... Unique heritage."

"My mother?" She asked.

"Blake's DNA, that does as much to convince me of your words as the Scroll or your sincerity and yet still I must proceed with caution. Acting on the words of prophets has often led mighty kings to folly and I've no interest in joining them in the annals of history just yet." Sienna didn't give them time to respond, instead rising to her feet, "You four, for the rest of the day you will stay in the guest lodging across from mine, I will also confiscate your Scrolls."

"High Leader-" Ube started.

"Shut up, Ube," The lizard sighed.

"It makes sense," Murmured the rabbit.

"Thank you, Maru, Jade, and you Niran, Ube?" The other two guards looked less pleased but handed over their Scrolls.

"You will still accompany me to my meeting with Adam where he will petition me this night, I shall reschedule it for the evening."

"Yes High Leader," They intoned unhappily before marching across the stonework hall and into the much more ornate guest chamber and sealing the metal door.

Summer looked to Sienna, "So what, now we go capture Adam?"

"I already told you my plan," Sienna said flicking through her Scroll, claws frantically tapping.

"But we don't have time for that," Summer hissed, "And I have other stuff to do!"

Sienna's ears twitched, ear rings jingling, "If you stay and help me resolve this matter, I shall promise you the resources of the White Fang to locate your family."

Summer rocked back on her feet but grudgingly nodded, "I still think its stupid to wait."

"Trust but verify," Sienna said like a lecturer, "Besides, if he's going to make a move I don't want him suspecting anything until the last moment. For now, get some rest, you can take my bed, I have work to do."

Summer glanced at the bed, then appreciatively along the older Faunus's powerful frame, ears twitching as she coyly intoned, "Is that an invitation?"

Sienna looked less than impressed, "You are a child."

"Laaame."

"Next time wait until you're at least twenty five before coming back in time," Sienna offered with something like humor in her rich, earthy tone.

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

The exhaustion Sienna had felt before was being replaced by a sort of frantic terror, as familiar to her as the hunger of the mines or the fury of the trenches in which she was raised. She stalked down the dimly lit halls of Fort Castle to her rendezvous, mind aflame.

'If there was ever a time for a coup its now, most of my subordinates are away, Adam's recruits from Vale are here and even some of my own may well not be as loyal as they should.'

Oh how she wished she'd come down on those masks before they became popular. How she wished she'd thought to check into Blake's life rather than avoid her for fear of showing favoritism. How in all the ancestors she wishes she hadn't just trusted Adam when he called and said he needed to take the Vale branch underground!

But wishes never saved anyone, and Sienna was a warrior and a general before she was anything else. So however much the thought of her years of work being laid fallow stung, the thought of the White Fang reduced to a mere footnote, Fort Castle forgotten and her efforts to build a brighter future for her people coopted terrified her.

She did not let it even stymie her work.

Stepping onto the isolated mountain balcony, Sienna was pleased to see a flash of red, as a tall, lean figure with green hair and a spear materialized before her.

"Commander Crim, the Red Lightning, how fares the front?"

The older Faunus shrugged, vibrant red wings flexing, "A new day a different battle, but I had things in hand." She looked up at her, "How may I be of service to the cause?"

Clasping her hands behind her back Sienna watched Crim carefully and announced, "Adam Taurus is plotting a coup."

The woman jolted up, "I'll execute him immediately."

"Hold," She couldn't keep the pleased smile off her face, "This information comes from a... Questionable source. I intend to force the matter with Adam this night, my task for you is to rally your subordinates and anyone you feel can be relied on in Fort Castle and be ready to capture, contain or kill Adam's followers should they participate."

The woman nodded grimly, "I wondered why you called me back, but if this intel is right... Damn that brat, I never did like him"

'Then you have good taste,' she thought bitterly.

"You were the only one I could recall, Gray is still in Vale and Maize is out among the wilds."

"I understand High Leader," She cross an arm over her chest, "I won't fail you in this."

"Thank you, make ready, I meet with Adam on the evening."

"May he get food poisoning," Crim muttered, before flaring her wings and vanishing into the sky.

With that done, Sienna turned and made for her next appointment, her tattoos needed some upkeep and there was only one ancient Mystic she could trust with the task.
__________________________________________________________

Summer wasn't sure she liked Sienna's plan.

It relied on guards who Summer thought were shonky and she was the only back up; ordered to stay hidden in a rear hallway and watch as Sienna gave Adam a dressing down to see what happened. She was bedecked in a standard White Fang uniform Sienna had gotten her, along with red scarf Kali had gifted her which along with the mask obscured her face entirely. Sienna was insistent that if it came to a fight to open with Blake's Shadow and to focus on Adam.

Summer could do that, and as she palmed her pistol and revolver, she really hoped she'd get the chance.

Adam stood in the center of the grand chamber, the Hall of Ceremonies, looking like he owned the place, only to shift into a more contrite manner as the grand double doors at the entryway flew open.

Sienna strode in and very much did own the place, her manner and poise radiating grandeur and authority to contrast Adam's smug satisfaction.

The man turned to her, "High Leader, I trust whatever reason-"

"I did not give you leave to speak," Sienna intoned with a cold edge, Adam leaning back a little, something in his lips twitching before smoothing out as he kneeled.

Cape flaring, Sienna took up her seat on a spear bedecked chair and her guards fanned out either side of her, as she simply sat there, staring down at Adam.

The silence lingered for nearly a full minute before he looked up, mouthing opening, only to be cut off.

"So, Adam, once again you come before me not contrite or self aware, but to instead again beseech that I throw the lives of White Fang, the lives of Faunus and human alike upon a pyre in a mad little venture. Is that it?"

Adam grimaced, "High Leader Khan, I am begging you to consider my proposal to strike at Haven Academy, they are weak and we can lay them low if we move now."

Sienna's words sound half growled, "You should beg forgiveness and nothing else! The assault you led on Beacon was not the great victory you clearly think it was."

"The attack was a success-"

"Success!? Hundreds of your soldiers buried beneath Beacon Academy or the tunnels of Vale is success? Thousands of Faunus left dead by Grim you allowed into the city and the survivors now harassed and hounded by vengeful humans? You call this success!?"

Adam grimaced, "That just means we need to remind them to fear us, destroying Haven-"

"Will lead to the death of every Faunus in the city, let alone the rest of the population," Sienna tilted her head, "Are you that eager to stand astride a mountain of children's corpses Adam?"

The bull Faunus swallowed, clearly off balance, "High Leader, I am merely following your example."

"My example?" Sienna chuckled, pushing herself off her throne, "Under my leadership, those who refuse to serve Faunus have their livelihoods destroyed. Under my leadership Faunus are rescued from traffickers and slavers, and those who profit off our people have their wealth taken while those who kill us lie dead."

She strode to the front of the Dais, "Under my leadership we were building a shadow nation of interconnected and independent settlements across Southern Anima and the islands. Under my leadership, we were sponsoring and protecting Faunus businesses in the kingdoms and through them receiving funding. Under my leadership we were building a Shadow CCT Network that would grant our people independence from the four Kingdoms. A great, interconnected web that would bring Faunus prosperity and one your actions have strained beyond measure!"

"And for what?" Sienna asked more quietly, "For the Grimm, for blood, for humans who make grand promises but drift in and out life so much a breeze? What do you think you have accomplished here Adam?"

There was a moment of lingering silence as Adam tried to rally, "I believe I showed our strength, and that if we do so again, we can force the humans, all humans to heed our message, rather than just a few at a time." He hid a smirk, "And if I might High Leader, I can introduce our new allies now, if you wish."

The grand double doors flew open and Summer choked back a gasp, "Hazel Reinhart!" She whisper-hissed and Sienna's ears twitched.

"You brought an outsider into Fort Castle? Does your recklessness no know bounds Adam?"

"You should hear what he has to say, High Leader," Adam announced, rising to his feet.

Hazel dropped to one knee and spoke in deep, rumbling tones, "I greet you, High Leader Khan and apologize on behalf of my master that we have not met sooner. I know you've little reason to trust me, you don't even know me-"

"I know you, Hazel Reinhart," Sienna said, stilling the man's voice and even knocking away Adam's growing smile. "I also know you have not a master, but a mistress, Salem."

That sent the man's head shooting up, eyes wide, while Adam looked confounded, drawing a mocking smile from Sienna, "Did he not even tell you that much Adam? How lowly they must see you."

Hazel rallied faster than Adam whose teeth gnashed together violently.

"You're well informed, High Leader, that is why we have come to you. For your skills and resources, when joined with our own, could ensure victory for both our factions. I don't know how you know my mistresses name but I can assure that you and Salem share a vision for a new, better world."

Sienna's head lolled to the side, "One that necessitates more massacres like Beacon I take it?"

Hazel grimaced, "A necessary sacrifice, the corrupt and ruinous systems must be wiped clean, so we can build something better. A world where no one need fear the Grimm, or prejudice, a world where children won't be forced to fight in wars, and I swear, you will have a seat at the table."

At Hazel's words Sienna offered only a snort of contempt, "A fanatic through and through," her cape rippled as she rose to her feet. "Seeking utopia in the corpses of children, believing that there is such a thing as a perfect revolution, an after the war where all live in a land of milk and honey when all reality will offer you is more of this."

Adam's grinding tones rose over whatever Hazel might have said, "You're wrong High Leader, I can promise you that." He started marching up the steps, a gleaming smile on his face. "There is a time after the war, there is a perfect revolution, but it won't be by making humans see us as equals, it will be by making ourselves their masters."

Sienna merely arched her eye brow, sending a significant look towards Hazel before shaking her head, "You merely seek to become the one who rules an unjust world, rather than fix it, shameful Adam, and stupid, if you think your human masters will go along with it." She turned away from him, shaking her head, "You're children, the both of you. Get out of my sight and I may be merciful."

Adam's sword was drawn in a flash, some of the guards looked to be yelling, others moving in on Sienna.

Summer fired, the shot ringing out like a bomb in the echoing hall.

Adam screeched to a halt and barely blocked the gravity bullet, but that was more than enough for Sienna pivot and drive her foot into his gut; a choked of scream turned to a gasped splutter as Adam was launched overhead and through the entryway walls.

The Crimson-Guards fell into chaos almost immediately.

To Sienna's left Jade and Niran turned on each other, both snarling "Traitor" as they clashed, while Ube took a swing at Sienna only to be grabbed from behind by Mary, letting Sienna snatch the rams spear.

The move came just in time as White Fang soldiers spilled out from behind the pillars, guns trained on Sienna who shouted, "Behind me!"

Summer obeyed and instantly went for the backstabbing guards, nocking aside the owl and pistol whipping the struggling ram as Sienna began spinning the blood red spear. Conjuring up a massive circle of glowing red energy that melted the spray of bullets hurtling towards them.

Then the chamber doors to their right burst open, "Reinforce the High Leader!" The gunners crowed, forcing their attackers and even Hazel into retreat with a wave of bullets. One gutsy soldiers even loosed a rocket at Hazel, but the man merely held out his hand and captured the missile, the explosion rocked the room but seemingly did him no harm.

Alarms began ringing out across the base, "Adam Taurus has commenced a coup in the name of his human masters, all forces loyal to the Fang, your heed Commander Crim!"

As the Red Guard she'd been wailing on fell limp to the ground, Summer heard a guttural voice roaring, "No!" Before Adam tore through the chamber doors, some half a dozen soldiers at his back, "Kill them all! They want to steal our glorious future!"

"Summer," Sienna snapped, "Handle him."

"With pleasure!" Using Shadow she launched herself into the air and saw Adam's gaze train on her, so much so he missed the chance to block a shot from Watts's revolver.

Sienna loosed the glowing red spear at Hazel as she soared over his head, forcing the man to deflecting the super heated blade and block the ensuing wave of fire it released on breaking.

'Hazel was meant to be tough as hell, but we can overwhelm him, I just need to finish off Adam quickly!'

The other soldiers were already engaging in pitched fight fights, blades and bullets flying through the air as the chamber descended into chaos.

Landing she ducked around a shot from Adam's hilt and returned fire with her revolver, aiming for Adam's hands and forcing him to contort his arms to actually block it. A second shot from her pistol, and another from her revolver, Adam blocked the first, not the second, teeth gnashing.

Shadow jumping over Adam's slice, Summer gasped as she saw it was a feint and he pivoted with familiar ease. A tug on her soul sent her shooting back around a wave of gun fire, but his slash had torn away her hood, revealing her ears, her hair and her eyes.

There was a moment of horrified confusion on Adam's face before he charged her, body engulfed in tippling red and black energy as he howled, "Who are you!?"

'He knows how to fight Shadow, of course he fucking does!' She managed to weave around the first swing shadow step around the second but he was on her too fast, another bullet crashing against her shoulder and he forced her the wall.

Pistols crossing over each other she blocked his downward swing, the force of it cratering the floor beneath her, but the moment of stillness, of contact was enough as she tasted his toxic Aura and drank deep his Semblance.

'Round two.'
_____________

Grudge.

It was not a noble Semblance, it was not an honorable Semblance, one couldn't even call it a terribly good Semblance. It relied on Sienna leaping upon a weakened opponent, or managing to land the first blow and them maintain that momentum to build up her strength and with it, her rage.

Teeth gnashing she barely avoided a blow laced with lightning, Cerberus's whip coiling around the pillar as she spun around it, building up speed and launching herself back at the man.

It was a sordid, angry, ugly little thing that harkened to a different time and place, one terrible and hopeless, the likes of which she never hoped to see again. And yet, she needed it, it was why she threw the spear, why she had taken up a second along with Cerberus's Whip and torn through her Dust daggers so hastily.

Sienna contorted around a bold of fire and drew back her spear, Aura bristling as she struck, Hazel meeting her blow with a kick, ice and lightning crackled and screamed as they were forced apart.

Because Summer had been right, Salem's soldier were strong, and even with Grudge it was all Sienna could do to keep pace with the hulking giant; but if she let up and lost the momentum, she'd be in even more dire straits.

Launching herself ward, Sienna's spear defused a bolt of lightning as coiled Cerberus's whip around her arm. Hazel pivoted, sending spikes of ice out from the ground, making her leap at the last second. His blazing fists swung out and she blocked with her chain bedecked arm, the heat and force like hot irons buried in her skin.

But pain was an old foe, and it did not stop her from rolling with the strike and loosing a blast of Lightning right into the warrior face, the flash sending him reeling back with a deep shout as she went skidding along the floor.

'Momentum, take it, kill him!'

But her arm spasmed and she bit bark a snarl as she slammed her back to the wall and forced her shoulder back into place with a sickening crack.

Hazel was already charging her, fingers flexing, Sienna dug in her heels and readied to kick off the wall when a Crimson Guard leapt into Hazel's path, spear raised high he didn't even land a blow. Hazel's had encircling his face and with a burst of lightning and raw strength shattered his aura and splattered the foxes brain matter across his hands.

Sienna didn't let his sacrifice go to waste.

Already in motion, her chain lashed out and into Hazel's blind spot, she loosed the spear and that is what he saw, deflecting it with his fist and failing to see the chain coil around his ankle until it tightened. With one leap, she dragged him off his feet and into the air, fire and lighting flaring, ice encircling the Cerberus.

But Sienna was in motion and so with an echoing roar that tore its way from her throat she dragged the human through the stone ceiling, rubble and mortar falling like so much rain, before slamming him through a pillar and into one of the mighty statues, the stone and steel breaking and shattering from the explosive force.

Another tug and her whip returned, Hazel tearing his way out of the rubble and coming right at her again, heavy foot falls echoing even as she used her foot to flick a red spear into her free hand.

'If this keeps up I'll have no choice but to use my last resort, it would be fitting, should it not kill me.'

She weaved around the first blow and matched his fire with her own as he snarled.

"Is that how you treat the lives of your subordinates?"

"To do anything less would be an insult!"

He sent her reeling with a fierce deflection, but she weaved around his follow up blow and kicked off from his chest as he howled.

"No one needed to die today!"

"Says his killer, at least take responsibility for yourself!"

With that they charged again, deaf to the dwindling battle around them.
________________________________________________________________

Summer's heart was racing, blood surging, lungs practically bursting as a well of energy surged inside her with every blow of blade against gun barrel. Lightning fast their blows came, steel clashing against steel, each slash blocked and turned back, each pistol whip counters and blocked. With each blow Adam's weapon began to glow, with each blow, Summer's soul surged.

Another clash, both straining to push the other back as their feet dragged along the dusty and blood stained stone.

"I don't know why you bothered faking her Semblance." Another rifle shot rang out and Summer weaved out of range and unleashed a humble pistol shot to stall Adam's advance as she braced.

"I don't know why you wore the fact of that bitch!" He snarled.

A screech escaped her and Summer threw herself at Adam, a resounding clang rang out, followed by a hum as Aura's swirled around them, the force of her blow staggering Adam for a moment, but he was smirking.

"But it doesn't matter now," Her gaze followed his instinctively and she felt her stomach fall out from under her.

Sienna Khan was in Hazel's grip, lightning and fire danced around his framed as he tried to crush the Faunus woman, her fangs flashed and muscles swelled as she fought for her life.

Adam's body was bristling with energy again and he backhanded Summer, sending her staggering to the side as he followed it up with a body blow from his hilt and drove his foot into her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs.

"No one can stop me, not you, not Blake or Sienna, not even Cinder can stand in the way of my ascent!" His sword grew a blinding red and in one slash he made to end it.

Unfortunately for Adam, Summer knew to dodge left as he swung from the right, pushing through the pain of her screaming core, she dropped below the crimson slash, only loosing some golden strands as his beam instead cut through the entryway.

He didn't have time to think, to readjust and guard, not before Summer levelled her pistol at him, the shot aimed squarely between his guard, the gun surged with light and no one could hear hear seethe, "Shut up," as she pulled the trigger and released an explosion.
_________________________________________________

Hazel's gaze snapped to the right as he saw a burning beam of light smash against Adam's chest and send him careening across the chamber, crashing through the walls in a spay of light and rubble. In doing so, he'd taken his gaze off Sienna, for just a moment.

That was his second mistake of the day.

He could feel a sudden wave of something building, familiar and foreign, Hazel bit back a gasp as Sienna's body swelled and his grip was loosened by the sudden wave of mass and he realized, eyes widening...

'Her tattoos are glowing.'

Sienna's roar shook the chamber, an explosion of force ripped its way from her skin, the very air around her became light, weapons and soldiers, dead and alive were lifted into the air. But the main blast wave crashed against Hazel's like a tidal wave and launched him backwards and through the walls.

'This is over,' he surmised, some sense of exhaustion finally starting to settle in as he forced air into his lungs and reached for a gift from Salem hidden on his person.
_________________________________________________
Summer shot to Sienna's side, gun still trained on where Hazel had landed in the rubble as the older Faunus panted and shook on the ground, tattoos still shimmering with black light as her muscles shrank to their normal size and she stilled.

"H- How-"

"He's not the only one with Dust in his veins," She answered, forcing herself to stand and snatching up her whip, their attention turned wholly on the enemy.

Hazel held up a black, white and red... 'Oh no,' Summer screamed as she started firing frantically, Sienna was already charging, but as a sharp, keening cry rang out from Hazel's hand, it was already too late.

"What was that!?" Sienna snarled.

"An emergency signal!" Summer cursed, "We'll be crawling with Grimm any minute!"

The lights began to flicker as the Technicus spoke through the intercom, "Grade 3 Grimm incursion imminent, we need people on the walls!"

Summer hissed as she watched Hazel leap through the hole in the wall she'd made with her shot, "I'm going after them."

Sienna was only a step behind her, shouting at one of the surviving guards, "Call medical and hold fast!" Her clawed fingers went to the ear piece as they jumped through the wound in the wall. Following Hazel's trail of destruction as he ripped through walls and doors, trying to collapse the paths in on them as he fled, a limp Adam slung over his shoulder.

Sienna was was half shouting orders as they went, be they to Crim or anyone else on the radio, defensive lines, barricades, munition dumps and more, her final words ringing clear as day.

"Fort Castle cannot fall."
_______________________
In the end, Fort Castle didn't fall, but that didn't help Summer's mood much.

Bone tired and beyond frustrated she sat in on the status update meeting or whatever the hell this was called, in a dimly lit war room as a green haired Faunus with massive wings read off a Scroll.

"Thanks to the Grimm incursion a large portion of Adam's followers were able to slip away. We currently have killed one hundred and thirty seven and captured eighty four. If our current estimated of his new recruits and potential loyalist are accurate from camps going dark and the comprising of the Albain's then his army numbers some seven hundred. Though a good third of that is barely trained and our numbers are well over four times that."

Something rumbled in Sienna's throat, "Maize and the Scouts are pursuing Adam's escape vessels and the other stolen crafts. After their raid on Lia Monte though we cannot take any chances, I have ordered all reserve forces activated and the towns alerted, however, there's a jam in communications to Kuo Kuana. Meaning its likely where Adam will go next, if not back to is human masters."

"That assumes he lives," The wheezing Technisus intoned.

"If his army hasn't divided up yet, then they either still serve Adam, or truly serve the Albain's, I doubt the human could command them all so easily," Sienna mused, tapping her chin. "Even if Adam is dead, the human escaped, they know of Fort Castle; as much as it pains me to say it, we cannot stay here until the matter is resolved."

Several gasps echoed across the hall.

"I do not care for it," Sienna groused, "But we cannot simply wait for them to send Grimm and Mistrali forces after us to wear us down." Rising to her feet she spoke grandly, "Once the Mystics have completed the last rites we shall begin collecting everything, storing it safely and disperse to secondary locations."

She looked around grimly, "I want the Shadow CCT Network and the settlements reinforced to their capacity and everyone else will relocate to wilderness camps or take refuge with our allies in the cities. I meanwhile will take the flagship and head Adam off at Kuo Kuana, if that is indeed where he is going, and if not... Well then I shall deal with the Albain's and ensure we need not clean up around our feet before dispensing with Adam's human masters and getting things back on track."

She raised her arms high, "My fellows, you have fought bravely for what you know is right. You have chosen the security of our people and a righteous cause in place of selfish promises and bloody destruction. Keep your heads high, for though we have been tested, we have passed through the eye of the storm and now stand ready to take control of our destinies and secure our people's future!"

She closed her fists, "For the White Fang, for the Faunus, for justice!"

The roaring assent of the crowd was almost deafening, Summer couldn't complain though, she was part of it.
__________________________________________________________
Summer trailer after Sienna as the woman marched to and fro across the base, always busy, always working.

"Sienna- High Leader, about my family."

The woman turned to face her, almost so fast that Summer nearly plowed right into her.

"I have people looking into things, the closest we have found so far though is whispers of strange lights above a long ruined village in the far North. A scout investigated and found signs of battle but no blood or bodies, so whatever passed there was evidently manageable. Other than that, nothing, but it has only been two days, give us time."

Summer bit her cheek but nodded, "And about the others, team RWBY and JNPR?"

Sienna's head lolled to the side a moment, ears twitching, "I have alerted some of our agents in Mistral of who to look for, when they arrive, we shall know, Until then," She clapped a hand on Summer's shoulder, "Can I rely on your support in Kio Kuana?"

Summer swallowed, cheeks warming a little and she brushed some hair behind her ear, ears bobbing up and down, "Well, sure, for now I mean, just until we find the others and can start taking down Salem and her cronies."

Sienna smirked, "And when you do, you shall have my support, the White Fang looks after its own."

"Thank you ma'am, when do we leave?"

"In half an hour, I know you have little to pack, but kindly help load the flagship, every set of hands helps."

"I'll get to it, see you there, High Leader."

With that, Summer raced off, filled to the brim with energy and purpose in a way she hadn't been in so long; but one thing still niggled at the back of her mind, something Adam had said amid his ranting.

'Who the hell is Cinder?'
__________________________________________________________

Sienna marched into her cabin, intent on getting either some sleep or some work done, whichever came first. Instead she found Summer laying sprawled out in her hammock.

"... What... Are you doing here?" She asked slowly as the door clicked shut behind her.

Summer flopped over, "Well you let me sleep in your room before so...."

Sienna just shook her head, "Have at it then, I have duties to attend to," she bit back a groan as she dropped down at her desk.

Summer just stared at her, "Can't sleep anyway."

"Well get some, you're sixteen you need it."

"You sound like my parents."

Sienna scoffed, "That's a thought, Blake as a mother, seems like just yesterday she was dancing around Kali and Ghira's heels."

Summer perked up, "Did you know my mom?"

"Not well," She shrugged, "I kept my distance to avoid favoring her due to my relationship with her parents. That was a mistake in hindsight," She muttered, hand over her eyes, head rolling back, "That gave Adam his in."

"Yeah he's a real piece of shit, I hope he's dead," Summer said.

Maybe if Sienna hadn't spent so many of her early years in a slave mine and then fighting a war she'd find that sentiment disturbing from one so young, instead it was just another fact of life.

"We shall see what the morning brings." She looked at her desk, then back to Summer, "You said Kali, my Kali, was still alive when you're from."

"Yeah, grandma's great and Kuo Kuana is one of the few places Salem never really bothers."

"Hah, that's something at least."

"How do you know my grandparents, no one ever really talks about you."

"I suppose they wouldn't, I'd be decades in the ground before you were ready for such talks." Sienna clapped her knee, "All right then, let me tell you of how I met Kali & Ghira," she sent Summer a wane smirk, "Let me tell you about the Faunus Rights Revolution."

Summer looked on with bated breath

Chapter Text

After a day and a half of resting and preparing, the night they'd been waiting for and dreading had finally arrived, the Battle for Haven was about to begin. All that was left now were some last minute preparations.

Despite now being a kind of command center for the battle ahead, the living room had barely changed. A few maps of Haven Academy and the city of Mistral itself, one of which was a tourist map, lay scattered about the coffee table along with a set of binoculars Qrow had provided. The chairs all pushed to the sides of the room.

The thing that truly changed the room were the people inside it, eleven people, almost all of them huntresses and huntsmen, all of them armed, and almost all of them focused on Blake Belladonna-Xiao Long.

Blake was familiar with being the one in charge, she often took charge when Ruby was gone or indisposed for one reason or another. And after her death, it was mostly Blake and her wife coming up with the plans, but this was much different.

Ruby was here, as were other time veterans of this long war, and they were all looking to her as a leader.

It felt wrong, Ruby was the leader of the group, she had faults, her missteps and there was only so much pressure one could place on her before very bad things started to happen, but she was still a leader, their leader.

'But right now she's barely more than a child,' Blake reminded herself. The Ruby she knew would have known how to handle tonight far better than her, but she wasn't here, and this Ruby had a ways to go still. So it fell upon Blake to do this.

"This isn't going to be easy for any of us," Blake began as she stared at the group, "this is going to be a personal fight for many here, one way or another. I know emotions are high, but we need to remember that our number one priority here is keeping ourselves and the Faunus militia alive."

"I fully believe we can get the relic and save the people we care about from their own self-destruction," she explained, "but neither goal is worth any of our lives or the lives of the Faunus militia, remember that."

As much as Blake wanted her daughter back, she couldn't bear the thought of losing anymore friends because of her.

Weiss looked downcast as Summer's face twisted with uncertainty.

"Now as for the mission itself," Blake adopted a more professional tone as she pressed on, "With Salem's known assets, we have to assume she is fully aware that the Faunus militia were key to defeating the White Fang at Haven. So Adam and his the White Fang will likely be at the airstrip waiting for their arrival."

Yang's hand trembled slightly at the mention of Adam Taraus.

"Just Adam?" Qrow questioned, "Or is Salem going to divert some of her forces to help out the White Fang?"

Blake shook her head.

"Highly unlikely," she replied "between Adam's pride and Salem's determination to get the relics, odds are that the incoming forces will be considered a White Fang matter and left to them. Which is why I'm dividing us into three groups. Yang and I will scout out the airfield and deal with Adam."

It wasn't arrogance to say Blake could handle Adam by herself. He was still dangerous yes, but she knew his moves and weaknesses better than anyone. With luck she'd be able to make him stand down or beat him into submission, if he didn't yield, history would simply have to repeat itself.

"If for any reason we need back up, Raven or Summer will be able to open a portal to Yang," Blake explained.

Summer copying Raven's power was good insurance in case something happened to the latter, or she betrayed them.

"Qrow, Raven, and Summer will head directly towards the great hall of Haven Academy," she went on, "Watts almost certainly has his programs inside the Haven police computer network, so as soon they know you're there, Kali and the others will too."

Blake paused for a brief moment, the idea that she was planning against her daughter hit her stronger than she expected. Thankfully no one noticed her moment of trepidation, or if they did they didn't react.

"Which is where the rest of you come in, Ruby and the others will be waiting here, in ambush" Blake pointed to a spot on the map not to far from the hall, near the Academy's forge, "Ruby's semblance will allow the six of you to quickly close the gap between the two groups, ideally blocking everyone but Kali from the hall."

Ruby conked her head to the side, her face twisting with uncertainty.

"Blake, I don't think this is gonna work," she said, "I can cover that distance easily but I've never had more than one person with me while using my semblance, how would I hold five people?"

Blake stared at her team leader for a moment, her eyes wide in confusion, before realization dawned on her.

"Oh that's right, you don't know yet," Blake replied, lightly slapping her forehead, "I forget the exact scientific explanation for how it works but basically, mass doesn't matter with your semblance. I know from rather nauseating experience you can handle five people easily."

"Nauseating?" Weiss questioned.

"Aunt Ruby's semblance can be rather dizzying if you have four ears." Summer explained.

"Anyways," Blake said, getting things back on track, "with Mercury and Tyrian likely still recovering, it should only be Emerald, Winter, and Hazel accompanying Kali. The rest of you should be able to handle the other two while Weiss confronts Winter."

Weiss's expression grew tense and uncertain.

"Be warned though," Ozpin said cautiously through Oscar, "Hazel is a very strong and very dangerous adversary, even outnumbered, dealing with him will not be easy for any of us."

Blake nodded in agreement. Hazel was like a living mech, defeating him the first time around had taken the entire team. Thankfully he wasn't quite as strong now as he would become.

"Try to be careful with Emerald if you can," Summer added, her ears lowering as she stared at the floor, "I need to talk to her before this is done."

"Qrow, Raven," Blake said flatly, the two Branwen siblings looking at her intently, "I need you to keep out of sight when Kali arrives, she needs to believe she's alone with her sister. If Kali sees you two, odds are a fight will break out before Summer even gets a chance to talk to her."

"Right," Raven replied, "because it's my fault things went to hell back at my camp."

Blake ignored the barb.

"Alright, is everyone clear on what they need to do?" she asked.

A collection of "Yes" "Yeps" and "Yeahs" filled the air.

Yang had a reassuring smile on face. Ruby, Ren and Nora looked confident, even downright eager to begin. Weiss and Summer were both apprehensive, looking equal parts terrified and hopeful about what they had to do. Oscar had taken over again, looking ready, if nervous. Qrow was unreadable and Raven's smug smile contrasted sharply with her nervous pacing.

Then was Jaune, the rage burning within his eyes was clear as day.

They were asking him to save not only the person who killed the love of his life, but to save the woman who tricked Pyrrha into being a murderer.

Jaune was her friend and Blake was all but torturing him with this, she didn't have any other option though. She needed to save Kali. Weiss needed to save her sister. But that didn't mean she could ignore Jaune's feelings either.

Blake looked at the group one more time.

"Tonight won't be easy," her voice grew gentle and warm, "But I know everyone here, I know you are all capable of handling much worse than this. You are all so much stronger than you realize. If we're smart, safe and we work together, we should be able to pull this off, save everyone and get the relic at the same time."

"Now get ready, we leave in ten minutes." Blake finished.

The group began to disperse, walking away to gather their weapons or making last minute adjustments. Blake's eyes drifted towards Jaune.

"Jaune, could we speak for a moment," she asked as she motioned towards the kitchen, "privately?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow but agreed, the two making their way to the kitchen.

Jaune evidently couldn't keep his displeasure hidden as he muttered, "What do you want?"

Blake's ears lowered.

"I want to apologize for what I'm putting you through," she said sympathetically, "I know I'm asking a great deal of you right now, more than I should."

Jaune's expression stiffened, tears appearing in the corners of his blue eyes.

"I won't forgive her for what she's done," Jaune replied coldly.

"I would never expect you to," Blake replied, "I just want her safe, and out of this fight."

Her words left Jaune looking conflicted.

"You promise if this works, We'll never have to deal with her again, that she'll face justice for what she's done?" he asked.

"I'm taking her as far from this war as I can," Blake nodded.

Blake was sure Summer could convince her sister to at least stop, but even if Kali had a complete change of heart. Blake could never trust her daughter enough to put her on the frontlines again, not to mention Salem would make her a priority target if she knew where she was.

She wasn't sure what kind of justice she could get for Jaune, there wasn't a prison that could hold a determined maiden. But Kali did have to answer for her crimes, somehow.

There was a long pause as Jaune considered her words.

"I can live with that," Jaune said quietly, "Thanks."

Relief washed over Blake. She didn't want to go into battle worried over Jaune and what he might do.

"I have a question, though," he added.

"Sure, anything." Blake replied as her ears perked up.

"Tomorrow, after this is all over," Jaune's voice grew uneasy, "Could you tell me about what my life was like in your world, what Pyrrha's life was like?"

Blake's stomach tightened with dread.

"Jaune," she replied uneasily.

"I know I can't get any of that back, and I know it's gonna hurt," Jaune explained, "But I want to know what I missed out on. Please, I need this."

He deserved to know the truth, but it would hurt, it was going to hurt him far more than he realized. Even if she just kept it to the happy stuff, hearing that he and Pyrrha had a happy marriage filled with love and children was going to be like a knife to the stomach.

But she couldn't just keep to the happy stuff. How could she explain to him how his death left Pyrrha nearly broken, and drove his son into madness.

'How am I going to explain what happened to Saph?' Blake wondered with dread.

But she couldn't deny his request, not with all she was asking of him.

Reluctantly, Blake nodded. A small smile appeared on Jaune's face.

"It won't be an easy conversation, for either of us," Blake warned, "But yes, when this is over, I'll tell you of the life you had."
---

Winter Schnee paced uneasily as she, Adam, and Hazel waited for Cinder to arrive. The three were in a remote airfield, surrounded by Adam's White Fang and the corpses of the various employees of the airfield that were scattered about.

The airfield was surrounded by forests on two sides, and mountains on another. The other airstrips were quite a ways away as well, giving them near certain privacy.

The White Fang had forced one of the employees to redirect the last airship from the docks to this field, ensuring they would be able to deal with Ghira Belladonna and his Militia once they arrived on Adam's terms.

In theory at least, Winter couldn't help but have doubts about the plans. The forests made her nervous for some reason, like some predator was in the dark thicket, waiting to strike.

Not helping matters was the glares she was getting from the White Fang. Even in the moonlight and under masks, it was clear they knew a Schnee was in their presence and they hated it.

A snap of branches rang out through the forest, in a moment, everyone had their weapons trained on the sound.

"Relax, it's just me," Cinder said casually as she and Emerald stepped out of the forest.

Winter lowered her sword as she stared at Kali. Her red dress had one sleeve torn away, revealing a shriveled black arm, a twisted sign of Salem's favor.

"Where is everyone else?" Hazel questioned.

"My other disciple needed repairs and Arthur Watts is a coward and decided to sit this one out," Cinder explained.

An icy chill ran down Winter's spine as Hazel let out a grunt of annoyance.

"We should consider scrapping the operation immediately," Winter said with sudden urgency.

Everyone stopped and stared at Winter like she'd just suddenly turned into a Faunus and grew horns.

"Why would we do that?" Hazel grumbled.

"With Blake Xiao Long here, we've lost the element of surprise," Winter explained, "And with Mercury, Tyrian and Watts unavailable, the numbers do not favor us."

Adam let out a sharp, dismissive laugh.

"Are you really that scared of Blake?" He asked mockingly.

"Scared? No," Winter replied coldly, "But she's a highly skilled huntress and you're a fool for not taking her seriously."

Adam stared at her with murderous intent as Cinder approached, a gleeful look about as she stepped in front of Winter.

"You shouldn't be so anxious, Winter," she said, her voice oozing with fake kindness, "I know my dear mother frightens you so. But you needn't worry, once I've convinced Summer to see reason, my mother will see the error of her ways and switch sides. Who knows, maybe the Schnee brat will join us as well-"

"My sister isn't going to switch sides," Winter snapped, "And you're a fool for thinking your sister is willing to switch sides, she's too blinded by hate."

"Aunt Weiss is dead," Cinder said with surprising softness, "Don't make the mistake of thinking the white haired little brat is her. She's a pawn, but a pawn you might be able to use."

Winter raised an eyebrow in bafflement, Cinder's bizarre and contradictory words leaving her momentary speechless.

Suddenly, Kali grabbed Winter by the collar, pulling her close as her eye erupted in fire. Winter began to sweat from the heat radiating off of Cinder as her face twisted and rage.

"And don't you dare presume that you understand my family better than I do," Cinder growled, "You don't even know your own daughter."

Winter met Cinder's rage with a cold stare. She was about to let the rage of a child shake her, no matter how powerful the child in question.

Cinder shoved her back a moment later. Adam and some of the White Fang starred in amusement, but Hazel barely acknowledged the moment even happened.

"If we cancel now, the Relic of Knowledge is out of our grasp and security at the Academy will make it impossible to stage another attack for the foreseeable future," Hazel explained, "This happens tonight or it doesn't happen at all."

"Very well, I withdraw my concern," Winter said with a curt nod.

'There's no avoiding her then, is there?' Winter realized as her thoughts drifted towards Weiss.

They'd fought each other numerous times since Atlas began it's fight for survival, so many times it had almost become routine, agonizing and painful beyond measure, but routine. Nothing that was about to happen would be new for her.

'But it will be new for Weiss,' She realized

Winter grew stiff as she worked to bury the thought as fast as she could. Weiss was beyond saving, nothing could change that.

'I just need to get home,' Winter repeated to herself, 'I just need to get home.'

Hazel's scroll suddenly dinged, drawing Winter and Cinder's attention.

"An alarm's been triggered at the Academy," Hazel said urgently, "They're going after the Relic. We need to move, now!"

'And so it begins, again' Winter thought as the group dashed off.
---

With a final satisfying click, the side door to the Haven's Great Hall finally opened, revealing a vast, dark and empty room.

Summer smiled in satisfaction as returned her lockpicking tools to her inner jacket pocket.

"You know I could have just kicked open the door," Raven remarked, a hint of annoyance in her voice, "Would have been a lot quicker."

"We want to alert the police, not the janitorial staff," Summer replied.

"Are you sure they even know we're here?" Raven questioned.

"Place has silent alarms covering every door and window," Qrow grumbled, "They know."

The hall was dark, though between the moonlight trickling in through the front windows and the superior night vision that came with being a Faunus, Summer was able to find her way up the stairs and light switch. A brief hum filled the air as the lights turned on.

The hall's layout was familiar but the decorations were different. Arthur Watts, like most of the Altesian elite, had expensive tastes and the former academy had been decorated to his exacting standards.

One of Summer's many regrets from that day was that she didn't smash enough of his expensive trinkets.

This room was far simpler, green walls and few landscape paintings for the most part. The biggest decoration was at the base of the stairs, a marble statue of a woman with gold chains shackled to her wrists. The statue was apparently an elevator that led to the Relic of Knowledge.

Summer had a great many questions for that little lamp, she hoped she would get the chance to ask it at least one.

"So, do your parents know you go around picking pockets and locks?" Raven asked with a smirk.

Summer gave her a measured look as she made her way down the stairs.

"Of course," Summer replied, "skills like that have kept me alive on a number of missions."

"Interesting," Raven said, "your mother seems a bit too high strung to tolerate something like that."

"She's not high strung, she just doesn't like you," Summer replied with amusement.

Of course her parents didn't approve of most of what Emerald taught her, but Summer wasn't going to say that.

She had always found their disapproval absurd, one had to have limits for how they fought against Salem of course, otherwise you'd just become another Frost. What Summer could never understand was why simple theft was an issue for her moms. The only people being hurt were those who deserved it after all.

"So I'm curious, what's your stake in all of this? " Raven said as she studied Summer, "I mean besides saving your sister of course. Are you just fighting because it's what your parents tell you to do or is there something more?"

Qrow's attention shifted towards Raven, his face growing tense at her words.

"Well for starters, as much as I am dreading the thought of going to Atlas, there's a dog in that city who's given me a number of scars and I would really like to pay him back," Summer replied, her expression turning downcast at the thought, "Why do you ask?"

"Ideal curiosity," Raven shrugged, "It takes a lot of courage to try and knowingly pick a fight with a maiden, I would hate to see such a thing go to waste."

Summer raised an eyebrow, her ears twitching slightly.

"You do realize you tried to stab me as a baby, right?" Summer said, incredulous that Raven would even try and make such an offer.

"That wasn't me, well this me at least," Raven clarified as she shook her head, "This time travel crap is giving me a headache."

"Right," Summer said skeptically. "Look, I'm not interested in playing bandit. Whatever happens tonight, Salem's coming for all of us sooner or later, personally I'd rather face her head on."

Raven shrugged off her comment before transforming into her namesake and taking a spot on a beam along the ceiling.

Summer's attention turned towards the door. In a matter of minutes, Kali was going to be coming through them. The monster who killed Pyrrha, her lost sister.

Summer tugged at her red scarf anxiously

How would she even begin talking to her after all she did and suffered? Should she hug her? Punch her? Both?

"Are you okay kid?" Qrow asked, concern etched on his face.

"How do I talk to her after all this time?" Summer stammered, "What should I even say?"

Qrow sighed wearily.

"Kid, I'm gonna be honest with you, I have no idea if this can even work," Qrow admitted wearily, "If you want my advice, just be straightforward and speak from the heart. If it doesn't work, well that's why we're here."

"But what if I screw up?" Summer asked nervously, her ears dropping, "What if I say the wrong thing I ruin any chance of getting my sister back?"

Her mother had come close and one moment had ruined everything. Summer knew Kali far better than her moms did, but what if she slipped up as well?

Qrow attempted to give her a smile but the expression was almost lost beneath his bitterness and doubt.

"You and your sister were close right, as close as your mom and aunt are?" he asked

Summer nodded.

"Then if there's anything left of your sister beneath all the garbage Salem has created, she won't let one slip up ruin things." Qrow assured her.

'And if there's nothing left, I never had a chance to begin with,' Summer mentally finished.

"Thanks," she replied as Qrow transformed and took up his own hiding spot as well.

Summer sighed and leaned against the marble statue, waiting for Kali to arrive, waiting to see what had become of her sister.
---

Yang and Blake watched from the trees as Cinder and the others vanished, leaving Adam and the White Fang alone.

Adam was directing various masked figures into hiding positions as the prepared for an ambush.

Yang could feel her fist tightly clinched at her side as she stared at Adam through the binoculars, her stomach growing nauseous with dread.

Adam Taurus, the man who maimed her, who made her feel weak, useless and nearly ended her career as a huntress. The man who drove Blake away from her. Right now she wanted nothing more than to beat him until his face was nothing but bruises and then feed him his own horn.

Yang almost gasped in surprise as she felt a warm hand gently touch her arm, she turned to see Blake staring at her, the concern on her face obvious even in the darkness.

"I'm okay," Yang whispered before correcting herself, "I'll be okay."

Yang couldn't deny being near Adam was stirring up a lot of old thoughts within her. As was the thought of the other Blake being near as well. What would they say to each other? Had Yang even forgiven Blake yet?

It was a strange thought, made even stranger by Yang's uncertainty. She had long let go of any resentment and frustration she felt towards the Blake sitting besides her, but her teammate was a different story.

She understood Blake's reasons, but that didn't change the fact that Blake left them, left her, all for some misguided effort to protect them like they weren't strong enough to handle it.

Yang knew she was being unreasonable, maybe all she really needed was some closer with her teammate, maybe finally seeing her again would be enough.

Yang paused as she realized Blake was staring at one of the paths leading away from airstrip, where Cinder and the others had vanished.

"Are you okay?" Yang whispered.

Blake shook her head, "If I screwed up, both of my daughters are in terrible danger right now."

Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder.

"They'll be fine," Yang assured her, "Summer is pretty confident she can get through to her, and I believe in your plan."

Blake, either one of them, were among the smartest people Yang knew. Blake was a capable leader on her own as well. No plan was perfect but Yang had confidence this one had a great chance of success.

Yang flashed Blake a smile, causing Blake's cheeks to turn red slightly as a small smile appeared on her face.

A light suddenly appeared out of the mountains, a distant spotlight, searching for the landing area. The airship was here. Things were about to begin.

Yang and Blake watched as the White Fang nervously waited for the Mistral airship to land. It's wings gently flapped as it slowly lowered to the ground.

The moment the airship touched down, a dozen White Fang burst from their hiding spots, guns trained on the airship.

Adam leapt towards the airship and threw the side door open.

"It's empty!" He shouted in dismay. Followed shortly by a wave of confused muttering from his goons.

"Well, good to see my letter worked," Blake said with a smirk as she stood up on the branch.

"Adam!" a different Blake's voice called.

Yang froze as she saw a younger Blake, her Blake, emerge from the woods, sword drawn.

Yang's chest tightened as her breath caught in her throat, heart hammering in her chest. She was finally here, her teammate and best friend was finally back.

"Blake?" Adam said in surprise before quickly bursting into ugly laughter, "And to think I put all that effort into an ambush when you're just delivering yourself right to me?"

Every odious word out of Adam's mouth made Yang sick.

The younger Blake ignored Adam's comment and turned her attention to the rest of the White Fang.

"Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang, Stand down!" the younger Blake said in a loud projecting tone, "This isn't what's right for the Faunus, you know that."

The older Blake's ears pulled back tightly as she drew her weapons.

"The only thing we know is that Haven Academy will be a pile of rubble, and your traitors will be nothing but history," Adam declared, "Speaking of which, where is your father and the rest of the cowards?"

Blake and Yang leapt from the trees, Yang land with one knee in the dirt. Cries of confusion erupted from the White Fang, Yang looked up to see Adam staring at the older Blake in clear surprise, behind him, Balke's younger self with an equally shocked expression.

"Adam!" The older Blake shouted, her voice fiery and full of anger, "This ends now!"
---

"Move faster!" Cinder barked towards the others as they urgently made their way towards Haven.

They were at the edge of Haven Academy, in a matter of a moments they'd be in the hall. With any luck the Relic would still be there, and with it Raven Branwen and the prize Cinder had been after since Beacon, the power of the Spring Maiden.

Part of Kali really wished she took that motorcycle right now.

'Will mom be there?' she wondered, 'Will Summer?'

Her assumption had been that fool Ruby would put all her effort into saving her little friend and the Faunus Militia, leaving Haven itself completely vulnerable. Once Haven was in flames, she would be able to pick off Raven as she saw fit and then track down Summer and their mother.

Did Raven decide to get the relic on her own? That would make things a lot easier.

Cinder glanced behind her, the others were still trailing behind.

A storm of petals darted out from one of the buildings, dashing across the night sky with great speed. The blur landed between Cinder and the others.

Out of the mass of flower debris emerged Ruby Rose, alongside the Schnee girl and what was left of JNPR.

Ruby was panting heavily, but there was a look of steely determination in those accursed silver eyes of hers.

Rage flared within Cinder in an instant. Ruby had ruined her victory at Beacon, leaving her crippled and maimed for months. And it was Ruby's accursed idealism that drove her mother away back at the Branwen camp, along with putting so many of their friends and family into the ground.

Kali could see Winter stiffen at the sight of the child wearing her sister's face.

Every part of Cinder wanted nothing more than to reduce that accursed girl to an ash stain on the walkway, but something stayed her hand.

There was no sign of Kali's mother in the group, or Raven.

'This is a distraction,' Cinder realized.

"Winter Schnee, Face us!" Ruby declared boldly, her eyes glued on the Special Operative

In any other moment, she would have rushed towards that girl, sword at the ready. But if she did. But she did, she might lose out on the Relic, or the Maiden.

"Heh, nice try," Cinder sneered, "Emerald, you and the others deal with these fools while I secure the relic."

Emerald nodded as Cinder ran towards the Hall.

She didn't stopped as she approached the large main doors to the building. Instead fire flared in Cinder's eyes as she ran towards the massive doors and kicked them wide open, the heavy wood slamming against the walls with a resounding crash.

Cinder marched proudly into the building, prepared to finally wipe away the embarrassment that was Raven Brawnen and at last claim that the power that so rightfully belonged to her.

Then she froze, a small gasp of surprise escaping her lips as it felt like the wind had just been punched out of her lungs.

There was no sign of Raven, instead standing in the middle of the room, was a blonde teenage girl, a blonde girl with two cat ears atop her head, and a red scarf around her neck.

The same scarf Kali had given her sister right before they were separated.

Kali stumbled back in shock at the sight of her sister. She looked the same, exactly the same! All these years and Summer was seemingly completely unchanged.

Kali froze, her mind awash with a thousand thoughts as she tried to figure out what to do, if she should run up and tackle her to the ground or hold back and wait to see how Summer reacted.

Would she accept her? Or would her arm make her scream like it had with their mother?

'Is she smiling?' Kali thought as she stared at her sister.

Yes, she was. Much to Kali's shock, there was no sign of hate or fear on her sister's face, only a wonderfully bright smile.

"Hey sis," Summer greeted warmly, "how's it going?'

Chapter Text

Part 4

Blake couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing there, just past Adam, was another version of her. Her black hair was shorter, there were lines on her face that Blake lacked, and the woman was wearing a white and purple outfit Blake had never seen before, but the resemblance was unmistakable. This woman was her.

The letter was real.

While they'd taken the letter seriously and prepared accordingly, part of Blake had refused to accept it was true. Maybe it was a ruse or someone trying to pass along legit intelligence under a cover of seeming madness, but the letter couldn't actually be real, even fairy tales were more grounded then what it was saying.

But no, it was real. And the proof was staring directly at her, standing next to Yang.

Blake's eyes went wide as she met the gaze of her partner and friend. It had been months since she'd last seen her, until recently she wasn't even sure if she would ever see Yang or the rest of her team again.

Blake's knees began to shake, her chest aching from how fast her heart was beating. She was excited, she was overjoyed, and she was terrified. After everything she had been through back in Menagerie she wanted nothing more than to rejoin her team and fight by Yang's side again, but she had abandoned Yang and the others like a coward, would they accept her back, would Yang?

"Well, it turns out the rumors are actually true," Adam's mocking tone snapped Blake out of her thoughts, "I thought they were mad but no, there are two of you. Did you miss me, Blake?"

The older Blake raised her sword, the black metal laced with a spider web of gold, and pointed it at Adam's head.

"You're dead in my time," the other Blake said, her voice cold and detached, "Dead and forgotten, your legacy nothing but ash. If you want to change that, Adam, stand down, now."

Adam's smug expression vanished in an instant, his hand gripping his sword tightly.

"You should listen to her advice," Ghira Belladonna declared in a booming voice.

The White Fang quickly found themselves confronted by a sea of horns, fangs and claws as dozens of volunteers from Kuo Kuana stepped out of the forest. Among them were parents, and her friends Sun Wukong and Ilia Anatolia.

Most of the Volunteers carried spears and shields. The shields all painted with sigil of her father's original White Fang, only in gold instead of white. A return to less violent ways, but with new hope for a better tomorrow.

Those following Adam stiffened at the sight of the Militia, but to Blake's disappointment, they did not falter.

Mutterings of confusion began to spread among the Militia as they realized what they were looking at.

"It's that another Blake?" Sun wondered in open confusion.

"Remember brothers, these people are aiding the Mistral council, they're traitors!" Adam shouted.

"And what does that make you?" Blake's older self asked pointedly, "You're the one working with a member of the Atlas military after all. How does working for one of General Ironwood's goons help the Faunus cause?"

Some of the White Fang lowered their weapons at that, looking at Adam with concern.

"Why was that woman here, Adam?" A woman with two large black bunny ears asked, "Are we working with her?"

"She looked like a Schnee!" a large man with a fox tail noted, disdain in his voice.

Blake was confused, she knew Adam had allies here but what was this about him working with a Schnee, that was impossible.

"Brother and sisters of the White Fang and Kuo Kuana!" the older Blake's voice grew loud and energetic as look towards the crowd, "As unbelievable as it sounds, I know all too well the kind of future men like Adam Taurus will build. It is a world of misery and pain, where Atlas and others far worse than them have to boot on the throat of humanity and Faunus alike."

The White Fang looked at each other, their expressions turning sour and confused as even more mutterings of confusion emerged from the Militia.

"I have seen hundreds of our own kind back in chains by the very people Adam is now working with!" the other Blake's voice grew passionate and fierce, "We can build a better future for the Faunus, but not with men like Adam leading the way. To those in White Fang alongside him, I urge you, please, put down your weapons."

"If we do that, what's going to happen?" The bunny eared woman asked, "Are you going to turn us over to the police?"

"People have died tonight," Ghira intoned mournfully, gesturing to fallen forms of the airstrip employees. "But those people died at Adam's command. If you surrender, the only person who needs to face prison is Adam Taurus."

"Please brother, we don't want to fight you," one of the Militia urged.

A long silence filled the air, the tension threatening to explode at any moment. Then, suddenly a noise echoed through the night, at once barely audible and yet almost deafening. The sound of the foxtailed man dropping his gun to the concrete.

"What are you doing?!" Adam shouted, his voice shaking as he screamed.

"I don't sign up to fight alongside Atlas," the man with the fox tail explained angrily.

"Don't listen to her!" Adam exclaimed, his voice sounding increasingly unhinged, "She's a traitor, she abandoned our cause years ago!"

The other members of the White Fang waivered with uncertainty, at least two lowering their weapons

"She didn't abandon your cause," Yang said, staring at Adam defiantly as she clenched her fists tightly at her side, "She left because of what it had become thanks to you."

Blake's heart seized as she saw Adam's attention focus on Yang, the slight shake in her arm causing a twisted smile to appear on Adam's face as he began to shake with anger.

"I'm gonna take so much more than your arm this ti-" Adam never got to finish his sentence as the older Blake was upon him in a split second, her sword slashing at him before he could even react.

Adam stood there, stunned, as the two halves of his mask fell to the ground, the older Blake's sword pointedly dangerously close to his neck. Blake quickly followed her counterpart's lead, pulling her own sword on his back, poking him just enough so he knew the blade was there.

All around them, Blake could hear the rest of the White Fang giving up, a few muttering in frustration at Adam. The Faunus Militia quickly approached and began to detain them.

"It's over Adam," Blake declared.

"Drop your weapon," her counterpart finished, her ears almost flat against her head.

Adam growled angrily, his sword still firmly held at his side, his body tense with energy but he remained frozen, fully aware of the danger he was in.

"Drop it," the older Blake warned again.

Adam's sword began to move out of its scabbard before the older Blake grabbed both and, and with notable grunt of effort, wrenched it out of Adam's hand, tossing to the side.

"No!" Adam exclaimed as he reached for his weapon, only to be met with the flat side of the older Blake's scabbard. Gambol Shroud hit him squarely across the face, sending him to the ground.

The older Blake quickly followed up with two swift kicks to the head, causing Adam to groan in pain. The leader of the White Fang pulled himself up to his knees before being forced backed down by another strike from the older Blake's weapon. After that she never gave him a shot, wailing on him relentlessly, snarling as she pounded on him with her fists and feet until his aura was broken and the man was out cold.

Blake recoiled slightly as her counterpart rose, wiping the dirt off her clothes. Adam needed to be subdued for sure but sheer aggression her counterpart displayed was terrifying. Blake could barely process what she had just witnessed.

"You three," her older self gestured to some of the Militia, "Get him restrained and quickly. He could be back up in moments."

"Blake!" Yang called out.

Blake's attention turned back to her teammate, heart began to pound in her chest again as the two stared at each other.

Blake rushed towards Yang, but stopped short. Fear and uncertainty eating at her.

'What if she's angry?' Blake worried, 'What if she wants nothing to do with me?"

Blake's brief panic melted away as Yang smiled at her and opened her arms.

Blake eagerly accepted the hug and the two huntresses pulled each other close.

"I missed you," Yang said warmly.

"I missed you too," Blake replied, fighting back tears, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left. I just-"

"I know why you did it," Yang assured her, "You other self explained it, it's fine. We understand.

Blake realized her older self was looking at the two of them, her face unreadable.

Blake broke the hug as she finally got a good look at her counterpart. The two stared at each other, studying each other really. It was unsettlingly uncanny, Blake could see things she recognized from the mirror on this woman's face, small scars, the way both sets of ears were shaped, even her makeup seemed familiar. But it wasn't like looking in the mirror, it was close, too close, but they didn't match.

Blake wasn't sure what to make of this woman, she was her, and yet, not. The fire and angry she directed at Adam was almost terrifying, no hint of remorse or regret in her voice.

"I imagine you're pretty freaked out right now," the older Blake said, her voice suddenly growing soft.

"That's one way to put it," Blake nodded.

"Good," her older self chuckled, "that makes two of us."

"I'm glad to see I was right about the letter," their father said as he and their mom approached.

The older Blake turned towards them, her ears perking up as a small gasp escaped her lips.

"Dad," She said in disbelief, "Mom, you're here!"

The two stared at the older Blake as she approached, the warmth in their smiles couldn't quite hide the looks of confusion on their faces.

"You look troubled dear," Their mother observed, concern filling their voice "Are you okay?"

The older Blake nearly tackled both of them as she grabbed them in a hug.

"It's so good to see you both," the older Blake said as she fought back tears.

"It's good to see you as well, Blake," their father replied warmly, "No matter how unusual the circumstances."

The older Blake let go, wiping her face.

"I imagine you have a lot of questions," she said with an awkward laugh.

"Yeah, you could say that," Sun said as he and Ilia approached. Both staring at the older Blake in disbelief.

"Sun, Ilia, I'm glad you're here," The older Blake greeted warmly.

Sun looked towards the younger Blake, a confused look on her face.

"So is this a cousin of yours?" Sun asked, dumbstruck in confusion, "Is this some sort of mind game you were pulling against Adam?"

The older Blake sighed, "No, Sun, we're both Blake. Just from different times."

"Riiight," Ilia said skeptically.

"You said things might be a little strange, a little! Not this!" Sun exclaimed as he gestured wildly towards her Blake's counterpart.

"I wasn't sure," Blake said sheepishly, "We only had a letter."

"There's a lot I need to explain to all of you," the older Blake said, "But we don't have the time right now, we need to get to Haven. The people who orchestrated the Fall of Beacon should already be there and may already be fighting my daughter and everyone else."

"Daughter?!" Ilia blurted out in surprise.

Her older self's words hit Blake like an ice cold shower. The letter had mentioned children and a wife, but that had seemed distant and abstract, something Blake couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around.

Now it seemed her other self's daughters, her daughters to an extent, were out there in Mistral.

"A lot has happened in the past few weeks," Yang said awkwardly.

Blake looked towards Yang, hoping she could explain more. But Yang's cheeks had turned notably red, and she quickly turned away nervously.

The sight made Blake's flutter for a moment.

"Yang, are you okay?" Blake asked.

"Let's just say we're about to have a very awkward conversation," Yang replied nervously.

"Tell her on the way," the Older Blake said in a calm but urgent tone, "We need to get to Haven as soon as possible."

Blake's other self turned back to their parents.

"Mom, you should go to the Police, explain things as best you can, tell them to meet us at the Academy." It was an instruction, but the Older Blake's tone sounded more like a child asking for a favor.

Their mother nodded.

"The rest of you, come with me." She ordered.

Blake, her Father, Yang, Sun, Ilia, and a dozen or so of the Militia quickly followed after the older Blake.

Blake's joy at the thought of the team being reunited was weighed down by her confusion over just what they would find at Haven, and her worries over the battle that was unfolding at this very moment. Her friends, her teammates, even her family could be in danger at this very moment.
----

Summer stared at her sister for what seemed like an eternity. She could barely recognize the woman before her, her face marred by scars and half hidden by her hair, the dress was unlike anything her sister had ever worn, the Grimm arm was every bit as horrifying as described, and she was taller…somehow.

'How is she taller?' Summer was bewildered, 'She hit puberty when she was like ten'

It was still clearly Kali underneath all those scars, the smile was the same.

Summer realized Kali was still standing, shock giving way to pensive unease. She was waiting for Summer to make the first move.

Summer bit down all her fear and anger and rushed towards her sister, the two embraced in a tight hug. Kali was holding the back of Summer's head with her human arm, the other thankfully remaining at Kali's side.

It was surreal and almost terrifying, and yet Summer never wanted it to end.

"I missed you," Kali said warmly, "everyday, I missed you so much."

"I'm sorry you had to endure so much alone," Summer said sympathetically.

And that was when Summer slapped her sister hard across the face, the sound echoing through the large room.

Kali recoiled, a look of shock and pain written on her face.

"Oh, don't act surprised," Summer growled with annoyance, "I'm thrilled to see you again Kali, but you had to know that was coming."

"I take it you and mother have been talking," Cinder replied as she rubbed her cheek.

"Noo," Summer mocked, voice dripping with sarcasm, "She came through a portal with an utterly traumatized look on her face and a half dead bandit and I figured it best to give her some spac-of course I talked to her!"

Anger swelled within Summer as spoke.

"I mean what the fuck, Kali?! You killed Pyrrha," she went on, "I know some awful stuff must have happened. But, Pyrrha? She was our friend!"

"That wasn't the Pyrrha we knew," Kali spat, "And you have no idea what I've been through."

"Are you sure? Because I think I do," Summer replied pointedly, "You were in a dark place, and someone convinced you that doing awful things would not only make you feel better, but also protect the ones you cared about. You had it worse, I get that, but-"

"Salem is not Frost!" Kali cut in with a tortured scream, "You have no concept of the things I endured, the things I've seen! Every death I've wrought, everything I've done for Salem was to ensure you and our parents never suffer what I have suffered!"

The pain in Kali's voice was real, but there was something off about what she was saying, something that rang weirdly for Summer. She couldn't figure out why so she did her best to ignore the doubt and let her sister continue

"You know as well as I do that we can't beat Salem," Kali pressed on, "all our mother is doing by hanging around with that child wearing or mom's face is just prolonging our suffering."

Summer decided it was time for a switch in tactics.

"You might be right," Summer said with a casual shrug, "but we could still stall her."

"I have no interest in spending my life time fighting a war we can't win." Kali declared.

"Not our whole lives," Summer replied as she held up her hands, "just until we deal with Atlas."

That caught Kali by surprise, leaving her without a response for the moment.

"Think about it," Summer pressed, "Everything went to hell in our world the moment Atlas abandoned Mantle. We stop that and Salem's victory is pushed back another generation, maybe two. Plenty of time for us to just live."

Kali's eyes went wide.

"We-we wouldn't be safe," Kali stammered, "We would be constantly watching our backs."

There was doubt in her words, Kali hadn't expected this. Summer couldn't help but smile. She had an actual chance here.

"We'd be safer than we ever were back in our time," she countered, "We've both seen this place, the people don't need to lay traps out every time they go to bed. No one's afraid to gather in large crowds and the cities aren't mostly in ruins. We could live a far better life here than we ever could back home."

And that's when Summer decided to risk it.

"Besides, wouldn't you rather get revenge on Atlas instead of working alongside them?" Summer asked with a smirk.

She knew Aunt Ruby and others would not approve of what she was about to offer, even her mother would be skeptical. But it was her best option for reaching the angry person Kali had become. And more than that, Summer knew it was what they both wanted.

"Explain," Kali said skeptically.

"We need Atlas to remain where it is, and the best way to do that just so happens to involve dealing with the people who made our lives hell," Summer said eagerly. "Ironwood, Marrow, the Atlas Council? Kill them and we'll finally have justice and spare everyone a lifetime of misery."

Summer placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"And we could do it together," Summer went on, "We could finally make them all pay for every scar they've given us."

Kali chuckled, the smile that appeared on her face was less reassuring than Summer expected.

"Well, good to see you haven't lost your edge," Kali said coolly, "Though I doubt your new friends will go along with this plan of yours."

The bite Kali put into 'friends' left Summer rather unsettled but she pushed through.

"They'll deal with it," Summer said casually, "We'll probably have to spare Winter's counterpart but just showing her what she will become will hopefully scare her into retirement, and never having kids."

The others were not gonna be happy with this deal, no doubt Qrow was less than thrilled with her openly plotting to murder Ironwood. But it needed to happen, and if bribing her sister with the chance to do it was enough to get her to switch sides, Summer was going to take it.

"Our moms won't go along with it," Kali argued, "That Rose girl will convince them that Ironwood can be reasoned with, that they should find common ground with him or something."

'And they'll go with your plan to murder Aunt Ruby?' Summer wondered in bafflement.

"You really think mom wouldn't be down to murder General Ironwood?" Summer questioned with a smirk, "and I'm sure our moms can convince Aunt Ruby and the others to-"

"She is not our Aunt!" Kali screamed.

Summer recoiled in shock, nearly tripping backwards. Her sister's face had transformed from a sea of doubt and uncertainty to a mask of utter rage.

"Our Aunt was a fool who nearly got us all killed," Kali snarled angrily, "And that girl is worse. I've already lost an arm and an eye to her, I will not let her take our family away as well!"

Summer swallowed hard as terror began to creep into the back of her mind, doing battle with another growing emotion. Rage, rage at the naked hypocrisy stand before her.

"You lost your arm because you murdered her friend!" Summer fired back as her ears pulled against her head.

"You're taking her side?!" Kali's voice was full of outrage and pain.

"No you moron!" Summer yelled, "I hate seeing what's happened to you but this is your fault! You attacked Beacon, you killed Pyrrha!"

"I needed the power of the Fall Maiden to protect you!" Kali yelled, "Everything I did was to protect our family!"

'She's lying,' Summer's heart sank with the realization.

Summer knew her sister well enough to tell when she was lying, even to herself. More than that though, while she didn't know the full details of what happened at Beacon, she knew enough.

"Pyrrha wasn't the Fall Maiden," Summer said in disbelief, "She wasn't a threat, you didn't need to kill her."

"She was in my way!" Kali spat.

Summer stared at her sister in disbelief. There was no hint of regret in her eyes, only anger, jealousy and hunger. The way she spoke of the power of the Maiden made it clear to Summer that Kali didn't just need the power for her mad quest to protect their family, she wanted the power. And she didn't hold any regrets for killing anyone who got in her way.

Summer didn't recognize the woman standing in front of her. Her sister had been passionate, not cruel, kind instead of callous, and never so nakedly ambitious for her own power.

"You want me to go along with your plan?" Kali growled, "Fine, help me kill Ruby and then we'll talk."

Summer stared at her sister in disbelief, barely believing she heard those awful words come out of Kali's mouth.

'I'm never going to convince her peacefully,' Summer realized, 'I need to bring her in by force.'

"I am truly sorry for what Salem did to you Kali, I really am," Summer said, choking back a sob, "She broke you and made you into someone I don't know anymore."

Summer raised Ironwood's revolver and pointed it directly at Kali.

The anger in Kali's expression faltered, replaced with a shock and stunned pain.

"Summer, what are you doing?" Kali said in disbelief.

"I'm giving you a chance, maybe your last chance, to stand down," Summer warned, "Or else you're going to discover that your whole family is standing in your way."

A bitter scowl appeared on Kali's face.

"You know I'm stronger than you," Cinder warned, "Always have been."

"I know," Summer replied before letting out a short, sharp, whistle.

Two black birds emerged from their hiding places, flying around the two sisters before dropping behind Cinder and transforming.

Both Raven and Qrow had their weapons trained on Cinder.

"But I was always smarter," Summer finished.

Chapter Text

Bedtime stories were a rare and special time for Ruby, Yang and their mother, Summer Rose. Life as a huntress, particularly one working for Headmaster Ozpin, meant Summer spent far too many nights far away from home and her daughters. She relished the rare occasions greatly, to her they were some of her most important moments with her daughters, even more so then cookie making time. Thankfully Patch was a generally calm and sedate Island, it had it's dangers sure, but most of the time the nights were quite and serene, perfect for Summer and her daughters.

Which is why Summer was quite surprised when, she as she reached the end of 'The Girl who fell through the world,' the evening's quite was suddenly and loudly interrupted by a loud crash, the house shuddering from an unseen impact. The bang was quickly folded by a Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump as something rolled off the roof and crashed with a heavy thud into the backyard.

Summer Rose stared out the window in bafflement over the noises, her confusion interrupted by sounds of Yang stirring.

Summer quickly hushed her child back to sleep. If that thing was a Grimm, her daughters' being distressed would only matter matters worse.

"What was that," Her husband, Tai whispered urgently as peaked in through the door.

"I have no idea," Summer said softly, "Watch the girls, I'll go check it out."

Summer Rose put on her white cloak and made her way outside.

Even with the porch lights on, the night was dark and moonless. It took her a few moments to see anything, but then she spotted it.

The figure of a girl, maybe 16 or so, kneeling in the grass. her back was turned so all Summer saw was her long blonde hair, topped by two fuzzy cat ears.

"I don't know what deity I pissed off to have this happen twice, but fuck you too!" The girl screamed wearily towards the heavens.

"Are you okay?" Summer Rose asked, starring warily at the stranger.

The girl turned, revealing a set of lilac eyes, the same shade as Yang's. The rest of the girl's face was rather uncannily familiar as well.

The effect left Summer Rose silent for the moment as the mysterious girl stared at her. For a moment the girl simply stared at her in bewilderment before a look of realization dawned across her face.

"Oh no," the girl said in a hushed tone, "I should not be here, I should definitely not be here."

Summer Rose turned to look at her home, the roof had a distinctly teenage girl size dent in it. Summer listened carefully, only sound greeting her were the insects of the forest and the groans of the girl as she stood up, no aircraft, no airships.

Their nearest neighbor was a good twelve minutes away if you ran, and none of the trees were anywhere close to the house, something wasn't adding up here.

"How did you do that to our roof," Summer Rose asked, rather dumbfounded by the situation.

The girl shook her head.

"I have no idea," the girl shrugged, "all I know is the gods, Salem, the Red King or some other deity-like figure enjoys messing with me personally and my family for some reason!"

Summer Rose's blood ran cold at the mention of Salem. There weren't many people who knew about that the Grimm had a queen and none of the ones she knew would be the type to mention her so casually.

"How do you know about Salem?" Summer asked cautiously as she took a step back.

"Oh that did sound rather suspicious didn't it?" the girl replied, "Sorry, still not used to her being a secret. I have two guns, should I toss them on the ground?"

Summer felt the tension ease from her body, a servant of Salem wouldn't make that offer so casually. Besides, despite how odd the situation was, Summer Rose found herself wanting to trust this girl for some reason. Maybe it was her eyes.

"Do you work with Ozpin?" Summer Rose asked.

"Yeah," the girl replied hesitantly, "Sort of, it's complicated. Look he wouldn't know who I am now but we are on the same side I promise."

Summer Rose found herself inclined to believe her. A liar would do everything they could to make themselves seem trustworthy, after all if an agent of Salem had come to kill her, they would only need Summer to trust them for a short while, maybe even a few moments, they wouldn't hesitate like this.

"This was so much easier the first time," the girl muttered to herself "Of course we were attacked and I nearly died."

Summer Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"That's not an easy question to answer," the girl said uneasily, "I need to show proof first or you'll think I'm mad."

The girl's confusing answer only served to further the deeply uncanny feeling that was creeping into Summer's head.

'She looks so much like Yang,' she thought idly

Summer Rose looked around cautiously, no signs of anyone watching, no deathly silences warning of a Grimm attack. But even here, even now, she didn't feel safe enough to have this conversation outside.

"Come inside," Summer Rose offered warmly, "You can explain who you are over some tea."

She led the strange girl inside. There, she and her husband watched as the girl placed a photo, an incredibly advanced yet battered Scroll, and a pair of pistols on the kitchen table.

"Look through the photos on the scroll," the girl said as she sipped at the steaming tea. "You won't believe it at first but I assure you it's real."

"Oh this is good tea," she added with a small smile

Summer Rose picked up the Scroll and began looking through it. Even before she looked at a single photo she could tell something was off. The interface was advanced, the kind of thing you'd see at some Atlas Tech Expo, not something anyone would have publicly yet. But the phone seemed battered and old, worn from years of use.

The first few photos where of the Faunus girl standing before her and a black haired girl with Amber eyes, they looked the same age though the black haired girl was taller. They looked like sweet family moments but nothing unusual.

Summer let out a gasp of shock when she got to the next photo. It was of the two girls at a big dinner of some kind, there where a sea of faces Summer Rose had never seen before, but sitting next to the girl was her daughter Yang. Or rather a much older looking version of Yang. The woman she was starring at could easily be Summer Rose's age but there wasn't a doubt in her mind of who it was.

The photo after that caused Tai to jerk back in surprise. It was an older photo, the blonde girl looked no more than ten, same as the black haired girl. Yang was standing next to them, and next to her was Ruby, her youngest.

Summer Rose stared at the image in disbelief. Ruby looked every bit a fierce and proud huntress. She had a Red cape draped across her shoulders, and a metal rose emblem on her waist.

No, she realized in shock, the same rose emblem she was currently wearing.

Summer Rose touched the emblem currently attached to her chest. Her finger tracing it's edges.

She looked up at the girl, the scroll shaking in her hand.

"Who are you?" Summer Rose asked, her voice near a whisper.

The girl smiled, her ears perking up.

"My name is Summer Belladonna-Xiao Long, Daughter of Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long," The girl explained warmly, "I'm you're granddaughter."

Summer Rose sat there for the longest time, starring at the girl. Unsure of what to say or even think.

Tai spoke up first.

"What you have here, well it's hard to explain," He admitted skeptically, "But that's a lot to accept."

Summer Rose stood up and reached out towards Summer Xiao Long, cupping her face as she stared at her closely.

It was more than just her eyes being the same color, they were nearly the same shape as well. It wasn't just her hair, their cheeks looked so much alike too. She was older than Yang but the resemblance was clear.

"I believe you," Summer Rose said softly before embracing her granddaughter.

Summer Rose held her tightly, for a moment Summer Xiao Long hesitated before returning the hug.

She didn't understand how this could be happening, and in that moment Summer Rose didn't care, she had a granddaughter, her family had grown by at least one in a matter of moments.

"How are you here?" she finally asked after letting go, "I never thought time travel was possible."

"Neither did Oz," her granddaughter remarked, "The first time this happened I thought I was brought back to make things better but lately I've been having doubts."

Summer Xiao Long's expression grew distant and sad for a moment.

"What do you mean 'first time'?" Tai questioned.

"Yeah, this is where it gets real weird," Summer Xiao Long remarked casually, "See this isn't my first time being dragged across time and space and crashing into a roof. See about a month ago, me, my sister and our moms were ripped away from our homes by a hole in the sky, with me ending up back in, wait how old is Yang right now?"

"She's five," Summer Rose answered.

"Right so I ended up landing roughly twenty something years into my past but thirteen or so years into your future," Summer Xiao Long explained, "Thankfully I landed not far from my Aunt Ruby, or rather her teenage self. "

Tai and Summer stared at their granddaughter in surprise. one incident of Time travel was already something she never could have imagined, for it to happen twice? Summer Rose could only imagine something or someone was tormenting this girl, or had something big in mind for her. Both possibilities worried her greatly.

"It turns out whatever sent us back in time also scattered us. But after almost a month my mother, the Faunus one," Summer Xiao Long clarified, "Found me and the others. That time's Yang and Weiss, one of Ruby and Yang's Teammates, was with her as well. We along with Qrow and a number of other people were in the middle of planning an...operation,"

Summer Rose noticed her granddaughter distracted for a moment, a pained look in her eyes as her ears pulled back for a second. But Summer Xiao Long moved on before she could say anything.

"We were preparing for our operation when the portals appeared again, this time on the ceiling ," Summer Xiao Long sound incredulous of her own words, "And sucked most of us up. Which is how I ended up being tossed at your roof like a baseball."

"So wait," Tai said with growing surprise, "You're saying their could be teenage versions of daughters out there right now?"

"And my mother," Summer Xiao Long added, "And their teammates, probably my mom, and knowing my luck, some of Salem's minions as well."

Summer Rose felt overwhelmed. The thought of seeing her daughters when they were older, was equal parts wonderful and terrifying. She wanted to see the kind of women they would become, but how would they react to her? Particularly since the emblem on Ruby's belt made one thing terrifyingly clear.

On one of her missions, maybe next week maybe ten years from now, Summer Rose would leave for a mission and never return. Why else would Ruby cling to it so?

If Tai realized the implication he was keeping it very well hidden, Summer Rose for her part did her best not to dwell on it. She wasn't dead yet after all.

"Alright," Summer Rose said as she put her hands together, "In morning Tai will go to Beacon and bring Professor Ozpin here, no doubt he'll want to speak with you, Summer. And if nothing else he can help us track down whoever else came with you."

"Okay," Tai agreed, "I should get some sleep then."

Tai headed upstairs, starring at his granddaughter with uncertainty for a moment before disappearing into the master bedroom. Leaving the two Summers alone.

"I should prepare a bed," Summer Rose said as she stood up, "The guest room is a bit bare at the moment so let me get you some blankets and a pillow."

"Thank you" Summer Xiao Long replied as she sipped her tea, "I think that was Aunt Ruby's room back in my time."

Again, Summer Xiao Long wore an expression of pain for a moment before relaxing. Part of Summer Rose wanted to ask what was wrong but she decided against it. It could have just been stress on pain from hitting the roof after all.

"Huh, interesting," Summer Rose nodded as she pulled blankets out of a closet. "So, What's your time like?"

Summer Rose had a billion questions she wanted to ask this girl but she knew she couldn't just unload them all at once, not tonight anyways.

Summer Xiao Long shook her head.

"I've told that story a few times already," she explained, "And let's just say it's not conversation you want to hear right before bed."

Summer Rose nodded sympathetically, hiding the growing anxiety coiling around her stomach.

"What if I tell you the story of team RWBY," Summer Xiao Long offered, "Ruby and Yang's team. The highlights at least."

"Now that is a story I would like to hear," Summer Rose replied.

'Particularly how they got on the same team despite being two years apart in age,' she though, 'What did you do Ozpin?'

Summer Xiao Long's expression grew almost sick looking, her eyes growing wide and her ears pulling back for a moment.

"Though I should warn you, even this probably will have some uncomfortable things for you," Summer Xiao Long said nervously.

"I'm a big girl, I can handle it," Summer Rose assured her.

"Okay then," Summer Xiao Long nodded, "Let's begin."

Chapter Text

Part 5

Winter stared at her sister, Weiss. Her face a cold mask of stoic resolve, completely hiding the storm raging inside.

Winter was prepared for Weiss's anger, that would be nothing new to her. She also had steeled herself for the fact that Weiss was now a child, the same age as Frost. Seeing her so vibrant and innocent again hurt, but she could manage.

What she wasn't prepared for was how happy she was to see Weiss again. Even now, with her sister staring at her like she had just stabbed her in the heart, Winter couldn't help but be overjoyed to see her.

In a strange way, Winter had come to treasure encounters with Weiss after RWBY broke with Ironwood. However much they hurt, Winter could always see that Weiss remained true to herself. Even as their mother slid further and further into the bottle, their brother became more of a puppet for Ironwood, and Frost went from rebellious to outright insane, Weiss never faltered. It was endearing as much as it was enraging.

Winter felt her muscles straining, every part of her wanted to run up to Weiss, hug her and never let go. But she knew if she did she would be doomed, no chance of going home, forever trapped in a Remnant that hated her.

'I have no choice here, I need to get home,' Winter reminded herself.

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby Rose questioned, "Why are any of you doing this? You know what Salem is, what she's done, what she will do-"

"I don't care about Salem," Emerald sharply interrupted, "Or any future I might have had, all I care about is Cinder."

"That's not even her real name," Jaune observed.

"I don't care!" Emerald snapped.

"You all have been dragged into a war you can't win by that monster," Hazel growled as he stared hatefully at Oscar. The giant of a man seething with barely controlled rage at the sight of Ozpin's current host.

"Winter," Weiss said softly as she stared at her sister.

"Don't," Winter replied coldly, "There is no point in this debate, no reason to have this argument once again."

Weiss stared at her in surprise, startled by how harsh and unfeeling Winter sounded.

"You do not remember," Winter went on, "But every time we fought we had the same argument, you would try to convince me to betray Atlas, I would try to convince you that Salem cannot be stopped, neither of us would ever yield. So it is pointless to try again."

"You're wrong," Ruby Rose declared defiantly, "We don't need to kill Salem to stop her, and if we convince Ironwood to see reason and stay, that alone will-"

"Convince Ironwood?" Winter interrupted sharply, "Ironwood is not a man to second guess himself. Nothing you tell or show him will make the man waver from his path. All your efforts will amount to is another early grave for you, my sister, and all those foolish enough to follow you!"

Winter felt anger creep into her words as Ruby began to wither under her stare. Winter's self control was beginning to fray but she couldn't help it. Because of Ruby Rose, she had already lost her sister twice already, once to rebellion, then the grave.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Weiss snapped, "I'm proud to have Ruby as my team leader, but even without her I would still be in this fight. I refuse to stand aside and let our home fall."

'But you'll die!' Winter thought painfully, the words aching to escape her lips, 'You'll die and it will be for nothing!'

"If Atlas doesn't yield to Salem, she will crush it," Winter's cold voice hid the tempest raging inside of her, "Either way, the fate of Atlas is beyond your control."

"I've spent my entire life fighting against people who tried to control my destiny," Weiss declared defiantly, "And I am not going to stop now."

The thinnest of smiles appeared briefly on Winter's lips. There was the sister she knew and loved. Winter was proud of Weiss, as she always was, but she was also heartbroken. Winter knew now there was no way to convince her sister to join her or even step aside.

Not without her breaking like Winter had, breaking and submitting to powers she could not possibly overcome, no matter how much she abhorred them. And that was a fate no older sibling should want for her sister.

"You're brave, Weiss," Winter acknowledged, "you always have been, But bravery means nothing against Salem."

"You're wrong," Weiss replied boldly, "we will find a way to stop her and I will save you, no matter what it takes."

'You shouldn't bother, I was damned a long time ago,' Winter noted sadly

"Very well then," Winter said as she pulled her rapier out of her main blade, "prepare yourself!"

Winter watched as the fighting quickly turned into three individual fights. Hazel against Oscar, Jaune Arc and Jaune's teammate with the oversized hammer, Emerald against Jaune's other teammate, and her against Ruby Rose and Weiss.

In theory her side held the advantage, She and Hazel had experience, Hazel himself was almost a monster in human form, and Emerald had her illusions. But two against one was the type of battle few soldiers wanted to fight.

The fight began with the crash of steel against steel as Winter and Weiss's blades met, then a burst of rose petals appeared at Winter's side, Ruby emerging out of it prepared to strike with that massive scythe of her, only for Winter's glyphs to launch her back at the last moment.

Fighting these two was agonizingly familiar for Winter, she knew their styles well. Ruby was fast and ruthless, give her an inch she'd slice your arm off without a second thought. Weiss was creative, often using her summons and glyphs more to boost her teammates then as a direct attack. At least that's how she normally fought.

The three fought. Blade against blade as Winter's glyphs worked furiously to keep Ruby away from them, repealing or momentarily pinning the girl anytime she got close. Winter's ears filled the sounds of the battles around them.

With each parry and thrust, Winter began to notice things, changes to what she expected. Ruby Rose was slower than she anticipated, her glyphs easily countering her whereas in the past she would have struggled to keep pace with the red blur.

Then there was Weiss, Winter wouldn't describe what she was seeing as amateurish, Weiss was too well trained for that, but it was unmistakably sloppy.

Weiss was depending too much on her blade, not enough on her glyphs and constructs. And her use of the glyphs was less creative than what Winter was used to.

Weiss could do much better than this, she had done much better than this.

'But she's not that Weiss,' Winter reminded herself, 'not yet,'

Weiss knelt as she pointed the tip of her sword down towards the concrete. Beginning the process of summoning one of her avatars, likely the Arma Gigas.

Ruby Rose rushed to her teammate's defense but Winter blocked her blade before launching her with another glyph. Moments later she kicked the blade out of Weiss's hand, interrupting the summoning.

"That was foolish," Winter said as picked up the sword, adopting the air of an annoyed academy instructor, "You should never leave yourself that vulnerable unless you are 100% certain your teammates will be able to protect you or do not have your enemies' attention."

"You're lecturing me?!" Weiss said in furious disbelief, "You're fighting alongside people trying to kill my friends, and you're lecturing me about my fighting technique?!"

The hurt in Weiss's eyes made Winter's stomach twist and turn within her. She hated this, she hated every moment of it. She was hurting her sister, more than that she was betraying her, betraying her to work alongside scum.

'But I don't have any other option,' Winter reminded herself, 'I need to get home,'

"Sorry," Winter's voice was soft and sincere as she tossed back Myrtenaster, "Old habits die hard."
-----

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Summer was supposed to listen, she was supposed to understand. That was how it worked, Summer was the rational one and the two of them always agreed when it came to the big stuff.

'And what could be bigger than keeping our family safe?!' Cinder wondered furiously.

The Fall Maiden glared at the conspiracy surrounding her. Her clearly delusional sister, a drunk, and a cowardly bandit.

The sight of Raven sent shivers down Cinder's spine. So much power, so much strength, wasted on the fool currently wielding it. Cinder was so wonderfully, painfully close to having it for herself.

The power of two maidens, Fall and Spring, in the palm of her hand. Once she dealt with Raven, Cinder would be the strongest Maiden ever, even her mom couldn't match Cinder's strength then.

The gnawing pit inside of Cinder brought with it a certain momentary clarity. She could make Summer see sense later, right now her priority was Raven Branwen.

Qrow was the first to attack, the guns on Harbinger spitting Dust shells before moving in for a swiping attack.

Cinder trivially blocks the strike, with a sword of her own. Summer may have gotten their mom's looks but it was Kali who had inherited her strength, strength that had only grown since she became a Maiden.

"Why are you even here?" Cinder questioned as she pushed away the struggling Qrow, "We both know you'd much rather be slowly killing yourself in a bar somewhere."

"That felt awfully personal," Qrow observed as he slashed at her again, "I thought you didn't care!"

Cinder growled in anger as she stabbed at the drunkard. A jagged shard of ice rushed by Cinder's head just as her blade met Qrow's again.

Cinder turned her head to see Raven, her red eyes full of Maiden fire. Despite her clear rage, Raven kept her distance for the moment.

'Someone's clearly still terrified after our last-'

Cinder's thoughts were interrupted as a shot rang out, a bullet striking her replacement arm. The lighting dust within the bullet sending a surge of electricity coursing through Cinder's body. The agony was brief but memorable.

Off-balance, Cinder barely had time to raise her sword for another attack from Qrow. Harbinger's massive blade shattered a chunk of Cinder's sword, bits of molten glass flying in all directions.

The blade melted and reformed in Cinder's hand, thinner but still strong. The next strike from Qrow met her blade in a thunderous crash of glass and metal.

Cinder's head snapped to Summer, the main thing standing between her and the power she so desperately deserved at the moment. Summer had both of her stolen pistols trained on Cinder.

Rage boiled within Cinder as she stared at Summer. How could she do this? She was her sister, she was supposed to have her back, and she betrayed her!

A furious scream escaped Cinder's lips as she launched herself towards Summer, jets of white hot flame erupting from her feet as she rocketed towards her traitorous sister.

A gravity dust-laden shot from Ironwood's pistol propelled Summer to the side, but it wasn't enough to outpace Cinder and the two collided, burning blades against stolen guns.

Summer glared, her ears pulled back as she snarled with those fang-like canines of hers. Cinder pressed her sister back, beads of sweat beginning to pour down her face.

"I had everything under control!" Cinder ranted, "Why don't you just listen to me, I have everything under control, I even brought Emerald along for you!"

The snarl disappeared from Summer's face and for a split-second, Kali thought she might have gotten through to her sister.

That's when Summer spat in Cinder's face, the spit striking Cinder across her eyebrow.

Raven launched another spear of ice towards them, contemptuously Cinder dropped one of her swords and launched a ball of fire out of her hand. The blaze reduced the ice to so much mist.

Movement in the corner of her eye caused Cinder to spin around, just narrowly dodging Qrow's attack.

Qrow and Summer fought in tandem, Qrow going at Cinder with everything he had, while Summer filled in the gaps between his acts, using Ironwood's pistol like a club. All the while Raven pelted her with ice. Summer and Qrow's attacks weren't that much of a problem but they did leave her unable to dodge Raven's barrage, forcing her to burn away every attack, causing a mist to form that began to pool around the floor.

Qrow went for another strike but this time Cinder pulled away instead of blocking, causing Qrow to overextend, leaving him wide open for a hard punch to the gut, which sent him flying into the nearby wall, cracking the wood.

As Qrow struggled to her feet, Cinder's wrath turned towards Summer. Who, to her credit, showed no signs of fear as she glared back defiantly.

"You know you can do more than just throw ice cubes!" Summer said with exasperation as she backed up, "Just saying!"

Raven remained silent, not even looking at them as she stood by the chained statue near the other end of the room. Instead the misty wisps around her feet expanded and grew, in moments the floor was blanketed, and a few seconds later the room was choked with a thick layer of fog.

"Oh that's not good," Summer said, though Cinder had lost track of where she was.

The rage within Cinder was smothered, replaced with fear that turned her stomach to ice.What the hell was Raven doing?

As if to answer her question, something large hit the ground with a resounding crash that shook the room.

Cinder was barely able to jump away before the statue, its base, and the platform it stood on went sailing past Cinder, close enough that Cinder could see the statue's long hair even through the fog, before crashing through the wall in a fury of shattering marble and splintered wood.

'No,' Cinder's thoughts became clouded with terror, 'No, no, no, no!'

Raven was fleeing to the vault, likely intending to grab the Relic before escaping from the battle entirely. Denying Salem the relic, and Cinder her power.

Cinder craved that power more than food or water, it was hers by right! She had not bled and suffered so much just to have her destiny stolen from her by some two-bit murderer!

Cinder charged desperately towards the other end of the room, then a black bird with lilac eyes swooped towards her. Furiously scratching and pecking at her as Cinder tried in vain to push away. One of the claws caught on the edge of her mask, pulling it away and exposing Cinder's ruined eye.

Summer flew away, disappearing into the fading fog. Cinder quickly formed new swords in her hands, these ones thicker and with more flat sided blades.

Cinder was prepared for Summer's next attack and easily deflected the crow, slamming Summer into the ground, causing her to revert into a Faunus.

"Why are you stopping me!?" Cinder said in angry bewilderment, "Raven is going to take the Relic!"

"Better her than you," Summer spat as pulled herself up, gun trained on Cinder.

"This is pointless!" Cinder shouted, "You don't have a chance against me."

"Maybe," Summer wheezed, "But unlike you, I'm not alone."

Summer fired, the shot was wild and came nowhere close to Cinder.

Realizing that Summer was likely trying to stall long enough for Qrow to recover for another assault, Cinder turned away with a frustrated shake of her head.

Only to be greeted by a swirling red and black portal that stood between her and the ice filled hole where the statue once stood.

The sight of Raven's semblance caused Cinder to take a step back in surprise.

"Grandma may be an asshole," Summer sneered, "But she wasn't entirely useless."

Cinder watched as her mother emerged from the portal, followed by the maimed imposter wearing her mom's face and her pathetic teammate, with many more following them.
----

It had been a gamble, Summer knew that. She didn't have time to check her scroll, so if her mother was still fighting Adam this risked making everything worse.

Thankfully Summer's gamble paid out rather well as a half dozen people emerged out of her copied portal. First was her mom, clutching her weapons tightly as she stared at Cinder. Followed shortly by Yang and what could only be the younger Blake, same height and ears but much longer hair and no lines around her eyes. Following her was a giant of a man that Summer had not seen in many years, her grandfather Ghira Belladonna. His hair lacked any of the gray she remembered.

Finally Sun Wukong and a girl Summer did not recognize stepped out right before the portal closed. Summer's memories of Sun were hazy at best but her family had talked about him many times and the boy certainly matched his picture, from his spiky blonde hair to his monkey tail.

The last figure was a mystery to Summer, a freckled girl about the same age as her, with a long brown ponytail that curled at the end, wearing some sort of one-piece tactical outfit.

Whoever she was, she was an ally of her mother's, and for the moment that was all that mattered.

The group formed a semi-circle around Cinder, who glared at the group, her breathing growing increasingly labored and angry sounding.

"I gather things didn't go to plan?" Yang asked as she adopted a fighting stance.

"Yep, turns out it's hard to reason with a freaking psycho!" Summer said bitterly as she glared at her sister, "Everyone briefed on the situation?"

"We know the jist of it," Sun answered, staring at Cinder in disbelief.

"Good," Qrow said wearily as he brushed off some of the splinters covering his coat, "Don't hold back, she will kill most of us without a second thought."

"Where's Raven?" Yang asked as she looked around.

"She stabbed us in the back almost immediately and fled," Summer replied wearily.

"Her power was supposed to be mine!" Cinder ranted as she glared at Summer, "But you had to stand in my way instead of just listening for once!"

Cinder stared forward like a starving person denied a massive plate of food, her breathing growing more and more frantic with each passing moment.

"Kali please!" her mother pleaded, "Just stand down, I'm begging you, please! We don't want to hurt you."

"Listen to your mother," Ghira stepped in, "we can still resolve this without any further bloodshed."

Cinder's eyes darted by the hole to the Maiden Vault and the door behind her, Summer could see the gears turning behind her eyes.

"No you don't!" Summer yelled as she fired,

The shot rang out like a thunderclap, Cinder casually defecting it a flick of one of her swords.

"Summer!" their mom exclaimed in shock.

"It was that girl," Cinder growled, "That damned girl brainwashed you two and cost me everything!"

Before anyone could react, Cinder slammed her swords into the ground, unleashing a raging inferno that launched her into the air.

Summer shielded her face as fire lashed at her, the heat almost too much to bear. The towering inferno consumed most of the room, with Cindering hovering at the top, her head nearly touching the ceiling.

A raging scream erupted out of Cinder before she flew out of the room, headed directly towards the fight outside.

'And Aunt Ruby,' Summer realized in horror.

Summer ran after her, the tiny spark of magic within her body surging out, transforming her into a crow. She flew after Cinder, her wings beating heavily against the night air.

As soon as Summer was in position, she dived towards Cinder, releasing the transformation a split second before she made contact, causing both of them to crash hard into the concrete, mere feet from Aunt Ruby and the others.

Summer quickly wrapped her arm around Cinder's neck, strangling her with every ounce of strength she had as she knelt on the murderer's back.

Cinder's body was burning hot, Summer felt like her skin arm was being seared by a pan full of boiling oil, but still she held on.

Summer's mind swirled with confusion and rage, none of this seemed real anymore. How could she be doing this to her sister? How could her sister be such a monster?

"How could you do this?!" Summer shouted angrily, "You were supposed to be better than me! I'm supposed to be the violent screw-up of the family."

Summer felt something wrap tightly around her stomach, she only had a brief moment to catch a glimpse of a chain around her torso before she was yanked hard, dragging Summer along the ground.

"Get away from her!" a painfully familiar voice shouted.

Summer turned to see Emerald Sustrai, her friend, her mentor, the woman who saved her life a dozen times or more, standing before her. She was young, so young, compared to the woman Summer knew, but her green hair and red eyes were the same as Summer remembered. Only she had no hint of familiarity in her eyes as she looked upon Summer, or warmth. Just fury and confusion.

The chain retracted on one half of Emerald's Thief's Respite, the blade and barrel snapping back into position.

"Emerald," Summer breathed softly as she stood up, staring at the girl in disbelief.

She was here, in front of her.

'Standing barely a foot from where she died,' Summer realized in horror.

She could see it, as clear as the day it happened. Just behind Emerald lay the fallen form of her mentor, cold and lifeless, her green jacket covered in blood.

Summer's back screamed in agony, as if her wounds from that day were still fresh.

"Who are you?!" Emerald demanded.

Tears poured freely from Summer's cheeks. She had her best friend back, and she didn't even know who she was.

Adrenaline might have been the only thing keeping Summer from having a full breakdown right then and there.

'I can't lose you too,' Summer thought.

Kali had become sort of power hungry monster without any remorse or pity left in her. Summer couldn't save her, not now at least.

She couldn't bear to lose Emerald as well, not with Cinder manipulating and using her, acting like she was sort of prize to dangle in front of Summer.

But not here. Summer wasn't going to do this here, steps away from where Emerald died. The agony would be more than she could handle right now.

Summer quickly fired her gun, just to the right of Emerald, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, grabbing the green haired girl as tight as she could as she tackled her into the portal.

"Summer, wait!" she could hear Ruby cry out just before she went through the portal herself.

The soft lights of Haven instantly gave way to the pitch black and quiet of a forest's edge

"Let go of me!" Emerald screamed as she struggled in Summer's grip.

Summer obeyed and rolled off the girl, Emerald quickly springing to her feet.

Summer lay there for a moment, breathing heavily as her body trembled slightly in a rush of emotions.

"Where are we?!" Emerald demanded angrily.

Summer stared at the large two story cabin not far from them, its windows were all dark. In another time it would have been her home, right now it belonged to her grandfather, Taiyang Xiao Long.

"Someplace familiar," Summer replied, "Somewhere we can talk, away from my sister and everyone else."

Maybe it was impossible to save Emerald right now, maybe one conversation wouldn't be enough, but Summer had to try, she owed her mentor that much.

Chapter Text

Part 6

Winter watched Summer Xiao Long disappear into the portal with bewilderment, her brain struggling to make sense of why any of that just happened, before deciding it didn't matter.

Her main concern was Cinder, who looked more like a feral animal than a soldier as she stood there, hunched over, flexing her clawed hand as ragged breaths caused flames to escape her mouth with every exhale. Her disfigured face locked onto Ruby Rose with an absolutely murderous expression.

"You," She growled bitterly before erupting into shouts, "You took them from me! You took everything from me!"

There was doubt in those silver eyes of Ruby's, doubt and fear, but the girl held her ground.

"I didn't do anything," Ruby said defiantly, "You're the one who turned your back on our family!"

Ruby's words only served as further kindling for Cinder's rage.

Even at a glance, Winter could see the shift in the battlefield. Jaune Arc's attention was no longer focused on Hazel, instead he left him to his teammates and Ozpin while he glared at Cinder with a murderous hatred to rival her own. Sword held firmly in both hands.

"Kali!" Winter said sharply, her attention still largely focused on Weiss, "Where is the relic? What happened to the Maiden?"

Kali's hands were empty and Winter had not seen the relic with Summer, so where was it?

"Both gone," Cinder spat, "The bandit proved even more of a coward then I realized."

Every set of eyes turned to Cinder. Winter felt her iron resolve shatter in a moment, replaced with terror and confusion.

"What?!" Winter demanded, "What do you mean it's gone?"

Cinder ignored her, her attention focused entirely on Ruby Rose.

And that's when Winter noticed the figures emerging from the Academy, dozens of huntsmen and huntresses, all led by Blake Belladonna-Xiao Long, each looking like they were on a warpath.

Among the group she spotted Ghira Belladonna, the once and future leader of the White Fang. Instantly the pieces fell into place. Adam had been routed at best, killed outright at worst, and Summer had brought elements of the Faunus Militia here.

Winter had been holding her own, perhaps even winning, that was all gone now, any hope of victory was lost now, even with Hazel and Cinder. Not with these numbers, not with these opponents.

Winter broke away from her fight with Weiss and grabbed Cinder by the shoulder. Cinder spun around, glaring at her with a look so full of venom and rage, Winter wondered for a moment if she would just kill her then and there.

"This is not the time for your grudge with your dead aunt!" Winter snapped, "If the relic is gone then this operation is completely shot, we need to leave, immediately!"

This was the worst case scenario, without the relic she likely faced a much longer journey getting home, to say nothing of Salem's wrath for two failed operations in a row.

'I never wanted to be here,' Winter thought, 'But what choice did I have? I need to get home.'

"Winter is right," Hazel growled, voice verberating due the electric dust now embedded in his arms, "There is no point in continuing this fight."

"Oh no you don't!" Jaune yelled as he rushed towards Cinder, only to be brutally knocked to the ground with an almost dismissive strike from the Fall Maiden. His armor clattered against the concrete as he fell.

Cinder looked around, gazing at all the teenagers who were staring at her in anger. Then she looked back, towards her approaching mother, and for a moment the barest hint of regret appeared on her face.

"You're right," Cinder said with a sudden smirk, "It's time to leave."

Gouts of fire erupted out of Cinder's hands and feet, flames scorching the concrete as she rocketed into the air.

"Kali!" the Older Blake cried out in the distance.

Winter stared at Cinder for a moment, rage at her abandonment filling her for a moment before sense reasserted itself. She needed to get out of here, nothing else mattered more at the moment.

She needed to run, she needed to be as far from here as she could be as fast as possible, because if she wasn't, she would never see home again.

The soldier of Atlas abandoned all composure and dignity and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She got maybe 5 steps before a sharp stabbing pain in her achilles tendon brought Winter to her knees.

She looked behind her to see a tiny icy construct in the shape of a knight standing by her feet, the figure carrying a dagger sized sword.

'That was clever, Weiss,' Winter mentally acknowledged.

She looked up to see Weiss, Ruby, and Jaune and his teammates all looking at her, basically ignoring Hazel as the mountain of a man fled into the darkness.

There was no hate in either Weiss or Ruby's eyes as they looked upon her, only sorrow and pity. All the pity in the world didn't change what lay ahead for Winter if she let them take her. A lifetime in prison in a world that despised her.

Winter stood, blades at the ready. There were six of them in front of her, but outside of Ozpin, she had more experience than five of them combined. She was one of the top huntresses Atlas had ever produced, she had single handedly killed Grimm that had laid waste to enter towns.

She never had a chance.

Ruby Rose may have been slower than Winter remembered, but when she was fighting five other people, that made little difference. The girl's scythe shredded Winter's Aura as Jaune sliced at her with his massive sword. A hammer knocked the wind out of Winter's lungs as the black haired boy unleashed dozens of rounds into her. Finally, Weiss unleashed another summon, a Boarbatusk this time, the faux-Grimm slammed into her, her Aura flaring a bright pale blue before breaking completely.

Winter collapsed to the ground just as the Older Blake and her group arrived.

Winter's chest heaved as she struggled to take a breath. Her younger sister looked down at her, Myrtenaster leveled at her face.

Winter sat there, her whole body shaking as she contemplated her situation. There was no way out, no way back, all that lay before her were questions and cages, for the rest of her life.

'Is this punishment?' Winter wondered, 'I am being punished for my sins? I didn't have a choice though, I never did!'

"Please, Winter, stand down," Weiss urged, eyes wet with tears, "I don't want to fight you anymore."

"I wasn't enjoying our battle either," Winter remarked through labored breaths.

The Schnee sisters stared at each for what seemed hours before finally, Winter's blades fell to the ground.

"I yield," she said as she hung her head, "Do with me what you will."

Winter knew there was no escape now from the waking nightmare she found herself in and resigned herself to whatever fate awaited her.
-----

"Take me back!" Emerald demanded as she leveled her weapons at Summer, "I need to get back to Cinder!"

Summer's kept her grip on his pistols but couldn't bring herself to raise them, not at Em.

"Not until we've had a chance to talk," Summer explained.

"I don't care about anything you have to say!" Emerald rebuked her, "All I care about is Cinder."

"Did she ever talk about me?" Summer asked breathlessly, "You've worked with her for what must have been years at this point. Before Winter Schnee showed up did she ever once even mention me or our family?"

Summer wasn't sure what she wanted more at this point, Emerald to realize she'd had the wool pulled over her eyes by Cinder, or to find some decent bit of humanity still left in her sister.

"No," Emerald replied, "But that doesn't matter to me."

Her words were not surprising but still painful to hear. Emerald was never given a chance to know who she could have been.

"It should," Summer countered, "Because part of the reason she even recruited you in the first place was to get to me."

Summer's stomach churned when thinking about how Cinder talked about Emerald, like she was just some sordid prize or toy for Summer.

"You're lying!" Emerald declared as multiple copies of her encircled Summer, blades at the ready.

Summer inhaled, closed her eyes and listened. Her ears twitching as strained to hear the tell tale sound of shoes crushing dew covered grass.

Summer leveled her gun directly to her left, pointing to where she knew the real Emerald was now standing.

The green haired girl stared at her in surprise. Summer was almost surprised herself, that illusion was downright simplistic compared to what she was used to from Emerald.

"If you really want to confuse your enemy" Summer quoted, "you need to have them doubting their ears as well as their eyes."

A slight hint of confusion was all Summer got from Emerald.

"You told me that more than once," Summer explained. "You were our part-time babysitter, our friend, my mentor. And Cinder didn't mention any of that, ever?"

"No," Emerald replied, sounding surprised and rather confused.

'Damnit Kali, how could you keep that from her?!' Summer wondered angrily.

"But it doesn't matter," Emerald went on, her composure coming back, "That woman is dead-"

"And she died saving our lives," Summer interrupted, "The only reason you even met Cinder in the first place was because our friend gave her life to protect me and my sister. And she never even mentioned that once to you, did she?"

Emerald's weapons remained fixed on Summer but she could see the tremble in Emerald's arms.

Summer hated this, she despised the pain she was causing this girl. But Emerald needed to hear what she was saying.

"You had a life, friends, teammates, people who trusted you, people who loved yo-" Summer began to plead.

"I don't care!" Emerald interrupted, her voice sounding more hollow than it did before, "I'm not that woman."

"She still should have told you!" Summer's voice rose to a scream, "But she didn't, she lied to you from the start, about everything!"

Summer's ear twitched as she heard a faint breath behind her, She dodged just as Emerald sliced at her, the illusion she had been talking to vanishing.

Summer raised a gun at Emerald, the barrel inches from her head. A vile, nasty taste filled her mouth as she realized it was Watts' revolver, the very same gun that killed her mentor.

Emerald stared at her angrily, the gun aimed at her temple leaving them locked in an awkward stalemate.

"You're wrong," Emerald said defiantly, "Cinder has done nothing but protect me, whatever she hid she must have had good reasons."

'I'm going to rip off your remaining arm when this is over, Kali,' Summer thought bitterly.

This girl was so different then the Emerald she knew, her mentor wouldn't have tolerated any of Cinder's bullshit, but this Emerald was hooked on her every word. Summer wasn't sure but she suspected this girl might even love Cinder.

It was agony to watch.

"Yeah, to manipulate you," Summer said angrily, "Make you think she was the only one in Remnant who cared about you, that she was the only one who understood your pain!"

Her words provoked Emerald further, the green haired girl screaming in rage as she lashed out at Summer. The blades scraping against her pistols.

Emerald was giving it her all, fighting with all the strength she could muster but this close range was not where she fought best. More than that though, Summer had trained with Emerald for most of her life, she knew how Emerald fought better than anyone else and despite their differences, this Emerald's style was barely any different then her mentor's.

For a moment, Summer could almost pretend she was training again, almost.

Summer fired, the bullet striking Emerald's weapon, encasing one of the blades in a thick shell of ice, throwing her attack off balance.

"Why are you doing this?!" Emerald demanded as she broke the ice off her gun, "I'm not your friend, I don't even know you!"

"But I know what you've been through!" Summer replied, tears on her cheeks, "I know what it's like to love someone only to realize she was abusing and manipulating you the entire time. I understand what you're going through, more than most ever would."

The lights from the Xiao Long House suddenly turned on, illuminating much of the forest edge. The gunfire must have woken up grandpa.

Summer started at the house for the moment before turning back towards Emeralds, only to find the girl had vanished into the forest.

The door to the Xiao Long cabin opened and for a moment, as her heart pounded hard in her chest, Summer contemplated going to her grandfather. Hoping she could convince Tai to help her.

Summer dismissed the thought with a shake of her head, if she did that, this Emerald would never trust her. Summer dashed off into the woods.

Even with the superior night vision that came with being a Faunus, the forest was oppressively dark for Summer. Not that it mattered, your eyes were among the last things you could trust while chasing someone like Emerald.

For a minute or so Summer had lost her, the sounds of insects and owls drowned out anything, but after some searching she heard it, the sounds of footsteps and heavy breathing

Emerald lashed out from the trees as she approached, Summer narrowly ducking out of the way, the blades nearly hitting the tips of her ears.

"I don't believe you! Everything you told me could just be a lie!" Emerald said angrily. "For all I know you're just trying to get in my head to weaken Cinder!"

"If all I cared about was hurting my sister I would have just left you stranded here," Summer pointed out.

Emerald stared at her in disbelief, guns still trained on the Faunus. Summer in turn raised her own weapons, both of them shaking in her hands.

Summer was at her limit, every moment this dragged on felt like agony.

"Please, I can't do this," Summer whimpered, her ears lowered. "Fighting my sister was hard enough, I can't do this with you."

Summer lowered her pistols.

"I know you're not her," she cried, "But you look so much like her. It's just too much for me to bear."

Summer wanted Emerald back, but she knew it wasn't possible anymore. It wasn't like Aunt Ruby, so much had changed that even if she left Cinder this moment, she would never be who she was, who she could have been. But she still had her face, and that alone made this agony for Summer.

To Summer's surprise, Emerald was hesitating, her red eyes wide with…uncertainty? Pity? Sympathy?

"Take me back," Emerald demand

"Pardon?" Summer asked, confused.

"You said you don't want to fight me, and I know Cinder doesn't want you hurt," Emerald replied "So just take me back to her."

"I'm trying to protect you from her," Summer protested tearfully.

"I don't need your protection!" Emerald snapped. "And if you are serious about wanting to help me, you'll take me back."

Summer hesitated, she wanted more than anything right now to get Emerald as far away from Cinder as she could, but she couldn't bring herself to fight her or even just leave her in these woods.

"I know you think Cinder's become some sort of monster," Emerald said sympathetically, "But I know you're wrong, she's been good to me."

'Gods, you sound just like me when I was talking about Frost,' Summer realized in dismay.

"She lied to you," Summer replied weakly.

"I know!" Emerald's reply was sharp but shockingly full of doubt, "Cinder…she must have had her reasons, and she's been good to me otherwise."

A thought entered Summer's mind, a last desperate hope to save something of this mess.

"If I take you back, could you do me a favor?" Summer requested, "Ask her why she never told you about our friend, about the Emerald we knew. Please, just ask her."

Emerald stared at her angrily.

"I'm not turning on Cinder over one mistake," Emerald said defensively.

'A mistake, huh?' Summer mused. Maybe it was nothing but the way Emerald said that, gave her a small bit of hope.

"I'm not asking you too," She assured Emerald, "Maybe you're right, maybe she has been good to you, maybe there is more of my sister in there then I realized."

Maybe Kali somehow did have a good reason, or at least a well meaning reason. Maybe she actually did care about Emerald. It wouldn't change anything but it would be a glimmer of hope at least.

And if, as Summer feared, Cinder had no good response or didn't even care to answer, maybe, just maybe that could help pry Emerald away from her.

Emerald stared at her for a long moment, even in the darkness the uncertainty and annoyance in her expression was clear.

"Okay fine," Emerald sighed, "I'll ask, now take me back."

It wasn't much but it was something. Something Summer could hold onto.

Summer fired a shot into the forest, another portal appearing between the tears. The portal bathing both of them in soft red light.

Summer wiped the tears off her face.

"Do you want to go first or should I?" She asked.

"How do I know this isn't some sort of trap?" Emerald replied, staring at her in suspicion.

"Unless you want to walk from Patch to Mistral, you're going to have to trust me on this," Summer said gently.

Emerald stared at her, "Fine," she replied, "but you're going first."

Summer nodded and stepped through the portal.

Understanding Raven's power was a bit complicated. She could vaguely sense where a few people were and open portals in a decent sized radius around them. The issue was making sure the portal opened up where she wanted it.

Thankfully her aim was true, and Summer found herself on the opposite side of Mistral Academy's main hall. Well away from the fighting and bad memories.

Emerald followed her a moment later.

"There's no one around," Emerald said in total surprise, "I thought for sure you were going to lure me into an ambush."

"I could never do that to you," Summer said softly.

"You know, I actually believe that," Emerald replied, "Thanks."

Summer smiled broadly at the remark.

"Where's Cinder?" Emerald said as she looked around.

"I think the fighting is over, one way or another," Summer said as she listened for any shouting or gunfire, "If you want my advice you should run, either you'll be able to find Cinder in the city or you'll be able to find a way out of here."

Summer knew her mother and the others had won, sheer numbers made that almost certain. And she figured there would be a lot of screaming if they had tried to capture the Fall Maiden, so odds were her sister had fled.

The others would be pissed if they knew what she was doing but at the moment, Summer couldn't bring herself to care. She wasn't going to let Emerald, any Emerald, rot in prison.

Emerald gave her a skeptical look for a moment before running off without another word, vanishing behind a building.

Summer collapsed against a wall, tears flowing freely down her cheeks once more.

She couldn't save Kali, not now anyways, and all she had with Emerald was the ghost of a chance that maybe, just maybe, she might see reason.
-----

They had won, it wasn't the victory Ruby wanted, but they'd won all the same.

The Relic of Knowledge was out of Salem's hands, even if it wasn't in friendly hands. The attack had been foiled, Haven was safe, Cinder had fled and Adam Taurus and the future Winter Schnee had both been captured. You'd be hard pressed to call that anything other than a victory.

Though that must have been cold comfort to the older Blake, who was currently staring listlessly at the night sky.

"I'm sorry Blake," Ruby said sympathetically as she approached her time-displaced teammate.

"I shouldn't have put so much on Summer," Blake said, more to herself than Ruby, "I should have known Kali would have been too much for her to handle and she would overreact to Emerald being here."

"We all agreed Summer was the best chance we had for reaching Kali," Yang replied as she put a hand on Blake's shoulder, "I'm sure Summer will be back any minute."

Ruby still didn't know what to think of Cinder of all people being part of her family. Whatever Summer did or said to her, it didn't help. Cinder seemed determined to kill her, without so much as a hint of remorse.

"And we had a good amount of success," the younger Blake chimed in, her voice sounding more uncertain than her words, "we stopped the White Fang and you guys got her to surrender."

The younger Blake gestured towards Winter, who was currently sitting by the main hall of the Academy, Jaune, Nora, Ren and Qrow all watching her until the police showed up.

"I wouldn't call that a victory," Weiss said sadly.

"She'll come around in time," Ruby said confidently.

"And she'll make convincing General Ironwood and the rest of Atlas a lot easier," Yang observed.

"Well I see you guys had better luck then I did," Summer called out.

Everyone turned to see Summer stumbling towards the group, her eyes focused on Winter before turning to her mother.

Ruby breathed a small sigh of relief at the sight of her niece. She didn't doubt Summer was strong enough to handle Emerald. But Summer saw Emerald as a friend, Ruby knew from painful experience that the Emerald she knew was a liar who was more than capable of playing with someone's feelings.

As Summer approached it was easy to see her downcast expression and that her face was red from crying.

The older Blake rushed towards her daughter, grabbing her in a tight hug.

"I tried talking to her," Summer explained wearily, "She just didn't listen."

"I know sweetie," the older Blake replied soothingly, "You did your best."

Team RWBY watched as the older Blake did her best to comfort Summer. The younger Blake staring on with wide eyes.

"So that's really my-her daughter?" she said, still struggling to process everything.

Yang's gaze shifted to the ground as Ruby nodded.

"I'll be okay mom," Summer insisted as she broke the hug, "It was a mess but I'll be fine."

"Don't do that again, please." Her mother urged. "I know Em was important to you."

"I couldn't talk to her here" Summer defended herself, "I thought I would do better somewhere else. I was wrong."

There was a great deal of pain in Summer's voice.

"I understand," Her mother replied sympathetically, "But please be more careful next time, you could have been seriously hurt."

The younger Blake's scroll buzzed.

"Uh, mom needs you to meet you by the entrance," She explained to her older counterpart. "Apparently the Mistral police have quite a few questions and she's hoping you might be able to answer some of them."

The older Blake looked at her other self reluctantly before turning back towards her daughter.

"I'll be fine," Summer assured.

"Just, don't run off again, please." her mother urged before reluctantly leaving.

"So, did Winter switch sides?" Summer asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared at Winter.

"No," Weiss said regretfully, "She wasn't listening. We just got lucky and were able to beat her before she could escape."

Ruby wished it could have easier but there was so much anger in that woman, a lot of it directed towards her. Ruby wasn't sure what to make of it. Was she really to blame for Weiss's death in Summer's time?

"Well that's something at least," Summer's replied "certainly a lot better than the night I had."

"I don't want to pry," Ruby said sympathetically, "But what happened with your sister?"

Ruby knew that was a sensitive topic to say the least but she needed to have some idea what went down with Cinder, if only to be prepared for their next encounter.

Summer shook her head in frustration, fists clinched at her side.

"I thought I could bargain with her, then I tried reasoning with her and guilting her, none of it worked," Summer explained bitterly, "Cinder isn't just deluded, she's a sadistic power hungry asshole."

Ruby and her team stared at Summer in concern, they had never really heard either Summer or her mother call Kali by that name. Ruby hated Cinder for what she did, but she didn't want Summer to share her hatred.

Even if she had big doubts on if it was even possible to make someone like Cinder see reason.

"You're not giving up on saving your sister, are you?" Ruby asked.

"Nah," Summer replied with a shake of her head, "Oh don't get me wrong, she needs an asskicking, but she's not beyond hope, not entirely at least."

Summer tugged at her red scarf for a moment but couldn't quite bring herself to remove it entirely, instead letting it hang loosely around her neck.

"Look, I don't really want to get into this right now" Summer went on, hands running through her hair, "I had a bad night and I really don't want to dwell on it."

Summer didn't sound angry, more weary then anything, but there was a tension in her voice.

"Besides, we have plenty of things to celebrate, " she perked up, "You guys saved an entire Academy, captured someone I've been fighting most of my life, and team RWBY is back together. If we were back in my time there would be a huge party for the four of you, with banners and cake and Nora drunkenly challenging everyone to fist fights. This is a big deal."

She was right, as far as Ruby was concerned. Salem's forces were scattered while they were standing in front of a mostly intact school. And she had her full team back together for the first time in what must have been a year at least. She should be happy, she was happy in truth. It was just hard not to feel guilty about being happy when things had gone so off plan for Summer, the older Blake, and Weiss.

"Nora drunk, that is a rather terrifying mental image," Weiss mused.

"This definitely isn't what I was expecting when I got here," Blake said sheepishly as she looked down, "But it is really good to be back with you guys."

"And we're really happy to have you back," Yang assured her, "I mean it."

At that, Ruby finally gave into the urge she'd been fighting since she first saw Blake appear out of the academy, and hugged her teammate. Yang and Weiss quickly joined in.

As far as Ruby was concerned, the older Blake was just as much a part of this team as her younger self was, but it was also clear to her that they weren't quite the same people. And Ruby was beyond happy the team was finally all together again. They were more than just a team, they were all part of her family. No matter what path their lives took from here.

Ruby noticed Summer watching them with a soft smile on her face, Ruby quickly made space for her, this was a family hug after all.

Summer stared at her skeptically before joining, wrapping her arms around Weiss and Ruby.

The five held the hug for a long while before slowly breaking apart.

"So I guess that means we're headed to Atlas next?" Summer sighed.

"Yep," Ruby nodded "Relic or not, we need to talk to Ironwood."

'We also need to find Yang's older self,' Ruby added mentally.

She didn't want to bring down the mood but the thought was troubling her. Her sister was likely out there somewhere, but they hadn't heard so much as a hint of where she might be, And that worried her.

Ruby trusted and loved her sister unconditionally, but as Cinder and Winter had shown, time had a habit of changing people in ways their loved ones could never have expected.

End of Chapter 3

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