SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Iron with Two Rs (New)

Iron with Two Rs

Ruby rubbed her eyes with the back of one hand as she sat up on the … on the floor. The floor of … Professor Ozpin's office?

Yes, it was Professor Ozpin's office; there was the glass desk behind which the headmaster was wont to sit, and in that chair with its high back, and there overhead were the gears of the clock, grinding on without a break.

They had ground on so much that it was dark outside.

Ruby slowly got up off the floor. "Professor?" she asked, her voice still caught in that mumbled tone that follows waking up.

There was no answer. Ruby looked around, turning in a circle. She had woken up in Professor Ozpin's office, but Professor Ozpin wasn't here. She was in his office, but he wasn't. And it was dark outside, night had fallen, when the last thing Ruby remembered was—

"Amber!" Ruby cried, as the cobwebs of her mind were all blown away, and she remembered what had happened — or what she thought had happened, based on her last memories.

The last thing she remembered was her being in her dorm room — or the Team SAPR dorm room, given her resolve to leave it — with Amber and Dove. She had been … she and Amber had exchanged words, about Sunset, and Ruby's plans, and then…

And then Amber had used her semblance on Ruby.

Ruby had seen it before. Amber had shown it to all of them, on the day before yesterday, when they'd all been experimenting to find the limits of Penny's newfound semblance. Amber had shown them the motes of golden light that drifted through the air and … and put people to sleep. The way that Ruby had been put to sleep.

But why would Amber do such a thing? Why would Amber want to put Ruby to sleep when Ruby was there to protect her?

Her dream supplied an answer: that Amber had betrayed them to Salem for the promise of her own life. But that was a dream, and while it was a dream that had been satisfying in parts and in other parts had helped her come to terms with some feelings and frustrations, on the subject of Amber — or the Fall Maiden — she couldn't jump to any conclusions. Just because she had dreamed of Amber — or someone transparently based on Amber — as a villainess, it didn't make her one.

Although what other reason would she have for putting Ruby to sleep like that?

And how had she ended up in Professor Ozpin's office? Why hadn't she woken up in the dorm room? Obviously, someone had brought her to the Professor's office, but who? Amber, or Dove? Amber had put her to sleep but then carried her to Professor Ozpin? That made even less sense than Amber putting her to sleep in the first place.

Made less sense, unless…

Ruby didn't want it to be true. She didn't want to have special dreams that told her the … the present, she guessed, or the near past; she didn't want to have worked out the whole thing in her dream when the thing that she had worked out was so terrible to contemplate.

She didn't want Amber to have betrayed them; she didn't want to believe that of her.

Ruby and Amber had never been best friends, she hadn't been — she wasn't, Ruby reminded herself to think in the present tense and not write Amber off just yet — as close to her as Sunset and Pyrrha, or even as much as Ciel, but all the same, she had liked the Fall Maiden well enough, and she thought that Amber had liked her well enough too. Amber had been scared and hopeless, but that was fine by Ruby because she wasn't a huntress. She was one of the people that huntresses had to protect, and so, she had the right to be as much of a coward as she wanted to be. Huntresses were the only people who had to be brave.

But there was a difference between a coward and a traitor, and Ruby didn't want Amber to have crossed that line, didn't want to believe that she had.

It was dark outside. Maybe the tournament was over already and Jaune and Pyrrha and Penny had come back down and found her asleep in the dorm?

But why would they take her to Professor Ozpin? And why would she be just left here like this on the floor?

Ruby walked to the windows that surrounded the chamber. Looking out across Beacon, she could see … not a lot, but some of the buildings did look kind of damaged, while when she looked to the sky dock at the back of the school, looking out across Beacon, she could see a lot of people queueing up to get on board airships: a line of people all looking really small from up here.

And beyond the docks, Vale: Vale that had gone dark in patches, all the lights off, whole districts blacked out.

While she had been sleeping, while she had been sleeping because of Amber, the attack that Cinder had warned Pyrrha and Sunset of had started.

The attack had started, and she, Ruby, had slept through it.

There was a battle raging, and she had been asleep.

Asleep!

Because Amber had put her to sleep!

Whatever her reasons, even if Amber wasn’t actively malicious, even if there was an explanation — although Ruby was hard pressed to come up with one — for what she’d done, there was no excuse for that, none at all!

Just like there was no excuse for Ruby standing around up here when the great attack foretold by Cinder had commenced.

Rose petals trailed after her, drifting down like drops of blood to land lazily upon the floor as Ruby raced across the office to the elevator. She hammered upon the button to summon the lift repeatedly, pressing it over and over again at rapid speed, not because she thought that it would make the elevator come any faster — although maybe it would, you never knew — but because she couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. She had to do something, even if it was only mashing the button on the elevator.

The lift arrived; Ruby was through the door before it had even finished opening, before the bell had rung. She pushed the button for the ground floor even before the door had opened on Professor Ozpin’s office, and she then had to wait for the doors to open fully, stay open for a few seconds that felt to Ruby like agonising hours — as agonising as the amount of time that she had passed asleep while the battle raged — before the door ground closed again, taking an eternity to do so.

Finally, finally, at long last, the lift began to descend. It would have been quicker to have thrown herself down the shaft, but at least the elevator was moving. It would get her down eventually.

And once she got down there, she would…

Well, she would join the battle, obviously, wherever that might be. Ruby found that she was forming … she was forming a guess as to what had happened to her since Amber had put her to sleep. Amber had put her to sleep for … whatever reason, Ruby still wasn't ready to condemn her just yet, but anyway, what was undeniable was that Amber had put Ruby to sleep, and then after that, her teammates had found her, and then, with the battle starting and them not able to wake her up — it was a pity that Penny's semblance couldn't work on other people, but Ruby could understand why that was; it wasn't even as though Penny's semblance stood out in that regard — they had taken her to Professor Ozpin's office. Because it was safer there than anywhere else, maybe, or because they'd hoped that Professor Ozpin might be able to wake her up. He hadn't been, or at least if he had, he'd moved very quickly afterwards to get out of his office before Ruby had realised where she was, but Ruby could understand why they hadn't just wanted to leave her in the dorm room.

It had been … considerate of them to move her.

That was not a motive she might have so readily ascribed before Amber had put her to sleep. It had reached the point where she had found it hard to attribute anything so considerate as consideration to her teammates. But sleeping, dreaming, it had … it had given her, not a whole new perspective, but it had enabled her to work out some things, to straighten out in her mind what had been a crooked maze before.

She felt as though specks had been plucked from her silver eyes.

But the consequences of that all lay ahead. For now, there was a battle to be fought and won, and she was not asleep, so she had no more excuse for failing to be a part of it.

Once she reached the bottom of the tower, then she would have to find out where exactly the battle was being fought, and then get there. Both might present some obstacles, depending on how long the battle had been raging or how it was going right now, but the more immediate issue was the 'where.' The 'where' would in some part shape the 'how.'

The blackouts that Ruby had seen from Professor Ozpin's tower suggested that the battle was being waged somewhere in Vale, and that … Ruby examined the memories of Cinder's confession, as told to them all by Pyrrha that morning: an Equestrian creature had subverted the Valish military.

Ruby did not wish, as she had wished that morning, that she had never heard the name Equestria, but she did wish that they would keep their creatures to themselves in their own world and not trouble Remnant with them. They had problems enough of their own here in Remnant, more than enough, without dealing with those of other places too.

She also wished that Professor Ozpin had acceded to her request to let them go and hunt the creature down before it could do all this. If he had, then maybe this could have been avoided. Or perhaps not; Professor Ozpin had been afraid that it wouldn't be so easy. Professor Ozpin was afraid, as Sunset was afraid, as Amber was afraid; everyone was frightened, everyone was terrified except for her.

Ruby no longer railed inwardly against that as she had done. It might be a flaw on all their parts, but when a flaw became that common, there wasn't much to do but shrug and make the best of it.

Fear was not malice, it was not wickedness; though it might produce wicked outcomes, it did not travel there by the same roads, with the same aims in mind and heart and soul.

Fear was something to be lamented, caution was something to be regretted when it gave the truly wicked freedom to act, but neither was to be … they did not deserve to be met with wrath.

Rather they should be met with pity … and forgiveness.

Forgiveness if possible.

All of that being said, Ruby could not help but be irked by the knowledge that if Professor Ozpin had allowed them to go into Vale and look for this Equestrian monster, then Amber wouldn't have been in a position to put her to sleep, and even if they hadn't been able to stop the battle, then she wouldn't have missed any of it either.

But Pyrrha's absence from the tournament would have been noticed, and not just in an 'I wonder where Pyrrha Nikos is' kind of way. More in a 'Where is Pyrrha Nikos!? Where is our Champion, where is our Princess Without a Crown? What have you Atlas scum done with her? Search high and low in all of Vale till she is found' kind of way. The kind of way that made things … awkward.

After all, they couldn't just tell everyone the Vytal Tournament had just become pointless on account of the impending attack. That might have been … bad.

But that was all in the past, all behind, all as irrelevant as the Vytal tournament itself; the battle was what mattered now — where was the battle? — she would need to find out where the battle was; was it in Vale? It seemed so, but were they fighting beyond the city too? Out by the Green Line? Had the grimm perhaps already breached the Green Line and started to advance upon the Red?

She would go…

She would go wherever the fighting was thickest. Or should she go wherever there were people most in need? After all, just because the fighting was thickest in one place didn't mean that absolutely everyone was needed there: if the fighting was thickest, it was probably because a lot of people were there already. If the grimm were attacking from outside Vale, then that was probably where a lot of people were already, but that might mean that the Valish troops who'd been taken over by the Equestrian creature would have the free run of the city to do whatever they liked — or whatever the creature controlling them liked — so maybe Ruby should go there instead.

It was a tough decision, and as the elevator continued to descend the tower, Ruby could see why people like Rainbow Dash or even Blake found it easier to just put all their trust in someone like General Ironwood, let him make all the decisions. Go here, go there, do this, do that. It was simple. It was straightforward. You didn't have to worry about whether or not you'd made the right decision because 'the General' had made it for you.

Life was simpler that way.

But Ruby didn't want that kind of simplicity. Lots of things were simple, a lot simpler than a lot of people claimed that they were, but not everything ought to be. Some things, some choices, you ought not to hand over to someone else; some choices, you ought to take responsibility for yourself, even if they were hard to make. Especially if they were hard to make.

She would go … it was pointless to decide now, stuck in this elevator, her legs twitching beneath her as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, waiting for it to reach the bottom. She didn't know what was going on; she'd only seen that parts of Vale had been hit by blackouts. For all she knew, the crisis in Vale had been resolved, and they were about to get the power back on.

For all she knew, the battle was over.

And wouldn't that be terrific? Ruby thought, half sarcastically. Only half because, on one level, of course, it would be terrific; it would be terrific if the fighting was all wrapped up and done with already and nobody was in any more danger.

But she still thought it half sarcastically because if the battle was over and she'd slept through the whole thing, then … she wouldn't be very happy about it, however nice it was for everyone else.

She shouldn't want to fight for the sake of it, she shouldn't want to fight if it meant that she put people in danger, but … she kind of did. She wanted to fight, she didn't want to sleep the battle away, she wanted to prove … Ruby was hard pressed to say what, exactly, she wanted to prove, but she wanted to prove something.

Of course, however the battle was going, whether it was taking place in Vale or outside of Vale or both or even if the fighting was over, the first place Ruby would have to go would be back to the dorm room because whoever had carried her to Professor Ozpin's office had forgotten to bring Crescent Rose with them.

She couldn't fight anywhere without her weapon; without a weapon anyway, and she might as well use hers because she'd scrabble around for a different one even if she'd wanted it.

The lift finally, finally, came to a stop, and the doors began to open on the almost fluorescent green of the tower lobby.

Ruby burst out through the doors, trailing more rose petals after her, then slowing down a little as she approached the doors that would lead out of the tower itself and into the square beyond.

She started to get her scroll out — she still had that with her, even if she didn't have her weapon — with one hand as she reached for the button to open the door with the other. She would call … she would call … Professor Ozpin? Penny, maybe. No, Professor Ozpin; Penny would know how the fighting was going where she was, wherever that might be, but Professor Ozpin could tell her how the whole battle was going and how she'd ended up in his office, and also, she could tell him about Amber putting her to sleep, and maybe he could guess why she'd done it.

And then, once he had told her everything, Ruby could decide where she was going to go.

Which was not necessarily where Penny was.

In fact—

Ruby pushed the button. The door unlocked with a clunk, and Ruby pulled it open with her free hand, stepping out into the darkness.

She had only just started to descend the steps when she saw that there was no need to call Professor Ozpin, because he was standing in the square, not far from the tower.

So, for that matter, were Penny, Jaune, and Pyrrha.

Perhaps they only just left me in Professor Ozpin's office.

Perhaps I haven't been asleep for very long after all.

I've been asleep long enough for it to get dark; the sun was still up when Amber used her semblance on me.

Maybe they didn't find me for a while?

Ruby put her scroll away; she had only half-taken out in any case, so it was an easy thing to slip it back into its pouch; as she walked down the steps and across the square to where they stood, she found herself pushing her shoulders back.

She had nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't her fault that Amber had put her to sleep.

But she was a little ashamed all the same. She just didn't want them to know it.

"Ruby!" Penny cried. "You're awake!"

"Yeah," Ruby replied, in a voice that was level and even, without much enthusiasm in it but without any lack of it either. She didn't smile. "Yeah, I am."

"Welcome back, Miss Rose," Professor Ozpin said genially.

Ruby looked at him. "Professor," she said, "I know this might sound crazy, but Amber did this to me. She used her semblance to put me to sleep. It's the last thing I remember: we were in the dorm room, and then all of a sudden, Amber was holding out her hand, and all those motes of light were coming towards me, and … and that's all I remember; it must have been when I fell asleep."

Ruby did not receive the reaction that she was expecting. Nobody gasped in shock; nobody protested that she must be mistaken or confused. Instead, Professor Ozpin closed his eyes, and his face became pinched and drawn looking as though he'd just been hurt. Penny bit her lip and looked away. Jaune looked at Pyrrha, while Pyrrha clutched at her long red sash with both hands, fussing with it as her cheeks reddened.

"You … you knew?" Ruby asked. "You knew, but … how?"

"When we found you in the dorm room, on your own," Penny began. She stopped, then started again. "We found you in the dorm room on your own," she said. "You were being eaten by an ursa, and then even after we killed it, we couldn't wake you up. And then Pyrrha—"

"I am afraid that I was forewarned that Amber was … not to be trusted," Professor Ozpin murmured, his voice soft but firm enough to silence Penny regardless. "Miss Fall told me so last night."

"Cinder?" Ruby gasped. "Cinder said…" She looked at Pyrrha. "You didn't say anything about this this morning!"

"I did not believe it," Professor Ozpin declared. "Miss Fall offered no proof, only supposition. She claimed that, because Miss Shadow was a traitor, a servant of Salem, and because she had protected Amber last night, then Amber must also be in league with our enemies."

"All this time?" Ruby murmured. "But then why would—?"

"No, Miss Rose, not all this time," Professor Ozpin corrected her. "Miss Fall claimed that this was a very recent development. I repeat that she offered no proof; in fact, she didn't even claim to know for sure, only to have surmised it based on Miss Shadow's proximity to Amber. She claimed that Salem had promised Amber safety in exchange for the Relic of Choice." He paused. "As I say, I did not believe it. I did not wish to believe it. I didn't want to think so ill of Amber."

"And so you kept it a secret," Ruby said, her voice sharpening. "Both of you." And Sunset too, she might have added, except that Sunset hadn't been in much of a position to say anything that morning, had she? She probably would have kept it a secret just like Pyrrha and Professor Ozpin, but it was hard to blame her for keeping silent from the house of Novo Aris in Vale.

And I wouldn’t have wanted to hear from her anywhere. I might not have believed her if she had said anything.

"You should have said something."

"Repeated a lie?" Pyrrha said. "Spread slanders and suspicion without grounds?"

"Except there were grounds, weren't there?" Ruby pointed out.

"Miss Nikos is not to blame, Miss Rose; I take full responsibility for this," Professor Ozpin said. "I was adamant that Amber could not have done such a thing, that the monstrous accusations were without grounds, unworthy to be entertained. Even after Miss Polendina, Miss Nikos, and Mister Arc brought you to me, sleeping, I did not want to believe it."

Ruby thought that Professor Ozpin was covering for Pyrrha a bit there, but there was no point in arguing with that. She had no doubt that Professor Ozpin hadn't wanted to believe it, just like Pyrrha. If she'd been in the room with Cinder and heard her, then Ruby wouldn't have wanted to believe it either. And it was Cinder, after all; it wasn't like she was someone incredibly trustworthy saying something that happened to make them uncomfortable; she was a snake who lied as easily as she breathed.

The fact that she hadn't been lying about this, the fact that she'd guessed right, was unfortunate, but deciding not to believe her and not to tell other people what she'd said was … it wasn't the worst thing that anyone had ever done, or the hardest to understand.

Professor Ozpin had loved Amber, and Pyrrha had liked her a great deal; of course they hadn't wanted to believe that she would be capable of selling out to Salem to save her own skin.

Ruby hadn't wanted to believe it herself, and she wasn't nearly as close to her as either of them.

She still didn't like to believe it, for all that her subconscious had essentially called it without any help from Cinder while she was asleep.

It was one thing to be afraid, to be terrified; that was fine; that was even natural in the right situation. Amber might even be the normal one and Ruby the weirdo for not feeling any fear. But to act on that fear by doing this, by turning her back on … no, it wasn't even the betrayal. Loyalty wasn't all it was cracked up to be; at some point, you might have to stand up for higher principles; there were times when it might be the right thing to betray someone, even someone close to you. Betraying them wasn't Amber's crime. Colluding in … in Ruby didn't know exactly what because she hadn't gotten any details of the battle that was — or might be — still going on was Amber's crime. Putting Vale in danger and being willing to hand one of the four Relics over to Salem, that was Amber's crime.

A crime for which it was hard to find forgiveness. Right now, the only reason not to kill Amber was that doing so would make Cinder the Fall Maiden, and while there was a solution to that too, it carried risks with it: the risk that the powers would pass from Cinder to … who knew? It might not be possible to ensure the magic transferred to someone virtuous and trustworthy.

And anyway, who is trustworthy nowadays? Everyone seems to be unreliable.

Ruby pushed that thought aside; it was making her a little uncomfortable. "Where is Amber now?"

"We're not entirely sure," Jaune said. "We talked to Benni, and she told us that she saw Amber leaving the school grounds by the road that leads to Vale; she was with Dove, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Tempest Shadow."

"And you didn't go after her?" Ruby demanded.

"General Ironwood told us not to," Penny said. "He said—"

"General Ironwood isn't your boss anymore," Ruby declared. "You're supposed to be a—" She stopped, taking a breath. Snapping at Penny wouldn't help, and anyway, she didn't deserve it; yes, Ruby would have gone after Amber, tried to catch up with her, apprehend her to be dealt with once the crisis had passed, but Penny … Penny had decided to consult an authority figure, someone older, someone who was supposed to be wiser, someone who could take the responsibility off her shoulders. As Ruby had admitted to herself on the way down the tower, there was something comforting in doing that, even if that didn't make it right.

"I'm sorry, Penny," Ruby said. "What did General Ironwood say?"

"That if we couldn't find Amber in a quick search of the grounds, or if we found out that she'd gone, we should prioritise the defence of the school," Jaune told her. "There were grimm attacking, and Rainbow and the others were struggling to keep people safe long enough for the airships to take them off."

"I see," Ruby murmured, wishing that she could shrink a little bit and in the shrinking cause her earlier outburst to be overlooked. General Ironwood's reasoning, and the reasoning of the others for going along with it, was hard to argue with. She couldn't see any grimm right now, but Jaune wouldn't lie to her and pretend that there had been a grimm attack on Beacon when there hadn't been, and it would explain the damaged buildings that she'd seen from up in the headmaster's office. If there had been a grimm attack — there had been a grimm attack; she had faith in Jaune — and if people had been in danger, which made sense, then it also made sense to make protecting them the highest priority. Protecting people, protecting the weak, was, after all, the highest good of the huntsman.

The only argument against it was that if Salem got her hands on one of the Relics, then the whole of Remnant would be one step closer to destruction, and it wouldn't matter how many people they protected from the grimm because they would all just die later, but by that argument … there had to be limits. Huntsmen and huntresses should be prepared to die for the greater good, but for everyone else? For the ordinary people? You couldn't just start shovelling their lives onto the scales like jellybeans and seeing which of them weighed less; once you did that … that was how Mantle had ended up the way it had, before the war; you couldn't go down that road.

You had to fight for every life, except when it belonged to a huntsman. Or an enemy.

No, they had done the right thing, and Ruby felt embarrassed by her earlier outburst. "Right," she said softly, "I see." She cleared her throat, but as much as she intended to run past that as swiftly as if she'd been using her semblance, she couldn't quite bring herself to look at any of them, especially at Penny. "So, what's the situation?"

"Professor Ozpin just defeated the grimm!" Penny declared.

Now, Ruby looked at Professor Ozpin. "You led the defence?" she asked. It wasn't a question that really needed to be asked — of course the Headmaster of Beacon had led the defence of Beacon — but it was one of those things that made her especially rue her Amber-induced slumber. She wished that she could have seen it, Professor Ozpin commanding the battle the way that he had commanded Ozpin's stand; she wished that she could have been a part of it, the way that Team STRQ had been part of that earlier battle.

Hopefully, she'd get another chance tonight, if the battle wasn't over already.

"No, he just killed them all," Penny said. "With this staff. There was a bright light that spread out across the whole school, and it burned all the grimm away."

"A little," Professor Ozpin began, then paused. "A rather substantial, I must admit, touch of…"

"Magic?" Ruby guessed.

"Not exactly; kinetic energy, but stored up through magical means, yes," Professor Ozpin. "Sadly, it's not something you should expect me to be able to do again."

"Hopefully, you won't need to, Professor," Pyrrha said. "Thanks to Professor Ozpin, the grimm have been destroyed at the school, but everyone is still being evacuated up to the Amity Arena."

"Because there's trouble in Vale too, right?" Ruby said. "Just like Cinder said there would be."

One of the things you did tell us that she said.

Jaune nodded. "First, it was grimm cultists attacking all over the place, but then General Blackthorn went on TV and declared martial law and a curfew, and … it all sounded pretty nuts. And pretty bad."

"Professor Goodwitch took some volunteer students into Vale to assist the police in maintaining order, before the grimm attack on the school began," Professor Ozpin explained. "I fear she may be having more difficulty than either she or I anticipated."

"You didn't go with them?" Ruby asked.

"We hadn't gotten down from the Amity Arena yet; there were grimm all around it," Penny pointed out.

Ruby licked her lips. “Right,” she said softly. “Right, of course you hadn’t; I… please go on, what happened?"

"How long have you been asleep?" asked Jaune.

"Since … before the finals," Ruby said. "Was there a finals, did you get to finish the tournament?"

"Yes," Pyrrha murmured.

"And Pyrrha won," Jaune added, a slight smile playing across his face.

"It hardly seems worth saying now," Pyrrha murmured.

"I can see why Jaune did," Ruby said softly. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said quietly. "In the circumstances—"

"I'm sure it made a lot of people very happy," Ruby told her. "And maybe that will give them some comfort tonight, even if things get … even if things are dark. And besides, like I was thinking on the way down, if you hadn't fought in the tournament, every Mistralian in Vale would have started searching the whole city for you or accusing Atlas of having you kidnapped to wreck their chances."

Pyrrha snorted. "I fear you may not be entirely wrong."

There was a moment of silence that felt almost companionable, before Ruby said, "So, the grimm attacked Amity Arena as well, or just stopped you from leaving?"

"Okay, as quick as I can, here's what happened so far," Jaune said. "Right after Pyrrha won her match, the grimm started attacking Amity Arena, but we held them off and protected everyone inside with the help of General Ironwood's airships. That's also when the Valish Defence Force went kinda nuts and started attacking the Atlesians, but they beat them and the grimm and cleared the sky. The plan was to evacuate everyone from Amity down to Beacon, since they couldn't go to Vale, but no sooner could we get down than the grimm started attacking Beacon. So we — the students — came down, leaving everyone else up in the Colosseum. We found you in the dorm room with Amber and Dove gone, and that's when we…" — he looked at Pyrrha — "realised what Amber must have done. We brought you to Professor Ozpin, found out that Amber had left the school, and then we joined the fight against the grimm. Then Professor Ozpin did his thing to destroy all the grimm, we came back here to see what had happened because it seemed like the blast had come from this way, and that's when you woke up. Or at least when you came down here." He took a deep breath.

"So what's happening in Vale?" asked Ruby. "Or with the grimm outside of Vale, have they started to attack?"

"Not yet, but it seems they are about to," Ozpin informed her. "General Ironwood and his officers believe so, at least. As for Vale, I—"

He was interrupted by his scroll going off.

"Under the circumstances, you will excuse me," Ozpin murmured. "This might be important." He tucked his cane under one arm and got his scroll out of his jacket pocket. When he opened it up, he said, "Ah, yes, it's James; this probably is important." He answered. "James?"

"Oz, have you heard Councillor Emerald's broadcast?" General Ironwood asked; Ruby couldn't see his face, but she could hear his voice emerging into the night.

"Councillor Emerald?" Ozpin asked. "No, I'm afraid I haven't."

"He broadcast from the Valish command centre, instructing all Valish forces to cease hostilities and imploring my troops to do the same," General Ironwood informed them. "He claimed that the hostile actions of General Blackthorn had been brought about by … mass delirium, whatever that means. Not long after that, my team reached the nerve centre of the Valish Defence Force and found General Blackthorn and his staff unconscious in a room that looked like a tornado had passed through it. And on the way, they passed Councillor Emerald, wounded, along with Miss Shimmer."

"Sunset?" Penny asked. "Sunset was there?"

"Penny?" asked General Ironwood.

Penny stood to attention, even though she didn't need to. "Yes, sir, sorry, sir."

"It's fine, Penny," General Ironwood assured her. "Yes, it seems that she's been keeping herself busy."

"I'm glad to hear it," Ozpin murmured. "Did your people find … anyone who was not connected with the Valish Defence Force present at the headquarters?"

"A dead girl," General Ironwood said. "About the same age as our students. They weren't able to identify her."

"I see," Professor Ozpin said softly. "And what effect has the … Councillor's broadcast produced?"

"It's taken the wind right out of the sails of the Valish," General Ironwood said. "According to my troops, they don't know what to do next, if they even knew why they were doing what they were doing. They're throwing down their weapons, and … they're like lost sheep, apparently. Colonel Sky Beak is trying to marshal them, but his problem isn't so much disobedience as aimlessness on the part of his soldiers."

"Interesting," Ozpin said, although he didn't sound particularly interested by it. "That's one less problem to worry about, thank goodness. You said Councillor Emerald was wounded?"

"Miss Shimmer took him to one of my medical frigates; he's in surgery now," General Ironwood reported. "I'm told he stands a good chance."

"Something else to be thankful for, if true; the last thing we need is another leadership contest," Ozpin replied. "Still, if the behaviour of the Valish is replicated all across Vale, then Glynda should be able to restore order without further assistance. Thank you for letting me know, James; it gladdens my heart."

"General Ironwood?" Penny interjected. "Do you…?" She glanced at Ruby. "Do you know where Sunset is now? Is she still with Councillor Emerald?"

"I don't think so, Penny," General Ironwood replied. "Unfortunately, I don't have a better answer for you than that."

"I see," Penny said softly. "Thank you, sir."

You want her to come back, don't you? Ruby thought.

She wasn't surprised, and while she might have been upset about it before tonight, now … it meant nothing to her. She didn't hate Sunset the way that she had done; sleep, a different understanding that came with sleep, had burned the anger out of her, like a fire sweeping through the forest, leaving only ash behind. The Witch of the Setting Sun was not wicked, only afraid, and fear deserved pity, not wrath. Sunset was … a pathetic creature, in some ways, in many ways; in a lot of respects, she was every bit as frightened, every bit as much a coward, as Amber was, save that Sunset's fears were for others than herself — she did not lack for personal courage, only moral courage. She deserved pity for that, and perhaps a degree of scorn, but hatred? To be the object of Ruby's undying enmity, to be her villain, her nightmare? Sunset didn't deserve that, and even if she had, she just wasn't worth it. Ruby had outgrown her; she could leave Sunset behind without a second glance, and she would.

So, then, let Penny have her back. Her and Pyrrha both, if they wanted it so, if Jaune would have it too. Let them be happy together, if they could; if they could trust Sunset. It made no difference to Ruby. She was on a different road now.

If this was what Penny wanted, let her have it.

"This is good news," Ozpin declared. "Very good news, but we still have at least one more battle ahead before the night ends. That being so, James, I will let you get to it. Pass my thanks to your doctors, for the care they are taking with Councillor Emerald and all our wounded."

"Will do, Oz," General Ironwood said. "Ironwood out."

Ozpin put his scroll back into his jacket pocket. "It is a pity that she could not prevent the wounding of the First Councillor," he said, "but nevertheless, it seems Miss Shimmer has done well."

"But now she's done, she—" Penny began. She paused. "I mean that I would … I think that she—"

"You want Sunset to come back," Ruby said. "Don't you?"

Penny didn't reply. She shuffled an inch or two closer to Pyrrha.

Ruby began to continue. "It's—"

"Yes," Penny said, raising her head and speaking in a clear, firm voice. "Yes, I do. As the leader of this team, I think that we could use her help right now. I thought so when the school was under attack, and although the school is safe, Vale is about to come under attack next, and I still think we could use Sunset's help. I think this team will be stronger if Sunset's with us. And Jaune and Pyrrha both agree with me."

Ruby looked at Jaune. Pyrrha wasn't a surprise at all, but Jaune? She'd thought Jaune agreed with her, and while Ruby no longer objected to what Penny was asking, she was a little surprised to find that Jaune felt the same way.

Or is he only pretending to feel that way because he doesn't want to upset Pyrrha?

"Whatever mistakes Sunset's made," Jaune said, "we've never regretted having her around in a fight, have we? She's always had our backs."

Having our backs was never the problem, Ruby thought. "If that's what you want," she said.

Penny blinked. "You … you don't mind?"

"Not that it matters," Ruby said. "But no, I don't. You want Sunset on this team, then you can have her. And Jaune's right: the way Sunset performed in a fight was never the issue."

"And it is all hands on deck right now," Jaune added.

One corner of Ruby's lip twitched upwards. "From what General Ironwood said, it sounds as though Sunset's been swabbing the deck already," she pointed out. It sounded, reading between the lines of what General Ironwood had told Ozpin, that Sunset had killed the Equestrian creature and taken out General Blackwood and his entire command staff, breaking the magic spell and paving the way for Councillor Emerald, albeit wounded, to defuse the situation between the Valish and Atlesian forces.

If that's all you do tonight, Sunset, then you've done a pretty good job.

"Quite," Pyrrha said. "So far she has accomplished the most of any of us."

"The night isn't over yet," Ruby pointed out. To Ozpin, she asked, "So what happens now?"

"Any students who wish are free to bolster the defences at the Green Line," Ozpin informed them. "Airships will be dropping the Atlas and Haven students off by the Atlesian and Mistralian headquarters, respectively; I'm afraid that Beacon students will also be deposited by the Mistralians and have to walk to the Valish lines; even with the situation with the Siren seemingly resolved, I fear the airship pilots may be a little skittish about getting too close."

"And what about Amber, Professor?" Pyrrha asked. "If Cinder was right, and it seems that she guessed correctly, then won't she come back for the Relic of Choice?"

"She doesn't have it?" asked Ruby.

"Benni didn't say anything about Amber having a crown with her," Jaune said. "Amber, or any of the others."

The others. "So Cinder was telling the truth about Bon Bon and Tempest Shadow," Ruby said. "And Dove and Lyra too? So was Dove only pretending to be in love with Amber, was he working for Salem all along, did he tell Cinder where to find her in the first place?"

"Cinder didn't name him," Pyrrha said. "Or Lyra, for that matter. And I should not want to believe that Dove was so capable of so monstrous a deception. Whatever Amber has done, she loves him very much, and she does not deserve to have her heart used so ill."

"She didn't," Jaune added. "I … I'd bet a lot on it. Dove … I don't know, maybe he fooled me, but why would he even try to? When we talked, we … it felt like we really got each other, you know? I mean, I'm not gonna pretend that we spent a lot of time together, but when we did, it felt like I could see him, the real him, no tricks. Like I said, maybe he fooled me, but I don't think so. I think he really loves her. He loves her so much he's willing to do anything for her, to keep her safe; even this."

"You might be right," Ruby said softly. If you are, it shows the problems that can come from loving too much. "I hope you're right too."

She had liked Dove more than she had liked Amber; he had always been nice to her; there were times when he'd been a lot nicer to her than any of her teammates. He had given her his copy of The Song of Olivia; he had told her that he admired her a great deal. It was one thing to be fooled by Amber, to miss out on Amber's betrayal, but to be fooled by Dove too? That would have been a blow, and so Ruby would be glad to assume that it did not land, to think as Jaune did that it was only devotion to Amber that made Dove act the way he had.

Mind you, when he was telling me all those nice things today, he was planning to do this. Amber didn't only decide to give the Relic away to Salem on the spur of the moment.

Still, it would be nice to think that he'd been genuine before that.

"So Amber left the school without the Relic?" Ruby said, changing the subject back to one that was more important. "Why would she do that?"

"So that she couldn't get sent away," Penny said. "If she'd stayed, waiting for her moment, then Professor Ozpin would have told her to get on an airship, and you with her, and had you flown somewhere safe. That's why she had to use her semblance on you, so she could slip away."

"That makes sense," Ruby agreed. "Except why not try and take the Relic once she'd knocked me out?"

"Too many people around?" suggested Penny.

"Are we sure that she didn't take it?" asked Ruby.

"The Relic has not yet been moved from the Vault," Ozpin declared. "I would know if it had been."

He didn't explain how he would know, but Ruby guessed that they would have to take his word for it. She was reminded of the way that the headmaster had shown up in the Vault when Amber had shown them where it was; maybe he had some sort of connection to the place that would alert him whenever there were trespassers? Maybe he had cameras placed that way and hadn't seen Amber on the footage.

He probably had some way of knowing; there was no reason for him to pretend he did when he didn't.

"So she'll come back," Pyrrha said. "Amber will come back and try to retrieve the Relic."

"Very likely," Ozpin conceded. "Which is why I shall remain here and guard the school from the return of the grimm … and from Amber and her allies, if necessary."

"Are you…?" Ruby licked her lips.

This was the choice that she had pondered in the elevator on the way down, the choice between where the fighting was thickest and where the most people were in danger. It wasn't the choice that she had expected to be confronted with — she'd thought that she might have to pick between the Green Line and inner-city Vale — but the choice in its broad contours was before her nonetheless. Beyond Vale was where the fighting was thickest, but it was also where everyone else would be: Blake, Rainbow Dash, Yang, Weiss, Ren and Nora, team after team after team, and all of General Ironwood's soldiers too. Here at Beacon was less obviously dangerous now, but if Amber got the Relic and took it to Salem, then Remnant would move one step closer to its end.

Put like that, it wasn't exactly the hardest choice. "Are you sure you don't want us to stay up here with you for when she comes?"

"I taught Amber everything she knows, Miss Rose," said Ozpin. "Fall Maiden or not, I think I can handle her." He paused, and his voice, when it returned, became graver. "As much to the point, I think I must. Everything that has … befallen Amber, everything that Amber has become has been the result of my follies, my mistakes. I must be the one to set them right; I cannot shirk the responsibility off onto any other."

"But what about her semblance?" asked Penny. "What about the way that she just put Ruby to sleep? My semblance makes me immune to hers, but what's to stop her from just putting you to sleep and taking the Relic?"

"I have my own protection from Amber's semblance," Ozpin told them, without telling them what it was. "But, if I come to feel that my judgement was too rash, too proud, too self-assured to my own detriment and that of the cause, I will summon you back to retrieve the situation with your courage." He smiled. "But, in the meantime, I think that you should go and board the airships for the Green Line, if you wish to do so; you, especially, Miss Nikos; as the Champion of Mistral — the Champion of Vytal now — and all the other charming epithets your amusingly proud people have placed upon your brow, if you were to be seen to shirk the battle, I fear your absence would be thought very strange and much remarked upon."

Pyrrha's cheeks reddened. "I fear you are correct, Professor. You make me feel very sorry to be famous."

Ozpin chuckled. "Notoriety can be a grievous imposition, Miss Nikos, but you may find yourself appreciative of its benefits in time. There are times when you may find it very useful to be well known and well-beloved."

Pyrrha didn't reply. Instead, it was Ruby who said, "So we're all going down to fight? You don't want anyone to stay up here with you?" She could, she supposed, have decided to stay up here on her own, of her own volition. She didn't have to do as Ozpin said. But while it made some sense to stay here, to protect the Relic, to make sure Salem didn't get anywhere near it, that wasn't going to be very exciting.

If Ozpin thought that he could take Amber and the others by himself, then more power to him; Ruby was sure they could always be more help on the front line.

"If you wish to, Miss Rose," Ozpin said. "I do not force anyone to go anywhere."

Ruby nodded. "In that case, I'll go with Team Iron. That way, they'll have four people, and when Sunset arrives, Team Sapphire will have four people, so it all balances out and makes perfect sense."

There was an awkward pause, a moment of silence where no one spoke, and the air seemed to become brittle between them.

"Oh," Penny said. "Are you … are you sure?"

"Yes," Ruby said. "I think that this is for the best."

She didn't mind the fact that everyone wanted Sunset back, she didn't mind the fact that Sunset might actually come back — even for good — but that didn't mean that Ruby wanted to fight alongside her.

It didn't mean that she wanted to fight alongside any of them; not Sunset, nor Pyrrha … Jaune and Penny, maybe if things had been different … but things weren't different. Things were the way they were, and it was too late to change them now. Too much had happened, been said and done, too much … had been realised, by Ruby at least. She could forgive, after a fashion, she could show mercy — more mercy than she had shown last night, for sure — but she couldn't forget, couldn't pretend that none of this had happened, couldn't go back. She had to move forward.

Penny opened her mouth, then closed it, before she said in a very quiet voice, "Okay then."

"You don't have to do this," Pyrrha murmured.

"No," Ruby agreed. "But I want to."

Pyrrha looked into Ruby's silver eyes for a moment before she held out her hand. "Then good luck, and good fortune attend you."

Ruby hesitated for half a moment before she took Pyrrha's hand, squeezing it as firmly as she could, Pyrrha doing likewise. "Same to you," Ruby replied. "Now, you left Crescent Rose in the dorm room, right?"

Pyrrha released Ruby's hand. "I … don't actually think I remember seeing it."

"Now that you mention it, me neither," Jaune agreed. "At the time, I think we were all too shocked by the fact that you were unconscious like that to think about it, but I can't place it. Penny, did you see it?"

Penny shook her head. "There's nothing about it in my memory banks," she said. "Maybe … maybe the ursa ate it?"

"The ursa," Ruby repeated. Yes, right, Penny had mentioned an ursa, hadn’t she? An ursa that had been … eating Ruby, now that was a thought. Ruby was actually kind of glad she’d been asleep for that.

Although, of course, if I’d been awake, I wouldn’t have been eaten in the first place.

And I certainly wouldn’t have let Crescent Rose get eaten.

Crescent Rose getting eaten, that was … that was not a thought she wished to entertain just yet, not unless she had no other choice.

“Do you think that’s likely?”

“Well, it did eat a lot of stuff, seems like,” Jaune replied. “The dorm room … it's kind of a mess. Some of your stuff is … ruined."

That doesn’t sound good. "Including Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked weakly.

"We don't know," Jaune replied. "Just … it would explain why we didn't see it."

"I…" Ruby trailed off. No, her weapon hadn't ended up in an ursa's stomach, they just hadn't looked hard enough; she would find it, she wouldn't stop until she did, because it was there to be found, she knew it. "I'll go and take a look myself," she declared. "Then I'll find Yang and the others. Take care of each other out there."

She didn't say anything else, nor wait for anything else to be said to her. What was the point in a drawn-out goodbye? Well, maybe it seemed hard on Penny to just go, and perhaps to Jaune too — Pyrrha seemed to comprehend the situation perfectly — but she would … she'd make it up to her. There would be time for a longer goodbye later, and for apologies.

For now, she ran, she ran away from them, burning her aura as she used her semblance, trailing rose petals in her wake as she sprinted away from the tower and towards the dorm rooms.

Along the way, she passed evidence of grimm presence — footprints on the ground, claw marks on stone — but no actual grimm; it was just as they’d said: Professor Ozpin had killed them all. She hoped he didn’t regret that he’d shot his shot too early.

For herself, Ruby kept on running.

The statue was destroyed, she could see that once she reached the main courtyard in the centre of the school; the plinth was still there, the winding rock the climbed upwards, but the huntsman and the huntress who had once stood there, the symbols of hope and courage and everything that a huntsman should be were gone. Wrecked. Smashed to smithereens and dusty fragments.

Ruby … Ruby could not help but stop and stare for a moment at the empty rock, at the statue where only the grimm remained. The heroic defenders of humanity were no more, and only the snarling beast endured, with teeth bared and claws out.

It felt … it felt almost as though it meant something.

It didn’t. Ruby didn’t believe that it did, they’d won the battle here, Professor Ozpin had killed all the grimm — but they had lost the statue.

It could be replaced, and Ruby was sure that it would be, when the battle was over, once Vale was safe, once the morning came, then it could all be replaced. Everything destroyed could be built anew.

But they could never forget that it had been destroyed in the first place.

Ruby headed inside the dorm room; the building didn’t look to be in as bad a state as the statue, but only because there was at least some of the dorms still standing. It was still a bit of a mess, with windows broken and holes in the walls, but it would be easier to repair.

But again, they’d remember that it had been broken in the first place.

The door was unlocked. Ruby bounded up the stairs, wondering just how bad it would be once she reached their dorm room. They’d told her that it was a mess, so bad of a mess that they couldn’t find Crescent Rose, but how bad was that really? What was she going to find when she got up there?

As Ruby climbed the stairs, she passed evidence of the grimm presence on the floors below: claw marks dug into the walls, doors broken down, belongings and objects strewn into the corridors; blood on the carpets. The signs were not encouraging.

They didn't get any more so when she arrived on the floor where her— where Team SAPR's dorm room was. There was the same evidence that the grimm had been here, and Team SAPR's own door had been ripped off its hinges and trampled down.

Team YRBN's door was open too, although she couldn't see the door itself. The corridor was littered with sugary drinks and snacks, bottles and cans torn open to leave dark stains, bags ripped and popcorn and candy spilling out everywhere. As Ruby walked down the corridor, with trepidation slowing her steps a little bit, Nora stuck her head out of the doorway.

"Hey, Ruby!" she cried, waving one hand.

"Nora! Hey!" Ruby cried back, a little startled by the sight.

"Ruby?" Yang said, pushing Nora gently but firmly out of the way as she stepped out of the room and into the corridor. "Ruby!" she repeated, rushing the short distance down the corridor towards her. She pulled her into a hug, but only briefly, her arms lingering around Ruby's shoulders for seconds, pressing Ruby's head against Yang's chest only for moments before she released her once again — although she kept both hands on Ruby's shoulders for the time being. "It's great to see you, but I gotta say, it's unexpected too. I kinda thought you'd have booked it out with Amber on the first airship once the fighting started."

"We would have seen her at the docking pads if she had, right?" Nora asked. "Besides, Ruby isn't the kind of person to walk away from a fight." She leaned around Yang and winked at Ruby. "Although I did think you might have rushed off to Vale to help out there."

"No," Ruby murmured. "No, I, um…" I was asleep, and I missed everything.

I was put to sleep, and I missed the battle.

I let down my guard, and someone got the drop on me, so I missed the whole battle.

I was asleep while you were all fighting to protect people.

While you were all doing your part and Sunset was defeating the monster, I was sleeping.

The fact that Ruby knew in her head that it wasn't her fault, that she couldn't be blamed for what Amber had done to her, didn't stop her from feeling ashamed of it, ashamed of what she hadn't done, ashamed of her absence, of her uselessness.

So ashamed that she didn't want to tell them about it — not to mention the fact that she'd have to tell them about Amber doing it to her, which would lead to all kinds of questions — but at the same time, it felt wrong to pretend that she'd actually fought in the battle, that she'd joined her teammates, that she'd protected anyone, that she'd done … anything. It would be stolen valour to which she had no claim.

That didn't make it easy to tell the truth.

Thankfully, Yang came to her rescue with a barrage of questions. "So where is Amber, then? Did you find Jaune and Pyrrha? Where are they? What are you doing up here?"

"Amber's … gone," Ruby replied. "And yeah, I found Jaune and Pyrrha and Penny too; I just left them to come here to … what are you guys doing here?"

"We're just seeing what the damage is; Rainbow Dash said we had a couple of minutes before the airships arrive," Nora replied. "Is that … is that why you're here?"

"Sort of, I…" Ruby hesitated for a second. "I … when I got Amber away, I left Crescent Rose behind in my room, and so I've come back to get it."

Yang stared down at her. Her violet eyes narrowed, and Ruby could hardly blame her; as excuses went, it was absolutely pathetic.

In my defence, I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a story.

"So … the battle started, and you grabbed Amber and left—"

"Yep."

"Without your weapon?" Yang finished.

Ruby swallowed. "Uh huh."

Nora winced. "That wasn't very smart of you, Ruby."

"Nora!" Ren's rebuking voice emerged out of the Team YRBN dorm.

"Hey, if no one tells her, how's she going to learn?" Nora responded.

Yang ignored Nora, but kept on staring down at Ruby.

"You really just … forgot?" she demanded. "You just up and left and forgot to grab Crescent Rose?"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Why else would I be coming up here to get it?"

Yang let out a soft snort. "I'm sure you were eager to get Amber somewhere safe, but you need to be more thoughtful. What if you'd run into a grimm on the way?"

"Then I would have been in trouble, I guess," Ruby muttered, looking down at the floor rather than up at her sister. It wasn't fun being scolded for something that you hadn't done, but at the same time, Ruby couldn't really argue about it, because if she had done the thing that she had just admitted doing to Yang, then she would have deserved this scolding a lot more than she'd ever deserved the way that Sunset and Pyrrha had talked down to her.

Yang's hands fell away from Ruby's shoulders.

"Okay," she muttered. "But it might have been better if you didn't have to come back; it … it isn't great in there."

So I've been told, Ruby thought, but didn't say it because that might have led to more questions. Instead, she walked around Yang — who stepped aside and backwards against the wall to let her pass — and towards Nora, who also retreated a couple of steps into the doorway of her own room.

Ruby couldn't see Ren in there, but she found that she could imagine him tidying up anything that was out of place, moving with a quiet efficiency to restore order to the chaos.

She stepped on something; she felt and heard glass crack beneath her. Ruby looked down. It was the picture of the four of them from Benni Havens', way back at the start of the year.

God, that was such a long time ago, wasn't it?

Look how happy we all look.

Look how happy I look.

Ruby's gaze lingered upon herself, smiling, making peace signs with both hands while Sunset rested her chin on the top of Ruby's head. The enthusiastic beam on Ruby's face, it seemed to belong to a different person. A younger person, a child. From before she grew up and realised what the people she was smiling with really were. How pathetic Sunset was, and unworthy of her admiration.

Sunset had destroyed this picture and what it meant long before the grimm reached the door.

But at least she could look down at it and feel sad instead of angry, feel pity instead of hatred. That was … something, right?

Ruby stepped past and over the picture in its broken frame, over the smashed and shattered door and into the doorway of the Team SAPR dorm room, where…

Where it would take a lot more than quiet efficiency to restore order out of the chaos and confusion that confronted her.

It was a mess. Objects had been tossed aside, mementos of their missions and battles chewed up and trampled, the bedclothes too, and the mattresses torn to shreds and scattered feathers. Books had been destroyed, their pages littering the floor.

Pages that Ruby recognised. She knelt down, pale fingers reaching out to grasp one old, faded, yellowing page, ragged now and torn down one edge, where it lay on the floor by her feet.

And Olivia rushed forward, ignoring the jeers and the mockery of the gathered knights and lords to lay her sword and shield at the feet of the King.

"Good Lord!" she cried. "I beg of you a boon, as dear to my heart as any that has ever been asked of you before."

"Peace ho, friends, let the maid be heard," declared the King. "What, child, what gift would you have of us?"

"To serve your grace, in arms and offices," Olivia answered him. "I have, I do confess, neither horse nor saddle nor gilded spurs. I have not a shirt of mail or a coat of scale, still less a glimmering carapace. But I have sword and shield to lay here at thy feet, and I have a valiant heart which shall never falter. Give me leave to prove myself to thee, and on my life, I swear that you shall not regret it."

The old wizard Osferth bent low and whispered in the King's ear.

The page fell from Ruby's trembling fingers. The Song of Olivia, her book, Dove's book, the book that he had given to her, the old book, the rare book, the seldom-found and out-of-print book was … ruined. Torn to shreds. That was one of the pages that was in good condition; others looked to be much worse, with holes in them or torn in half or worse, with bits of paper mingling with the feathers. It would take an archivist to put her lovely book, Dove's book, the book that bound them, to put it back together again would be the work of months, perhaps years, if it could be done. If there weren't pages that were resting in a grimm's belly.

There was other damage to the room, most notably the hole in the closet wall that was mirrored by other holes in all the rooms to the right of theirs, but none of that meant so much to Ruby in this moment as the destruction of her book.

It was hers, or had been hers, however you were supposed to say it. Her book, her treasure, a gift given to her. Her book destroyed, her dreams shattered, always her.

And Dove … he had been a good man, if Pyrrha and Jaune were right that it was only the love of Amber that had driven him to throw his lot in with her. He had been a good man, a good friend, a good huntsman, and that book had been a reminder of that, something to carry with her in memory of who he had been before Amber had come back — something that it might have been better hadn't happened.

But that was gone too.

Ruby sniffed, and a tear fell from one silver eye to roll gently down her face.

Ruby felt a hand upon her shoulder. Nora's hand, as Nora knelt beside her, managing to be taller than Ruby in the kneeling where she wouldn't have managed it standing up.

"It's sad, I know," Nora murmured. "Believe me, I know. Places, homes, they don't turn out to be as safe as you thought they would, as you wish they would. You see the light ahead, shining in the darkness, and you think that you've found somewhere warm and welcoming, somewhere you can rest, somewhere the darkness can't get to you. But the darkness follows, and the refuge … it doesn't last." She smiled, with her mouth closed, and with her free hand, she wiped the tear from Ruby's cheek. "But so long as you're alive, so long as you can keep moving, and so long as you're with people who care about you, then you can always start again somewhere new." She squeezed Ruby's shoulder vigorously. "So long as you're still here, and so are they, you can do anything. Everything else … it's sad, but it's nothing that can't be replaced."

Nora wasn't wrong about that — some of this stuff really was irreplaceable — but Ruby understood that she was trying, and that she made a pretty good point, even though it wasn't completely correct, and so she smiled back at her. "Thanks, Nora. How's your room?"

"Not as bad as yours," Nora admitted. "It looks like something came in through the bathroom, so that's a mess. Yang's conditioner is all over the floor, and whatever it was ate Ren's face cream, but apart from that, I think we got off … we'll be okay."

Ruby nodded. "I'm glad," she said. She stood up, half-turning so that she was facing Nora but could look at Yang at the same time. "Hey, listen, you guys are going out to fight, right? At the Green Line?"

"Sure are," Yang replied. "We were just about to head out now."

"Can I come with you?" Ruby asked. "Not down to the airships, to the line, to fight with you, make up the fourth person on your team, since I guess Blake's with the Atlesians."

"But what about your team?" Nora asked. "With Sunset away on her mission, that leaves just—"

"Penny's with them too," Ruby pointed out.

"I know, Rainbow loaned her out to them since it was just Jaune and Pyrrha otherwise, and she had Blake," Nora said. "But now that you're here too—"

"They've still got Penny," Ruby said.

"Okay," said Yang, "but that's still just three people."

"One of which is Pyrrha, and another one is Penny," Ruby declared. "They'll be fine."

"And so will we, without Blake," Nora said. "It's not like we haven't got plenty of practice managing without her."

"Nora—" Yang began.

"I'm not saying it to criticise," Nora insisted. "She's on her path, and good for her. She knows where she wants to go, where she wants to make her new home, and I honestly wish her all the best with that. I hope she's happy up in the north freezing her fingers and toes off. But I'm just saying, it's not so new to us that we can't handle ourselves. Yeah, there's only three of us, but one of them is me and another one is Yang." She grinned. "We'll be fine."

"I know you will, I'm sure you will, I'm not saying that you won't, but…" Ruby trailed off for a second. "Please, I…"

I don't want to fight alongside my teammates anymore.

Yang's brow furrowed as she took a step towards Ruby. "Is everything okay?"

"I … I'd just like to go into battle with you," Ruby said. "Even if it is only this once."

Yang stared down at Ruby for a second. She glanced at Nora, who nodded.

A smile spread across Yang's face, reaching her eyes, lighting them up even brighter than usual. "Now, how can I say no to a request like that from my little sister?"

Nora slapped Ruby on the back. "Welcome to Team Iron, Ruby. Team … Y-R-R-N Iron?"

"Team Yarn," Ren suggested, unseen, his voice floating out of the YRBN dorm room.

"That's a terrible name," Nora replied. Her voice dropped. "We'll spell Iron with two Rs; it's fine."

Yang clasped Ruby on the shoulder. "This is gonna be awesome," she said. "But remember to bring your weapon this time."

I really wish I could have come up with a different excuse. "Yes, Yang," Ruby muttered as she turned away and walked into the room.

It was a mess, which made it hard to see things, but it wasn't immediately obvious where Crescent Rose was. Ruby could see why Pyrrha, Jaune, and Penny hadn't noticed it; it wasn't as though it was sitting right there and they just hadn't bothered to look.

Ruby walked forwards into the room — she couldn't avoid stepping on scattered pages, as much as she tried not to — before getting down and looking under the beds; hopefully, it would have — yes! There it was! Under Jaune's bed, it must have been kicked there by the grimm while it was rampaging around. Crescent Rose sat in shadow, but it seemed to almost glow regardless. The room around it was in ruins, but it was pristine, untouched, untarnished. As Ruby stretched out her small hand to grab hold of it, as her fingertips touched the crimson metal, she felt a bolt of lightning jolt up her arm.

As she pulled out the weapon from under the bed, as she stood up with Crescent Rose in her hand, Ruby felt … better, stronger, lighter.

She felt ready.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go."

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[Mastermind4892]

I'm reminded of when Fluttershy was criticized for taking so long to be more assertive. She responded "Yes, it took me a while to get there. But can you honestly say that you could learn something one time and completely change who you are?"

Ruby's problem will take time, but great progress has been made, further than before. It's not perfect, but Ruby's current stance still relieves a massive seven-month-old weight from my shoulders. She's taken a major step now through the Stages of Grief (she's probably at Bargaining now) in her relationship with Sunset and her team. Even if she has much to learn, it is no longer filled with baseless hate.

And that can be worried about later. So, let's get out there! We have a battle to win!

[Kiue Jin]

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Honestly, Ruby at least taking the time to think and say 'Okay, this is perfectly understandable why they didn't tell me what Cinder said about Amber' to herself is a major step forward.

[AngelicTitan]

And so Ruby’s gone from Sapphire to Iron, and it seems like things won’t become better until after the time-skip; I really hope we got to see another version of the Wall debacle and Ruby having to face her own Breach-scenario and having to live through Sunset’s shoes and maybe kinda of forgiving her by literally “losing” Yang for it? It’s been kinda of hinted at with Ruby joining Iron, and Yang’s whole character arc this few chapters
I want to see the new SAPP fighting on the outskirts of the city; seeing how Sunset and Penny may function as a pair and how different it will be.

[Mastermind4892]

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And in the mean time, Ruby being able to spend some quality time busting up Grimm with her big sister again will be good for her. A familiar element she grew up with who always felt “safe” and never “abandoned” her. As such, a few words from Yang will help the healing process more than anyone else can.

[Stet709]

When I read the title, I figured Ruby would be going with Iron. So once Sunset is back with the others, we'll have SAPP as Sapphire and YRRN as Iron.
I think Penny knows Sapphire will need Sunset's leadership so she's willing to hand the reins back to Sunset.
...
I swear that pun wasn't intended.

At least Sunset's accomplishments tonight have been noted, even by Ruby.
Though, just wait until Sunset reveals that it wasn't her that killed the Siren, but Cinder

[Luviere]

She wasn't surprised, and while she might have been upset about it before tonight, now … it meant nothing to her. She didn't hate Sunset the way that she had done; sleep, a different understanding that came with sleep, had burned the anger out of her, like a fire sweeping through the forest, leaving only ash behind. The Witch of the Setting Sun was not wicked, only afraid, and fear deserved pity, not wrath. Sunset was … a pathetic creature, in some ways, in many ways; in a lot of respects, she was every bit as frightened, every bit as much a coward, as Amber was, save that Sunset's fears were for others than herself — she did not lack for personal courage, only moral courage. She deserved pity for that, and perhaps a degree of scorn, but hatred? To be the object of Ruby's undying enmity, to be her villain, her nightmare? Sunset didn't deserve that, and even if she had, she just wasn't worth it. Ruby had outgrown her; she could leave Sunset behind without a second glance, and she would.

Wow, ok, fuck you too.

"You might be right," Ruby said softly. If you are, it shows the problems that can come from loving too much. "I hope you're right too."

Ugh, i can't even with this girl.

It didn't mean that she wanted to fight alongside any of them; not Sunset, nor Pyrrha … Jaune and Penny, maybe if things had been different … but things weren't different. Things were the way they were, and it was too late to change them now. Too much had happened, been said and done, too much … had been realised, by Ruby at least. She could forgive, after a fashion, she could show mercy — more mercy than she had shown last night, for sure — but she couldn't forget, couldn't pretend that none of this had happened, couldn't go back. She had to move forward.

Bro what? I get that you have beef with Sunset, but what beef you got with the rest of them? All they said is that they want Sunset back. And then she says that she could "forgive" and show "mercy". What? God please forgive me, for I'm ABOUT TO SIN! How is she this delusional? You call that mercy? I swear every time she speaks i want to bitch slap the red out of her.

In all seriousness, this is a good chapter. The writing is SO good, even with Ruby, no, especially when it comes to Ruby. I love her the way she is now, i love just how delusional she is, and i love how jealous she is. She is a 15 years old child, of course she is jealous, of course she still think that the world is just black and white. I love and hate her at the same time, but i hate her in a way that Scion intended. I know she will turn around in the future, but in the moment, i hate her. So well written. Also, I'm surprised it was Penny that said that she wanted Sunset back. I knew Pyrrha wanted her back, so i assumed she was going to press the issue of when to bring her back, so my surprise was immense when Penny is the one who said it, and sticked to it. Good girl.
The fact that Ruby doesn't want to fight with her team anymore, it's not a good look in the eyes of team SAPR. I am kind of rooting for the team to not want to take her back when they will eventually have to. She made her choice, and she made it because she is jealous. Jealous because she was not made team leader and jealous because the team likes Sunset more then her (or so she thinks). When the time comes, i really hope for her former team to give her a reality check. Unfortunately, team SAPR is made of people who can't seem to say no to Ruby. Pyrrha and Penny are just sweet, and can't bring themselves to say anything. Jaune just goes along with Pyrrha (i actually think he could be the only one to take Ruby's stupidity down a peg), and Sunset feels like she's kissing Ruby's ass to much for my liking. So i can't wait for Scion to solve that, because it's a hard thing to solve.

[Mastermind4892]

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Ruby made a big leap of progress in this chapter. Her views are no longer colored by hate, and that was the hard part. Ruby's already acknowledging Sunset's work thus far with an admiring smile, and now she needs more time to process.

More importantly, there will be more growth made tonight. The unavoidable kind. Barring whatever might happen in the coming battle, Lady Nikkos still has no intention of leaving before giving Ruby a piece of her mind. Not only does she have the resolve to do what SAPR cannot, Lady Nikkos is actually Ruby's worst enemy. Flowery speeches won't work on her. As a woman who reveres honorable virtue and gallant legends herself, she's the only one who can throw Ruby's ideals back in her face.

And there might even be a few stern words from Ironwood...

[Snowdrifter]

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I certainly hope you are right.

Lady Nikos might be Ruby's only hope, and the only person Ruby would see as an authority figure who isn't, well, Ruby Rose, Supreme High Judge of all Hunters and Huntresses, Adjudicator of All.

I still fear for Lady Nikos cane though, since applying it upside the densest head in Remnant can't be good for it....

[Thisguyhere]

So she's gone from "These traitorous pretenders don't deserve the title of huntress!" full of herself to "These pathetic, pitiful cowards can't help their inadequacy" full of herself...
Uh, yay progress? I mean yeah, but still... Oof

[Mastermind4892]

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Lady Nikkos was able to give her daughter a wake-up call. Remind her of their family's virtues of loyalty to blood debts and to sworn comrades, and that she would rather Pyrrha have forfeited all trophies than abandon her comrades. Especially out of fear of Ruby, like a coward. It was Lady Nikkos who inspired Pyrrha to stand up to Ruby's decision, and so I can only imagine what she has in store for Ruby herself.

I'm also curious if Ironwood will say anything to Ruby. The military takes a much broader and deeper look at a situation. They ask, "Why was this allowed to happen in the first place?" Why were they even on that train at all? According to Rainbow Dash's report, their reconnaissance mission was accomplished the moment they confirmed the White Fang's presence, destroyed the jammer, and alerted Beacorn's Huntsmen and Atlas' fleet. The White Fang's defeat was certain, and losses would be minimal at worst. Rosepetal was depleted and Sapphire was exhausted, and thus going onto the train would've been an unnecessary risk. Sunset and Rainbow recognized this, but Ruby insisted on going anyway and whipped Pyrrha and Blake into a do-or-die fervor. Sunset was thus forced into an impossible situation, and Ruby was the one who put her there. Needlessly. And Ironwood detests needless sacrifice.

[Stet709]

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I like it that Penny was the first to speak up. For one thing, she is the leader right now and it makes it seem like she's not afraid to stand up to Ruby and is certain in the assertion that Sunset is needed right now. She's got the childish naïveté that Ruby has without the zealotry that makes Ruby biased against Sunset... and apparently her whole team now too. Ruby seems to be disappointed her team has changed their tune, Jaune especially.

[Mastermind4892]

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Jaune also realized that, despite his (justified) ire at Sunset putting his friend in mortal peril, she did not deserve exile. Like Pyrrha, Jaune remembered and then openly admitted how much he owes Sunset for all she's done for them, such as covering his fake transcripts.

Despite all the concerning things Ruby has said so far in this chapter, do you want to know the one that actually scares me? When Jaune spoke of how Dove blindly follows Amber's decisions?

"You might be right," Ruby said softly. If you are, it shows the problems that can come from loving too much.

That right there has dangerous implications, dancing on a knife's edge. Know what's funny? Ruby believes everything she's doing is in honor of her mother's example as the ideal huntress. But this implies that Summer Rose did not love her teammates at all, let alone Tai Yang... or her family. I'm sensing a flaw in this logic...