https://youtu.be/QHlTMxBzguI

[The Lament of Eustace Scrubb--The Oh Hellos]

Yang and Ruby had been sitting out by the steps outside.

"Salem always wanted me alive," Ruby had said to her. "She used to kill Silver Eyed warriors...but what if now...she's found another way to use them...and it happened to Mom?... What she said before...like she knew something we didn't."

"I don't know, Ruby," Yang said. "But Mom...she was...well, she was a huntress. I don't think this changed anything about that. I mean, that thing...it's not like it was...really...still a person, right? Mom is still a hero."

She kept trying to console her, and for a brief time it seemed to work, but even after perking up slightly, Ruby still felt off...and finally, she came back to it.

"But Salem might have turned her into a monster..." she buried her face on her shoulders. "I don't know if I can...deal with it.... And what if she...turns me into one...?"

"I..." Yang had no words.

They just sat there for a long time till Shine finally came looking for them.

Yang shot her an annoyed look.

Shine sighed and sat down on the other side of Ruby.

"The others want to make a plan," she said. "And we don't have a lot of time."

Ruby nodded. "I know... I just...I don't have any ideas..."

"We have a few," Shine said. "But first, are you okay?"

"Oh, sure," Ruby said.

Pause.

"Actually not really." Ruby slumped.

"Seeing that thing must have been pretty hard to take." Shine already knew. "Believe it or not, I may understand better than you think. I've seen some stuff over the years."

"I doubt it was anything like that," Yang said.

"Or it was exactly like that," Shine said. "You don't know my life, Yang. The point is, I understand the horror of it. But if I can set your mind somewhat at ease, no one, not even Salem, can truly own the soul of someone else. Whatever that monstrosity was, it's just a shell of its former self. Some of the life maybe still there, but nothing that would truly resemble a soul. You see it had no Aura anyway. Perhaps she gave it some genetic immunity to silver eyes, but it was still affected by our Spirit. Some laws cannot be broken. Remember that your body is just a shell. Whatever...desecration Salem commits against it, she doesn't own us. She doesn't own your mother either. Your mother made her choice. Salem may or may not have used that to mock her... Evil goes to great lengths to do that, but you see, it's just because it grasps at straws. Evil knows it's limited to this sorry world and so it's all the more viscous because it knows that, in passing, we can be free of its effects. I cannot promise you that something did not happen to your mother, but I can assure you everyone who truly seeks Salvation, sincerely, finds it. People who give up, don't. And I can promise you that there are powers higher than Salem's, and nothing she has done could not be undone by them, should they choose to help. So even if this is horrifying, it's not the end of the line."

Yang would not have thought Shine would actually have anything helpful to say here, but surprisingly it was kind of comforting.

Ruby sat up. "You think so?" she said.

"I know so," Shine said. "Magic is ugly, but it's finite. God is not. Don't be afraid of Salem's disgusting experiments. They're just shadow things. That's all that woman has left. I can't explain why it works, but I know it won't win...if that helps."

Ruby wiped her eyes. "Actually...it kind of does...a little... It's...still creepy and...horrible...but...I know my mom wouldn't have just...given into Salem...not my real mom."

She rubbed her arms. "How did you know that music would work on it?"

"It worked at home," Shine said.

"Home?" Yang said.

"Sure," Shine said. "In my world, most of the monsters talk anyway--and try to control people. I find the Grimm almost relaxing to deal with by comparison...except that they look disgusting...but you win some you lose some things, I guess."

"Did you just say in your world?" Yang said.

"Did I?" Shine got up. "We don't have a lot of time. Come on. I think the others may have an idea we can work with. Also, we got word about Cinder. Seems your uncle and my boyfriend have finally broken out of jail--or got broken out. Winter is helping us now also."

"The heck did we miss?" Yang asked.

"A lot," Shine said.

"Okay," Ruby said reluctantly, "let's go."

She walked inside.

Yang glanced at Shine.

"This doesn't make me like you," she said, "but I guess...you kind of calmed her down...so...thanks."

"I'll savor that," Shine said, "since I'm pretty sure you're going to be mad at me again by the end of today. But I appreciate it. Don't feel bad, by the way. You were there for Ruby, but these are matters you just have never been taught about. It's easier for me--I was trained for it. But no one is just...comfortable with this stuff right off the bat. There's no shame in not knowing the answer, just in pretending you know it when you don't."

"I don't need your pep talk," Yang said.

Shine raised an eyebrow. "I heard what you said to Salem, about Summer. Don't think I don't know it's going through your head too. It's fine to have questions, Yang. But don't let it make you bitter. And don't blame Salem alone for what happened to her. Some of it was the gods' doing. Honestly, who leaves a Grimm pond lying around for anyone to fall into anyway?"

"She's still responsible for all this death," Yang said.

"Is she as responsible you think?" Shine asked. "Maybe for the people you've lost...but for everyone? Everywhere?... Even she can't pull that one off. People are easily corrupted on their own also. And here's a thought--if Salem herself can't be redeemed, that makes the gods really capable of screwing this whole thing up for us all. Their power must be broken in order to free your world, mustn't it? Or they can do to anyone what they did to her and it starts all over. Think further ahead than just stopping Salem."

She went inside.

She left Yang with a whole new thing to worry about, that was for sure. But she had no time to think of it. She followed her.

* * *

"So Penny could go to the Vault--" Ruby was on board with the plan so far. "--with Fria, and we use the Staff to make Penny a new body."

"That's what I'm thinking," Weiss said. "Without the virus, then she won't hurt Fria...and Fria...well...can just decide who to give her powers the old way. And even if it's no one we know, we'd have the Staff already, so we could at least keep that away from Salem."

"The odds are it will be someone we know," Ren said. "She's only been around us the last 24 hours. Or Winter. So we'll probably have both. The trick is, not letting Cinder know who it is."

"You may not be able to help it." Shine joined them, sitting down. "But without the Hound, at least the chances are better."

"And then our thought was," Jaune said, "why not make a sort of portal--for everyone? Using the Staff. Like your doorways, but for several places in Mantle, and then we'll take everyone to Vacuo."

"Wait a minute," Shine said. "Apparently I missed something here. You want to make portals? Do you know how difficult that is?"

"But you do it," Weiss said. "And Raven Branwen can do it."

"Hers are very limited, and mine have rules," Shine said. "What will the rules of yours be?"

"Well, I got the Lamp out of some place that's definitely not Remnant," Yang said. "So where is it? Another world? A pocket of reality like some sci-fi movie?"

"Sure...fiction..." Shine muttered, then aloud she said, "Portals are very complicated. If you do it wrong, or break the laws, you can cause big problems for people. If the Staff could even suit that kind of power, you have no control over what goes in or out, the way you're doing it. Could you monitor them? Could you be sure no Grimm would follow them?" [An excellent point of contention, really. Why didn't that happen?]

"Well...but still, it's the only way we could ever get that many people to Vacuo," Ruby said.

"On that note--" Shine looked at Oscar and Pyrrha. "--why Vacuo? You want to dump a kingdom's worth of people into the place with the least natural resources and transportation of any kingdom? Why not make portals to Vale and Mistral also?"

"We can't do that. They won't be ready for it," Weiss said.

"But Vacuo will?" Shine said.

"No, but Haven didn't have any huntsmen left in it," Yang said.

"And Vale is still fighting off Grimm," Jaune said.

"Is it?" Shine said. "I paid a little visit to our allies earlier today, remember, while I was with Fria."

"Wait...you did what?" Yang said.

"Yeah, we set it up a few days ago," Oscar said. "Got some people involved. Remember?"

"But...I didn't realize you thought it out that far ahead..." Blake said.

"Let's just say we all saw this coming," Shine said. "I checked in with Vale today. At least 75% of their Grimm cleared away after the Wyvern was gone. The general feeling in the kingdom was so upbeat after that, they stopped drawing more, and the others were way less bold. Even though it hasn't been that long, they already have the problem under control enough to be ready to take a few more people. And if we send them huntsmen, as some people in Atlas and Mantle are, they could help them. Also it would replenish Haven's forces too. Robyn has a bunch of Huntresses who need somewhere to go. There're the student teams also. And all The Faunus will do better if you put them where the new and improved White Fang is, and I'm sure they'd be happy to help them out more. We already have permission from the new leader, Gira Belladonna, to send them faunus and humans also, as long as they're willing to be nice about it."

"Wait, what? Your plans were that detailed?" Yang was incredulous.

"When did you do all this?" Jaune said.

"Only took a few visits," Shine shrugged. "Wally also messaged me that they have someone keeping an eye out for Watts and Cinder, so we'll hopefully know once they get close. It's not a huge advantage, but it could save our lives."

Everyone stared at her.

"And you did all this without telling us?" Weiss said.

"No, I told Oscar," Shine said.

Oscar smiled nervously. "I just thought it was a good idea--to cover our backs, and to stay in touch with the allies we made in the other kingdoms...and it works out now, because we don't have to put everyone in Vacuo. We can just take some of the people there. Maybe if we could organize the more tough huntsmen. But that would take time."

"If you're set on the portal idea," Shine said, "then organize it by direction, one for each kingdom. Tell people that when they go in, if you can. Otherwise just try to place them strategically. But even if we can't be that specific, it's smarter this way." [Yeah, duh... How much brain power would it have taken to realize that dumping everyone in Vacuo wasn't the perfect idea...? And couldn't the other kingdoms use reinforcements? Seriously, CRWBY, do you even try to think out these plans?]

"It's like you knew we were going to do this," Ren said strangely.

"Nah, I was just listening to the Guy Upstairs," Shine pointed upward. "I knew there was a reason this idea came to me."

They all stared at her again.

"So, it worked out," Pyrrha said cheerfully. "But you're still not sure about the portal?"

"Given the limitations of your world, it might be all right to use them, for you," Shine said. "I advise caution... I'd prefer not to, but since Ironwood shot down the ships...yeah, we don't have a lot of choice. So maybe it's all right, but be very, very careful. It would be better if I could help you with that part. I have more of an idea how to limit it, but I couldn't use the portal."

"Why not?" Pyrrha said.

"When you have a portalling ability like mine, or even like Wally's power, any different type of portal use seems like static interference," Shine said, "but more dangerous. You can get sick or pick up...baggage, so to speak. Especially if it's magic, which this is. I can't use it--too much conflict. Plus it could frick with it for you guys also if our powers clash. Wally and I will have to come to Vacuo on our own and meet you there."

"Well...that's not great," Jaune said.

"But you can, right?" Weiss said. "It doesn't matter how far we are from you?"

"Nope," Shine said.

"Then it's not a problem," Yang said. "The two of them can handle getting there on their own. They're, like, really fast. I say we go for it."

"As long as the rest of us can, I suppose." Pyrrha didn't quite like the idea of separating, but there it was.

"Okay...so how do we deal with General Ironfist?" Emerald said.

She and Hazel had been quiet this whole time, but of course they wanted to know how to stop the bombing part.

"Actually, I kind of thought you might be able to fix that one." Weiss looked at her. "If you're willing to help us out."

"Be nice, after everything," Yang said sourly.

"If it gets me out of this kingdom," Emerald said grumpily. "But don't expect me to be all happy about it like you. What do you want me to do?"

"Fake Ironwood out," Oscar said. "The real Penny and Maiden will be with the group sent into the Vault. The hole Ozpin blasted in there should still be there, so we can fly in. Then another group can go and take care of Ironwood, and I'm thinking that's where Winter and the others could help take out the bomb there--and him himself."

"For 4 huntsmen-level people and Wally, that should be cake," Shine agreed.

"So...is that it?" Ruby said. "This is our whole plan?"

"That, and using the tower to message everyone in Mantle and Atlas to get in the portals," Jaune said.

"Oh, is that all?" Shine said, amused.

"I guess there's a lot that could still go wrong," Blake mused. "But, actually...with your additions, I think it's at least going to save some people, right? We just have to make sure all of us end up in Vacuo... Could we color code it?"

"Yeah, good idea." Weiss was writing this down on her scroll. "Okay..."

"About the Staff..." Oscar said, "Ozpin...wants to talk to you all about it. And some other stuff. Can I put him on?"

They all looked at each other.

"Go ahead," Ruby said.

Oscar's eyes changed...which was weird for Emerald, since she hadn't seen it before.

Hazel frowned but didn't fly into a fit of murderous rage...so he was improving.

Ozpin held his cane out and spoke as usual, rather mysteriously, but at least he didn't sound like Oscar as much that way.

"I was recently reminded of an old fairytale. A young girl flees the consequences of a choice, to a magical place. But never having learned from her initial failure, she only succeeds in spreading it. I failed all of you." He paused. And then went on. "I should have trusted you with the truth. And should never have run the day you discovered it."

"It was rough," Yang said. "But..."

"I think after everything that's happened here," Blake finished, "we understand. Trust is..."

"Trust is risk," Weiss picked it up. She glanced at her family, Klein included.

"If I could add," Shine spoke up. "Even when you do not trust someone, it is no excuse to lie to them. Simply admit that you can't always tell them the full truth."

"Like you did," Pyrrha connected the dots. "You kept telling us that there were things you could not answer...but in doing so, you at least let us know there were things we were missing, and you never asked us to make big decisions based on incomplete information...like we did."

"Not you," Jaune said. "But the rest of us."

"To be honest, it was my fault," Ruby said. "I started it... Even Oscar tried to warn me." She smiled at him weakly. "I should have listened then. I was...so upset at Ozpin for not telling us, but then, it's like, I swung right into it myself."

"This is something I've learned in my time of working with people," Shine said. "The more harshly you criticize someone for their own sins, without mercy, the more likely you are to fall into it. Because even judging other people gives birth to sin in of itself, you tend to blind yourself when you point fingers. You forget to look at your own sins, because you can focus on someone else...and sin so loves to pounce on us when we're like that."

Ozpin nodded. "True words, Miss Likstar."

"But for the record--" Shine sat back. "--I've never agreed with anything you've said so much, Ozpin. That was actually pretty humble and profound."

"But your words are especially humbling," Ozpin said, "because perhaps if I did not do that, these children would not have followed in my footsteps...or poor Qrow...who's quite understandably still angry with me right now."

"But it's also so easy to fall into that trap," Pyrrha spoke. "I've been angry at you for the choices I made, but I could have decided not to make them, to stand by what I felt at the time, instead of what you told me. You didn't force me to do it. I think...some of you all had that misconception, but, it wasn't true. I was...misled, but not to the point where I didn't know it'd be...basically killing someone else."

She looked down at her hands. "I still feel guilty about it."

The others looked at her somberly.

"Huh?" Emerald didn't get it. "Did I miss something?"

"Not now," Hazel muttered to her, and she shut up.

"Still, Miss Nikos, I do owe you an apology," Ozpin said. "It was wrong not to warn you. And it was...cowardly, on my part... In a way, reliving my past with all of you, and Oscar, has made me realize how afraid I have become over time. And I've forgotten what I used to think mattered the most. I don't know how to fix that--I've made the same mistakes over and over again. But if you can learn from my mistakes, then, at least, I will not be spreading them."

"Listen to him on that one," Shine said. "I may not agree with Ozpin's methods most of the time, but one thing--he does still care about how people feel. For all his flaws, you won't get that from your other leaders you've been dealing with the last couple weeks. And they say, better a fool you know than a fool you don't know. You don't have to do everything Ozpin says in order to benefit from his experience. Think for yourself, but learn from him. He still has plenty of things he has picked up over many lifetimes that could benefit all of you. Stop trying to tackle the problems of the world, when you've not even had to tackle the problems of adulthood yet, and expecting to do it without the guidance of your elders. Even I still need advice, and I'm already an adult. If Ozpin can be wrong, after all this time, then you certainly can be."

Pause.

"I get the feeling you're talking about Uncle Qrow also," Ruby said.

"I...have been feeling a little bad about how we've treated him," Jaune said. "I was so mad at him over--" He glanced at Pyrrha and then stopped. "And then it was like we just stopped thinking about what he was going through, because he worked for Ozpin...but he was duped too."

"And even when he wasn't, he is just human," Pyrrha added. "I was angry at him also, but still, he's been through a lot, and he did tell me he was sorry, in his way. And he's trying to help and support all of you. And he's not getting anything out of this in return, really, so...we should be especially grateful to him."

"Geez, she is a saint," Emerald muttered. "I would still be pissed."

"When you've realized your own mistakes more, you tend to let other people's go easier," Hazel said gruffly. [Boy, one day sure gives him a lot of personality, doesn't it? But also I got the impression he might be smarter than he lets on, just that Ozpin was his blind spot...or he's just written inconsistently, that too.]

"Some things never change, huh?" Blake said. "Pyrrha is still telling us all that we're too negative."

"I didn't mean to--" Pyrrha began, but they all started laughing.

"We're just messing with you," Nora said. "No...and you're right--everyone's been pretty hard on all the adults in our team."

"Not to break up the party," Hazel said, "but you don't have time for all of this."

"Right," Ozpin said. "Thank you, Hazel."

He got a look that said "we're not on that good a terms yet."

He cleared his throat nervously. "Anyway, I need to talk you about Ambrosius, the...genie of the Staff. He's a bit...of a character. You have to give him very detailed instructions. Blueprints are even better. He will give you exactly what you ask for."

"Those djinn," Shine said. "You know, they are mischievous spirts in mythology of my world. Not ones I'd be relying on."

"We have little choice, Miss Likstar," Ozpin said.

"Did you say your world?" Ren said.

"You said that before too," Yang said.

"I know I say this a lot," Shine said, "but we really do not have time right now for me to answer that. Ask me later. Or ask Pyrrha or Oscar--or Ozpin, even. But not now."

"She's right--you don't have time," Hazel said.

"We have, like, 15 minutes left," Jaune realized. "So...okay, if we're done planning, then we have to go. Who's going to go meet Ironwood?"

"Since I have the plan for it," Weiss said, "and we're faster anyway, I say team RWBY goes with Fria and Penny to the Vault, and JNPR goes with you. Then you can do the broadcast thing."

"All right..." Jaune said.

"And us?" Emerald asked.

"You're with us, then," Jaune said. "If...uh, that's okay with you...Hazel..." It was still weird to talk to him.

"I don't care what I do as long as I get out of here before it collapses," Hazel said.

"If Cinder does happen to show up, you'll need powerful fighters ready for her," Shine said. "She fights dirty, and she'll have backup, so perhaps Hazel could be on standby for that also."

"Fine," Hazel said.

"I'll go with you guys, then," Oscar said. "That's probably going to be more trouble then than it is getting to the Vault, as long as we have the General distracted."

* * *

Winter got a message while they were waiting downstairs.

Robyn had gotten the hall cameras on loop while they were waiting.

"Where did you learn all this?" Wally asked her.

"Around," she shrugged.

Winter finally got the message from Ironwood that team RWBY had decided to surrender.

"All right," she said, pushing her hair back nervously. "I guess this is it."

Qrow and Robyn and Wally quickly took out most of the robot soldiers on the level.

"The real ones will be harder," Qrow said.

"Speak for yourself, Old Man." Robyn rotated her arm.

"Just make sure you don't get caught till we take down the General," Winter said.

Qrow frowned. "Be easier if we just took him out--permanently."

Pause while they all looked at him.

"I'm not sure that's right," Robyn said. "I mean...I get it, but there's a better way. I think this plan will work fine."

"It's still risky," Qrow said. "A lot could go wrong with just locking him up, with my luck..."

He looked angry.

"We're not killing him," Winter said firmly.

"He's lost it, Schnee," Qrow said. "He turned his back on all of us--his friends, his mentor, his people. He's a shell of the man he used to be...but I should have seen it before."

He shook his head. "In a way, this is my fault... Even you saw this coming." He glanced at Wally. "But I didn't."

Wally looked at the girls and Marrow like,"what do we do here?"

Shine was the one with the wise words. He kind of just listened to people and was supportive...usually.

Robyn pursed her lips. "Look, I get it, you're hurting," she said. "You've been hurting for a long time...and you're upset about Clover."

Marrow shook his head.

"But this won't make it better," Robyn said. "I don't believe in revenge, really... I think it just hurts more people. And I might...bend the law a little, but murder? I don't know about that. If we start killing ourselves, are we really better than that scoundrel Callows?"

Wally had never had this much respect for Robyn. So she could be reasonable? Who knew?... Maybe she just sucked at politics. [My take on her character exactly.]

"And I have to tell you," Robyn added, "I think you're the better huntsmen--"

"But I wasn't," Qrow cut her off. "I was going to let this happen...all of it, because it was easier than standing up to him. I left that for the kids... In fact, I led them here. Yet again, everything I did was wrong!"

He sounded so upset there that even Winter felt bad--but also like this was dangerous.

She looked at her scroll. She had maybe 10 minutes to get up there before the General would get suspicious about where she was. This was not the moment for Qrow's crisis!

"We don't have time for this," she said aloud, firmly. "Have it out later, Qrow. We have to stop this now."

"Yeah, and then what?" Qrow snapped. "Some plan that may or may not work? It probably won't, with my Semblance and the general success of our plans over all. We're probably all fricked."

Wally found this uncomfortable, but he sympathized with him too.

"Qrow..." Robyn tried.

"It's better than nothing, right?" Marrow tried to redirect the conversation, but it didn't work.

"But if there's one person I'm more angry at than myself, it's Ironwood." It was telling that Qrow wasn't using his nickname anymore. "Because he did this on purpose! He let this happen! Played right into her hands, and for what? A plan that won't even work?"

"And losing our heads about this will not help anything," Winter said tightly.

"After all this, you're still trying to protect him." Qrow probably didn't mean this to be as harsh as it was--he was past being able to have a filter. "You realize that you're one of the people he's willing to sacrifice, right?"

[Sometimes--Skillet]

https://youtu.be/6VXMyPPCgk0

Silence.

Marrow looked from Winter to Qrow like he thought she might kill him.

Winter just stood there like she'd been slapped.

Robyn was confused but didn't dare ask.

Wally was the only one who knew what Qrow was referring to... He winced.

Winter seemed to force herself to remain calm. "Be that as it may, there are...better solutions."

"Oh, sure." Qrow probably knew he'd gone too far, but he wasn't able to stop himself.

"Okay--" Wally decided he'd better just risk saying something stupid rather than nothing at all. "Qrow, that's enough."

He got between them. "I get it, man, really. I've felt like the screw up of my team a lot, and...sometimes they think so too, so I know that it sucks when you can't seem to do it right, but, like...Robyn's right, okay? You're the better huntsman than that. Clover turned on you, right? Isn't that what happened?"

"It was," Robyn supplied, gratefully.

"Yeah," Wally said. "And that was...bad, but that was his thing, and you've hung in there for everyone. And to be honest, it's been pretty sucky. Most people would have quit. And this is...bad, right?"

"Is this supposed to be helping?" Marrow mouthed at Robyn, who just shrugged.

"But what I'm saying," Wally said, "is that there's always a way to solve things and still do the right thing. My friends and I always believe that, and we keep each other accountable for it. So we're trying to help you not do something we know you'll regret later. Don't be Ironwood, man. Don't start trying to shoot all your problems down."

Winter shook her head sadly.

"But you're wrong," Qrow said in a low voice. "I did do the same thing as them. I helped Tyrian fight Clover. I cooperated with that...psycho. Even if I didn't think I had a choice...I could have just...given up, since, in the long run, it didn't matter. And then he got killed for it."

"It wasn't your fault," Robyn said. "Tyrian played him."

"And I fell for it!" Qrow was upset again. "Like one time with that headcase almost killing me wasn't enough to teach me better! What was I thinking?"

"Okay, okay, time out." Wally made that hand signal. "I see what happened here. Dude, you feel guilty...and, okay, you screwed up...but it was one mistake. And he drove you to it. I mean, these guys were kind of dumb to turn on their allies just over one disagreement--and hey, you didn't even do anything. So it was bad on both sides, but you didn't kill him. And you wouldn't have. You just wanted to stop him. So...yeah...that doesn't make you evil."

"Stupid, perhaps." Winter looked away. "But evil?... I wouldn't go that far."

"Not helping," Marrow said.

"We're wasting time," Winter said. "If Qrow can't overcome his crisis, I suggest he sit this one out. I have to go, and you all have to buy us time!"

"Okay, okay," Wally said. "Just one second."

He sighed.

"You guys have done a lot of things wrong," he said slowly, "I can't...really disagree with you, and Shine and I even tried to tell you. But at no point did we ever think that meant you guys were a lost cause. And if you give up on yourself and on what you've stood for, and things like forgiveness and mercy, then you've lost already, because you're going to lose yourselves."

They all looked at him.

"I mean...think about it," Wally said, thinking he was finally getting somewhere. "What's made all you guys the people you are? Winter over there, she's all robotic and cold, but then she's willing to go against everything she's been taught because she knows that this is wrong."

Winter looked at him like she wasn't sure if he was insulting her or praising her.

"And I think that's pretty cool," Wally said, gaining more confidence. "And, Robyn, while you're a bad politician, at least you have a good heart. You want to help people. I think that's pretty amazing that you actually want to spend all your time helping others."

Robyn smiled. Apparently she wasn't overly sensitive.

"And Marrow," Wally said, "honesty, I thought you were a dumb jock the first day we met, but you're the only guy with the spine to tell Ironwood that this is wrong--even if you lose your rank, your friends, and your life, and I think that's pretty gutsy. And I'd be way okay with you being on my team."

Marrow nodded.

"And Qrow," Wally said, "you always beat yourself up, but I think that...I don't know, no one has worked harder to protect those kids than you have. And you didn't stand in their way when they decided to go after the truth, like the others did. It's...hard to admit you've been wrong--a lot of people can't do it. Maybe you made mistakes, but everyone does. The point isn't that you won't, it's that you won't justify them. You don't call it 'protecting' everyone to control their lives. That's...honestly not something a lot of the leadership around here seems to get. I guess I'm kind of a simple guy--I like it when people have a heart still, not power."

Qrow glanced up.

"So I think you're all pretty cool," Wally said. "And I'm totally down for doing this, but doing it the right way. I'm not trying to say that I can just...make a speech and fix everything, but, if it matters at all, I think you guys get more right than you think you do. I mean...don't let Salem and the dumb General kill that for you."

There was a pause.

Winter looked at her scroll.

"I have to go," she said. "Whatever you decide, the rest of you, make sure we're not compromised... Hopefully I will see you all shortly."

"Good luck," Robyn said cheerfully, giving her a thumbs up.

Winter walked away in a hurry.

"Well, I'm pumped now," Robyn said. "Not a bad speech, Speedy. I kind of like your optimism. Beats all this defeatism... So what do you say, Wags? Ready to kick the butts of your old team?"

"I guess," Marrow said. "Uh...Branwen?"

Qrow shook his head.

"You guys want to play this straight, fine," he said. "But words aren't going to fix what's happened."

"It's a start," Wally said. "Let's go. Ice Queen will need us to have this ready by the time they bring the General in... It's only the whole compound--no biggie, right?"

[Oh boy.]