[Opener: "Daylight"--Shinedown]

While Jasmine had been gone, thankfully, Yang had finally found her partner.

They made short work of the Grimm.

"Why did you wander off alone!?" Yang hit him in the arm.

"I had a good reason!" Neptune protested. "I found one of the prisoners, Ali. Jasmine went after him, but the Grimm were in the way..."

"Wait, you found him?" Yang looked around. "Crap, we need to rescue him, but we have to destroy that other place too."

"Wait for us..." Oscar panted, running after her.

"Yeah, we're carrying someone," Meridian called.

"Who's that?" Neptune asked. "Oh, wait...it's Es...something, right?"

"Esmeralda," Esmeralda croaked.

"Guys, I think Pyrrha ran the other way," Jaune suddenly said. "I thought we were all going."

"Of course she did," Weiss said. "She'd want to see the big fight. Typical... But we can't turn back now. We need to hurry."

"Nirvana is that way," Esmeralda said, pointing. She seemed woozy.

"Okay, time out." Jaune held up his hands.

"I've got to get Ali," Neptune said.

"I think we need to do some healing," Jaune went on, with an annoyed look.

Jasmine suddenly came hurrying out of the tunnel, leading her husband after her.

"Heroes, I found him," she said. "See, Al, they're all here."

He looked at them surprisingly.

"Whoa, he looks awful," Meridian said bluntly before Weiss nudged him.

"He's better than some," Esmeralda said.

"Hang on." Jaune held out his hands. "I don't want to use too much energy if I need it later, but I can't look at the injury anymore... Does this feel okay?"

"Actually that feels really good..." Esmeralda said, holding up her hand. "But...I think I'm going to be half blind."

"Not necessarily," Oscar panted. "I might have something for that...if it works."

"It has to," Weiss said. "It's just too unfair if it doesn't. It worked for Cinder."

"Yeah, isn't healing people's eyes right up your alley?" Meridian said.

"You can't actually control this stuff," Oscar said. He held up his staff. "But I am asking, Lord, that you would please give this poor girl a break. I think everyone here has suffered, but there's just no reason to let that evil woman have the last word...so please."

"Is that how it works?" Hamish said. "No fancy words."

"We're not really into the fancy words," Meridian said.

"I don't know why that would make any difference," Esmeralda said. "But if you say so, I guess I have no reason to doubt you. So what happens now?"

"You just look at it," Oscar said. "This was a gift I got from a friend. She passed it on to me so I could heal people in this world... It's a slight advantage, but we need all we can get."

"That's so true, Mister...Pine, was it?" Esmeralda said.

"Yes," Oscar said.

"I...can't heal the old scars..." Jaune looked up. "If your Aura isn't enough to heal it in the moment, I can't usually do much. I have more limitations than Oscar's..."

"Yes, but yours works every time, so it balances it out," Neptune pointed out. "But maybe the rest of us should keep looking for that room. It was that way, you said?"

"It is." Esmeralda pulled off the bandage on her eye suddenly, as if she didn't think about it. "Let me see...just around that corner and across the empty space. But that room is creepy. Are you sure you want to go close?"

"We're going to destroy it," Yang insisted.

"Hey, your eye," Meridian said. "It's all better."

"What?" Esmeralda said, then she covered her uninjured eye and looked at her hand. "It is...! "Oh...wow! It happened! It worked!" She stood up straighter. "This is the best thing I've ever had happen to me. Thank you, Mr. Pine!" She knelt down.

"Hey, stop that," Oscar said. "I didn't really do anything. You should thank God."

"Then I do," Esmeralda said. "This almost makes it worth getting hurt--that's so amazing."

"Uh...I wouldn't say that was a good thing," Jaune said.

"It would make Msla so angry." Esmeralda put a hand to her chest. "But I don't care at all. Can that work on anyone else?"

"Can it help Ali?" Jasmine said.

"I'm sorry, but I think his scars are on the inside," Oscar said. "But we can remove the Grimm, if he's got those."

"He must by now," Esmeralda said. She stood up and stepped towards Ali without a limp. "I think they did that to everyone, but he's never been harsh like the others..."

"If he didn't choose it, it makes a difference of how difficult it is to get rid of," Oscar said. "Like Winter--it was easier for her to fight the magic because it wasn't her choice. It was harder for Raven and Cinder."

"Let's just get rid of it," Jaune said.

"You do that. We're going for the room," Yang said.

"I'll help you with that," Hamish said. "A good blow to the base of it ought to do it."

"Sure, but if your Semblance is just momentum, I think mine is going to be better," Yang said.

"Yours is a temper tantrum," Hamish said. "Mine builds off motion."

"They're really not that different," Yang argued. "And mine is not just a temper tantrum."

"Literally no one cares," Weiss said. "Just go! We'll catch up once we're done here."

Yang and Hamish went off.

Neptune went with them.

Jasmine held Ali's arm. "They're going to help you," she told him.

"I still don't know if this is real," Ali said.

"Am I walking normally?" Esmeralda suddenly said.

No one had taken notice of it before; her limp was new to them and not in the forefront of their minds.

"Hey...I think you are," Oscar said.

Esmeralda took a few more steps. "I am!" She stomped on her bad leg. "Nothing... That's... amazing. I can't even believe it."

"I guess it worked for more than one thing again," Oscar said. "It's amazing, isn't it? He's so generous."

"See, Ali, it does help," Jasmine urged. "I saw that he healed someone else in the village also. He's a truly gifted mystic."

"Mystic?" Oscar said. "I guess that's accurate..."

"I've had that wound for years," Esmeralda mused. "And it was gone in an instant without me even noticing it. Truly you can do things no one has ever imagined... Ali...we must go."

Ali looked at her vaguely. "I know you, the...slave," he said.

"You've never been cruel to me," Esmeralda urged. "I know you are a better man than they made you. This is...your...uh?" She looked at Jasmine curiously.

"Wife," Jasmine said.

"What is that?" Esmeralda asked.

"You...don't know what a wife is?" Oscar said.

She shrugged.

"I guess they don't have those in the tribe..." Meridian said.

Why would they, if you thought about it?

Jaune and Oscar and Weiss just set about casting the Grimm out.

* * *

Yang, Hamish, and Neptune found Nirvana easily, following Esmeralda's directions.

The curtain was drawn, and you could smell the traces of the smoke from it being set on fire, but the Grimm inside were far from gone, as one quick look told them.

Yang turned back around. "Definitely the Avarice."

"At least it's not the weird horse ones," Neptune said.

"I heard of those," Hamish said. "Mer told a lot of whoppers about the Mental Grimm."

"I doubt they were exaggerated," Neptune said. "So what do we do? Just blow them up? Will that work on plants?"

"I think so," Yang said. She started taking out fire dust cartridges. "Do you guys have any more?"

"Just a few," Hamish said. "I don't use dust much."

"I don't use fire dust that much. I could fry a few maybe," Neptune said. "If we had some water, I could drown them and then fry them."

"I can't believe you'd suggest that on purpose now," Yang said proudly. "We've come a long way."

"That odd bird said this place is creepy," Hamish noted. "I don't see that much about it."

"It feels off. Can't you tell?" Yang made a face. "All right...well, this is enough dust to take out some of them, I think. If we can crush the rest...or maybe just spirit them into submission."

"No, that never worked well on the Mind Grimm," Neptune said. "I've been thinking about is... What if it's because they're rooted in temptation? We've talked about that before. We're still weak to them. Only the Lord can overcome temptation completely."

"At times it feels like this is rigged," Yang said. "It's in human nature to do evil, so of course we're tempted and we can't resist without help. I'm tired of feeling that way."

"On the other hand, it's pretty cool that we have help," Neptune said. "You can see it as a curse or as a miracle, I guess. I look at it like how I felt about my Semblance... I didn't like it, and it felt like a curse, but it was still part of me. Accepting the help to learn how to deal with it the right way was the only thing that made it any better... I still worry about it at times, but it's a lot less now. Isn't' it better than being afraid all the time?"

"I never felt evil," Hamish said.

"Shine says that sin is not just the deliberate doing of evil," Yang shrugged. "It's the absence of love. Failing to do right is doing wrong, basically. Everyone has done that. Some people are just passive about it, and others are aggressive. Most of us are both. It's hard to argue with that."

"And these Grimm are basically playing off of the instinct in humans to be either cowardly, or complacent, or just angry and hateful?" Hamish said.

"At bottom, I'm starting to think that all 4 of those things are the same thing," Neptune said. "When you're complacent, you learn to hate anything that is above or below your comfort level. Cowards hate things that scare them. And anger is just covering for fear. We're all like that... The Avarice is tricky because it takes the shape of anything you want. It's not as obvious as the anger is...but it's deadly still."

"And you can't just destroy greed," Yang said. "Or temptation... I'm worried that if we blow up those ones, the roots will start popping up again here... It wouldn't fix the problem if someone else can do the same thing as Mala."

"Perhaps, but you can't account for what everyone in the world will do." Hamish leaned on his club. "Just what you do, right now. That's our motto in Vacuo, and it might have its downsides, but in the end, it's mostly true. People are going to do evil. You still got to deal with this right now."

"I think he's right," Neptune said. "Hamish, you're kind of deep when you actually talk. Why don't you talk more?"

"Loses its value then," Hamish shrugged. "Anyway, Merry talks enough for both of us."

"What do you do when he's not around?" Yang asked.

"Not much. I'm easily placated." Hamish shrugged again. "Let's just blow it up now."

Right then, a red portal opened, and Mino and Hypnosia came tumbling out of it.

"Ah!" Neptune jumped back before they could hit him.

"What the--?" Hamish leaned away. 

"Where did you two come from?" Yang said. "I thought you went after Mala."

"We did," Mino gasped. "It was close. The heroes are fighting her now and her other top dogs...but Hyp was already gravely wounded."

Hypnosia looked very grey.

"Is she okay?" Yang peered down.

"I just said she was gravely wounded," Mino said crossly.

"Oooh, ouch." Yang saw the wound. "How long ago?"

"Several minutes now..." Hypnosia mumbled, wincing.

"Hang on," Neptune said.

He ran around the corner.

"He'll be okay," Jaune was telling Jasmine. Ali was hugging his sides. "It's a shock at first. But trust me, that was way easier than most people. I don't think it had too much of a hold."

"That's good to know, I suppose," she said uncertainly, patting Ali's shoulder.

"That's something I never want to see happen to anyone I know closely," Oscar mumbled.

"Guys," Neptune called, "we need healing, come quick. And we found Nirvana."

"Told you it was close," Esmeralda said, walking. "This is so much fun... I feel so fast."

"Okay, but let's focus. We're not out of the woods yet," Meridian said to her.

The irony of the hype-man telling her to calm down was not lost on Weiss.

They rushed to follow Neptune. Ali also came, though he shook his head. "What did they do to me?" he muttered.

"I wouldn't put him too near Nirvana," Esmeralda said, as an afterthought. "I don't know much about it, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be good."

"You're right..." Weiss said. "We'll hang back. I got this."

She stopped, and they stopped too, just out of sight of it.

The others continued onward.

"Mino?" Esmeralda said.

"Es?" Mino looked up. "Your eye!"

"It's all healed," Esmeralda said. "And...see?" She stepped forward deliberately.

"Your leg!" Mino said. "Isn't that something. If you can do that, then maybe it's not too late. Branwen said you could help."

He took Hypnosia's hand. "She's dying."

"Oh my." Oscar blinked. "That's bad."

Jaune knelt down.

"I can help," he said, holding out his hands, and her Aura appeared. "She's faint though. She was nearly out already, I take it... Incredible she's still alive at all."

"She's tough," Mino said. 

Hypnosia coughed. "Useful Semblance... Arc, was it?"

"Jaune Arc," Jaune said.

"So in the end you did defy Mala to her face," Esmeralda said. "Not many people would have done that."

"I didn't get much choice..." Hypnosia said, closing her eyes. "I hope the others can finish her off, or we'll never get out of here...at least not fully."

"I wouldn't say that," Oscar said. "Someone only has authority over you if you give it to them. Don't let her be the authority on your life."

"I like that," Esmeralda said.

"Easier said than done," Mino said. "I have given the tribe a lot of sway over me...and now I have finally started to get that it was just my own selfish wish to have a place to belong, and I did not care how horrible a place it was... It says something if the only people I fit in with are the perverts and freaks of the tribe."

Oscar looked down. "I didn't feel like I fit in with the others at first either," he said. "I knew I didn't fit in with the villains, but I could understand them in a way--they felt like outcasts also. I don't know if we're so different."

"I joined the tribe because I was mad at the world," Hypnosia said, faintly. "I might not look part Faunas, but I grew up hearing about it all, and those who knew, knew. But I was mad at my mother too for abandoning me. Mad at both worlds. Mad at Atlas for being the way it was, mad at Menagerie for not being that much better. I fell into bad company because I didn't want to fall into good company. I thought they were all against me and all hypocrites...but the biggest hypocrite of all was me. I thought that being the very thing I didn't like was somehow a way to protest it. Like more evils make the evils you suffer more bearable."

She coughed again. "Now look at me. The Baba Tribe may go down in history as one of the most evil groups in Remnant ever to exist. Was it worth it?"

"Some of my best friends are people who were part of the other most evil group in the world," Oscar said. "If there is one thing I know from that, it's that the fact that you can turn your back on it, even before you're forced to, is proof that good and evil are in all of us at some point. We can turn back to one or the other... Only, I don't know that good is really in us, so much as we see it around us, we feel it, and we can either want it or hate it. When someone wants it, there's hope. You both are not any different than anyone else, in my book."

"Not many people will say that," Mino said. "The worst of this situation is, even if we live through it...I've tarnished myself forever by my actions. Perhaps it would be better to just die here, and no one would need to remember that part."

"If it means anything," Esmeralda said, "you've always been slightly nicer to me... At least you weren't cruel. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Should it?" Mino said. "It's only just been sinking in how what I did was as horrible as it was. I didn't want to see it, but seeing Mala telling them to treat you the way they did, and the others...well, it just got it in my thick head finally. I don't care for humans or Faunas either...but there's some in every group who just get the short end of the stick for no reason. Instead of sympathizing with them, I started being the reason it happened. And even if I wasn't going out of my way to do it, I let myself be roped in with all the others into taking advantage of the situation in ways that we can't even speak of now."

"I let it happen," Hypnosia said. "Perhaps I was kidding myself if I thought that I was better than the others... Do you think if I had died back there, I would have gone to a better place?"

"I don't know," Oscar said. "But I do know that you both would go to a better place, now, if you wanted to. I know that, as bad as what you've done is, someone else has paid the price for it so you don't have to. You might in this life, because humans can't always abide by the rules of Heaven, but in the next world, that doesn't matter. We've all done things that are wrong, big or small, things we can never undo...but we don't have to pay for it."

"And who would do such a thing for trash like us?" Mino said.

"That's who He did it for," Oscar said. "I can't explain why, but somehow God loves the people everyone else thinks are trash. I think it's because they're so unassuming."

"Hey, I've read the Gospels." Yang crossed her arms. "Jesus hung out with whores and money grubbers. Our least favorite people. Can you imagine?"

"And ordinary people, and radicals, and everything in between," Oscar said. "He didn't care. I don't know if you guys are going to get mercy from the government of this world, though I hope so...but I know you can always get mercy from the Governor of all worlds. I know I have."

"I can't picture you really doing anything so bad," Mino said dubiously.

"You can't see inside my head." Oscar shrugged. "But I don't really want to explain. It's behind me now."

"I like this guy," Hypnosia said. "He's not pretentious." She sat up. "I feel a lot better..."

"I think you'll be able to walk," Jaune said. "But don't strain yourself. I didn't heal it completely, trying to save energy. But it's not fatal--just don't rip it open. Can we bandage up the rest just to be careful?"

"Go ahead, but what about this place?" Yang gestured at the room.

"I have a feeling about it," Neptune said. "But yeah." He pulled aside the curtain. "I guess the fire...whoa..."

"What?" the others said.

"You might want to get a look at this," Neptune said.

Everyone, even Esmeralda, came to look in the doorway, yanking the curtain aside more.

Inside the dimly lit room, they saw the plants...and one of them had withered and shriveled up on its own.

"What is the meaning of that?" Hamish wondered.

"Maybe the others did something to change it?" Meridian said.

Oscar's eyes gleamed, and he had one of his hunches.

"No," he said. "I think it was them." He nodded at Mino and Hypnosia. "They just relinquished their selfish wishes... They admitted they were wrong... When you do that, Avarice loses its hold on you. Avarice, envy, lust, all those things fade when you confront them."

"The root!" Yang snapped her real fingers. "We talked about how to get rid of this permanently... It's not just about literally doing it... They had to let it go also."

"I don't understand it," Mino said. "Those are literally plants that cloud your mind. Makes you see strange things."

"Nasty things, after a while," Hypnosia said. "I didn't care for it after the first time."

"Everything that's physical has a spiritual root at some point," Oscar said. "It's too much to explain right now...but I think I know how to get rid of them."

He pointed to the two bandits. "You help us. We'll destroy them physically, but also their essence. You can stand in for the rest of the tribe."

"We can?" Hypnosia said.

"You can try," Yang said. 

"And, Esmeralda, you're Mala's sister," Oscar said. "You have the same blood... Maybe you can stand in for her. Not that you're guilty of anything, just...for your family's sake."

"I have no idea what you mean," Esmeralda said. "But if it will help, I am anxious to get out of here."

"Just follow my lead," Oscar said.

He held out the staff. "Avarice, remove yourself from this place, take your roots from the ground and leave the people's minds who you've been trying to possess. We the saints command it and take back this ground."

"You have to agree with him," Neptune explained to the others.

"Just those words?" Hypnosia said.

"It's on principle," Jaune said. "You explained yourself to Mala, right? This is no different. You have to retract it."

"In that case, sure," Hypnosia said. "I retract my allegiance to Mala...and what these things are. Hmm, that did feel good to say."

"I do too," Mino said. "To the Avarice, and to all the rest."

"I've never given myself to it," Esmeralda said. "But on behalf of my poor mother...and in apology for my father, I certainly will retract my family's allegiance with this entire tribe, and with the Grimm also. I certainly hope I never see those things ever again."

"Isn't this the first time you've seen them?" Mino said.

"Up close, yes, and this was enough," Esmeralda replied.

"Well, amen to that," Jaune said.

"Amen," everyone else agreed.

"And chuck it." Yang tossed the fire dust into the room, and Neptune shot it with his gun.

The room burst into fire, and the rock ceiling fell down into it.

The Avarice inside it burned up or burst into smoke.

Everyone sprang back from it, as the smell was awful.

The smoke rose up and dissipated.

Mino and Hypnosia both shook themselves a little.

Suddenly their Auras glowed more brightly, and they stood straighter.

"Almost it feels as if some little voice in my head just finally went on mute," Hypnosia said, rubbing her temples. "As if I had doubts in the back of my mind still...but not anymore."

"I feel sharper," Mino said. "I think, somehow, I hated those things deep down. I just didn't notice it."

"I know that we actually do kind of hate things we want for the wrong reason," Jaune said. "It's a weird thing about lust."

Weiss, Jasmine, and Ali suddenly came into view. They'd heard the explosion.

"Is that it?" Jasmine asked.

"That's it," Ali said. He seemed more awake. "That cursed room...I remember it...but it seems it's gone now."

Ruby suddenly appeared and dropped Blink with them, before disappearing again before they could say a word.

"What was that?" Mino asked.

"Blink?" Hypnosia said.

"Sand? You're alive?" Blink looked up, groaning. "I think that little minx punched me in the face."

"That's my sister!" Yang cheered.

"Tie her up, now!" Ali cried loudly.

Meridian and Hamish rushed to grab her, but she wasn't even trying to stop them.

"Nirvana..." Blink glanced at it, still a little dazed. "It's gone... I feel strange... I feel a sense of foreboding, somehow... I think they will destroy us all."

"That's odd, I feel better than before," Mino said.

"She's not free," Oscar said somberly. "She hasn't made that choice. She's afraid because she's lost her power."

"Perhaps," Hypnosia said. "Blink is awful, like all of them were, but she was not the worst of them. Mostly indifferent. Perhaps she might come around."

"I sincerely hope so," Oscar said. "But I don't know if we have time to figure it out now."

"I think we'd better start looking for the others," Yang said. "Are there any more prisoners to worry about?"

"The truth is, other than the ones already assimilated into the tribe, I believe all the others are dead," Esmeralda said regretfully. "Except for Kate...but you took her already."

"Oh, yeah, she was sent to me," Oscar said. "I sent her off with part of Team CTTS to find a ship. Figured that would be safer."

"Wait, does her brother even know she's okay?" Yang said.

"I didn't see him, so I'm not sure," Oscar said. "This was before Ruby and I caught up with them."

"If Theo keeps blowing stuff up, we might need to get out of here anyway," Jaune said. "I have a feeling this place isn't very structurally sound."

And he was right, because it was less than 10 minutes later when the ground under them shook and they heard a loud crashing sound.

They were still trying to find their way back out of the tunnels. Esmeralda was directing them... They found the Grimm claws that had covered the doorways were gone now, meaning Mala had to be losing power.

But it was then that the heroes who had been fighting Mala and her team came running out of the tunnels in that direction and overtook the team, and some were sent right to Yang.

Ruby dropped Mercury and Winter and then ran back to bring Hazel and Emerald the rest of the way, which took a lot of energy, since Hazel weighed so much.

She was pretty much tapped after that and sank to the ground.

Yang and Oscar rushed to help her up.

"We need to move, now!" Winter told them.

Qrow and Theo were there a second later.

"No Royal, Raven, or Cinder?" Pyrrha said.

"Cinder almost slipped over the edge," Qrow said. "Raven and Royal were trying to get her but wanted us to go... We'd just be more people to worry about right now."

A few moments later, Raven came tumbling out of a portal next to Yang.

"Mom!" Yang said.

Raven scrambled up and cursed.

"Did they fall?" Emerald squeaked.

"Yes," Raven said.

"Oh no!" Emerald covered her mouth.

"Are they dead?" Esmeralda also was alarmed.

"I don't know," Raven said. "It depends on how steep it was and if a rock landed on them, but it wasn't looking good. I have to go get them--"

"Wait a minute." Qrow grabbed her. "Chances are if you tried that right now, a rock would just hit you. That's not helping anyone. If they did survive the fall, they'll try to get under cover. Wait till this place stops shaking."

"Realistically," Theo said, "if they aren't already dead, they have to be under cover, or it's too late, so you might as well wait."

Raven clenched a fist. "I know that makes some sense...but it feels wrong."

"I'm afraid I agree with them," Winter said. "If you get injured, then we'll never be able to get you out and them, so you cannot risk it... Perhaps Cinder can make a shield."

"If she could do that, I think she would not have fallen at all. She had to be out of Aura after that fight," Raven insisted.

"Raven, we have to keep going," Qrow pointed. "Or we'll all be crushed too."

"I can't run anymore," Ruby gasped. 

"I can't summon anymore," Winter said weakly.

"I'm not good for many more either," Weiss said. "We'll just have to run on foot."

"And we need to warn everyone else to clear the area," Pyrrha added.

Everyone took off. 

Along the way, they did find the other people who had suddenly found that the Grimm stopped coming.

They also were smart enough to realize they needed to run for it.

Everyone cleared the front entrance by the waterfall as the cavern rumbled.

The bandits who had been captured and tied to trees, guarded by the people on straggler duty, looked on, as well as the heroes and hired help.

Cinnamon and Briggs, even, walking up to Roman and Neo questiongly, stopped and stared.

The rocky crags, which now that they all saw it more clearly, looked almost like a fist sticking out of the ground, shook, and then it caved in on itself. Dust and Grimm smoke rose up out of it, blocking out the sun for a few minutes, and then the wind swept them away.

The hideout was no more.

Anyone inside would have been crushed.

After a long silence, Sun said, "We sure leave things crumbling a lot, don't we?"

Some of the others started to laugh, almost hysterically.

"I called the planes," Robyn announced. "They're circling back this way to take us home... We have a few more people than before. Better radio ahead about that."

"I'll do it once they're close enough," Winter agreed.

"Salutations." Penny flew up. "I'm relieved that all of you are okay...except that I see two of you are missing."

"Yeah..." Emerald said. "Are they okay?"

She asked Raven.

"I suppose there's only one way to find out," Raven said.

Before anyone got the answer to this, the planes suddenly did appear and landed.

The new flyers gawked at the sight of the hideout.

Kate was sitting on one of the ships, a little calmer than before. She had a blanket and had had some of her wounds attended to, so she was a bit more presentable, which was just as well as no one had wanted her brother to see her the way she looked before.

Weiss tugged him over on the ship.

"Kate!" Taylor called.

Kate looked up from the bench she was on. "Tay?" She finally smiled. "I can't believe you're here."

"You're okay!" Taylor ran aboard and hugged her. "I knew you were alive still."

"I thought you'd come..." Kate hugged him back tentatively. "But I was giving up... Did you fight the bandits/"

"I fought a few," Taylor said. "They were pushovers mostly."

"I can't believe you did something so dangerous," Kate sniffled.

"Oh man..." Neptune said. "I might cry."

"For once, I won't judge," Yang said. "I think I'm going to cry."

"This takes me back to all the times we got separated and reunited on our adventures," Ruby said.

"Didn't that just happen now?" Weiss said.

"Weiss! Don't ruin the moment." Ruby hugged her and Yang at the same time.

"Blake will be sorry she missed this," Sun remarked.

"Yes, but I'm more glad she didn't take any udno risks," Kali said firmly. "There are other things that are important besides fighting, you know, Sun."

"I know, Mrs. B," Sun said.

"Can I ask?" Kate looked up at them. "Where is Cinder? I should thank her. I think I would have given up if she hadn't been so sure you would come for us."

"Uhh..." Yang hesitated.

"Yang's mom is getting her right now," Ruby said hastily.

"I hope," Weiss muttered.