Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I did another one shot! Bakasura! It has funny parasites!

Anyways, leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!

Professor Ozpin stood by one of the large windows of his office, gazing out over the city. A melancholic mood had set in over his school the past few days, and there was an air of something big on the horizon. It wasn't just him. He had spoken with all the other staff, and even a few students, and they all felt the same way. He could tell that the final battle was close.

He had called for Naze to meet him once more, before anything big happened. He wanted to ensure every aspect of the plan was set, and to see if there was any way that he might be able to save lives. He brought the mug in his hand to his mouth, taking a sip. His reflection on the glass had bags under its eyes.

The elevator doors behind him dinged open, and the young body he somewhat inaccurately considered to be Naze stepped out, a blank expression on its face. Ozpin turned and looked at him for a moment before taking a few steps to his desk, sitting down, and motioning to the seat in front of the desk. "Please, sit down."

The Lich's puppet responded, walking over silently and sliding into the seat. After it had, it said, "What's this about, Ozpin? There are preparations to be made, so I'm rather busy at the moment."

Ozpin let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, setting his coffee on his desk. "You see, that's just it. You've been rather worryingly silent on what role you want us living to perform in this scheme of yours. I know that Ironwood and his forces are to be involved, as well as every available Huntsman and Huntress, even the children. But so far you have not given us any specifics. I would like to know a few more details."

Naze nodded, and leaned forward slightly. "Yes, unfortunately a rather large number of things have come up recently. The specifics of the battle cannot be predicted exactly, but I believe I can present you with a general outline."

"Adam Taurus will be the first to fight once Cinder reaches Vytal. He will fight alone, as his demonic corruption makes him potentially just as dangerous as her. I anticipate him dying in the battle, but he should be able to take out a large portion of her forces, and perhaps even damage Cinder herself."

Naze paused, and Ozpin took the opportunity to ask, "Are you certain that they will fight? I mean, if they allied, our situation would be made much worse, no?"

A slightly amused look passed over Naze's face, and he nodded. "I am entirely sure that they will battle. Mr. Taurus has been given more than enough motivation to want Cinder dead, as well as to die in the process. You need not worry about him being a persistent threat."

What the Lich meant by that, Ozpin wasn't sure, but he figured that it was a question for an entirely different day. He let Naze continue, hoping that his attitude of sacrificing Adam didn't extend to any of the other people who would be placing themselves in his design.

"After that, I anticipate that Cinder's means of transport will be mostly, if not entirely, destroyed. That should slow her progress, and the topography of the land between where she will land and my domain should serve to delay her further. A string of rather sharp mountains divides Vytal, and it will take days for her to cross them. This is where Ironwood's forces will be useful. While navigating the mountains, Cinder's forces will be vulnerable to any number of artillery strikes or ambushes. I would recommend refraining from involving any more airships, however. She should not be allowed any more of those."

Naze paused again, and again, Ozpin asked a question. "What would you say casualties are expected to be for all of that? And how will you keep the men from being…" his voice trailed off as he searched for a fitting adjective. "…seduced?"

Naze didn't look amused this time. He only spoke flatly, his monotone making Ozpin slightly nervous to hear his response. "If conservation of lives is your primary concern, then only automaton soldiers, Atlesian Knights, should be used for direct confrontation. Unfortunately, while your concern is touching, those lives must not be a primary concern. The only thing that should be focused on is doing the maximum amount of damage possible. That means sacrificing some lives."

Naze paused for a second, then continued, a new tone to his voice. "You are familiar with the game of chess, yes?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Yes, but how…"

Another smile came across Naze's face, this one more genuine than any Ozpin had seen the undead give. "The game is older than you think. Regardless, you cannot expect to win a game if you cherish each piece, correct? Some must be sacrificed in order to take the game. If not, you will be outmaneuvered, and you will be destroyed. You want Cinder dead, correct?"

Hearing it in such terms, Ozpin felt some amount of his guilt fade. Not enough to quell his concern, though. Men and women who deserved better would be sentenced to death, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

His silent reflections were interrupted when Naze continued, saying, "To answer your original question, I do believe there is a way to allow them the dignity of keeping their souls. In a rather unexpected turn of events, the Order of the Holy Light have agreed to follow my direction to better combat Cinder. With their help, the fortitude of those fighting could be strengthened, able to withstand the effects of the demons."

Ozpin nodded, but still did not feel much comfort. They would still die. He supposed that there were worse fates, though.

"After they exit the mountains, the huntsman will come into play. Your people are far less in number, but each individually stronger than the general military. They will take part in hit-and-run tactics, whittling down what remains of her forces. This should continue until Cinder reaches the Black Morass, my domain, and then she will be mine."

Hit-and-run sounded simple, but Ozpin wanted to know just what that meant. "Hit and run? Will you not be asking them to sacrifice themselves as well?"

Naze shook his head, replying, "No. I believe that experience will prove valuable for them, and that the more raids they go on, the more damage they will be able to do. This should mean that as time goes on, the Huntsmen become more adept at killing Cinder's demons. It will be dangerous, of course, but the men and women who take this challenge on should come out stronger for it."

There was a moment of silence between the two, ended when Ozpin said, "Including the children, correct?"

Naze nodded, saying, "Yes, should they volunteer. I know you must think it is too dangerous for your students to be allowed, but think about what it is they are fighting for, and what they have pledged themselves to do. They will be protecting the world, and if they give their life doing that, should they not be hailed as heroes?"

Ozpin's eyes flicked to the floor to the right of his desk, and he thought about that. Certainly, the children had dedicated their lives to safeguarding the world, but that didn't mean that they could be used like tools. That was not right.

Before he could decide what to say next, Naze spoke again. "I do, however, have something that may make you a little more comfortable with this. We have several days before the Huntsmen will be called upon, and in that time, I could have my people create runes that would allow its user to be instantly transported to a predetermined location. If you wish, you could distribute these as you see fit. That way, if a student finds themselves overwhelmed, they could activate the rune, and be taken to a safe location."

The man brought his hands together, knitting his fingers together and putting his elbows on his desk. It wasn't a decision he enjoyed making, but Naze said that it would be better if the students were allowed, and he was the only one who had any clue what to do. He didn't have much choice but to listen. He pulled in a deep breath, then let out a heavy sigh. "If you can make them as safe as you can, then…" he paused, trying to force the words out. "…I suppose I'll allow them to go."

Naze nodded before saying, "I can have the Holy Order do the same for them as they will for Ironwood's men. That should maximize their chances of survival. All the Huntsmen's weapons have been infused with divine energy, correct?"

Ozpin gave his head a small shake, trying to focus on what was happening in front of him, then replied, "Yes, they all have, and the Huntsmen are awaiting orders. I haven't allowed the students to do so, though."

"Perhaps it would be wise to let them." Naze stood from his chair, clearly assuming their discussion to be over. Ozpin thought of what Ironwood had told him barely an hour ago, though, and held up a hand.

"Wait just a moment, if you would. I've heard recently that Penny went off to join you, and I only intend to ask what you plan on doing with her."

Naze raised an eyebrow again, and responded by saying, "I believe that she would be an effective fighter, and, given her unique nature, it seems that she might even be immune to Cinder's corruption entirely. However, it is hardly the time for experimentation such as that. She will fight with the other Huntsmen, unless you have any objection, and then she will join my forces in the swamp. I believe her being a golem will make her a more than competent fighter, and welcome in my forces. We could learn from observing her fight, as well."

This was not a particularly encouraging response. It was the only one he was going to get, though. He knew that much.

In the way of a man with no other options, he motioned towards the elevators weakly, and said, "Very well. I would like to be told once Cinder reaches the shores, if it isn't too much trouble."

Naze nodded, "Of course. It would be no trouble at all."

With that, he turned to walk towards the elevator again. Ozpin watched him go for about half the distance, then stood from his own chair, and stepped back over to the window, looking out into the distance. It didn't feel right, but he didn't have any other choice.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Naze spoke again from them. "I imagine that you don't feel incredibly good about this, but I don't assume anyone would. It's a rather hefty decision, and perhaps not the kind you are used to making. I can assure you that not allowing their participation would be a mistake."

The Lich's attempt to reassure him fell rather flat, and he only nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

His eyes returned to the window and he heard the elevator close again. It was a shame, but Naze was probably right. He had seen pictures of what remained of Menagerie, and he didn't want that to become Vale.

His eyes closed and in his mind's eye, he saw the buildings of the city he had vowed to guard burning, and the people he had sworn to protect being twisted by Cinder's foul magic. That was a fate he could not allow. Every fiber of his being wanted to fight against that.

He opened his eyes again, and felt some small degree of relief that the city wasn't as he had imagined it. There was still time, and there was still hope. They just had to fight as hard as they could. It was all they could do.

Ruby winced as she reached for the plate of food with her bad arm, pushing it against the cast painfully. It had only been a few hours since she had received the cast, but she had been told that at the rate she was healing, she would be able to get it off by tomorrow.

Yang noticed her little yelp of pain, and gave her sister a concerned look. "Ruby, are you alright? You need any help?"

She tried not to let her irritation show as she shook her head and reached for the fork with her good arm. Blake and Summer both looked at her with puzzled expressions, and she averted her eyes.

The group was getting their dinner while they waited for Weiss to finish being checked over before heading back to their dorm. Sleep would be a blessing after such an insane day. Too much had happened over such a small amount of time, and they all needed a break. Ruby looked forward to being able to just slide back into her bed, and let her body rest. It was about time.

She wasn't the only one, she could tell. Blake had come back from her journey with Yang crying, and had refused to say anything about what happened. Ruby didn't want to pry, but she had asked Yang, and she had also said she didn't want to talk about it. Ruby knew it was out of respect for Blake, be she was still curious. She'd let the subject drop, though.

She and Blake were the only ones eating, and both were ravenously hungry. The hospital food wasn't very good, but that hardly made a difference as they ate as much as they could.

Ruby was almost bursting by the time she looked up, and felt a large mouthful of water spill out into her chest. Before any of the other could say anything, she stood, knocking the chair that she sat on to the floor, and said in a startled voice, "Penny?"

Their eyes of the others followed hers, and smiles emerged on the faces that had met Penny already. Ruby had said her name loud enough to attract her attention, and she was walking eagerly in their direction.

"Hello friend Ruby! It's good to see you again!"

Ruby had thought that she had calmed down quite a bit, and that she was mostly in control of her emotions by this point. Seeing Penny brought out a wave of emotions that she hadn't known was waiting within her, and her body lurched into motion before she could stop it.

She practically sprinted across the large cafeteria area to penny, and wrapped her arms around her friend, smiling wide and almost crying. "Penny! What are you doing here? I'm so glad to see you!"

She felt Penny's disproportionately strong arms wrap around her, then put far more pressure on her ribs than she had been prepared for. She let out a squealing sound and tapped her cast against Penny's back, trying to indicate that she was being crushed.

Penny let go, her hands going to her mouth as she realized that she was hurting her friend. "I'm sorry Ruby! I didn't mean to…" she looked her friend up and down, eyes lingering in her cast. "Ruby, what happened? How did you break your arm?"

Ruby gave a small smile, and put a hand on Penny's shoulder. "It's alright, I'll be better soon. I was out there fighting during the lockdown which, admittedly, probably wasn't the best idea, but it's fine. Everything worked out in the end, I'm still alive, Weiss is still alive, Blake is still alive, and Yang is…" she laughed awkwardly, and she finished, "…well, she's still here."

Penny's eyes roamed to Ruby's group of friends, and her head tilted to the side. "Ruby, who's that woman with the others?"

Ruby turned again, and realized that Penny was talking about her mother. An excited feeling came over her, and she grabbed Penny's hand. "Come with me, I want you to meet her. I've told her a lot about you, and I think that she really wants to meet you. Come on!"

Leading Penny was easier than she had thought it would be, and she hurriedly walked her friend over to her parent. The tiredness that had filled her just moments before was still present, but it was overpowered by the want to show her mother her friend.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of her mother, looking up and the gentle face. "Mom, this is Penny! We met a while ago, after I started coming to Beacon. She's really helped me out since then. I really like her." Her words came out quickly, and started to mesh together slightly as she spoke them. She was very tired, but she didn't want to fall asleep. Not now that her friend was back.

Summer gave Penny a warm smile and held out her hand, saying, "Hello, I'm Ruby's mother. It's very nice to meet you."

Penny's eyes went wide, and she looked between the two for a few seconds before hesitantly taking Summer's hand and shaking it, saying, "I didn't think I would meet you! I can see that you're…"

Before she could say it, she stopped, looking like she had almost said something terrible and offensive. Summer only gave a light chuckle and said, "Yes, dear, I'm dead. It's nothing to be too sensitive about, no one can do anything about it. But anyways, I think Ruby did a wonderful job describing you, you're just how I'd imagined you'd be."

Penny smiled. "Thank you. Ruby never talked about you, and I never thought to ask. You have a very kind daughter."

Summer put an arm around Ruby and pulled her into a tight hug, saying, "I know I do. I have two wonderful children." She looked over her shoulder, and found that Yang was talking with Blake. It looked like they were having a serious discussion.

She decided it would be best to leave them to it, and looked back at Penny. "So, what brings you here? Are you not feeling well?"

Penny shook her head, turning to look at Ruby again. "No, I'm here because I left Mr. Ironwood." A shocked look came across Ruby's face, but Penny continued to talk. "I wanted to help the world, and he didn't want me to get hurt. I like him, but I think he was too protective of me. I'm sad that I had to leave, but I think that it is for the better. This way, I can help the world."

Summer smiled again and nodded, saying, "A worthy goal. So, Penny, are you a Huntress? Or are you trained in some other way to fight?" She felt her daughter tense up slightly in her arms when she said this, and was puzzled. Could the girl fight? Did she have some secret?

Penny smiled again, now seeming very confident. "I'm not a Huntsmen, but I'm combat ready! I can fight very well, and I can do whatever I need to. I was told that Yang would be able to tell me what that would be, though." She leaned to the side and looked past Summer. "Should I ask her now? I want to help as soon as I can!"

Summer glanced over her shoulder again, and saw that that the two were still talking. "Maybe later, I don't think now is a good time." She looked at Ruby again, and found that she was giving Penny a certain kind of excited look. She also had large bags under her eyes, indicating that she was more tired than she let on. She knew that Ruby probably wanted to talk to her friend, and that she probably wanted to do so alone.

She reached out and ruffled Ruby's hair, saying, "Alright, I'll let you two catch up for a while. As soon as we hear anything about Weiss, I'll call you back, alright?"

Ruby nodded, and Summer started to walk back towards the table. As soon as she was out of earshot, she turned to Penny and said, "You left Ironwood? And he just let you go? What happened?"

Penny started to tell her the story, and she listened, dumbstruck. They started walking, thought she didn't have any real direction, it was only to help keep herself awake. Penny continued to speak until they found themselves at the top floor of the hospital, walking out of the elevator. Ruby hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking, so how they had gotten there was a complete mystery to her.

Penny finished her story, "…then I just walked here. That's all that happened. Now I need for Yang to tell me what Naze wants me to do."

Ruby didn't know what to say. She had never thought of Ironwood as a very caring person, but the way Penny had said it, he thought of her as a daughter. It was no wonder he had been so protective in the past.

She reached out, and gave Penny another hug. "It's good to see you again. I guess we might end up fighting together, then. I'd like that, even though I'm not sure I could keep up with you. You can get pretty wild in a fight."

Penny nodded. "I just hope I can do my part. Do you know just what it is that we'll be fighting?"

Ruby sighed. Of course she hadn't seen much of the news. "Yeah, its not going to be good. There are a lot of people who…" her voice trailed off as she searched for a gentle way to say it. "…why don't really know what they're doing. We're probably going to have to kill them. But there's no other way."

Penny looked down to the floor, and her voice sounded dejected. "Oh. I know that demons will be there, but I don't want to kill people. What if they don't deserve it?"

Ruby sighed, and let her feet start to wander again, shaking her head. "It isn't really a question of whether they deserve it or not, things are just too bad for that. Anyone with Cinder is probably going to have to die. I don't want to kill anyone either, but we have to. It's the only way to make Remnant safe."

The next thing that came out of Penny's mouth surprised Ruby.

"Why?"

It was such a strange, childish question. One that she would think that answer to was obvious. She just stopped, and looked back at Penny, thinking. Why couldn't the demons be stopped any other way? What was it they wanted? Was there no way to appease them? "I don't know. They want everyone else to be like them, transformed and corrupted, and we don't. There's nothing else we can do."

A door opened in front of her, and a blast of cool air brushed past her face. She found herself on the roof of the hospital now, with the sky darkening as the sun dipped below the horizon. The Moon was already out, whole, and not showing any of the damage it'd sustained over the years. Ruby stepped through the doorway, then immediately to the side, pushing her back against the wall and sliding down to sit. Her legs ached already.

She put her cast up on her knees, resting her arm, and looked back up at Penny. "I'm sorry. I really don't know that much about what's going on anyways. I should probably leave the explaining to Yang anyways. I'll be happy to hear something about it, though. She's hardly told us anything, and we're like family to her. Well, Weiss and Blake are, I actually am family."

She got the sense that she was starting to babble, and closed her mouth, looking back up at the sky. The lights of Vale made them hard to see, but they were definitely there. Ruby stared at them for a while, feeling her body start to inform her of how tired she was, and how much she needed to rest. It was deserved, she supposed, she had fought with a demon, but if that was setting the bar for how every battle with a demon would go…

She tried to push it out of her mind. It was best not to think of things like that. Instead, she tried to think about happier things. She had her mother back, and Penny had gotten herself away from Ironwood. Both were very good things, and to top it off, nothing had gone wrong during Weiss's surgery. That was more-or-less a guarantee that she was going to be alright, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Those were all very good things, but it didn't seem to do much to offset her sadness. She sighed again, and turned her head over to Penny again. "Penny, can you help me up?"

Penny replied enthusiastically, saying, "Certainly!" and holding a hand out. Ruby reached for it, then gave a small growl of frustration as she switched arms, putting the cast back down to her side. She would be much happier once she could get that stupid wrap off. Penny's fingers closed around hers, and she was pulled back to her feet.

Her eyelids felt heavy now, and she wasn't sure if she could walk perfectly straight. Her cloak felt comfortingly warm around her, and she felt like she could drift off to sleep immediately, even while walking. She shook her head and resisted the urge, reminding herself of the last time she had done something like that. It had been years, but the memories of Yang laughing at her were still fresh enough in her mind.

She leaned on Penny's shoulder as they walked, and tried not to make it weird by leaning too much. This both helped her walk, and helped keep her awake, the feeling of being so close to falling down keeping her alert enough.

When they got to the elevator, she was sure that she was going to collapse. She hated how tiredness always seemed to creep up on her like this, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had to stay awake until Weiss came back.

She knew that Weiss would probably understand, but it would be better of her to stay awake. She would feel bad if she were to miss Weiss's return.

Penny looked at her friend with growing concern. It seemed like she was going to faint soon, but she hadn't said anything about it. She seemed like she was still awake, at least in part, but it didn't look like she would be for long. She decided that asking about it would be a good choice, and did so.

"Ruby, are you feeling alright? You look tired."

Ruby gave her a smile, and leaned a little more heavily on her shoulder. "Penny, you have no idea. Today was not a great day. You should have seen what Adam did. It was crazy."

She paused for a second, then pushed herself off of Penny's shoulder, wobbling for a moment before standing up straight. "Actually, no, its probably good that you didn't see it. It got pretty ugly. He punched a guy in half. Do you know how strong you have to be to punch someone in half? I don't, but I bet you have to be pretty strong."

She wasn't sure how to respond to that. Ruby's state was somewhat startling, but more startling was her words. "Ruby, did you see Adam?"

That was the man who had escaped. He had attacked her before running away. If he really was that strong, he probably would have been able to kill her without much issue. She was glad that their fight had been short-lived. Otherwise something very bad might have happened.

Ruby nodded, then said, "That's how I broke my arm. He hit me. That's how Weiss broke her back, too. He kicked her off the top of a building. It was really scary to see, but Blake got him to calm down. Now he's gone. I think he's going to fight Cinder, but I can't remember. I'm too tired to remember."

Her friend's head gently hit her shoulder again. Ruby's words reminded Penny that she didn't have a place to stay for the night. It wasn't a huge issue, the conditions of the street wouldn't do her any damage, but she would certainly feel better if she had a nice place to be, where she could be close to her friends.

It felt rude to ask, but Ruby was her friend. She could ask her anything. "Ruby, can I stay with you tonight? I don't think that going back home would be very appropriate."

There were a few seconds of silence while she waited for an answer, and as the moments started to feel like minutes, she looked over again to her side, and found Ruby's eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply. She had fallen asleep on Penny's shoulder.

Penny froze, not sure what to do. She tried not to move as the elevator continued to descend, hoping that Ruby would wake up. She didn't, and before Penny could figure out what to do, the doors slid open, showing the atrium her unfortunate predicament. No one seemed to notice however, and she was left with Ruby leaning limply on her side.

Penny only watched as Ruby continued to stand there, legs somehow still supporting part of her weight as she slept. Reluctantly, Penny tried to step forward. If she could go and get someone else, like Yang, or Summer, they would be able to handle this situation much better. Unfortunately, Ruby started to tilt as Penny left, and she had no other choice. She bent over, and took Ruby in her arms carefully, still trying to not wake her.

She made a few soft grumbling noises, but her eyes stayed asleep. Penny tried her hardest to carry her gently, not letting any of the vibrations of her feet hitting the ground reach Ruby. She could practically feel the eyes of those all around her following, taking some strange interest in what she was doing.

It wasn't long before she had found the table that her friends had been seated at, Summer now sitting with the other two with what looked like a slow conversation passing between the three.

As Penny got closer, they all looked up, and looked amused when they saw Ruby. Summer and Yang stood up, moving to meet Penny, while Blake stayed sitting down. Yang was the first to speak, saying, "Aw, she looks so cute! What happened?"

Summer stepped closer to Penny, holding out her arms, and Penny handed Ruby over to her, thankful that the slightly embarrassing situation had been rectified. The mother cradled her daughter softly, looking down into her peaceful face for a few moments before glancing back up and saying, "Oh, please, have a seat. Weiss should be coming out soon, I was just about to call. She'll be happy to find everyone out here."

Yang spoke again, asking, "Should we wake her up? She did look really tired earlier. Maybe it would be better to let her sleep."

Summer shook her head. "She wanted to be awake when Weiss came back, so we should wake her up. There's no point in doing it early, though, I suppose. Let her get a few more minutes of sleep. Where did she fall asleep, anyways?"

Penny indicated the elevators at the far side of the room with her hand, and said, "On the way down from the roof. She leaned on my shoulder, and almost fell down when I started to move."

A smile started to curl across Yang's face, and she said, "Wait, she fell asleep standing up? Again?" She started to laugh. "She hasn't done that since she was like, six years old!"

Summer gave Yang a stern look. "Don't poke so much fun. You did a few things I'm sure your friends would love to hear about too, you know."

Yang smirked, apparently confident that her mother was bluffing. The two of them took a few steps back to the table, and Summer sat down, Ruby still gently held in her arms. Yang also sat back down where she had been sitting, smiling at her sleeping sister.

Penny now stood by the side of the table, simply looking at the others, unsure what to do. Yang patted the seat beside her, saying, "Sit down, come on! We don't bite."

Penny smiled again. Ruby was her friend, but it also seemed that they were too. She needed to speak with Yang anyways, so maybe it was a good thing that she was being given this opportunity. She took the seat, and took a moment to see if anyone else would say anything.

Yang was the first to speak, and she didn't beat around the bush. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table, saying, "Alright, so you want to talk about the whole plan that Naze has, right?" Penny was somewhat surprised by this, but nodded. Yang continued, "Well, it's pretty simple so far. Basically, you're going to keep fighting with the Huntsmen until you either can't, or they get to the end of the whole ambush path thing he has in mind. He still hasn't made up his mind about what exactly he wants you to do."

Penny nodded. "So would I fight with Ruby, or be on my own?"

Yang sighed and leaned back in her chair. "That's kind of up in the air right now. The details really aren't laid out yet. You'll be able to fight, for sure, don't worry about that. I'll tell you as soon as the decision is made."

Penny nodded again, and said, "Good. Also, Ruby said that I could go back with you tonight, to stay the night. I don't have any other place to go. Is that alright with you?"

Yang glanced over at Blake, who gave a small nod. "Yeah, that's fine. I mean, Weiss is probably the only one who you're going to have to convince, but I don't think she should have much of a problem with it. It'll be like a slumber party!"

Penny realized that this was true, and started to get excited. That was what friends did, wasn't it? She wanted to do those things, it would be fun, she was sure.

She was about to express this excitement when Blake's head turned to the side, and she stood up, saying, "Weiss is out."

The rest of the heads around the table, with exception of Ruby's, followed her gaze. A door from the surgical rooms was open, and Weiss was walking out, one arm over the shoulder of a very exhausted looking Amber. Both of them appeared to be having slight trouble walking, Weiss's movements being occasionally jerky and unsteady, and Amber's being slow and exhausted.

All four of them stood, and Summer shook Ruby gently, whispering that she needed to wake up. Yang waved enthusiastically, calling out to her friend, saying, "Hey! How are you doing?"

Blake rolled her eyes and elbowed Yang, saying, "Come on, we have to go over to her."

Yang gave a joking smile, but started to walk. Ruby started to stir in her mother's arms, eyes flickering open for brief seconds before she tried to go back to sleep. Summer continued to whisper softly to her, trying to get her to wake up of her own volition, but it seemed that she was very resolutely asleep.

The group walked towards their two friends, Yang out in front. When she got close, she spoke again. "Hey Weiss, how are you? Everything alright?"

Weiss was looking down at her feet as she walked, but looked up at Yang and the rest of her friends to respond. "The doctors say that I'm going to be fine, but that I need to get everything back in order first. The fall shook me up, and my legs just don't feel right. That's normal for recovering from something like this, though, and it should go away soon."

She looked to her side at Amber, then said, "She managed to heal me, apparently. Second time. I think most of us owe her quite a bit."

Amber looked up, waving her hand dismissively. "No, no, you don't owe me anything. You needed help, and I could give it to you. Now, please, can you take Weiss? I'm afraid I may pass out soon."

Yang stepped forward, then immediately stepped back as she remembered the last time she had inadvertently gotten close to the Priestess. Instead she motioned to Blake, indicating that she should help Weiss. She did, and Amber nodded. "Thank you very much. I'm sorry, I would love to stay and talk, but I am simply too exhausted."

All of the girls nodded, and Amber started to walk off. As she went, others joined her, the Paladins who had accompanied her to the hospitals.

Ruby finally awoke, and started to speak, rubbing her eyes and asking if Weiss had come out yet.

The group started to return to their dorm, now with one more who would share their room for the night. They would be able to get some very much needed rest, and recover from their experience. They all needed it.

Roman clutched Neo close, his knees pulled close to his chest and his back to the metal exterior of the ship. He had found a walkway that had so far been mostly untouched by Cinder's people, and was quick to make it his residence for the journey. The hours that the trip would take would be uncomfortable, but they would be much more so if deranged maniacs and mutants kept trying to fornicate with him.

He shivered, cold wind rising up off the ocean far below sapping the heat from his body, even through his coat. Neo was his best source of heat, but he held her close for another reason. Ever since Cinder had done whatever it was she did, Neo had been shaken. It was the best way he could try and comfort her. He simply had to let her know that he was there for her, and that he wouldn't leave.

Fast winds whipped past the two, kicking Neo's hair into Roman's face and making it difficult to keep his eyes open, but perhaps that was for the better. Though it was hard to see, shadowy dark figures were occasionally illuminated by the lights of the airship. They were Cinder's flying demons that looked so much like humans, but were most definitely not. The airship was surrounded by them, and Roman was sure that they knew he was there, watching them. He could only hope that they had better things to do than try and torture him.

He hoped that Neo was asleep. She deserved some rest after what had happened, and good dreams too. That was something Roman wanted as well, but he wasn't about to fall asleep and leave the both of them unguarded. That would be an unquestionably bad idea.

Alone and cold, protecting the only person he could call a friend, he had time to reflect. Why had he agreed to do this? Cinder was dangerous, and he knew it. Was it his fault that Neo had gotten dragged away like she had? He had done his best to help her, but in the end been able to do nothing to stop it.

Maybe it didn't matter why he was doing it. Cinder deserved to get a knife in the back, even if it meant he was going to have to play the good guy for once. There was one thing that he was sure about, and that was that he wasn't getting paid enough for it.

His eyes roamed the darkness that was all around them before settling on the moon itself. It was full, and was the only thing that could be seen at all that wasn't part of Cinder's little invasion force. He had never been the type to find symbology or meaning in everyday things like the moon, but there was a sense of comfort knowing that the moon was there.

He shook his head, and dismissed the thoughts. Worrying about the moon would get him nowhere. It was the girl he held close that he needed to worry about, and himself. Both were the only things he really cared about coming out of this whole little situation with intact.

His fingers ran idly through Neo's hair as he looked out in the direction the airship was going. He and Neo would avoid combat if they could, but if that was impossible, they would have no choice but to fight. He was sure that the two of them could take whatever was thrown their way, but that didn't mean it would be easy. Especially not with Cinder at their backs.

Vytal couldn't be more than a few hours away now, and it was going to be quite the event when they did arrive. He wondered what would be waiting for them. If he had to guess, it would be everything that they still had. Airships, mechs, armies, even the Huntsmen. They wouldn't do much good, though. He had already seen how men and women melted under the force of Cinder's power. No one would fare much better, unless Naze had somehow given them all amulets like the one Roman had around his own neck.

His mind lingered on it for a few moments, thinking of all it had done, when suddenly his eyes pulled it away. There was something on the horizon, and it gave him a bad feeling. Land stood out, barely visible, but there was something else too. A light that seemed to give the impression of anger, and hate. Whatever the light was, Roman had never seen a beacon like it. Was it a trap? There was no way to know. All he could feel was that it was something very important, and that it was a good idea to stay away.

He hugged Neo closer, and kept his eyes locked. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to harm her.