Winter didn't fully pass out, but she felt like crap.
Qrow met Robyn outside the tent, and she began to say how foolish it was to even stay out in the sandstorm at all.
Raven came flying around and then said to Qrow in a great fury, "The trickster isn't around here anyway."
"Well, I'm not surprised she dipped, but she can't have gone far," Qrow said.
"I did see the girl with illusions," Raven said. "I'm sure it's connected."
"Wait, where's Likstar?" Qrow wasn't done with her yet.
"If she's smart, far away from you," Winter said.
Robyn went off anyway to find Shine, and Raven didn't care to ask her--mostly because she was afraid of Shine and not of Neo. She might get on the Ice Cream Girl's case, but not Shine's.
"Winter?" Willow came into the tent. "Oh...are you all right?"
"I'll be fine," Winter said. "Just the...sandstorm."
And a hundred other things.
"This is probably not a good time to tell you this--" Willow looked a bit shamefaced. "--but it can't wait.... Your...brother is missing."
"Whitley is missing?" Winter sat up and almost threw up.
She eased back down.
"Wait, what?" Qrow heard that last part.
"It must have been during the storm," Willow said, embarrassed still. "He must have been outside. I had thought he stayed at the school, but then some of the others were rushing to cover up the..." She lowered her voice. "...t-o-w-e-r. Perhaps he went with them."
"You weren't watching him?" Winter said.
"I...was inside," Willow said.
With a bottle of champagne, no doubt, Winter thought to herself. Well, great...one more thing went wrong today.
"But he couldn't have gone far..." Willow said. "He must be in the kingdom somewhere, I'm sure...if one of the Huntresses wants to look for him."
"A kid like that will get eaten alive on his own," Qrow announced cheerfully. "Especially when he dresses like that."
Willow probably knew that already, but she winced anyway.
"I should look for him--" Winter began to rise and then realized she'd not be able to do that.
She stopped and swore in a low voice.
"Winter!" Willow was shocked.
Ironically, that had to be the most motherly thing she'd said to her in years.
"What?" Winter was in no mood.
"Well...uh...would you?" Willow turned to Qrow.
"Me?" Qrow said. "Eh...sure. What else do I have to do?"
Winter was on the point of saying that Qrow wouldn't do any such thing because it would be too helpful, but she stopped.
"I'm sure that rat is out there too," Qrow muttered as an aside. "Can kill two birds with one stone..."
"Oh, thank you," Willow said.
Winter winced. "Is Elm still around?.... We're short far too many captains now, but someone ought to be informed who's actually combat ready.... Where's Penny?"
"I think she's still dealing with Grimm on the other side of the kingdom," Willow said, "where not as many people are...I heard anyway. What I would give for my camera setup at home."
"The sand would ruin it anyway," Qrow said cheerfully. "Well, great...one more kid gone. Don't hold your breath, lady. Just hope no one found him who'd be interested in more than money."
"What...?" Willow blinked, but Qrow left.
"And that's him being nice." Winter rolled her eyes--but even that made her dizzy.
"He's nice enough," Willow said. "There are worse men."
She meant Jacques.
Winter didn't care to discuss this.
"I...know it's not...my place, really," Willow said, "but you must stop pushing yourself like this, Winter. I understand the powers are some great responsibility. I saw that other woman who had them... She was so weak. You cannot do everything."
"I don't want to discuss this." Winter was crisp.
"Yes...I know you've...shouldered a lot of responsibility..." Willow said lamely. "I'm...sorry about that...if that means anything...not much, I suppose."
She looked away. "A fine pair your father and I made...but...all of you turned out much stronger than us. I suppose I thought that meant you'd be all right. But...even that...being strong, it doesn't last forever. I thought I was stronger once."
Winter glanced at her strangely. Where was this coming from?
"I know you never talk about how you feel about it." Willow wasn't making eye contact. "You hold up Weiss instead...left for the military, never looked back...good. I'm glad...but...now that this has happened, I don't want to see...all of you fall because there is no Atlas anymore. Whitley isn't as strong as you older girls... I worry about him. But perhaps, I worry that you are too strong."
Winter frowned at her. "I know my limits."
"I know..." Willow said. "But you always pushed them anyway. But...some people just have limits, Winter."
"Or maybe people give up too easily." Winter knew she was making this personal, but she didn't have the most self control after everything.
Willow knew exactly what it meant, too. She frowned.
"Yes...perhaps," she said very feebly. "Well, perhaps things work both ways... Some people don't know when to quit and others don't know when not to... I just...worry that both might end up doing the same amounts of harm in the end."
"Well, do not worry about me," Winter said. "I know my responsibilities now."
Willow sighed and left.
Winter didn't expect much different.
Why was her mother even trying now? And what did she know about endurance? She quit ages ago, leaving Winter to make nothing but excuses, until finally she stopped doing that and just encouraged Weiss to get out. Her parents would never learn, she'd decided.
Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, but it didn't make it better. She knew more about discipline than either of them.
About 20 minutes or so later, Shine came in.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Winter didn't make much of a response.
"This has to stop," Shine said. "We've all said it. Tell me why you aren't listening."
"I can't," Winter said.
"Or is it a distraction?" Shine came to stand closer. "Weiss... It's easier not to think when you're busy... Well, I'll give you that. But you could try some other method of coping."
"I don't think you're in a position to say that," Winter said. "You didn't lose... And anyway, someone has to keep things going."
"Which sounds great," Shine said. "But it's stupid. You are more than a soldier, Winter. You're a person with feelings and weaknesses, and that's beautiful, in its own way. Oh, I know that weakness isn't beautiful, not if it's one of character--but having limits, that's nothing to be ashamed of. We're designed that way."
"I don't need a lecture from you." Winter was terse.
"You've done a great job," Shine said more soberly. "I won't deny it. Twice as much as everyone...and I'm sure you recognize that the Maiden powers are making it difficult, because all of us have to think of you differently now. But I would say this anyway. However, they do add an extra danger. You are going to have to delegate more."
"There is no one to delegate to," Winter said.
"We'll work on that," Shine said. "But somehow we'll get along without you, also. You cannot keep pushing yourself like this while you're grieving also... Grief eats away at you from the inside. And it's only going to draw the Grimm. You should give yourself time to get over it...at least to rest, come to terms with it in some way. Whether you decide to wait for them to return, or give up on it, some resolution is necessary. It hurts to see you do this to yourself." She glanced at her up and down.
"I'm not weak," Winter said. "But I have been a fool. I can't waste any more time... If I hadn't waited so much in Atlas, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"But you are just human," Shine said. "And who knows? Maybe your waiting had a purpose. I'm not convinced it would have been better to act sooner. We didn't know how far the General would go. You cannot blame yourself for everything."
"Not everything, but I did plenty," Winter said. "And you said it yourself... You tried to warn me. I didn't listen." She looked troubled. "You ought to have a time of it."
"I can't say I feel much like gloating," Shine said. "I wish I was wrong. But I rarely am... Only, perhaps I was wrong to think that only scolding was enough. Sometimes I don't know how I can get my point across... Still, at least I still care. And even if Weiss was here, though, I think you'd be doing the same thing. It's not just about being upset. Let us help you." She spoke gently enough, surprisingly.
Winter looked away. "Weiss fell because I was too slow..." she said. "Atlas fell because I allowed the General to go on too long. I cannot make any more mistakes."
"But you will always make mistakes," Shine said candidly. "All of us will. I wish I hadn't helped them make that portal...but if I'm rational, I knew they'd do it with or without me. So is it my fault? Am I complicit? I don't know...yet I did what I thought I should. So did you. There is no shame in realizing your mistakes and fixing them. Don't let Theo get to you. He's an ignorant, jaded man, and he doesn't know what he's talking about."
"You change your tune fast," Winter said. "Before we were all fools."
"Well, humans are generally fools," Shine said. "But with that foolishness, they still can be noble. After all, we can't help being fools at first--we're predisposed to it. But some of us learn, and others of us don't. That's all. Once I was as foolish as all of you. But I tried to learn. It is not your fault. Weiss didn't blame you either...not really. She knew you were the same person under it, I think, by the end of it. Also you have been injured this whole time... You are worrying everyone by pushing yourself like this."
"Whitley is missing," Winter said abruptly.
"What?" Shine said.
"You could find him, right?" Winter said.
"Oh...uh oh..." Shine sighed. "That poor kid.... Sandstorm?"
"Yes."
"Hmm...well...I can look. By the way, I have a lead for us," Shine said. "About Theo."
"What?" Winter sat up--again making a mistake.
"But I'm not sharing it with you till you're at least partially recovered," Shine said severely. "If that's what it takes. You'd better stay here. Or move back to this school, even better."
"You cannot just do that!" Winter said. "That's valuable information."
"And you're valuable to the team," Shine shot back. "I swear, if you leave me here alone with the Branwen Twins of Angst, and the Slap-Happy Huntresses, and Wally in over his head also, I'll ask God to resurrect you just so I can slap you."
"Is that how that works?" Winter almost thought that was funny--she must really have hit her head.
"I don't know, but who knows what He might do? This world is weird--" Shine stopped. "Well, anyway. Later."
She left the tent.
* * *
"Honestly, why does everyone do this?" Shine asked herself. "Whoever I work with is always so stubborn about everything! I swear..." [Every story does seem to have that...but hey, has she looked in the mirror?]
She started to look for Whitley and thought she spied him somewhere, but she wasn't sure where.
Could take her ages to walk there...and she felt too tired to portal right now.
Maybe if she just redirected someone else that direction.
"Raven..." she called.
"What?" Raven wasn't that far off, surprisingly. "Oh...have you seen Neapolitian?"
"Have you seen her?" Shine replied.
"No," Raven said. "But a little bird told me she was here."
"So he ran his mouth about that already," Shine said. "Lovely. Why is he a spy again? Anyway, could you help me find Whitley?"
"I'd like you to answer my question first," Raven said.
"Raven, I--" Shine stopped.
She felt something...movement...inside her.
Her eyes flickered gold for a moment.
"What...?" Raven backed up, worried this was some kind of power display. Perhaps she'd made her mad.
But Shine ignored her entirely and looked around.
"Oh..." she said. "Are they back? I'm not sure--I haven't quite felt that before--but somehow it was like the portals in away... The oasis! I bet the oasis."
She took off running, forgetting how tired she was.
"Back?" Raven turned into a bird and followed her.
* * *
Blake woke up when she was, like, 50 feet from the ground, and the hot, arid air was searing her body.
She thought it must be Vacuo.
* * *
Sun and Neptune were by the oasis at the time. Neptune kept a healthy distance from the water.
"I'm telling you, man, it's freaking weird," Sun said. "That sandstorm just stopped like nothing, I've never seen it before, and then the Grimm just stopped too. I mean, you say there were way more out here."
"It's like they spooked," Neptune suggested. "Man, it's hot though."
"Dude, I told you, ditch the jacket," Sun said.
"No, man, it looks cool on me," Neptune protested.
"It looks stupid in this weather," Sun said. "Man, though...I miss Blake."
"Why? She's so moody even when she is around, dude. Honestly, I'm not sure why you like her," Neptune said, maybe trying to cheer him up by using reverse psychology. "I mean, you know, I guess opposites attract, but you have nothing in common."
"Well, we're both Faunus," Sun said.
"That's like saying I'd hit it off with a girl just because we're both human," Neptune said.
"Well, you'd definitely hit on any girl that was human," Sun shot back. "Or Faunus."
"Hey!" Neptune said, just as if it wasn't true.
"It's so weird about them falling like that into another world," Sun said. "I mean, how do you just fall out of the world?"
"I don't know," Neptune said. "Just fall, like, out of the sky maybe?"
"Oh, come on," Sun scoffed. "You couldn't fall out of the sky--it was some big hole!"
[A Thousand Miles Vanessa Carlton]
Right at that moment, something came falling out of the sky.
"Is that a sword?" Neptune said. It hit the sand a dozen feet away.
He went over to it.
"That was weird..." Sun said, rubbing his chin.
Then he shrugged with his hands out. "Hey, Neptune, what do you call a sword falling from the sky?"
"If you say a pun right now, man, I'll kill you."
"Oh, come on, what do you call it?" Sun said.
At that moment, something else fell out of the sky...but this time it was a person.
It was Blake.
She fell right in front of him, and he caught her without thinking about it.
"Blake?!" Sun was shocked.
"Sun?" Blake had expected that impact to hurt a lot more.
"Oh, Blakesun!" Neptune made a joke. "Right, oh, even better, Black Sun, get it? Like an eclipse. Yeah, that's what you call something that falls out of the sky--also, holy frick, you just fell out of the sky!"
"How did you...?" Sun was puzzled.
"How are you here?" Blake said.
"I live here!" Sun said.
"I..." Blake said oddly. "Well...uh...um, you might want to look out for the others?"
"Others?" Neptune said.
Right then the rest of team RWBY appeared and fell right towards wherever Neptune was.
He tried to dodge but still got pinned down by Yang and Weiss both, one on his arm and one on his feet.
Ruby skidded and rolled into the pool of water instead.
"Whoa..." Sun said.
"Uh...you can put me down now," Blake said, turning red.
"Huh? Oh, right...but you didn't say it," Sun said.
"Say it...?" Blake's ears twitched. "My hero?"
"Bingo." Sun dropped her.
"Hey!" Blake said.
"Whoops," Sun said. "But I mean, you almost killed me right there, so you kinda deserved that."
Blake got to her feet. "Sun, you--" She put her ears back. Then she stopped and shook her head. "You know what? I missed you."
"Huh?" Sun said.
She hugged him.
"What is happening?" Sun looked at Neptune, who was again brushing sand off himself.
"Oh my gosh, it's the twink," Yang said, sitting up.
"I am not a twink!" Neptune was offended. "Don't ever say that again! Gorilla Girl."
"You want to run that by me again?!" Yang made a fist, then she looked around. "Oh, hey, we've made it... Well, chalk one up for Blake, I guess."
"More like for Pyrrha," Blake said. "Wait, where're Pyrrha and Jaune?"
Right after she said that, they both fell out of the sky and into the water, almost on top of Ruby.
"Where's Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked. It landed a few feet away. "Oh."
"How the heck are you all falling?" Sun asked.
"Ah!" a small, high voice said, and a mouse ran out of Ruby's hood. "I'm all wet! What's going on? What was all that scary stuff."
"AHHHH!" Sun jumped. "Demon mouse!"
"Where?" Neptune said.
"Little?" Ruby said, horrified. "I... You were still here?"
"I never left your hood!" Little cried. "I was too scared. There was so much burbling and growling and yelling and talking...and then nothing! Where is this?"
"This...I..." Ruby sputtered. "Uh oh..."
"Ruby, did you bring your friend?" Pyrrha started wringing water out of her hair. She also rubbed her face oddly.
"Holy crap!" Sun said. "Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Sun Wukong?" Pyrrha said.
"Right on!" Sun said. "I heard you were back, but I was like, 'Wha-at? No way.'"
He pulled her out of the water and gave her a hug.
"Where's my shield?" Jaune said.
It fell on his head.
"My sword..." Weiss said.
"It's here." Neptune held it out. "You almost ran me into it."
"Oh...thanks..." She took it gingerly. "How's your face?"
"It's okay. At least it better be." Neptune felt it.
"Shame, I was hoping someone broke it." Weiss frowned.
"Huh?" Neptune said.
"Hah." Yang high-fived Weiss. "Good one. Gosh, Ruby, I can't believe you brought that stupid mouse with you. How are we going to explain a talking mouse?"
"How does it talk?" Sun asked.
"It just does," Jaune said. "You guys will never believe what happened to us. There was this big monster."
"And a woman," Pyrrha said. "She could tell the future."
"And there were talking birds and a griffin thing that wasn't Grimm," Weiss said.
"And the trees were all pink and purple and weird," Blake said.
"And, like, cheese grew underground," Ruby said.
"Okay, you're making that last one up," Sun said.
"No, for real," Ruby said.
"Did you guys hit your heads?" Neptune asked.
Weiss winced. "Ugh, it's so hot and dusty here... Is this Vacuo?"
"One and only." Sun pointed. "See?"
They all looked.
"Well, here we are," Yang said. "After all that work to get back here. At least it's still standing."
"Quick, how long have we been gone?" Pyrrha asked.
"I think three days," Sun said.
"Oh, that's not so bad," Pyrrha said.
"But it was only one," Jaune said. "For us. One and half, tops."
"Maybe two," Weiss said. "But time was so weird there..."
"But still..." Pyrrha said, "we could have missed so much..."
"Who is that coming?" Yang asked. "Oh...it's her." She frowned.
Shine was hurrying over the sand as fast as she could manage.
"Hello, everyone," she said. "Oh, my word! You're here in one piece!"
She grabbed Pyrrha and hugged her.
"I'm so glad to see you," Pyrrha said. "We've... You would not believe what happened."
"Try me," Shine said. "Come here, Jaune."
Jaune came in.
"Wow, favoritism much?" Yang muttered.
"Ruby!" Shine said. "Blake, Weiss...even Yang. We've all been worried sick."
"No thanks." Yang looked angry.
Ruby was game. She walked up to Shine. "We had the craziest adventure!" she said. "And...I kind of brought a friend by accident." She held up the mouse.
"Who are you?" Little asked Shine.
Shine did a double take, but then she shrugged. "I'm Shine. Who are you?"
"Ruby calls me Little," Little said.
"Then Little it is," Shine said. "Though I think little of that as a name, but I suppose it's not worse than Paul."
"Paul?" Pyrrha said.
"It means short," Shine said. "How did you get back?"
"We jumped," Jaune said. "Down a black ravine..."
"Okay," Shine said. "Well...glad that worked out for you."
"Uh...the talking mouse thing doesn't freak you out?" Weiss said.
"I've met talking animals before," Shine said. "At least, I think I have... A talking snowman anyway, that's close enough. And a naked mole rat... It's not that weird."
"Everything you just said was weird," Sun said. "Hey, this new friend of yours, Blake, she's crazy."
He said crazy like in a cool way.
"Oh...sure..." Blake said uncertainly.
"Thank goodness we didn't land so far apart this time," Pyrrha said. "We could have been lost in the desert... It's so hot..."
"At least you didn't go from the freezing cold of Atlas to this," Shine said. "Unless it was just as cold where you were."
"No, it wasn't," Jaune said.
"Well, then you're better than us. We've all been getting climate sickness," Shine said. "But it's a little better today, only we just had sandstorms, and you all must hurry--your family is distraught. Your parents are here by the way, Blake, kind of by accident, but, they've been helping us out. I wasn't sure how to break it to them that you were in another world, but I guess now I don't need to."
"Mom and Dad are here?" Blake said, stunned.
"And your dad is just as scary as ever," Sun said.
"Is Uncle Qrow okay?" Ruby asked.
"Bless you for asking that upfront," Shine said. "He's...in one piece. I'm sure you two will help."
Yang looked upward and saw a bird overhead.
"Is that him now?" She squinted at it.
But she thought it was bigger than Qrow.
[Ravens are a bit bigger than crows.]
Shine looked back. "Let's just get inside the kingdom," she said. "There's a lot you missed. Excuse how messy all of us are. A lot of sand and not a lot of water doesn't make for the most cleanliness."
"I'm sure we look just as bad." Pyrrha straightened her hair.
"Ah, you guys couldn't look bad if you tried," Shine said.
[Well, the Volume 7 redesigns might beg to differ there.]
"Ah, don't say that, Miss Likstar," Neptune said. "You're really pretty too."
"I'm 22, Neptune," Shine said.
"Wait, seriously?" Neptune had thought she was 19 at most.
"Well, you don't have to look at me like I'm old enough to be your mother!" Shine said, a bit touchy. "Just your sister maybe, but I have a boyfriend, so you'd better just shove that tone.... However, thank you, I appreciate the compliment."
"Did you just try to hit on a teacher?" Yang said. "Lame."
"She's not a teacher!" Neptune said. "Right?"
"Sure I am," Shine said. "Just not Yang's, I guess."
"Actually, we have so many questions for you," Pyrrha said. "But we...we met Alicia."
Shine stopped short. "What?" she said oddly.
"Just for a short time," Pyrrha said. "She came to help us...but she wouldn't--couldn't--come back with us. She told us...more about what happened."
"Oh...wow..." Shine actually looked genuinely surprised, and somehow that scared them, since she never was surprised.
She laughed. "Oh, of course though... Why, what's a thousand years to one of us? A thousand years is a day to Him."
"A thousand years?!" Jaune cried. "She was a thousand years old?!"
"No, she wasn't," Shine said. "At least I doubt it. But she was here a 1000 years ago. Time flows differently for every world."
Then she smirked. "I suspect you all buy the story now."
Silence.
"I think we did before," Blake said. "But...uh...yeah, definitely more now... Also...I think the Sword of Destruction was in that world...but we never found it."
"Thank goodness for that," Shine said. "And do not mention it to Headmaster Theodore when you meet him. In fact, don't tell him any of this. We'll explain later, but for now you must go tell your poor families. I want to hear all about Alicia, but it would be cruel to make them wait any more. Go now."
The camp surprised the girls and Jaune with how poorly it was going and how many people were sick or wounded or just unhappy.
A few recognized the girls and waved at them.
A few moms came up to Jaune and said piteously that their kids seemed to have been separated from them into another kingdom.
Jaune couldn't do anything about it except say he was sorry.
"So the plan worked?" Pyrrha said.
"In a way, but it didn't fix everything," Shine said.
"Blake?" Gira and Kali were out with some of the Huntresses and Faunus from Vacuo and Mantle both, perhaps trying to get more organization going on.
"Mom! Dad!" Blake ran up to them, and they all embraced.
"Winter is in there," Shine told Weiss. "Your mother is around somewhere, I'm sure... Oh...right... Whitley... Excuse me." She hurried away.
"What about Whitley?" Weiss said oddly.
"Weiss!" Willow came hurrying out of a different tent. "You're back!"
She actually hugged her.
"Mom?" Weiss was surprised...especially since she was sober. [I'm sorry.]
"We thought you were never coming back," Willow said. "Your sister..."
"Where's Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know," Yang said.
"He's looking for that brat," Raven said behind them.
They whirled around.
She'd stepped out from between some tents, looking nervous enough, for her.
"Mom?" Yang was not happy. She narrowed her eyes warily. "What are you doing here?"
"It's not what you think," Raven said. "But I had to see with my own eyes, the truth."
"Oh, sure," Yang said. "Always about that, isn't it?" She frowned. "Well, don't let us keep you. Come on, Ruby, we have to find Uncle Qrow."
"Uh...isn't it odd that Raven is here?" Ruby said.
"I'll say," Little said, from on top of her shoulder. "She looks nothing like a raven... Does she eat mice?"
"What the h---?!" Raven jumped back.
"Little...maybe don't say anything till we're inside where no one can see us," Ruby said. "You might scare a lot of people."
"Why would they be afraid of a mouse?" Little asked. "Also, I'm hungry. Does anyone have any cheese?"
"The mouse is talking," Raven said.
"It does that," Yang said, just as if she hadn't almost shot it herself.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Little asked.
"Huh?" Ruby said.
"I don't even know what that is," Little said. "I heard Griffin say it once. But I bet it's a bird."
"It's not a bird," Yang said. "It's a desk."
"What kind of animal is that?" Little asked.
"Uh, like I said, maybe be quiet," Ruby said.
"You brought something back from that world?" Raven said.
"How did you know that?" Yang narrowed her eyes.
Raven was silent.
"Don't tell anyone," Ruby hissed. "We'll figure something out, I'm sure."
Weiss glanced toward the medical tent.
"Winter is in there?"
"She's all right," Willow said. "She has heatstroke, that's all. She's very tired, but I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
Winter was sitting up. "Is that Weiss' voice?" she said, dizzily.
"Winter!" Weiss was stunned at how bad her condition was, but she ran up to her anyway to hug her.
"Weiss!" Winter grabbed her with one arm as she could manage. She started crying...though it made her head ache, but she didn't care.
Ruby and Yang followed Weiss.
"My mom is here!" Yang hissed. "What's going on?"
"Oh, her," Winter said oddly. "Well, she's the Spring Maiden, so it's not that strange. She was helping with the storm a bit earlier."
If she'd said Raven had turned from a bird into a wolf, it couldn't have surprised Yang more than that.
But that was nothing to Ruby's surprise.
"Raven is the Spring Maiden?" she said.
"I forgot you didn't know that," Winter said.
"What?" Weiss pulled back. "But..." She looked at Yang blankly. "I thought the Maiden died."
"Oh, no." Winter frowned at Raven. "The Maiden didn't die...at least not at Haven."
Yang pursed her lips. "But who told you?" she said. "Was it Likstar? That snitch! Waits till we're in another world and blows everything?!"
Winter frowned at her more. "It was your mother who revealed it," she said. "Miss Likstar never mentioned it."
"But why would you know that?" Weiss looked at Yang oddly. "Why would you think Shine...? That sounds like you knew."
"I..." Yang faltered. "Well, it's...complicated."
"That's not complicated at all." Blake had followed them. "Either you did or you didn't."
Pause.
"Well, I might have known," Yang said. "But it doesn't matter, because we already had the Lamp."
Her teammates stared at her.
"How would that not matter?" Blake finally exploded. "What if Salem had...? And she...? How could you not...?" She shook her head.
Ruby stared at Yang in disbelief, then she pursed her lips.
"Girls," Willow said, "perhaps you could take this somewhere else. Winter needs to rest."
"Of course," Weiss said quickly. "We can hash it out later... First we should find the rest of our team, right? They're all okay, right?"
"Oh, yes," Willow said.
* * *
Outside, Pyrrha and Jaune were with Raven.
"So you made it," she said.
"Yeah," Jaune said. "I guess everyone knows about you, huh?"
"My idiot brother would have told them anyway," Raven dismissed it.
"I'm surprised you're here," Pyrrha said. "You're still helping us? Thank you."
"I'm not...exactly..." Raven said. Then shrugged. "Well, you've got a lot of surprises coming."
"Raven?" Oscar came down the street. "Have you seen Shine or Wally? I haven't heard from them since the storm, and--" He stopped short.
"Oscar!" Pyrrha ran up to him.
"Pyrrha! Jaune!" Oscar cried, this time actually willing to hug her, since he was mostly recovered.
Jaune hugged him too.
"Why are you guys wet?" Oscar asked.
"The pool," Pyrrha said. "That's all. It's not acid."
"Acid?" Oscar said.
"From the Jabberwocky," Pyrrha said.
"The what?" Oscar said.
"Uh...nevermind," Pyrrha said.
"Oscar?" Ruby saw him.
She ran up.
Oscar held out his hand--and actually got the hug this time.
"Ruby!" he said.
"Aww..." Weiss said, then coughed. "I mean, oh brother." She rolled her eyes.
"Sure," Blake said.
"Well, isn't that cute?" Sun said, using his tail to spin Blake over. "They're so wholesome."
"And they didn't fall on him first." Neptune rubbed his shoulder.
"Wimp," Yang muttered.
"We were so worried about you guys," Oscar said.
"Miss Weiss!" Klein came out of a different tent.
"Klein!" Weiss hugged him.
"Awww," Yang mimicked her. "Also, oh brother."
"Shut up," Weiss said.
"You frickers made it back?" Emerald stepped out of another tent. "Wow...I guess the oracle was right."
"Oh, look, she's still here," Yang said dryly.
"Eh, she's kind of cute," Neptune said.
"Back off, Water Boy," Emerald warned.
"Yeah, her heart belongs to that metal-footed kid," Raven said snarkily.
"Hey!" Emerald said. "It does not! I just want to tell him 'I told you so.'"
"You haven't found him yet?" Pyrrha said with genuine concern. "I'm sorry, I'd hoped by now..."
"We've kind of found him," Emerald said. "But we haven't made contact yet..."
"She's green." Little ran out of Ruby's sleeve. "Finally a normal color."
"AHHHH!" Emerald jumped. "The h--- is that?!"
"Ah!" Little ran back inside Ruby's sleeve.
"Ruby, did that mouse just talk?" Oscar said weirdly.
"Uh...yeah...?" Ruby said sheepishly. "I...sort of brought her back by accident..."
"That's so cool," Oscar said. "But also weird."
Little peeped out at him.
"I like him," she said. "He looks like a tree."
"Well, he is a pine," Yang joked.
"Someone is re-adjusting way too fast," Neptune said.
"I think she just means the color," Ruby said. "Wait, trees weren't green there."
"Oh, some of them were," Pyrrha said, "I think...maybe..."
"The talking mouse thing is surprisingly not that hard to get used to," Jaune shrugged. "All the animals there talked."
"You guys really were in another world?" Oscar was wide eyed. "What was it like?"
"Like a dream," Pyrrha said, "but while you were awake..."
Neptune smirked. "I knew it, they hit their heads."
"No, it was real," Blake said. "I don't get it, but it was."
"Hey, guys." Wally came running into camp, looking tired. "Finally got the last of them... Whew, that storm was so wicked, but I gotta tell you the craziest thing that happened... Oh, hey kids, you're back."
"Hello, Mr. West," Pyrrha said.
"I'm glad to see you," Wally said. "Boy, did you miss a lot..." He paused. "Whoa...maybe I ran a little too hard there."
Suddenly he fell over.
"Mr. West!" Pyrrha cried.
[They just have one thing after another, don't they?]