The sword shone, and the glow seemed to vibrate into the floor itself.
The Grimm flew up to the end of the ship--but seemed to be wary of actually attacking it. They bared their fangs at it and made weird cries but didn't tear into it.
Watching it made Qrow feel weirdly both kind of sick and kind of relieved.
"How do you do that?" he asked Shine.
Shine didn't answer.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Raven... I had no idea this would happen. If I had, we'd have evacuated the whole tribe to Vacuo or somewhere else. It never entered my mind that Cinder would think to even go back there--but it should have. You can't blame yourself for this, though."
"I should blame you, then?" Raven said.
"That would be ungrateful," Winter said.
"Ice Queen," Qrow said in a low voice, "not now."
"But she can't just blame her," Winter hissed. "Miss Likstar saved her life by taking her away from this camp--and the Maiden powers also."
"I may not understand Raven very well," Qrow said, "but I know enough to know that would be the wrong thing to point out at this particular moment of time."
He was right.
Raven shot Winter a hostile look, but when she said nothing else, she let it drop.
Shine chose not to acknowledge the remark at all.
"You feel horrible, I'm sure," she said, "and I can't blame you for that...but, I hope that you will not forget that Salem intends to make you do something foolish by this move. The best revenge would be to surprise her."
"Oh?" Raven said bitterly. "What could surprise that hag?" She put one hand to her forehead. "I was a fool to think she would ever let us go. If Cinder hadn't survived...but even then, Watts could have told her... If they figured it out...they'd have found us eventually. I just hoped they'd be too busy chasing the other team to worry about us. But they did this for sport. They could have trapped me without killing them...but they didn't bother to even try. Salem doesn't care... All that, and you still don't want to try to stop her."
"She picked a fight with you." Shine said what Qrow would not have said at that moment, but her tone wasn't quite like his. "Not me. I act on your behalf. But I will not kill for you. Anything else I can do for you, though, I would try to do it...if that is any comfort."
"It's not," Raven said, frowning. "But perhaps I can make use of it. I suppose you think I have to go back to Vacuo with you... This worked out just how you'd want it, didn't it? I knew you were letting me go too easily. Did you want this? Did you think it would happen?!"
Her anger was unexpected.
Razor stepped back like he knew not to mess with Raven when she talked like that--she sounded just like Yang, too.
Shine somehow didn't flinch.
"I admit I had some hunch that it might not go the way you thought," she said, "but it was not anything specific... I only hoped you'd change you mind, perhaps...never this. I don't actually sit around thinking about horrible scenarios...but I suppose I thought Salem would not really let anyone remain neutral in this forever. Not anyone Ozpin has ever been involved with."
"So you did," Raven said.
"No," Shine said firmly. "And lashing out at me will not make you feel any better, whatever you think. But go ahead if you want to."
Telling her to do it kind of nullified the whole point of doing it, so Raven just sat in silence.
Shine sighed.
"Perhaps we'd better just leave her alone." She walked to the other two and spoke in a low voice.
"Is bringing her back to Vacou a liability?" Winter said in a low tone also.
"Does it matter?" Shine said. "It's no secret that we're there. You are a liability just as much. Salem will not let you go either just because she has the Staff."
Winter bit her lip.
"But she'll have to go through me," Shine said, eyes fierce for a moment. "I made that quite clear to her."
"You did what?" Qrow was scary.
"When I took James with me," Shine said. "She was there. Didn't I say so? She almost was going to attack me, but she stopped when I told her there was a better hope of dethroning the gods. Then she left. But I told her 'see you in Vacuo' so that she'd know I wasn't just going to disappear."
"You told her where we would be?" Qrow said.
"Tyrian was already there," Shine said. "Do you really think she didn't know?"
"No matter, Cinder could have told her anyway," Winter said. "She knew our whole plan somehow. Besides it was the obvious choice. Salem surely would have guessed where we'd go. But provoking her was a stupid idea."
Shine didn't bother to acknowledge that criticism.
"The point is she paused. That means she still wants that," she said.
"I'm not as stupid as you think, Likstar," Qrow said. "I've seen you fail and get tired, and you're clearly human. That said, there's no way you can defeat gods. No one can. Salem at most just outsmarted them, and that backfired big time. You want to try that? You'll end up getting the world destroyed just like she did."
"I wouldn't fight them," Shine said. She glanced upward. "I don't need to do that. But someone will have to confront them. Who knows who it will be?... I wouldn't mind seeing it, though. Ought to be a real rush."
"With all due respect, Miss Likstar, that sounds like madness," Winter said severely. "I wonder about your sanity at times, but that is just the height of foolishness. No one looks for a fight with the gods."
"But they look for a fight with us," Shine said. "One of my most famous forefathers wrestled with God one night. Just as a practice. He wasn't punished, he was given a new name and a blessing...did walk away with a hip injury though, but who comes out of a struggle with God unscathed? The point is, God is not afraid to contend with us, as any parent must. Your gods are cowards. They hide from people and avoid their problems. They shoved them off onto Ozpin... They only wanted worship--they wanted no responsibility. Our God is not like that. And if those two ever dare show their faces here again, I fully expect someone here will be ready to point that out. But someone will have to make sure Ozpin doesn't just get stuck with the job again. Man cannot replace God, whatever they say."
She frowned. "Salem knows that. Why do you think she's so furious? For all her scheming, she is still as dependent on them as anyone else is. I remember Raven once said she couldn't be reasoned with."
Raven looked up. So she was listening still after all.
"And she can't be," Qrow said. "You think she's scared of you?" He laughed bitterly. "She's not scared of you. She's not interested in dealing with you either. She's a monster, plain and simple."
"I've seen monsters before, Qrow," Shine said. She glanced out the window at the Grimm with distaste. "I know of one who cannot be reasoned with. There is no truth in him. That is my enemy. But Salem, I've seen her. She's undoubtedly corrupt, and she's smart, and especially because she is so old. But I saw humanity in her still---not much of it, I suppose, but enough of it to show she is not entirely irrational. I know what pure evil looks like. It takes and takes, and it gives nothing back. She's not far from that, I admit. But once she wasn't. All devils were once angels...but only humans can go between both and change our course. Humanity was her heritage if it's not her current state. To be human is to have a great privilege and a great weakness. You decide which it is."
She looked back at him. "Lucky for you," she added wryly, "or we'd all be doomed anyway. You all still don't understand at all."
She leaned on the wall. "I wonder how much time I have to teach you."
"You still sound crazy," Qrow said.
Shine raised an eyebrow and smiled oddly. "Qrow, think about it. If the options you've tried so far that sound sane have not worked, could it be that the real answer all along might sound crazy to you? You think you're not adjusted to this world's limits? But that's the reason you can't exceed them. Remember what I was just saying...foolishness...wisdom. Do you know the difference?"
Qrow stared at her, then looked away. "Always have a clever answer for everything...but how can you be so sure? You haven't stopped much."
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Shine said. "If you lose Vacuo, certainly your chances will be much worse of turning this around--but even so, there's worse things than losing a kingdom. One is losing your soul. Another is losing hope. If you can keep those, Qrow, I'd be much encouraged, personally. After that, saving the world ought to be easy by comparison."
"Deeply insulting," Winter said. "Normally I'd understand that, but I thought you were supposed to be motivating us."
"Oh, it's nothing against Qrow," Shine said. "It's nearly impossible to save anyone's soul. But the nearly is what keeps us going. 'He who wins souls is wise.' I wish I was wiser." She tugged her hair. "But, may I point out, Wally and I are all you got. I'm sorry we're not as impressive as Alicia, but you should have put in an order for a better World Walker if you wanted one to your flavor. We are what we are. At least we came at all. Even that was a miracle."
Winter smiled finally. "When you put it that way...it's so unbelievable...but this must be true... No way all this could be fabricated."
Qrow sighed. "You want us to put our hopes on you instead of Oz, is that it?"
"No," Shine said. "Hope in something higher than that. I know I do... But a little trust would be delightful after the last few weeks...just saying."
She looked a bit peeved again.
"I suppose you said something to bring this on." Winter finally concluded that Shine had to be referring to something specific with Qrow.
"I...didn't exactly mean to--" Qrow stopped. "Well, the thing is..." Then he stopped again. "It's not exactly that I'm not grateful..."
Shine raised an eyebrow.
"But it's just that..." Qrow hesitated again. "Nothing ever goes right for very long for us. The things you do, they seem impressive, but then, I've heard that kind of thing for years...magic and legends...but it hasn't helped us in the long run."
"Is that your apology?" Shine asked. "Or are you trying to make me feel worse?"
"It's not much good to call her human and then complain that she's not some magical answer for everything," Winter said, pointedly. "Pick one, Qrow. And stop being an ass to the people who have been trying to help us."
"I don't recall you being all that welcoming either." Qrow wasn't taking that from her.
"I didn't yell at you or accuse you of being a fraud," Winter said to Shine, as if she was on trial. "Isn't that better than...whatever clearly happened with you and that moron?"
With a sideways glare at Qrow.
"I suppose, proportionally." Shine stifled a laugh. "Considering the last few months that Qrow has had however, I could somewhat overlook the reception..."
"I'm right here," Qrow said. "You got something to say, Sparky, just say it."
"Is that really the best name you could come up with?" Shine said. She straightened. "You want me to whine about you hurting my feelings like some child? I think I can be better than that. Would it make you feel guilty to hear it? Is that what you want?"
"Well, the way you're acting, it sure seems like you want some kind of apology," Qrow shot back. "And all those snippy comments of yours don't help anything."
"Well, it's not so bad," Shine said. "You may have insulted me and my job and my contributions, but Hazel said that Wally let me think for him the other night--I think that was even worse. And I like Hazel. That's the sad thing."
"Why?" Winter was genuinely baffled.
"Because under that tough guy exterior, he's a teddy bear," Shine said. "He'd die for Emerald--and Mercury. "
"He's a killer, same as them," Qrow muttered.
"What were you once?" Shine asked.
Qrow glanced at Raven and then at her. "Maybe that's true," he said warily. "And maybe they've changed their minds, but it's not the work of one day or a week to lose that."
Shine leaned back on one of the benches and shrugged. "There's something you can learn from killers and scoundrels," she said. "I avoided them myself, but the third mission I was ever on, I was sent to a rather zany world, met one of my current best friends... She was a villain. She had a flair for it, too. Wasn't really interested in leaving it. She was fun, but I wondered many times how I'd complete that mission."
"And did you?" Against her will, Winter was getting more interested in Shine's history after hearing all about the past and current encounters with DJs.
"Yeah, somehow," Shine said. "I mean, it wasn't just my efforts...but I helped. I learned something from that though... Many people who are on the wrong side are because they see some flaw in the heroes that they refuse to correct. Or some flaw in themselves that they think they can never escape. So they embrace it. You've noticed my sharp tongue... I had one before that, but oh boy, did it get worse there. She really taught me how to do the quips... Sometimes I go overboard... To her, it was in good fun, but not to everyone." She shrugged. "Villains aren't always as serious as heroes are about that... But in one way, I've noticed it's oddly successful when I work with villains now, criminals and the like. Something about it, they respect it because it shows them you are not afraid of them. To them it's natural. Heroic speeches only make them feel like you look down on them. My friend may not have needed my help only to change her mind, but I needed her help to learn what I'd need going forward. It was immensely useful in Wally's world to have that skill. I also learned how bad guys think--not that I don't study that anyway."
She smirked a little. "But it was definitely a crash course doing it up close. Heck, she could break it down for you herself. Every villain needs a plan, a goal, a strategy, and certain skills, in order to stand a chance. So you assess that, and you can understand them. Philosophy I can read about, but first hand experience is unbeatable for knowing how to manage people...also it taught me not to be afraid of them."
She gestured around. "Maybe it looks crazy to you...but I really don't care what you think. Until you've pulled it off successfully, why should I listen to you? Is being condescending and threatening to them getting you the win? You can find something about almost anyone to like if you try. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up understanding them better than you think... I wonder often, actually, if it's because we know that, deep down, that we choose not to try. What would we do if we couldn't blame people entirely for our problems, if we had to admit we were just as subject to error as the people we look down on? But it's not going to make us right, just to prove them wrong."
Raven looked at her oddly again.
"It won't make us right just to prove them wrong," Winter repeated slowly, thinking about it. "Hmm...that's...an interesting thing to say."
"Compare it to this: Just because you know someone missed a note in a tune, does not mean you have the skill to play it right yourself," Shine suggested. "In fact, you may do worse than them. You both may know it's wrong, but who can be right? And would the person who could play it bother pointing it out to you, or would they just play it right themselves? True excellence is not feeling the need to show other people how much better you are than them, it's just being better."
"I suppose that analogy makes sense," Winter mused. "But if so, we are in trouble, because we haven't the faintest idea what the right tune is, if we returned to the real subject. And if you think you do, why aren't you playing it?"
"I am," Shine said. "Wally and I both are... You can't learn it if you don't listen."
Her meaning was pretty clear there.
She left off there because Raven said that they were where they could land now.
They left the ship as planned and portalled to Vale the rest of the way.
* * *
Tai was shocked when they appeared, especially since they were together.
Raven wouldn't talk to him or even acknowledge him at all, and Razor avoided him.
Qrow almost got smothered in a hug first before he had to explain what happened and tell him that Ruby and Yang were fine--boy, was he glad he could say that now.
Winter found the whole display kind of touching on Tai's part--goodness knows she had no idea what an affectionate father figure looked like; it was kind of odd to see one who even cared about his daughters' well being.
"But who are you working with?" Tai asked. "Raven...?" He glanced her way, then back at Qrow. "And this...isn't this Winter Schnee? I mean, it's been ages since the festival she'd have been in, but they all look so similar. She's too old to be the young one."
"Correct." Winter hoped Qrow would not take this opportunity to describe her in an insulting manner. Not that she needed to impress Tai, but it would undermine her authority.
But Qrow didn't say much about her other than, "Yeah, well, it's been a weird few weeks."
"I'll say. I saw your broadcast. What were you all thinking?" Tai asked. "And then Glynda up and told me to come to Beacon. She said she had things to discuss. You know, I didn't want to be mixed up in all this anymore...but the girls are in some kind of danger, aren't they? I mean, more than usual."
"Well, you know them," Qrow said.
"Too well," Tai winced. "I wonder if I should have just followed Yang...but I know she'd want to do this herself. And Ruby...well, I figured you'd keep an eye on them...but..."
That struck Winter as odd. If he was so concerned, why on earth would he stay home and leave Qrow of all people to watch his daughters?
Qrow couldn't even watch himself!
"I've probably come closer to dying than they have," Qrow said. If you didn't count falling into an abyss to another world as almost dying.
"I believe it," Tai said. "So...uh, Miss Schnee, why are you along? I don't get it."
"I'm here on business," Winter said. "Our ride was compromised, so Qrow's sister graciously brought us here."
She was insincere about the gracious part, but that seemed to go over Tai's head.
"Yeah...I have a few questions about that," he said. "Do I get an explanation?"
"Trust me, you don't want one," Qrow said. "But one part of it that's been unexpectedly dark is that we just found out the Bandit Camp was torched."
"What?" Tai said. "Who would be able to pull that off?"
Qrow gave him a long look.
"But why would she...?" Tai said.
"Raven is the Spring Maiden." Qrow saw no reason to hide this. If Salem cared about Tai, she would have found him already.
Tai blinked and then looked from Raven to Qrow and then at Winter.
"That's the Winter Maiden," Qrow added.
"Oh..." Tai said. "Crap... Well, that's...a lot to take in... Do the girls--?"
"They know everything," Qrow said.
More than Tai did, that was for sure.
"I see," Tai said, looking a bit wary.
Winter wondered if he might think the girls were being put in line for the powers. Not a pleasant thought.
"Well, I'm sure there's a story behind this," Tai said. "Not that I'm surprised, really. Always figured James would make her the new Maiden, but Raven is...a twist... I guess we know where Spring ran off to now...heh..." He shook his head. "Still...the name thing makes it kind of funny almost. Winter is the Winter Maiden? How does this always end up lining up?"
"That's the weirdest part of the whole thing." Qrow still thought it was weird too. But why bother questioning it?
Winter didn't like how everyone kept saying they'd known she'd be the Maiden. Was she the only one who hadn't known until recently? It almost made her feel like her name being Winter itself must have been planned. But there was no way her parents would have known about this...unless fate itself was playing a joke at her expense. Did the General believe in fate?
"What happened to James?" Tai was asking now. "That broadcast from the girls seemed out of character for him to allow. He's not with you either... I'd have thought he'd finally show up. Glynda's been so angry about him. She told me he lost his mind, but I was hoping that was just her hyperbole..."
"No, he's lost his mind," Qrow said.
"Ah..." Tai said. "We really should catch up."
"We have to catch up to Miss Likstar," Winter cut in. "You both can discuss things at Beacon. I don't intend to miss any more time."
"Did you just make a pun?" Qrow asked.
Winter paused. Had she?
No, no way.
"Of course not," she said aloud. "Don't be asinine."
She marched away in a huff.
"She's fun," Tai said. "You've got your work cut out for you there... Winter Schnee...gosh..." He shook his head. "Though I realize she's not too bad in a fight...but I don't know--her sister is kind of a weaker fighter. I hope that doesn't run in the family."
"Eh." Qrow just shrugged.
"Wait, is that the one that Ruby said you fought in the courtyard?" Tai suddenly remembered. "Right, right... That Schnee? The one you can't stand. Are you kidding me?"
"Yeah, same one," Qrow said.
"And you're stuck guarding her? That's just irony to the max," Tai said. "I mean, she seems pretty cold."
Qrow knew that was a joke, and inwardly he cringed.
"But it's snow problem," Tai went on, with a pained smile. "Maybe you'll warm up to each other? That one was good, right?"
"No," Qrow said. "Your sense of humor is one thing that never gets better with time."
"I think you're just jealous that you can't come up with clever jokes," Tai said. "Or any jokes, really. You and Raven were always birds of a feather in that area, just no sense of humor."
Leave it to him to make jokes about his ex while she wasn't that far away.
Raven ignored him, however.
Winter heard that pun and wanted to slap herself.
Beacon was just a few blocks from where Tai had been waiting--with Zwei, his dog.
Winter did not have the affinity for dogs that Weiss did, but it didn't jump on her, so she didn't say anything.
Zwei ignored Raven.
He recognized Qrow, but Qrow didn't pay him much mind either.
Shine did meet them in front of Beacon. Glynda was nearby. She came up to them, pushing her glasses up.
"The council is eager to hear from you," she said. "But it will be interesting to explain how you all arrived without an airship."
"This place really does look different." Qrow perked up for the first time in the whole trip. "I'm surprised how many repairs you've made."
"Ever since that giant Grimm was taken care of, the others have hardly been a threat," Glynda said. "Everyone's mood is so much better, it's almost like before the invasion--except that we have refugees and destroyed homes. The Grimm attacked us more after they arrived, but it's simmering down. Thankfully the housing we had covered more of them than I expected."
"It's hard to say, but we think the majority of them still went to Vacuo. Maybe they thought it made more sense," Shine said.
"Is Theo still being an ass?" Glynda asked Qrow.
"More so than usual, yeah," Qrow said.
Glynda frowned. "I'd prefer to go to Vacuo to help straighten this out...and protect the Maiden, but that would leave the Relic unguarded."
"I can't see that your presence is doing much there," Winter said. "Isn't it only the Maiden who can unlock it? And she's headed for Vacuo."
"One thing," Shine said. "She used up the Relic's question. Salem won't be able to find the Relic of Choice now without someone who already knows where it is...and, Glynda, she hasn't come for you. I take it only Ozpin knows."
"You'd be right. I only know it's here, somewhere," Glynda said.
"Likstar, can't you sense magic?" Qrow said. "What if you found it?"
They all looked at her.
"I won't do that," Shine said. "And don't say that where everyone can hear it. I don't fancy being kidnapped myself. As I thought, Oscar will not be safe till we get this all resolved. I mean, he wouldn't be anyway, but she'll want him back...and if Tyrian is the only kidnapper left, be very afraid..." she shuddered.
"Yes...I've heard about him," Glynda said.
"For now we just need the supplies most," Shine said. "I've got to get on the dust thing. You guys should probably fill Glynda in on at least part of what we talked about on the plane. I trust you know which part." She raised an eyebrow.
"What about her?" Qrow nodded at Raven, who was hanging back with Razor and looking pretty dejected, for her.
"I suppose I'll take her with me, if she'll come," Shine said. "Unless she wants to be a part of this."
But Raven didn't want to be. She followed Shine only because standing around alone also was not to her liking in such a public area.
Razor went with them. He might have been hoping to steal something.
Glynda took them inside, and they spent at least 30 minutes filling her in.
She was as surprised as they were...and even more skeptical.
She also looked at Winter critically.
"I knew James would have his way about the Maiden, if at all possible," she said. "But I must say...you'd think he'd have... I mean, what have you been doing? You look terrible."
Winter wished people would stop saying this also.
"Mild heatstroke," she said. "No major concern. I'll be fine by tomorrow."
"Sure," Qrow said sarcastically. "Well, they say obstinacy runs in the Schnee family--one side of it, anyway."
"Nicholas was a good guy," Tai said. "I don't remember a lot about him, but it's just a shame what... But I'm hoping it's in better hands now. You lifted the embargo, huh?"
"I suppose you could say Whitley is doing that--if it were possible to lift something that is already meaningless," Winter said. "But it's not really relevant to this conversation."
"I don't know about that. We need dust," Glynda said, straightening her glasses again. "I mean, we have dust..but still..."
"Give it to us straight," Qrow said to her. "How likely is it that we can turn this around for Vale as well as Vacuo?"
Glynda shook her head. "I'm no strategist... All this plan was mostly Miss Likstar's. And you tell me she's not even what I thought she was. That's a lot to take in. That Ozpin could hide so much... I don't know. I assume she has some idea of where to go from here. Vale could pull through and repair itself perhaps in another year or so, if people moved back to it, and we reopened trade, but losing Atlas will make that very difficult. If Mistral would cooperate, we might be able to shift our resources around...but all this will not matter if Salem continues to make her moves. All I can say is, if you can stop her, we probably would make it. If not, we are all lost already. Our objective remains the same...and maybe that's where I should be. After all, I am a guardian also...even if that title no longer means exactly what I thought..."
"I got out of this," Tai sighed. "I thought it would be better for the girls, and for me...but I should have known they'd end up involved... It feels like Ozpin just targets this family for his plans...but I knew they wouldn't back down..." He rubbed his head. "Maybe it's time I stopped trying to stay out of it. I mean, I can't say I have any clue how to stop her, or any of that, but if you need extra help, I could join you in Vacuo."
Qrow privately thought Yang might be better off if Tai was there. At least she'd have one parent she wasn't pissed off at right now. Ruby...well, she was different. She'd make it either way, somehow.
"It's up to you," he said aloud. "They'll need help here too. The girls might be happy to see you."
After all...he was doing a crappy job of keeping them safe... Might be nice if someone else was around to help.
"Either way, we still need a ship," Winter said.
[How about Snowbird...hahaha... I know.]
"What are we going to tell the council?" Glynda said. "If they send help, they're going to want to know it's worth it."
"I believe Miss Likstar's idea was that if they hear that we're reopening the dust shipping, they'd be more willing to help," Winter said. "If we got some system in place...assuming they could make it securely... We'd need pilots, though."
"We have pilots," Glynda said. "But they'd want to get paid handsomely for that risk. Vacuo doesn't like intruders much. It comes down to this--Theo really needs to cooperate more. Perhaps we can send some, but to get any kind of system in place, everyone needs to be talking. He won't write me back. Has he talked to you?"
"Nope, and we're not really sure we can trust him," Qrow said.
"Theo?" Tai said. "I mean...I know what he's like, but I wouldn't have said he was unreliable."
"If we ever saw much of him, perhaps," Winter said. "We've been left on our own in Atlas. We're doing the work of three people each."
"Or five in some cases," Qrow said dryly.
Winter was dying to say "or zero" back but considered it might be slightly unjust.... Killing Grimm probably counted at least for one person's worth.
Anyway at least he was finally doing his job... Ruby and Yang's return had done a lot--and Miss Likstar apparently could get anyone to cooperate. Funny, she was abrasive at first, but then they all did as she said... Winter wished she knew the secret to that.
"She's an elusive person," Tai said. "She just up and left before you told us all this. Why isn't she back yet?"
How long did it take to get dust?
But Shine was not just visiting the shops, as they all found out shortly.