RWBY Through Worlds (End)

210: Not A Slave!

[It bugs me that this title is out of order, but, oh well, the refrain is repeating after all.]

"What was that about?" Mercury asked, as the smoke wafted upward.

"Oh, she has to make everything imperious in order to feel important," Shine waved it off. "If she was going to attack, she wouldn't warn us first. You know her M.O. by now. She must have thought about our little chat."

"I don't believe it." Ozpin was dumbfounded. "She's actually humoring this?"

"Well, why drag someone there if they're just going to walk themselves?" Wally said. "Hey, Shine, ready to love me more?"

"I don't know, depends on what the reason is," Shine said.

"Ouch," Qrow muttered.

"I still have some instant coffee," Wally said. "And we have a real fire finally... Wait, what are we burning?"

"There was fuel on the plane," Torchwick said. "Atlas and its toys."

"You're right, I love you so much right now," Shine said.

"You like coffee way too much, Shine," Weiss said.

"Weiss, coffee is like the next best thing to good conversation." Shine took a thermos and poured hot water into it. "And it doesn't require other people's intellectual capability to work, which is a mercy."

"Can I have that on a t-shirt?" Meridian asked.

"So... you're just going to go talk to her?" Jaune asked Shine. "Aren't you scared though? She could try something."

"I won't be alone," Shine said. "And as long as that snake Tyrian isn't around, I think I'll be fine. Keep an eye out for him... though, after yesterday, I wouldn't think he'd bother you all that much."

"I'll be waiting if he does." Hazel clenched a fist. "I'd have killed him if it wasn't for diplomatic reasons."

Raven smirked oddly.

"Don't do that." Qrow gave her a weird look.

"Oh, shut up," Raven waved him off.

"Qrow, how did you go back to human form?" Shine asked. "Did you figure it out?"

"Actually Winter did," Qrow said. "Don't know why it worked for her and not you."

"Perhaps it just took more tries," Winter said.

Wally whispered to Shine, "Maybe she just makes him feel more like a man."

"Shh!" Shine was afraid they'd hear him.

"So what do you want us to do?" Yang asked. "And if you say pray again, I'm going to scream. There has to be something else we can do."

"Well, you could work on getting Ozpin to tell you the password to the other Relics just in case we need it," Shine said. "But other than that, I'm afraid I have nothing. Salem will watch you all to be sure you're doing as I say, and that's the most important thing right now. If she's willing to see you all later, it's only going to be if I convince her that you're not here for blood."

"Maybe you should see if she's all for your campaign first," Cinder said flatly. "If she's out for blood, then why should we not fight back?"

"Really? Coming from--" began Nora, but then she stopped.

Everyone had put in an effort to not be mean to Cinder this morning... and it felt really unnatural.

Which was making some of them question why it had been so easy for them to be cruel to begin with.