RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 5, Intro

     When Blake & Yang exited the elevator, they instantly turned to their teammates. "So, how'd the Scroll game or whatever go?" Yang asked.

"That's what's being asked first?" Glynda was surprised, given the last couple times. Ms. Valkyrie hadn't said anything before they could. Weird.

"Yeah, it...kinda got a bit shout-y." Ruby admitted. "I mean, that's when Weiss had the Scroll, but still. Accidentally broke one of the rules, or so..."

"So did the other person but they're not being punished..." Weiss muttered.

"I mean I didn't exactly explain it right..." Ruby admitted.

"Yes, well...I was the one with the scroll." Weiss added.

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Glynda continued.

"Anyways, to answer the question, I...don't know where we are." Blake got to the point. "In regards to...all this. We're just...acknowledging it. Giving us both time to come to terms with it."

"That's...different." Ruby wasn't an expert, so...

"Be sure said time, of course." Ozpin told them. "Nothing works out instantly, & if you try it...often will fail." Hm. He felt alright saying that.

"...Haven't we said stuff like that before?" Nora pointed out. "I really feel like we're just repeating ourselves at this point. A lot, and we're not really saying anything new."

"The point of this is to inform ourselves of the future." Ren reminded her. "Not to repeat everything we hear aloud."

"No, I kinda see Nora's point." Jaune admitted. "We gotta talk about it & I kinda feel like we're...not talking about it like we should. Like we're skipping over stuff."

"Well, perhaps we'll have more to talk about with much of the directly personal stuff handled, thus leaving the rest as...future events or about others." Pyrrha suggested. Maybe, but...

"Well, there's only one way to see." Ozpin offered. Odd, that he was now somewhat accepting of that. He didn't know what to make of it.

"...anyways, we ready for Volume 5?" Ruby asked with a hint of trepidation...but also hope. At everyone's nod, she hit play.

[Intro Start]

[*Opening Beats*]

"Oh hey a bird!" Nora instantly noted.

"Is that...Mistral?" Weiss asked, recognizing it from photos...& only that, to her mild shame.

"It is indeed." Ozpin confirmed. "It would seem things are indeed converging there."

"Didn't Nora say to say NEW stuff?" Yang pointed out.

"Conformation is always important." Glynda chided.

"Okay but does that mean...all of us? Converging?" Ruby asked hopefully. "I mean, if Mistral's the next important place, then..."

"That...actually I think I could see something like that." Blake admitted. "The White Fang IS based directly in Anima, after all."

"Yes, I...I've noticed." Pyrrha added. "Though I can't really blame them. Not after what I saw growing up."

"Wait, you're from Mistral?" Jaune asked.

"Argus, actually. Jointly owned & the location of the Mistral-Atlas border." Ren corrected.

"Huh, my sister lives there." And now Jaune was mildly wondering if Saph would come up. Before the others, certainly.

"So, do we think that bird's Qrow or Raven?" Nora sensibly asked.

"I..." That was a fair question, Weiss had to admit.

"It could be either." Ren added. Or both, he didn't say aloud. Not yet, not until he was certain.

"Alright, and-hi Ruby!" Nora greeted the screen. "How do you get your cape that long...?"

"I mean, it's probably just the shot." In truth, Ruby was now wondering if she COULD...

"Looks pretty cool." Jaune offered.

"And following the pattern from the last intro..." Blake mumbled to herself.

[Back to the fairytale
Back to the show]

"...isn't that what you just said in the elevator?" Blake pointed to Yang.

"...Huh." Yang agreed.

"Well, I suppose it's appropriate." Weiss granted. So many fairy tale motifs.

"Huh, I look pretty serious." Ruby noted. "Eh, it's the job I guess."

"Are you surprised?" Blake herself kind of was.

"I mean...most people probably don't think I could be, but..." Ruby pointed out.

"What did we talk about listening to those idiots?" Yang reminded her.

"They're idiots, that much is obvious. Keep ignoring them." Weiss told her leader.

[Backed to the wall
And there's nowhere to go]

"Alright, so, is this gonna be a group thing, or what?" Nora rhetorically asked.

"It would make sense, given that, um..." Pyrrha trailed off.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm over it." Somehow her teammates doubted Nora's statement, but then again...

"...SO, uh, where is that, exactly?" Jaune asked. "Doesn't look like...y'know, THAT place."

"It...I suppose looks somewhat like a Atlesian cargo vessel." Ren answered. "Much like the kind Nora and I used to..." Okay, the Professors were right there...

"Stow away in!" Nora has no such filter. Ozpin just chuckled while Glynda shook her head. A normal reaction, then.

"...and specifically the kinds that make international deliveries." Ren realized the implications.

"...Well, perhaps I'm taking a leaf out of your book, as it were." Weiss started to smile.

"It's smart, most people wouldn't think to look for you of all people in a ship like that." Blake thought strategically. "Though if we ARE converging on Mistral..."

"I...yes, I don't really know WHY I'd go there in particular after..." Weiss trailed off.

"Maybe you found out we're all going there?" Ruby proposed.

"...Well, I suppose I don't know where else I would go, in that case." Weiss replied.

"Don't forget, you're stuck with us forever!" Yang teased. Weiss actually chuckled a little at that.

[Hopeless and desperate
All paths adverse]

"Okay, so where are YOU?" Yang asked.

"Those...those trees kind of look like Menagerie." Blake studied the frame. "Which means it...probably worked out." Yeah, she was making that call, 100%.

"I...notice that you still aren't wearing your bow." Ozpin pointed out.

"Yes, well...it's safer that way there. Let's not make a thing out our it." But Blake was already making a thing out of it, lightly tugging at her bow. "And it's REALLY not your place to talk about that, by the way."

"Of course, my apologies." Ozpin replied. Sincerely, Blake could tell. Immortal wizard or not, it really wasn't. ...Unless, had he ever reincarnated into a...no, questions for later.

"Anyone else noticing that the lyrics are getting darker?" Jaune pointed out.

"But it still sounds so cheery, boo!" Nora complained.

"Perhaps there's a reason for-" Weiss was cut off.

[Things looking bleak
And they're bound to get worse]

"Yeah, well, still not great." Nora grumbled. "Except that part. You look pretty cool." she told Yang.

"Is that your robot arm?" Jaune asked, thinking back. "It, uh..."

"It looks awesome!" Ruby gushed. "I mean, we can only see part of it, but..."

"Again, I think James would know that he owes your father a favor." Ozpin explained.

"Well, there's that I suppose..." Blake granted. Though she thought that sort of thing should be more widespread, not (mostly) limited to high ranking officers & those they owed favors to.

"...Where does Ember Celica fit on there?" Weiss wondered. "I...don't mean to sound ignorant, but from what I know about prosthetics..."

"Eh, I'll figure it out." Yang reasoned. "And it IS pretty cool." Her arm only shook a little.

"You seem very...somber, however." Ren noted

"I would have said "determined"" Pyrrha added.

"Yeah, well, kinda hard not to be." Yang defended. "What with the arm and the..." she couldn't finish that. Wasn't fair to Blake after their talk, she thought.

"I...believe I see Mr. Ren's point." Glynda admitted. "It may be more than just that, from my perspective."

"And do you know what that is?" Yang instantly made the connection. Neither Professor answered, though they clearly wanted to. "Yeah, course, why not..."

[*Buildup*]

"Argh, too many words!" Nora complained.

"Are you serious?" Glynda was incredulous again, as is her default stage of being.

"Np, she's just having fun." Ren confirmed, to which Nora just beamed. "And behind those words is..."

"A classic Mistralian sunset." Pyrrha added. "For all of the Kingdom's many...many faults, the view is...something else."

"Yeah...that was always my favorite part." Jaune replied, thinking to his family trips to Shion.

"Yeah that's-oh hey, our stuff!" Ruby noted as the intro moved on.

"Picking up the pieces..." Weiss noted the theme.

"Yeah, that's good symbolism, all things-" Blake was cut off as Yang's part...wasn't that.

"More of a focus on the motorcycle..." Ozpin was certain he was overthinking it, but...

"Eh, I can probably slam it into someone's face." Yang proposed. "Plus, my shot lasted longer." Ruby scoffed & crossed her arms at that.

[Helpless and doomed]

"Okay yeah, Nora's right, this is kinda weird." Ruby admitted. "I mean, I'm smiling right there, and..."

"It wouldn't be the first time it built to something more cheerful." Ren pointed out. "Though I agree, it does feel slightly off."

"Yeah and...wait, where's Nora?" Jaune realized.

[And there's no way to win]

"..." Weiss had no words. Well, except, "of course..."

"...How did you even get up there?" Blake questioned. They all knew her Semblance, so...

"You'd be surprised." Nora replied. "Anyways, I wanna see who I'm pointing at!" And just the next verse...

[Goals unachievable
Faith running thing]

"Oh, hey Uncle Qrow!" Yang greeted. "...Don't worry, you get used to it."

"Hm. I suppose he IS a "main character" now, then." Ozpin noted. Ruby cheered at that.

"He's probably the one who would have to fill them in on everything." Glynda reasoned. Unless...

[Lost and forlorn]

Ozpin started at the screen, at the subject the original Qrow & Ms. Valkyrie were also staring at.

"Alright, who left their kid on the side of the road?" Nora asked.

"That's...an odd comparison." Pyrrha offered.

"Not if you know the context." Ren whispered.

"Okay, so do any of us know who-wait, that cane, that's..." Jaune realized.

[Impossible odds]

"That's Professor Ozpin's!" Weiss shouted out before quickly recomposing herself. "Which means..."

"...That's my new, or future, host." Ozpin finished. He knew from the moment he saw his cane, of course. "I've...never considered that..."

"He looks...young." Glynda noted.

"Yeah, he's like, what, 13? 14?" Yang guessed.

"That...would be the youngest person I've ever reincarnated into." Ozpin noted. "It's too soon..."

"Well it's...not like you have any control over it, right?" Blake was feeling generous to the immortal wizard today.

"Nonetheless." The experience of seeing his future host-or more specifically who that host seemed to be-was clearly throwing Oz off balance.

"Okay, so...yeah, it sucks that he's being dragged into this, but...at least we're there to help." Ruby looked on the bright side. "...Also, what are we gonna call him? He has a different name, right?"

"Ozpin is not my original name, no. Far from it." Oz confirmed. "At least, in terms of soul."

"Right, but...unless he has a song later I don't think we're gonna know HIS." Jaune realized.

"And there's no telling if the note would differentiate the two." Glynda scowled slightly. That child was clearly younger than even Ms. Rose. And for him to be trapped in this situation...

"...I'm gonna call him Little Cute Boi Ozpin." Nora declared.

"...why?" Weiss asked.

"I mean, it fits, right? He's gonna be Ozpin, he's adorable, he's boi, so..." Nora defended.

"Kinda wordy, isn't it?" Yang pointed out.

"Please do not call him that." Ozpin requested. "He's...not me, and he shouldn't be."

"...I mean, do you have any better ideas?" Nora asked. "Seriously, I'm sorry about..."

"...maybe shorten it to just "Oz", then." Glynda proposed, thinking on Ozpin's past hosts-the few she was aware of, anyways. Ozga, Osmund, Oswald, Ozana... "It does seem to be a pattern..."

"...A'ight" Nora agreed. "Cute Boi Oz it is. Little Oz for short!"

[That's when you'll learn
You've been messing]

"Right, and in case we couldn't tell, here's the floating head." Yang snarked.

"...I wonder. We have the context and so do the fans," Blake began, "but what about people who stumble on this at random?"

"Yeah, and someone's probably made a video that's just all of them." Ruby may or may not have done the same with some Mysterian cartoons.

"It punctuates it either way." Weiss defended.

"...is it actually like that?" Jaune asked.

"Not literally, but it's a good metaphor. An old one, but appropriate." Ozpin answered.

[With goooooooooooddds]

"Okay cool, but I can already see that." Nora pointed to the ceiling.

"It's surprising how little sound that makes." Weiss noted.

"I assume the cane works much the same?" Ren asked.

"Yes, it's...familiar, I suppose." Ozpin looked up as well.

"Also, the lyrics are getting better, that's what I'm talking about!" Ruby exclaimed

"Seems a bit...overplayed." Pyrrha believed.

"Eh, I think it sounds awesome." Yang countered.

"Just as long as we don't take it...too literally." Blake had read enough books featuring characters with god complexes, so...

"That goes without saying." Glynda concluded.

[Send in your Grimm
Tear off my limb]

"Okay, that's Watts, wow he looks like even more of a jerk, and that's..." Ruby prompted.

"Leo. Professor Lionheart." Ozpin explained.

"Okay, so, Watts is also a giant head & there's Grimm stuff everywhere. The song said so! Wazzat mean?" Nora continued.

"Huh, the song DID say so..." Jaune was not expecting a direct reference like that, since there were no Grimm on Earth.

"Well, if Mistral is Salem's next target, it makes sense she would have Professor Lionheart attacked, possibly sending Watts as an advance agent." Weiss theorized.

"And we're gonna save him!" Ruby declared.

"The framing feels...off when I think about it like that, though." Blake admitted. "The way it looks, the way LIONHEART looks, it doesn't...feel so simple."

"Then...what do you think it could be?" Pyrrha asked with trepidation.

"..." Ozpin thought to himself. And he remembered the security leak. Leo would KNOW of this, & yet it passed him by completely. Again, it was entirely likely that he simply missed it, but then again... "He missed it. Did he do on purpose?"

"Professor...what are you thinking?" Ren asked.

"...That there are coincidences, & then there's deliberate action." Ozpin replied. "Incompetence, or the illusion of such..."

"You think he's betrayed us." Glynda realized.

"It's POSSIBLE." Ozpin quickly amended.

"Wait, seriously?" Yang demanded. "Where did you get THAT from?"

"It's a thought I had yesterday." Ozpin explained. "I believed that I was overthinking things, but..."

"He's relatively isolated, he hasn't been in frequent contact lately, & if Mistral IS the next part of her plan..." Glynda realized.

"Okay, everyone calm down!" Weiss demanded, not noticing that she'd talked over her teachers. "Are we seriously suggesting that one of the Headmasters is a traitor because of an ambiguous shot in an intro that we don't even understand?"

"...he wouldn't be the first." Ozpin ruefully stated. "Salem has a...way of getting to people."

"...and I can guess how." Blake admitted. "A Faunus Headmaster In Mistral? There's a lot of pressure there, & if someone like Salem knows what to look for..."

"I just...are we entertaining this because of THAT?" Weiss still couldn't accept the idea. "It just sounds like a conspiracy theory."

"I mean...what Blake & Professor Goodwitch said, it makes sense." Ruby had to admit.

"Regardless of any of that, this is only a THEORY." Ozpin reminded them. "One that I'm not entirely certain on myself. There's nothing we can do as of now."

"But if it's true...what are we going to do about it?" Jaune asked.

"...I'll launch an investigation. Once all of this is over." Ozpin decided. "And, if he's guilty, acquire his resignation. One way or the other."

"The ramifications of that alone..." Blake realized. If Mistral learned he was a traitor, not even in league with some Grimm Queen but just with the White Fang, it would give bigots the perfect scapegoat. Someone they could point to as if his actions somehow represented ALL Faunus. And in MISTRAL of all places...

"Urgh, this sucks." Nora undersold.

"I...I just..." Weiss had to acknowledge that they made good points. Regardless... "We do NOTHING until we're certain."

"Of course, Ms. Schnee." Ozpin agreed. And when Weiss started to panic upon realizing what she'd been doing, he waved her off. "Besides, it's possible that the "AMVs" will offer us more insight before that."

"Heh, yeah I guess we got that." Ruby wasn't in the best mood due to this news, but she could manage. "Let's just hope the next part's not as-"

[Strike me with bolts of lightning]

"Oh fuck you edgelord, go away!" Nora shouted as Blake winced at seeing her abuser again.

"The hell is Hazel doing there?" Yang demanded, eyes red. "Why would he even..."

"Well that...that's Sienna's throne room." Blake managed to speak. "I've been there a couple times."

"And if Salem wishes to ensure the compliance of the entirety of the White Fang, she'd need to send someone to assure that." Glynda theorized.

"Yes, but...Hazel?" Pyrrha questioned. "He didn't strike me as the...negotiating type."

"You'd be surprised, Ms. Nikos." Ozpin replied. "I honestly think he would be the best choice, compared to the others."

"He WAS looking down in the last intro..." Ruby muttered.

"And, and he's just...going along with it?" Weiss questioned. She knew better now than to accuse the White Fang as a whole of "reverse racism" as that's not really a thing.

"I'd have thought he'd try to kill Hazel for being human." Blake admitted. There were exceptions to every rule, those who seemed to exist to try & prove horrible people right through logical fallacies. "But I guess whatever Salem promised him is more important than that."

"So he...knows about her?" Ruby asked.

"It's the only way I can see him bringing Hazel to meet Sienna." Blake replied. "And that's...pretty much the only way some random guy would be able to get into her throne room in the first place. If anyone could get away with it..."

"Great, so there's that to worry about." Yang added it to the rally. "This IS way too cheerful..."

"From our perspective, yes, but from the perspective of the fans & creators, who would know these things eventually, not necessarily." Ren countered.

"So, uh, I just noticed that I've just been asking questions this whole time, but...would she, Sienna I mean, go along with it?" Jaune...well.

"...I don't know." Blake admitted. "A lot of my perception of her is based on what he told me & what he did. It's hard to...separate it."

"From what I've seen, I believe that she's not willing to sell her soul to Salem, in any event." Ozpin said. He had a sort of...respect for her, he had to admit. Not for her protégé though, but that went without saying. How much WAS she aware of his actions?

Well, regardless...

[I won't die]

"And that just about sums up the mood right now." Yang deadpanned, seeing the looks OG Blake & Sun sported.

"Stupid Lionheart..." Nora muttered. "Urgh, no, focus on the other stuff."

"That's an...interesting place." Pyrrha changed the subject.

"Menagerie's waters. Faunus with fish features often prefer the water, so Menagerie accommodates. As much as it can." Blake explained.

"Why would you & Sun be looking so...dejected, though?" Weiss asked.

"This is one of the ones that I feel like we need more context." Blake explained. "Though right after the last shot..."

"Are we...still not together yet?" Ruby noticed a pattern. "I mean, obviously if we're right about the last one then we can't be at the start of this one, but...I dunno."

"Maybe that's the big finale or something." Jaune proposed.

"Maybe..." Ruby muttered.

And really, what else was there to say? ...Oh, many things. Well, we're busy.

[The battle seems unwinnable]

Aaaaaaaaand this again.

"Oh great..." Jaune muttered.

"Okay, but who's that other person?" Nora asked. "And why are they so angry?"

Ozpin & Glynda looked at each other. "You don't think..." Glynda began.

"This person seems a little too young, but..." Ozpin left the possibility hanging.

"Hey, the bird again." Ruby noted.

And what that led to was...

[But all we need's a miracle]

"...so, there you are." Yang managed. "Took you long enough."

"...Why is she smiling when you're frowning?" Ruby demanded. "That's not..."

"I don't... Yang was at a loss. "She's right there, and I'm..."

"It...looks like she's always there." Blake offered.

"Where even IS this anyways?" Weiss asked. "Where has she BEEN?"

"...It looks like a typical bandit camp." Ren finally said aloud. He'd & Nora had seen them before.

The students all turned to their professors. That just closed their eyes, before Ozpin replied, "That's because it is. The Branwen Tribe aren't the most notable Bandit Clan, but they're up there."

"..." Everyone looked at Yang. She herself was uncharacteristically...tiny right then. Her eyes were wide. The implications seemed easy enough to understand. Still... "Okay, so...explain. In detail. Now." she demanded.

Ozpin sighed. He could only hope Qrow could forgive this. "Your mother and uncle came from a bandit clan. They entered Beacon Academy not to learn how to kill Grimm, but how to fight off Hunters who interfered in their raids. But they "went native" as it were, & left. Formed a family with their Team."

"Until Raven left, & returned to her old life." Glynda sadly noted. "She leads the Tribe now, as far as Qrow can tell."

More silence. Cliché, yes, but appropriate.

"...They're bandits?" Ruby managed at last.

"They WERE. Your Uncle Qrow left that life behind & has been one of the best Hunstmen I've ever known for decades now." Ozpin stressed.

"But Raven didn't." Blake glared at Ozpin. THERE'S the distrust.

"...No, she did not." Glynda sadly reiterated. "She seemed to, but then..."

"...What a jerk." Nora noted. "I think we should punch her a little." Weiss nodded.

"...Why?" Yang almost whispered out. Her eyes were red again-got THAT from dear old mommy, didn't she?-& she was starting to tear up. "Why did she GO BACK if she already had...WHY?"

"...I don't know." Ozpin stated truthfully.

"Oh fuck that!" Yang shouted. "You KNEW. All of you did! You can't just say you don't know angry all that! You can't just...just not mention this! And...and you knew! The whole time, and...!"

"Tell me, Ms. Xiao Long, would YOU tell a child that their mother ran away to be a murderer?" Glynda rhetorically asked.

"I'm 18, Glynda, I think I'm old enough to know something like that!" Yang shot back. "All this time, and no one ever...Ruby almost DIED when I was trying to find her. They couldn't just...?"

"I suspect they were going to soon. It's not the sort of thing you can avoid forever, no." Ozpin acknowledged.

"Yeah, but it's just..." If Yang's holographic chair was made of physical matter, the arm sets would have snapped off by now. "THIS is why she's gone...? How can...why would...ARGH."

"Yang." She turned to look at Blake. There was an understanding there.

"I...yeah." Yang continued. "I know. I know you're all here & she's not. I know where she is & what she's doing, which I should have learned yesterday by the way, but I don't know WHY. I don't..."

"Yang..." Ruby reached out.

"It's just...all this time, I kept making excuses, trying to find some kind of reason for this." Yang continued. "But there's...this isn't...she could have stayed, why didn't she?"

"I can speculate; I can point at shame, or fear, but at the end of the day only she can say for certain. Not even Qrow knows WHY." Ozpin replied. "Even though it would be SO easy for her to..."

"...What do you mean by that?" Blake noticed. And Ozpin hoped she would.

"It's...her Semblance. She can make a portal to whomever she's bonded to. Emotionally." Ozpin explained.

"That's...different." Pyrrha noted. Not unheard of, but very, VERY rare.

"Yes, the Branwen Twins both had more...esoteric Semblances." Ozpin agreed. "Really, turning them into birds was just adding to it."

"So that's how she can show up all the time if she's also doing this..." Yang muttered, thinking back to the bird she'd seen her whole life. "So...she can come by literally whenever, and she DOES, but..."

"She has absolutely no excuse." Weiss stated frankly.

"Yeah, fuck her." Nora agreed. "...Hey, how did she & Qrow even get into Beacon in the first place?"

"Yes, The Branwen Tribe is rather infamous in Anima. Nora & I heard of them & saw their work often." Ren added.

"Well, Branwen isn't an unheard of last name in Vale, but in Mistral, it means...that." Ozpin explained. "I suppose with that in mind, they felt confident using the Tribe's name as their surname. And I...felt they deserved a second chance."

"That's familiar..." Blake muttered to herself. Qrow had certainly taken it, but Raven threw it away. Not just rejected it, she ACCEPTED & then left. Who in their right minds...? Try as she could as a runaway herself, but she couldn't understand Raven Branwen.

"I just...I need a minute, okay?" Yang requested, her holo-chair almost melting. "I just need everything to be quiet right now."

"Can we still...?" Ruby asked. At Yang's nod, she, Blake, & Weiss grabbed her, & held her as she screamed. Eventually of course it gave way to crying. Ruby was part of it-she knew how important this was to Yang, & to hear the awful truth...not great. She took a second to glare at Raven's image, & she could see Blake was doing the same since they started this.

"...I don't GET people like that." Jaune admitted. "I mean, my parents aren't super great, but they never left us. Any of us."

"Just hope you never do." Nora told him. A few more minutes passed before it calmed down enough.

"Okay, so...she left to go kill people for reasons no one's sure about." Yang summered up with a full tone of voice.

"Ozpin might." Blake reminded her, "You seemed confident at guessing, at least."

"But without confirmation I can't promise anything." Ozpin defended himself.

"That's kinda cheap." Nora muttered.

"Yeah but...I feel burned out right now." Yang replied. It was a testament to the mood that she didn't notice the pun, nor did anyone else comment on it. "Just...stop being so damn cryptic, okay? I don't care if Qrow didn't want you to say, she's still my mom."

"...Alright." Normally Ozpin would be saying this sort of thing with a metaphorical hand behind his back, but in this case...he could be honest.

Save for what he thought Raven may have found of course. That always led to despair like that. And whose fault is that? Seriously, what WAS that?

"...I can offer my theories." Ozpin at least offered. Overdue, but...Yang nodded. "Well, it's not a...pleasant thing to learn, is it? Salem, The Maidens, the Gods, the...scale. It's why I didn't want to involve any of you so soon if possible, even you Ms. Rose. I can't claim to know what Raven thinks, truly, but I DO believe she resents me for all this. She wouldn't be the only one."

"...You also mentioned fear, or shame...I think I saw that on Lionheart." Blake analyzed.

"He wasn't always like that." Ozpin sadly noted. What HAPPENED to him? And more importantly... "And neither was she. Neither was Hazel, for that matter." And things were starting to fit together. It WAS only a theory, & everyone kept that in mind, but...

"...Okay, so, that other person, who was that?" Nora reminded them, to change the subject.

"We...believe she might be the Spring Maiden." Glynda explained.

"She was...very young when she inherited the Mantle." Ozpin continued. "The responsibility was overwhelming, & she fled. We haven't been able to find her since, but..."

"...It looks like Raven did." Blake concluded.

"Fucking wonderful..." Yang muttered. "And I'm gonna have to deal with all that."

"Well...SHE might, but we're still here." Ruby reminded her. "I know we keeping SAYING that, but...we do have the Magic Multiverse Cube, & we have time."

"...Heh, yeah." Yang looked to her sister. Than to Blake. Then finally to Weiss & JNPR. "...Alright, spent enough time on THAT one, let's move on." Ruby was somewhat reluctant, but resumed the video nonetheless.

[We're going up]

"Oh, who's thi-?" Ruby instantly asked.

"-That's...Ilia." Blake almost spoke over her. "I...well, obviously she'd show up eventually."

"Okay, but who is she?" Yang asked. She seemed to be...refocusing. That was...progress? Maybe?

"A friend. From the White Fang. I...think my best one. Best GENUINE one, anyways." Blake exposited. "And she is, she was, she's not..."

"Most people aren't." Weiss reminded her. Granted, Weiss herself only learned THAT by coming to Beacon, but...

"So...you believe she could be an ally?" Ozpin asked. Important info.

"I...maybe. If she sees what Adam...what he really is, I...hope so." Blake honestly hadn't thought of it that much. "But then there's that picture she's looking at, that looks like-"

[We'll never be]

"-Yeah, them." Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Oh great, THESE two again." Nora complained.

"If the original Blake & Sun are still in Menagerie at this point, then of course they'd have to deal with them." Ren reasoned.

"They look like cult leaders." Jaune admitted. Then he quickly thought about that statement. "Um, well, what old movies say they cult leaders..."

"No, they do, trust me." Blake agreed. "Especially with that shrine..."

"Is...that really the image they want to go with?" Pyrrha questioned.

"As long as they get results, I don't think Sienna cares. At least, that's what I thought at the time..." Blake muttered.

"And all that when contrasted with the last frame..." Glynda noted. They were clearly connected.

"I-" Blake was cut off. Happens to everyone, apparently.

[Deniiiiiied!]

"Okay, Weiss going hand signals, awesome!" Nora quickly used the hook offered.

"That's my Semblance and...wait." Weiss saw what her future self was doing. They all waited until...

"Is that-is that your Summoning thing?" Ruby asked in excitement.

"That's...yes, the Arma Gigas I killed before coming here. In full." Weiss started in wonder. Then she started to to chuckle, but not in a happy way. "Heh, and judging from the LAST intro, all I needed to figure it out was some more trauma, course..."

"Nope." Ruby ordered.

"But I-" Weiss was immediately

"Nope. You'll get it." Ruby assured her.

"...Whatever you say, Ruby..." Weiss's smile turned more genuine.

[Can't wish away the dismal days
Can't bring back]

"True enough." Ozpin agreed. "We often try, but..." No one else had anything to say, they'd said it before after all.

"...Is that me? And Hazel? Am I fighting Hazel?" Nora shouted.

"It...seems we both are." Ren noted as the video went on.

"Alright, so, we need to get ready for this." Nora declared. "We need to his...oh wait, we went over this last time."

"Yes. Ability to block out pain, which he uses to inject Dust directly into himself that he directs as a weapon." Ren recited

"...hey Oz, does that include Lightning Dust?" Nora asked.

"...Yes, it's what he uses primarily, I'd say." Ozpin replied, a little perplexed before his eyes widened,

"Ohohohoho, that's gonna be fun..." Nora grinned.

"If you make sure not to let him know what YOUR Semblance is first." Jaune's leadership instincts, new & relatively untested as they were, kicked in.

"Yeah yeah, I got this." Nora waved him off.

[What is gone]

"And don't I know that." Blake lampshaded.

"Blake...

"I'm just...saying the visuals are appropriate." Blake defended.

"Yeah but what are you looking-" Ruby forgot to pause.

[Won't waste more tears
On yesteryears]

"...Oh." Ruby finished. Yeah that was...

"...Well, I guess that answers your question." Blake bitterly noted to Ozpin.

"...Perhaps." Ozpin cautiously noted. "But those early shots were framed more as a cult." Having been the subject of one as The Infinite Man, he'd know. "I don't mean to assume too much, but-"

"It basically is." Blake cut him off. "Adam's at the center and everyone else is...well, I guess they're not important to him." After all, why else would he still be going along with this after The Breach?

"And the Albians would seem to be working under that cult." Glynda noted. "If we're taking the last intro literally..."

"But it's...just him, right?" Jaune asked.

"For all of their...disagreements, I don't really remember Sienna ever hating my dad. Certainly not enough to...order something like that." Blake admitted. "I THOUGHT we'd gotten to that point, but I...can't really verify that."

"But...what about Ilia herself? You said she's not like him." Weiss pointed out.

"No, but he's...very, VERY good at making people think he's like them." Blake replied. "Making them think he actually...cares. Maybe even himself. That he's just doing what he has to. Like Sienna. Even I still kind of thought that until...well, yesterday."

"But is she there YET?" Yang poked at that. "You don't KNOW that she's like. Hell, she's probably caught up in stuff just like you were."

"...I know, but she could be. If-if there was enough motivation, then..." Blake rubbed her head. "I'm...surprised you're all the ones defending her."

"Well...you said she's not that bad, & we trust you." Ruby stated as though it was obvious.

"YET. She's not..." Blake didn't want to think about that. This WAS her closest ACTUAL friend in the White Fang, after all.

"Perhaps, but you'd be be surprised at people's capacity to change." Ozpin spoke up. "In many cases negatively, yes," he looked at Ms. Xiao Long at that. He was thinking Salem, all the others, & possibly Lionheart, but she was certainly thinking of..."but sometimes you'd be surprised at some people's willingness to do the opposite."

"Yeah, Ice Queen here's a pretty good example of that." Nora pointed out.

"I...still don't want to assume..." Weiss deflected.

"And that's proof that you have. And we've absolutely said that enough." Blake almost smirked again. "And if...if that's true, if you can cast away all he tried to teach you..."

"Then the same is possible for her." Pyrrha finished. "I...may not truly understand what it's like, but I think sometimes you have to have faith. It won't always be rewarded, but.." Ozpin said nothing.

"Yeah, and we're still...a bit ahead of them, there's time." Blake realized. "I just hope she hasn't changed her Scroll Number..."

"But...should he already have his hooks in her, we still need to be prepared." Glynda didn't take joy in ruining the good moods of others, despite rumor, but... "In the event we have to...subdue her, there are things we need to know. What is her Semblance?"

"...She hasn't found it yet, or at least she didn't when I left." Blake felt extremely guilty at this, but...Glynda was right. "She never needed one, because her Faunus Trait...It's a chameleon, her skin changes based on her mood and...it helps her blend in."

"That could be...difficult." Ren granted as a maybe sorta fellow in that field. "But based on what you e said & what we've seen I don't think it's much of a worry, especially if we reach out to her before."

"Alright." Blake breathed in. "So. Plan for Ilia. Hope for the best. What's next?" Ruby unpaused.

[Instead, we'll carry on
(Carry on)]

"Oh great, hi Mercury. Ya jerk." Yang sarcastically greeted.

"...Where's Emerald been in all this?" Weiss wondered. "Or, come to think of it, where are Watts, & Tyrian, &..."

"They're probably just not as important in this one." Blake reasoned. "Or they just haven't come up yet."

"Also, is that Ember Celica built into your robot arm?!" Ruby asked in excitement.

"Huh, looks like it. Doesn't look super detailed, but..." Well, Yang wasn't THAT good of a mechanic. Speaking of. "So, you said Ironwood made this?" She looked at Ozpin

"More specifically he COMMISSIONED it." Ozpin clarified. "While he knows enough to keep such things in working order, that's not the same as knowing how to create it. It would most likely be one of his scientists. Dr. Polendina, perhaps?"

Ruby almost stared choking.

"Uh, Ruby, are you...?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, let's move on!" And with that, they did.

[We'll win for sure]

"Well, someone's confident." Nora noted.

"The word you're looking for is "awesome"" Ruby replied.

[We will endure]

"I'd say that's...appropriate, yes." Pyrrha replied

"Thank you!" Weiss let herself be just a little proud of what she saw.

[And though our goal]

"I'm just glad the lyrics match." Jaune admitted.

"That they do..." Blake muttered. In both positive & negative ways, it seemed.

[Is far]

"Hm. Gambol Shroud being thrown over the side & then Yang jumping out..." Ren noted.

"Ahaha...least it looks neat." Yang almost started blushing.

[We'll be the ones
To touch the sun!]

"Heh. She's ang'y." Yang chuckled while ruffling her sister's hair.

"Yaaaang..." Ruby jokingly complained.

"Hey, where's the rest of Team RNJR?" Nora demanded, to the chuckles of Ruby, Yang, & her Team. "Oh, right, Hazel."

The sister's partners looked at each other. "So...are they okay?" Weiss asked. She still wasn't an expert.

Neither was Blake, but... "As much as we are." she could tell. "That was a lot more..." but before she could finish that thought...

"Hah, we're back together!" Ruby shouted.

"About time." Weiss smirked.

"Didn't we think that the last time?" Jaune pointed out.

"The framing there was more abstract though." Blake countered. "Here, though, Ruby looked to the side, and..."

"...and there we were. Took long enough." Yang was still hurting, that was clear, but this helped.

"Judging from when it's playing, & the previous shot, this would most likely occur at the end of the Volume." Ozpin theorized.

"I suppose it would be more "dramatic" that way." Pyrrha granted.

[The Triumph]

"Is that what the song's called?" Nora asked. "Kinda feels like that."

"If Ozpin's right, it would fit. At least on a personal level." Blake said.

"And it freaking took long enough!" Ruby complained.

"For us it was only an hour or so." Ren pointed out.

"More specifically, it was-" Glynda was cut off

"-Yeah, but image what it was for the fans." Nora realized. "That's, what, two years?"

"Well, I suppose it's all the sweeter when it finally happens." Ozpin said.

Ruby's Scroll rang. "'Yup.'" And before Ruby could ask what their original selves were looking at...

[Will be]

"...Welp, that was kind of obvious." Yang pointed out. "Where else WAS she?"

"Standing up the the arch-villain herself..." Blake stated. "It's a classic..."

"Well, I...hope we're ready." Weiss was uncertain.

"I hope SHE'S ready." Ruby replied.

"So, uh, is Salem actually giant sized?" Nora asked.

"Uh, no, that's dramatic license; I believe." At least Ozpin sure hoped. And he had to admit to himself, seeing JUST Team RWBY standing up to her, whoever his future host was nowhere to be seen...Intellectually he knew it was THEIR show, but...maybe it was a little petty. And yet maybe it meant something. After all this time...urgh, he kept asking himself, & yet...

[Ouuuuuuurs]

"Yeah, see, we got back together stronger than ever, ready to take on the world!" Ruby cheered. "Anyways, um...I know that wasn't super great until the end, but..."

"It all fit together by then, so it's cool." Yang waved off.

"I'm...I think I'm happy with that, yes." Weiss confirmed. Whatever jealously of her original self was there seemed to have retreated. "Within reason, of course." Her desire to not be like her father, however, is ALWAYS present.

"We talked a LOT. Like a lot a lot." Nora noted. "Is this just gonna be a thing now?"

"Well, with the world more open-for the fans, I imagine for the first time-it only makes sense that's there's...more to comment on." Ren reasoned.

"Though not QUITE as much as the last intro." Pyrrha undersold. "Still..."

"I kinda feel like we were a little...I dunno, angry, frustrated, during all that?" Jaune noted. "Cause that wasn't really a bad one."

"It's a very uplifting yet realistic one, yes, but for us it's personal." Blake reminded him. "And informative. Even if...not as much as I'd have liked. Enough to know if she..."

"Every little bit helps, particularly when you have the kind of access we do." Glynda stated, holding up her Scroll & entering Lecture Mode. "Ms. Amitola's been caught on security cameras, during a mission that she, Sienna...& he all took part in, but there are...no modern matches for whom we assume to be The Spring Maiden, though she does somewhat resemble our files on the younger one. Not perfectly, though..."

"Well, that does tend to happen when people age." Ozpin noted, then looked at himself. "Fourteen years old..."

"...Eh, look, Little Oz has us to help him out, he'll be fine." Nora granted. "Or, you both will? Argh, freaking reincarnating wizards..."

"Indeed..." Ozpin was clearly still thinking about his original self's future host. "And we...may have identified a double agent."

"You're...certain about Lionheart?" Weiss asked. "Enough to stake so much on it?"

"I'm certain that it's plausible, yes." Ozpin confirmed. "Though, of course, we need to play it as discreetly as possible. Both because we cannot be certain, either, & because, as Ms. Belladonna explained before..."

"...yeah, not one of your best ideas, huh?" Yang questioned.

"No it was not." Ozpin confirmed. "Now then, Ms. Rose?"

"Right! The full song iiiiiiiiiiissssss..." Ruby paused. "The Triumph! Heh, awesome."

~~~~~

Not much a fan of Ozcar, but to me, his name is "Little Bean".
"Little Cute Boy Ozpin" sounds very very weird, "Little Oz" barely fixes it.

Welcome to Volume 5, btw.