RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 5, Triumph

"'Call me crazy but I think The Triumph is my favorite opening.'" The note read. "'And that's some steep competition. I dunno, it works for me. Hopefully it'll work for you. Aaaanyways...'"

Ruby hit play immediately.

[Song Start]

[Nowhere to run now
No time to grieve]

"Uh, excuse you, there WAS time, we had a timeskip!" Nora corrected.

"It said "now", though." Yang countered. "That was then. Things are starting to ramp up"

"Yeah good point." Nora admitted.

[No other choices
It's die or believe]

"Not sure I like the framing of that...but it's not wrong, especially now." Blake commented.

"No one can run from this, no, no matter how much they try." Glynda confirmed. Yang looked to the side.

[Not backing down
We're standing at last]

"Hell yeah! ...Um, that's not repeating myself, right?" Ruby realized.

"Perhaps, but it's appropriate." Ozpin replied. It was...well, so far what the title promised, & he felt...off at that.

[Cause beat & dejected
Are things of the past]

"Or the future, as it were." Ren dryly noted. "We don't know what the other Volumes will hold yet."

"That's...true, but also not necessary at the moment." Pyrrha countered.

[*First Interlude*]

"Yeah seriously Ren, c'mon." Nora complained.

"I...do apologize, yes. I'm not the best at...knowing the right time." Ren admitted.

"Eh, you're not the only one." Ruby assured him.

"We do seem to struggle with that at times..." Weiss muttered.

"Tell me about it..." Jaune lampshaded.

"Well...I think the song is rather nice thus far." Pyrrha changed the subject.

"Oh yeah, the song." Blake lightly chuckled.

"Eh, I think that was a good tangent." Yang added.

"I...don't understand how I'm not used to this yet." Glynda admitted.

"Well, it's only been a day since this specifically started, roughly." Ozpin defended. And there was nothing else to say until...

[This is the moment
This is the day]

"YES, love that!" Nora shouted out. Ruby started humming This Will Be The Day right after.

"Well, technically I wouldn't say it's THE moment, since there's still a lot of show left." Blake smirked. This wasn't really like her, not since...eh, Yang's laughter made it all worth it. ...Analyze later.

[This is the place
And we came here to slay]

"I guess, strictly speaking, given the number of Volumes, we can't solve things NOW." Weiss decided to join in on being pedantic. "After all, Salem would go after Atlas & Vacuo next, right?'

"Indeed. It's her style to take things slow like that, only go after one at time." Ozpin confirmed. She had nothing but time, after all...

[Yeah I'm a girl
But I'm also a gun]

Ruby immediately started laughing hysterically, while Jaune just groaned.

"Didn't you say that you said that to him when you met?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, we talked about this yesterday!" Nora recalled. "Almost forgot."

Ruby just continued to laugh. Good thing the holo-chairs had recliners.

"Serious proclamations and then a line like that..." Glynda REALLY should be expecting that.

[Fast and I'm deadly
You'll never outrun]

"And I assume this part is also about Ruby?" Weiss questioned. "I mean, it CAN apply generally, but..."

"Well-hehe-it is my Se-he-mblance." Ruby got herself to calm down.

"Perhaps not the sum total, however." Ozpin brought up.

"Yeah we'll find out eventually, more song!" Ruby ordered. And then complied with her own order.

[Strike down my friends
I'll never bend]

"...Yeah, yeah, you won't...don't care what you have, we can take it all." Ruby declared.

How many others had said that, Ozpin wondered? How many said with that amount of sincerity? Whatever it was countered. Well, there was one...

[Right to the end
I'm fighting]

"So IS this more a general thing or is it about Ruby?" Nora asked. "I mean, she's the main main main character, so..."

"Perhaps it's both?" Ren offered

"Probably, I just wanted to say "main main main character", really." Nora admitted.

"I mean, everyone else is also important..." Ruby muttered. Maybe more.

[Glorified]

Blake flinched a little.

"Blake, are you-" Yang immediately asked.

"Yes, just...uncomfortable language. I don't really trust people if that's their goal. Just for the praise." Blake explained. Only just realized that...

"Yes that...never ends well," Weiss agreed, Pyrrha nodding along. And Jaune...didn't THINK he was, but then he DID cheat his way into Beacon, so maybe part of it was. But then, if it ever HAD been a thing, it hadn't been for a while, he knew Pyrrha would say.

[And though it's unpredictable
We're heading for the pinnacle]

"We...don't know where exactly we're going. We can't. Even with this. ESPECIALLY with this." Blake noted. "We'll be completely off the rails after this."

"Their path or ours, I think we'll figure it out." Ren replied.

[We'll never stop
We're heading towards the sky]

"Gods I wish space travel was real..." Ruby muttered. "Hey, uh, Ms. Goodwitch, do Ironwood's secret files say if-"

"No, & these are the standard military records, so they wouldn't." Glynda quickly answered.

"Right, yeah, that makes sense..." Ruby whispered to herself.

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

But THIS wasn't the time for whispering, now was the sing-along! And yeah, they can't. There are less dismal days to wish away for them, but yeah. Still...

[Won't waste more tears on yesteryears
Instead, we'll carry on (Carry on!)]

That was the "thesis", wasn't it? While it wasn't healthy to think of this through the lens of a show, it was hard NOT to at least a little. And as theses go...they could do worse.

[We'll win for sure
We will endure]

Overly confident? Perhaps, & Ozpin more than anyone considered that. But it was more of a...statement, really. Defiance. Always good against unspeakable evil.

[And though
Our goal is far]

And it was. For all of them. Whether on Remnant Prime or this random universe in a sea of universes. And yet...if the song was right it was, part of Oz dared to say, attainable.

[We'll be the ones to
Touch the sun]

They don't come any more "defiant against the evils of the world" than that, do they? Well, maybe they did, big multiverse probably, but singing it was pretty fun.

[The Triumph
Will be ours]

And while they couldn't quite appreciate it the way the fans on Earth did due to the...personal revelations of the intro, that didn't mean they couldn't have fun. And...

[It's not destiny
It would be a
Grave mistake to think so]

"Heh, yeah, screw destiny!" Ruby declared. Pyrrha looked pensive.

"You often think you understand what's going to happen, and yet..." Ozpin trailed off. Ozma, the FIRST Ozma, could never have imagined this world.

"And even if it WAS, I think the Cube's screwed up ours." Yang was smirking as usual again.

[Every choice is
Ours and ours alone]

"They all are." Glynda lectured. "Many try to avoid that, to feel better about themselves." Or hoist the blame onto the easier target, as it was with Hazel.

"Telling themselves that there was nothing they could do, or that they "had" to do something they could have avoided." Ren remembered.

"Yes, personal responsibility seems to...elude some people." Weiss looked to Blake with understanding. "But beyond that...well, yes. It is. It always is. I assume that's why it's one of the Relics?"

"It was perhaps their most important gift, from my perspective." Ozpin confirmed.

[This hasn't all been mapped by fate
This is the future we create]

"Hm. You know, I think that can apply to us, specifically." Blake said.

"Hurray for serendipity!" Nora shouted. "Wait, did I say that before...?"

"Probably a good idea not to think about it." Jaune answered.

[And we're powered by
Every tear that's dried]

"Oh wow, that's...okay, that's good." Nora said.

"Yeah. Let's make it happen, guys." Ruby told the others. They nodded, even the Professors. Well, that's...interesting, Oz & Glynda thought.

[*Second Interlude*]

"So, since this is the part where the lyrics end, I think, what do we think?" Ruby asked.

"I wanna ask that next time..." Nora jokingly complained. "But anyways it was GREAT."

"Some people think that optimism & realism are incompatible." Blake stated. "I did for a while, but..."

"...you've shown us better." Weiss continued. "Shown us

"Shame not everyone can see that, but that's their loss." Yang concluded.

"Hardly perfect, but it's reinforced the sense of...well, realistic optimism from the last one." Pyrrha offered.

"It acknowledges all the bad that can & has happened, but it also says that it CAN be overcome." Ren continued.

"Yeah, I think we really needed that after yesterday." Jaune admitted. "Yesterday sucked."

"You seem to have a knack for that, Ms. Rose." Ozpin noted.

"But it may not suit the tone for EVER Volume." Again, Glynda didn't WANT to be the worrywart, but realistically... "Still, as a more general anthem...I believe I see why the S.I. loves it." Okay, that was better. And yeah, huh.

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

No music. Just words. It WAS a pretty good way to punctuate things, wasn't it?

[Won't waste more tears on yesteryears
Instead, we'll carry on (Carry on!)]

And okay, realistically they would ALWAYS mourn what could have been & what they lost...but not at the expense of what CAN be & what they can gain.

[We'll win for sure
We will endure]

Maybe they can't guarantee the first thing. In an infinite multiverse, any number of things could have happened. But the second...always.

[And though
Our goal is far]

True enough. It had only been around a day, when added up, but Nora would probably complain that it's felt like almost a whole year. Half a year? Not now though. Later. When it was funny.

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

In conclusion, fuck you Salem. Fuck you Adam, fuck you Jacques, & a tentative fuck you to Raven. Yang got the sense that was a little more...involved.

[The Triumph
Will be ours]

That was the point of this, even without the Cube, but on Remnant Prime. Maybe it was just their original selves giving their creed & not a prediction, but maybe it was both. For a second, even Ozpin allowed himself to fully believe that. But first...

[The Triumph
Will be ours]

And with that surprise reprise out of the way, Ruby turned to her Scroll. "Alright, up next is...The Path To Isolation. Oh, great, this is gonna be sad, isn't it?"

~~~~~

Did you know: Not including this Author Note, this chapter was 1,600 words exact?