RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 5, The Path to Isolation

"'So, The Path To Isolation is an interesting one because, well, it describes feelings from flashbacks, before the series. Stuff I hope you've already done to terms with.'" The note explained. "'It's been advertised as "Mirror Mirror Part 0.5", and with that, I think you can guess that it's from the perspective of Weiss Schnee, and it's before she met any of you. Though a some in the community suggested that it could also be about Winter Schnee. Certainly, there are similar struggles there. And, well...'"

"...Well WHAT?" Nora demanded.

"Uh, that's where it ends." Ruby sheepishly stated.

"So, I get to see how I can move forward & how my original self has, and now we're getting a view into when it was even worse than any of you ever saw. I'm fairly certain I also wrote this one." Weiss grumbled. "I suppose we're getting repetitive again, right?"

"I...wasn't gonna say anything. This time." Nora looked down. "...ANYWAYS, Ruby, the thing!" And Ruby obliged, though somewhat reluctantly.

[Song Start]

[It starts
With the unexpected loss
Of something dear]

"I've definitely felt this at least." Weiss commented. "Though it wasn't exactly a...single moment. At least at first."

"It rarely is." Blake agreed.

[The warmth
That comforted and cradled
Just disappears]

"Again, there WAS a time where my mother actually...paid attention, & it even seemed like my father..." Weiss elaborated.

"And then they show you what they're really like..." Nora muttered, thinking of her mother.

[And in its place there's nothing
Just an endless empty hole]

"I think-no, I HAVE gotten past that." Weiss declared, looking at her Team. "Not...completely, but.."

"It's never a case of "completely", Ms. Schnee." Ozpin assured her. He'd know and...would they?

[The light that showed the way is gone
And darkness takes control]

"Though the lyrics are perhaps a...tad overdramatic." Weiss admitted.

"Yeah no, I think past you earned it." Yang countered.

[Bitterness and anger
Are quick to fill the void]

"I...know I've already apologized for how I was when we met-" Weiss began.

"Yeah, so knock it off, we've said it's fine I don't know how many times." Ruby ordered. Weiss just chuckled.

[The Path To Isolation
Is littered with the dreams
That lay destroyed]

"And I...well, I think many of my OLD dreams are still...that." Weiss admitted. "But what I've found in their place, that I HAVE found in their place..."

"Sometimes that's all you can do." Ren nodded.

[The cold
Seems to grow in my soul
It's consuming me]

"It's...admittedly somewhat odd listening to this, after...well, all the previous ones." Weiss admitted. "Because while I remember what that was like...I know I'm not quite there anymore."

"...what about Winter?" Jaune pointed out. "I mean, the note said..."

[Confused
And I'm losing myself
In the storm]

"Yes, and...well, of course she went through the same so I can understand how that friend made the connection, but she's doing better now too." Weiss explained. "It's...I know it may not SEEM great considering your thoughts on the military, but..."

"For all his...bluster, James means well." Glynda granted. "I don't doubt that he's given her a sense of relief after everything." Though Glynda wasn't convinced it was what she needed.

[Growing jaded
Being pushed being pulled
I'm unraveling]

"But now you have it, right?" Pyrrha asked. "Now you're in control of your direction."

"...Hm. Not a bad way to describe it." Weiss smirked slightly. It WAS, wasn't it? It's MY name, & I'm going to take it back.

[Can't find myself when I'm
Constantly forced to conform]

"I...really need to make some more apologies." Weiss admitted. "Even when I was away from him...I know it's hard to unlearn, but that's no excuse."

Blake just smiled. She really has come far from everyone's initial perception, huh? Part of that was likely expedited by the songs, but she'd have gotten there anyways, & Blake didn't need the songs to see that. Who'd have thought?

[Enemies surround me but
The worst appear as friends]

"...that part I'm not looking forward to, though." Weiss winced.

"For...what, what so you mean?" Ruby asked. She got the lyrics but how did that apply?

"It's...well, THAT is an issue I can't control." Weiss explained. "People like that, who..."

[Liars and pretenders
Only seek to reach their ends]

"People who cared only about cozying up to "The Schnee Heiress", or at least the "backup" once Winter joined the military." Weiss bitterly noted. "They're going to be the same no matter what I do. Honestly until I came here I think I'd convinced myself on some level that there was no one aside from Winter I could really trust. Well, her, Klein, & General Ironwood for what he did for her, anyways."

"But you opened up anyways, hard as it was." Blake, like many times before, could relate. Though that last name on Weiss's list...she wasn't certain. She didn't truly KNOW Ironwood, just appreciated what he did for Winter. And while the picture Ozpin & Glynda, who DO know him, were painting wasn't as...unflattering as she used to think, it wasn't perfect either, so...

"Yeah, Ruby's good at that." Yang ruffled her sister's hair. "Sorry about the rest of us."

"Don't sell yourself short, either." Weiss told her.

"Did you just-" Yang was in slight disbelief.

"Well...why not, right?" Weiss smirked.

"I'm so proud of you." Ruby said sincerely. Once Weiss May have found it patronizing, but that's just...Ruby.

[Everything is breaking
Right before my eyes]

"We try to control everything around us, but ultimately that's impossible, no matter how much we may want it." Ozpin said. He had certainly wanted it. In his second life...& his last one. What would he have become if The King of Vale DID "take the chance?" Nothing pleasant, he know that much.

[Looking in the mirror
I see someone that
I don't recognize]

"You know I...think that's still true, but not in a bad way." Weiss noted. "I doubt my ten year old self would recognize me either."

"You can never quite "go back" to how you used to be, no." Ren agreed.

"Everyone, their entire lives, are eternal works in progress. For good or ill, it's unavoidable" Ozpin added. He wasn't sure how much of him was still him, but he was sure his first life, the first Ozma, wouldn't recognize him in any event.

"And you'd know better than most, huh?" Nora rhetorically asked.

[*Short Interlude*]

"Okay, so, I feel like we haven't really talked about the Winter thing." Jaune reminded them.

"Well, if it DOES apply to her too, then like me it's stuff she's gotten over. She's...had more time, after all." Weiss reasoned, though started to look less convinced as she went on.

"I...don't think it works like that." Blake said what part of Weiss was already thinking. "Besides, your experiences aren't identical, right?"

"...No. She actually remembers our grandfather, not just the portrait. Barely, but..." Weiss stated.

"Well-" Okay, why was Ozpin being cut off so often today?

[The joy
That my heart used to know
Is eluding me]

""But it's here again more or less, fuck you."" Nora recited. "Alright, said all that, so..."

"...I'm not entirely convinced the Atlesian Military is the best place for someone to recover from these things." Ozpin admitted. "There's a reason I abolished militaries after the War in the first place."

"Wha-no, that's..." Weiss began to protest.

[Removed
And the one thing
I feel is alone]

"And she's definitely not alone either." Weiss protested further. "She has General Ironwood. Like you said, she's basically his protégé."

"True, and James isn't exactly emotionless as some think, but it's still a superior/subordinate relationship, so I'm not certain it's the most helpful either." Ozpin elaborated.

"I mean...couldn't we describe OUR relationship like that? All of us?" Weiss retorted.

"...Historically speaking, military institutions have had a...slightly different structure that tended to put emphasis on obedience more than anything." Blake pointed out. She didn't WANT to, but...hell, wasn't that what Adam was turning the Vale Branch into?

[Smile's faded
And I'm spinning and sinking
I'm weakening]

"Aren't you his friends?" Weiss angry pointed out, shaking.

"We are. And that's why we're able to call him out on his mistakes." Glynda stated.

"We're not...trying to suggest that James is deliberately holding her back or anything, and you would know her better in any event." Ozpin placated. "But even with the best intentions..."

"...it's still the Atlesian Military, & there's a reason the rest of Remnant doesn't like it." Blake concluded. "And he's at its head. We've been over this."

"I...I know, just..." Weiss trailed off.

[Frozen in solitude
Loneliness chills to the bone]

"...She was my anchor for a while. The hope of getting away." Weiss admitted. "Outside of Klein, my one real constant. And...the idea that she's still struggling with this is..."

"...It makes her a person." Blake assured her. "Putting people on pedestals...never works out."

"And you've kind of had that problem with a lot of people." Nora pointed out. "I mean, remember Lionheart? We never even MET him, but you..."

"I...they're the people who are supposed to look out for us..." Weiss muttered.

"But as I think it's become clear, they don't always. Even if they do try." Pyrrha stated.

"Plus, you've been questioning Oz & Glynda a bunch today, so you DO get that now." Yang pointed out.

Weiss then suddenly realized that she had. "I, um that is..."

"It's fine. You SHOULD question those in power, always, because even if they have the best intentions, it doesn't mean they're perfect or going to get everything right." Blake said, looking at Ozpin.

"...Indeed." Oz admitted. "Don't worry about it, Ms. Schnee, we may have been out of line in any event."

"But we know James and we know Atlas from the outside." Glynda concluded. "And we know YOU. So we can't help but wonder if the problem hasn't been properly addressed for her."

[Memories escaping
As my heart begins to drain]

"I...yes, I know." Weiss admitted. "I don't think I'd have gotten to this point in Atlas. It's disciplined & regimented and that's...not what I needed. Still, I think it's a bit much to assume her mental state because of that. You don't even KNOW her." Huh, this "speaking back to those with power that aren't father & those like him" wasn't the worst ever, part of Weiss had to admit.

"Well...you do. And I think you should talk to her about it." Ruby stated. "Like, even if it's nothing, you should still...y'know."

"...Yes, that would probably be for the best." Weiss conceded. "Though she...may not want to. She's...admittedly a little prideful in that regard, I think."

"I mean, we can always get Ironwood to order her to do it." Jaune half-jokingly proposed.

"James isn't entirely unreasonable despite...recent events & if he was aware of the potential for an issue, I suppose we could convince him." Ozpin half-joking replied.

"Hopefully..." Glynda muttered.

"Now can we get back to the song?" Nora asked. "We kinds skipped over a bunch of the words, like more than usual, and it was weird & I don't want to do that again!"

"I'm...not certain we'd have anything new to say, though." Ren argued. But still...

[Scars that cover wounds
Can't hide the self-inflicted pain]

And any talks of Winter & her Superior Officer were forgotten at that. "Weiss, what did you..." Ruby began.

"Nothing! I just...you've all seen me punishing myself throughout all of this, right?" Weiss replied. "Impossible standards. Not just HIS, but my own. It's...it's...I thought after the last one I was PAST this..."

"...hug time." Ruby ordered. And so it went.

[Everything my mind wants
In conflict with my heart]

"And...yes, I know, no one's ever really "past it", we just move forward, but I just hoped..." Weiss broke free of hug once its intended purpose was fulfilled. "It's not rational, but..."

"Nothing of what he did to you or Winter was "rational" at all." Ren replied.

"It never really is." Blake agreed. "Being angry at humans is one thing. But what...he did to me..."

Ozpin knew that better than anyone. Someone who had all the time in the world to move forward from what happened in the world she was born in, and yet...it was applicable, & a part of him wanted to say it. But the rest fought the urge. Too many questions if he said it. ...So why was it so hard to refrain now?

[Fighting back surrender
But every day I'm falling more apart]

"I just needed more of an anchor, I suppose." Weiss concluded. "And, well..."

"Here you are." Blake smiled.

"We're here. Always" Yang assured.

"Like I keep saying, we got this. You got us." Ruby assured her. You all have me, a part of her whispered.

[*Longer Interlude*]

"Alright, so, this is depressing." Nora said before Ruby could. "REALLY hope we don't have more flashback songs."

"...You're not gonna ask what we thought of it? Like you said you would" Ren asked.

"It's really not the time." Pyrrha explained, Nora nodding along.

"Yeah, it's...Gods, Atlas sucks." Jaune summed up. "Um , I hope I'm not-"

"It does." Weiss granted. "As for the song...I remember what this was like. And...I always will, I guess. And if Winter's still..."

"Again, I DO apologize for that." Ozpin stated.

"No, don't, it got Weiss to admit questioning you is a good thing." Yang declared.

"Well, there is that..." Honestly Glynda didn't mind, They weren't perfect, after all, & what happened on Remnant Prime-even just what they saw-just reinforced that.

"It's important to remember how you got here." Blake concluded. "Not to be beholden to it, but to inform who you're GOING to be."

"I guess I..." Weiss trailed off.

[Mirror what's this
Thing I see?]

"I'm never going to be the person I was, am I?" Weiss realized. "That happy, innocent little girl..."

"...I'm never going to be who I was before Adam, either." Blake stated. "Even with...all this I can't, but..."

"...you can still be PART of that person." Ruby stated. "Not the same, but with...more. That makes you..."

"...more you." Yang concluded, looking at her slightly shaking arm. "That's what we are, huh?"

"...I suppose it is, yes." Weiss felt freer.

[Who is staring
Back at me?]

"Back then, someone I hated. right now...I don't entirely know, & I don't think SHE does either yet, but I won't stop until I find out." Weiss declared.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Nora cheered.

"We're here if you need additional help." Ren stated.

"Yeah..." Jaune muttered. "I mean, if I don't-"

"Not the time, Jaune." Pyrrha firmly stated. "It never is. For either of you." Pyrrha still didn't know what she was saying but Weiss seemed to appreciate it.

[A stranger to my heart
Has filled my miiiiiiiiiiind]

"I suppose...that's more literal for you, Professor Ozpin?" Weiss cringed at herself. Beyond the usual, it felt...insensitive.

"Well, the conditions are that I reincarnate into a "like minded soul", so not entirely." Ozpin seemed to take it well,

"It doesn't matter if it's literal or metaphorical." Glynda offered. "Either way, it's a...difficult thing to confront." Ozpin grunted ambiguously.

[Mirror
Help me
Who. Am. I?]

"Well...I think I have a good place to start answering that." Weiss answered. "I think it's less...of a finite thing than I thought. It's not complete, this didn't end with This Life Is Mine, so...maybe this song DID fit here after all. And if it DOES fit Winter too, which it probably does considering that...well, we're going to do this your way," she looked to Ruby and Yang. "And he won't know what hit him."

"You can't ever be the person you used to be, but you'd be surprised at what you can find again. Not the same exact thing, but still...good." Ozpin said...though to Blake, still on her Oz Watching, it seemed like he didn't fully believe. Or maybe...wouldn't let himself. Or maybe she was projecting. They all had issues, after all.

"Alright, and up next issssss...." Ruby was trying to hold back crying, her bestie's conclusion was beautiful. Realistic optimism, "Ignite. Oh hey, it's Yang's turn again."

~~~~~
AN:
The OA had no idea how to use the "&" symbol correctly, like at all, and its been to annoying me.

ex: "So then This happened, & then That happened, & finally Those."
Not once has he used it as "She & I are gonna go do This, and you guys go do That."