RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 5, This Time

"'This Time is a duet between Blake Belladonna and her father, Ghira Belladonna.'" The note exposited. "'Some thought it was Sun, but Jeff confirmed otherwise. And honestly...well duh, what did they THINK?, While this doesn't make Sun's a bad person or an idiot, he's not really the type to talk about these sorts of things. It affects him of course, but he's not a dedicated activist. From that, you can probably guess that it's about The White Fang, after a fashion, and...okay, here's the thing: I'm on Team "Sienna Khan Was Right" (Why do you think I included her?) and Jeff and Casey aren't affected by...Earth's version of this sort of stuff. They're affected by OTHER things-I think Casey's bi?-but not this. Nor am I, mind you, I just pay attention to what happens and what's said. As a result, I think the song's a little naïve. It's not malicious or anything, but I'm not sure it 100% GETS it like we do now after...stuff on Earth. Still, it's a fun tune, and it's more...occasionally ignorant than anything. If that; I may be being overly hard on it, but a FEW of the lyrics...well, if things were as easy as that...both our worlds would be better places. More's the pity.'"

And with that lengthy introduction done, everyone looked at each other.

"...So, uh, Blake, do you think we should leave and just let you listen to it?" Ruby asked. "Cause, uh, it kinda sounds a little..."

"...No, I think we all need to hear it. See how much it got right and how much it didn't." Blake replied.

"Yeah, it's just...you're the only one of us who really knows, so..." Ruby explained.

"It's fine, though I AM liable to talk a lot if and when it DOES screw up." Blake admitted.

"Well, you're in the right place." Nora assured her. "Now then-"

"-Ruby, hit the button!" Yang cut her off for fun. Okay, that was needed after the last one. As it was after all the personal ones and...okay, nevermind.

[Song Start]

[*Short & Neat Buildup*]

"Alright, so....what do you and your dad have to say about The White Fang at this point, that you haven't already?" Nora asked.

"That...really depends." Blake admitted. "Judging from the Intro, seeing....him in her throne room alone...he's already popular enough even outside of Vale, so..."

"A condemnation of his ideology and how it infected The White Fang?" Weiss offered.

"Probably, but I feel like there's still something I'm missing." Blake replied.

"Well, I'm certain that we will be able to form theories once the song is-" But Ozpin was unable to finish that sentence.

[Friends listen closely
I won't say this twice]

"Actually I feel like you will. That's how songs work." Yang dryly noted. Blake chuckled.

"And THAT'S how we're starting this out..." Glynda was honestly kinda used to it by now, but still.

[Hope's running out and
We haven't much time]

"Well that's...true enough." Blake granted. "When you've been burned over and over..."

"...Yes." Weiss agreed. "But...I wonder if it means anything specific?"

[Please understand
That the life we once
Planned on is over (Over!)]

"We can't really...predict the future, can we?" Blake added. "No matter how hard we try....well, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy."

"...Perhaps not." Ozpin said before he could stop himself. He already knew that, but he couldn't admit it. What WAS that? WHY was he risking things?

"It's all in how you adapt." Yang added.

[Now is the time you
Must fight for your lives]

"I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it...constant?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes, but there's times of calm." Blake clarified. "Or at least it LOOKS like that. But you're right in that it would never last, and-"

[The battle is on
You're already inside]

"-yeah, see, there it is." Blake nodded at the screen. "That's the point, and I think the song's getting THIS part right at least."

"Well, that's a good sign, right?" Ruby asked, though clearly wasn't certain.

[Don't turn back now
There's nowhere to hide]

"You can try, but you can't do it forever. Ilia's proof enough of that." Blake noted. "And...more to the point, you SHOULDN'T. This is who we are, and...well, if humans don't like that, that's their problem."

"Hear fucking here." Nora toasted. Part of her thought they may have said this before, but...

[Nowhere to build a new world
Nowhere to start anew]

"I mean, couldn't the Gods make a place? Or...maybe they already did, or something?" Jaune asked. "I get the point, I just-"

"It's fine." Blake waved off. "I think it's more a question of if we SHOULD."

[Here. Now.
Is all that we've got]

"Cause this point is completely true, ignoring the Gods and the multiverse." Blake stated. "But even if it wasn't-and I guess technically it's not, what with the...Gods and multiverse-that's just...lazy, Defeatist. Just more ignoring the problem."

"We can't throw away what we have." Ren agreed.

[Ready or not
There's a war to be fought]

"Y'know, I'm...not really seeing the problems the S.I. pointed out?" Ruby stated. "I mean, I'm probably missing something, but it seems pretty...fight-y, right?"

"It does, but that doesn't mean the point can't be twisted and diluted." Blake offered. "Like..."

[Only one.
Way. Throuuuuugh]

"For example, that. Those in power will tell you that the only way through is to be compliant. People like Adam will tell you that the only way through is to follow only him. My dad says boycott shops, Sienna say to burn the shops." Blake continued. "What's said can often mean anything you want, no matter how divorced from the original context, if you present it the right way."

"It's saying to fight, but not how to fight the "right way", thus leaving room to twist it into complacency or allow for usurpation, yes?" Ozpin asked. Blake nodded.

"Still, regardless of how...that IS the only way through." Blake granted. "It shouldn't have to be, but..."

[This Tiiiiiime...]

"Alright, title-drop!" Nora shouted. "...What does it mean? What are we doing "This time?" I'm probably being dumb, but..."

"...the note said they were referring to the White Fang. They've already tried a couple of different methods..." Ren theorized.

[The ways of the past
We'll get over]

"Wouldn't that be nice..." Blake muttered.

"I DO believe that it's possible." Ozpin told her. "It happens whether they want it to or not. Though, most definitely far slower than it should." he amended. His perception of time wasn't quite like theirs, as he'd said before

[We'll cliiiiimb...]

"'And we'll riiiiiseee...'" Ruby quoted. "Or, uh, YOU will?"

"I get the point, Ruby." Blake assured her.

[Enlighten a new
State of miiiiiind]

"The problem is that no matter how much you grovel and play by their rules, that's not going to work." Blake critiqued. "They won't care, and if they don't care, why would they put in effort?"

"I don't...like being the exception to that, but you're not wrong." Weiss admitted.

[And noooow...]

"Well, NOW we're listening to a bunch of songs, but..." Yang smirked.

"Are you going to keep making jokes like that this entire time?" Blake smirked back.

"Please no..." Ruby muttered. "It starts fine, but then..."

[I'll stand with you
Shoulder to shoulder]

"You can't accomplish anything like this alone." Blake agreed. "You need unity. Not the kind of unity where a few dictate and the rest obey, but actually working together."

"A certain friend of ours could do to learn that..." Glynda muttered. Maybe in a few days she wouldn't still be as upset, but right here and now...

[Out of the ashes
A new flame ignites]

"Okay yeah, I'm seeing Nora's point." Jaune admitted. "We're going forward, which is good, but..."

"Well, the song will hopefully clarify." Pyrrha added, hoping she hadn't jinxed it.

[Rise up From Shadows
And into the light]

"Heh. Cute." Yang said.

"Appropriate, if this is going..." But Blake still wasn't sure WHERE it was going. Team JNPR was probably right, but what that meant...

[We'll stand undivided
Our futures aligned]

"But we're not there yet." Blake lamented. "We can't stop fighting each other, or losing sight of the goal, or...whatever."

"No, no we are not." Ozpin still thought they were closer than ever before...but the almost a century since proved the mistakes he'd made after the War. Salem had certainly found things to effortlessly exploit, as she always did with enough time.

[A New Brotherhood
This Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime...]

"...oh so THAT's what we're doing This Time." Nora nodded. "Which means...."

"...A "new" brotherhood implies that the old one, which even without the note I think I could have guessed, was dissolved. That something's replacing it." Blake concluded. "Which means that in Volume 5, The White Fang falls."

"...okay, it's been around for a WHILE, what happens to make it....?" Jaune questioned.

"...probably Adam if Blake's right about the throne room?" Ruby suggested.

"Yeah, he probably drove it into the ground within, like, a few weeks." Yang added.

"People like him do not make for long lasting leaders." Ozpin agreed.

"...Yeah, probably." Blake admitted. "He's kind of pathetic like that." Heh, that was cathartic.

[*Another Short Interlude*]

"So...what happens next?" Weiss asked. "Would...the third attempt be any different?"

"They DO say third time's the charm." Pyrrha weakly smiled. She still wasn't good at this.

"That...depends on how much damage he did on the way out." Blake stated. "And we're not watching the show so we can't really know. We can GUESS that he takes Sienna's place and drives it straight into the ground doing Salem's bidding, but..."

"So, do we...warn Sienna about this?" Ruby brought up. "Make sure it doesn't happen in our universe?"

"That...depends on how willing she is to listen. Adam's basically her protégé, at least in her mind. He makes sure to better hide his...impulses around her." All of this, of course, Blake was saying in hindsight, being able to look at the past with clearer vision.

"DO recall that she's joining your parents and Ms. Amitola tomorrow." Ozpin countered. "Presumably, their package will include details such as that."

"...You actually have that much faith in her? You in particular?" Blake asked.

"I do, oddly enough. So long as she's capable of admitting that she placed her trust in the wrong person," And how many times had Ozpin, he wondered? No, not the time... "then I can see the worst of whatever calamity Mr. Taurus would visit upon the White Fang being averted."

"Well...I guess there's that." Blake admitted. And then...the song.

[This warning is dire
My words you must hear]

"How many times have we just asked that they listen to us?" Blake rhetorically asked. "I know in the actual context it's not that, but...."

"...well, I think we can interpret them in different ways." Weiss added. "That's why they're not as...specific in terms of names, I think." She couldn't actually know of course, Jeff and Casey existed an entire multiverse away and thought they were fictional, so...

[A kingdom in shambles
Our downfall is near]

"Wait wait, does something happen in Mistral?" Nora started to panic. "Did we...lose again?"

"...No, it's probably talking about Vale, or if we're taking it less literally The White Fang." Blake countered. "Either of those work, so in this case I'd say you're overthinking it."

"And this is YOU saying that." Yang noted with a smirk. Most of the time she actually LIKED how Blake would put so much thought into things and...no, not the time.

"Yeah, the theme song didn't really give off that vibe." Ruby reasoned. And what did it say about this situation that that was a perfectly logical deduction?

[Yet I still believe that the peace
We'll achieve's growing closer (Closer!)]

"I hope you're right, dad. I really do. But even with all this...I don't know how to make it stop." Blake admitted.

"...Well, you won't do it alone." Ruby reminded her. "I know a lot of us won't, but...THESE humans are going to listen. I promise."

"...I know, Ruby." And in truth, Blake did. She trusted them. Even Ozpin. ...On THAT count.

[But first blood must spill
Like the wine at a feast]

"Woah, I thought your dad was the pacifist or whatever, that's...kinda hardcore." Nora approved.

"It's an old saying...another one...or technically paraphrasing one, so I wouldn't look that deep into it." Pyrrha suggested.

"Aw c'mon, I thought being pedantic was Ren's thing!" Nora complained.

"I can share." Ren replied.

[The calm only comes once
The carnage has ceased]

"That is true, of course, but that's not automatically a good thing." Ozpin admitted. "In the calm, in the relief that it's over, who knows what you may...overlook."

"It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end." Blake quoted.

"...why am I thinking about cyclopes and centaurs right now...?" Ruby wondered. It was like that thing earlier. Nora went through a similar thing. Maybe they could talk.

"Kind of a...bleak way to see that, isn't it?" Jaune pointed out.

"Maybe. OR maybe realistic. Or both." Blake granted. "Technically, Ozpin started it." Ozpin just nodded.

[Fight or die
There'll be no release]

"Hm. Fight OR die. That's...what Sienna said." Blake explained.

"And, uh, now YOU'RE saying it, but with your dad..." Ruby pointed out.

"Well...his approach wasn't exactly working. And he knew that. He CHOSE to step down." Blake stated. "I guess they never really hated each other if they're being brought together for this, though. Another thing he twisted around..."

[No way to avoid the warfare
No way to escape this strife]

"Every second of every minute of every day..." Weiss muttered.

"And...regardless of how much I, at the time, thought he didn't get it...of course he does." Blake lamented. "The last thing I said to them..."

"Hey. There's tomorrow, remember?" Yang reassured. "It's NOT the last."

[Hear, now
Listen to me]

"Well, that is what we're doing." Nora acknowledged. "You're the expert here, so..."

"And believe me, I appreciate it. I just wish it was more common." Blake replied.

[This time retreat
Spells our final defeat]

"That's basically what stopped movements like this before." Blake explained. "Something happened that could at least prevent more damage from happening and we let up. But then..."

"It just allowed it to fester, more quietly." Glynda concluded. Wasn't that always the case?

[We must win.
Our. Liiiiiiiiife...]

"That's...not something you should have to win." Ruby muttered.

"Well...we do." Blake reminded her.

"I know, and I'm sorry if I, I dunno, said something wrong, but...it's so stupid." Ruby replied.

"Just...do something with that." Blake suggested. Weiss nodded. She intended to, even if it wouldn't solve everything.

[This Tiiiiiiiime...]

Well, this time it was pretty catchy of course. And while it was touching on serious issues...

[The ways of the past
We'll get over]

It WAS, in all fairness, stuff they'd talked about before in depth, so perhaps...

[We'll cliiiiiiiimb...]

They could enjoy the tune. Blake seemed to be at any rate, even with how mixid it's been.

[Enlighten a
New state of mind]

Honestly, though, it was only a couple of verses. But that couple of verses inform the rest.

[And nooooow...]

Well, there maybe additional lyrics after this, so as always it becomes a waiting game. Least a fun one.

[I'll stand with you
Shoulder to shoulder]

Division was Salem's greatest advantage; her song made that clear. And so to fight that, even a bit...

[Out of the ashes
A new flame Ignites]

Yang raised her eyebrow at that. She didn't catch that last time. ...Come to think of it, why wasn't she SAYING that?

[Rise up From Shadows
And into the light]

That, though...it may have been intended as a conclusion of sorts, but the reality wasn't so simple.

[We'll stand undivided
Our futures aligned]

Was that goal actually achievable? Blake and pretty much every other Faunus still didn't truly know.

[A New Brotherhood
It's Tiiiiiiiiime...]

THAT was a bit different, in any case.

"Okay, what are we-" Nora began.

[The world sees
What we're made of
(It's time)]

"Funny how the same statement can have radically different meanings and intents." Weiss noted. "What I mean is, your father would mean that one way, Sienna Khan another, and..."

"Or maybe it CAN be the same..." Blake offered her own analysis.

[We change the
Spite to love
(It's time)]

"Yeah, that's a bit lofty." Nora had to admit. "A lot of people don't WANT to change, we've been over this. I think."

"We really MUST focus on keeping track..." Ren agreed. Why were they struggling with it?

"Yeah, but this way we have stuff to say." Ruby didn't know why that was important to her, but maybe it's just...all of this.

[To save our fate
And walk beside
The human race]

"I'd like that. I really would. I think Menagerie is proof enough that we CAN'T live completely separately." Blake admitted. "That would just be putting off the problem again."

"And would just lead to more problems down the road." Pyrrha agreed. That was the moral of The Girl Who Fell Through The World, at least from her perspective. Always a fun story. The Rusted Knight and The Curious Cat were her favorite characters. She especially loved the sibling-like bond they'd formed in their shared mission to get Alyx home.

[The past is gone
And soon behind us]

"It's never entirely behind you, not really." Ozpin said, almost seeming to surprise himself at that.

"But it CAN be moved through." Blake definitely surprised herself at that. Well-intentioned flaws in SOME the song's lyrics aside, it did have many good points. But speaking of flaws...

[Victory through
Trust and kindness]

"Yeah, okay, that..." Blake took in a deep breath. "...I think THIS is what the S.I. was talking about. Because that SOUNDS nice, it SOUNDS hopeful, but...it's not that easy."

"Yeah, I mean...if it was, things wouldn't still be this bad." Yang acknowledged. "Like, you-they-whatever, wouldn't still he DOING this. Again and again..."

"Nope." Blake replied. "The thing is, while in SOME cases you can "turn the spite to love", in others, in many of the important ones, that's not really possible. They'll SAY they will and then do nothing."

"So...what DO you do?" Jaune asked.

"...I don't have the answer for that. Not yet. And I've reconsidered a few things because of all this." Blake admitted. "Dad's way didn't work, Sienna's blind to what's going on...I don't know. I don't think I CAN know alone. But...that's the point of this and...a lot of the songs, isn't it? I don't have to figure it out myself. I WON'T have to."

"That sort of mentality could break a person." Glynda agreed. That's why Ozpin recruited her and the others; hell, why SALEM recruited people like Hazel or Callows. Nothing this big can be done alone.

"That, at least, we can take away as a good thing from this." Blake concluded.

[Heal, now...
We will restore]

"What, like, the OLD White Fang?" Nora asked. "Cause I thought we agreed that didn't work either."

"I'm not...sure making it just like it was would work, no." Blake...agreed. "Still, we can and should restore the things that Adam, specifically, took away."

[The path we've been shown
Too long fighting our own]

"Heh. How much could we have gotten done if we didn't fight each other?" Blake wondered. "And that's-like you said, Weiss, that's what they want."

"DID I?" Weiss questioned with something of a knowing look on her face. Riling up Nora was fun.

"Hehehe..." Yang was so proud of her, and Blake clearly appreciated the levity.

[We will win.
This. Waaaaaaarrr...]

"Heh, and even with where you faltered, you're actually making me think we can." Blake told the song. Then she took in a breath. She'd been doing a LOT of the talking in the last hour or so, huh?

"So, maybe that's what we get from this: See what it does wrong but also let us inspire us to do it right?" Ruby almost proposed. "Look, I don't know, and I know I CAN'T really, but..."

"Well, it helps that it IS catchy." Blake smirked. The pattern of the songs was obvious now, so...

[This Tiiiiiime]

Well, this time they could song along. Why not, eh? It's tradition, after all.

[The ways of the past
We'll get over]

Real life isn't as simple as that and therein came the flaws in the lyrics, but still.

[We'll cliiiiiimb...]

They didn't entirely regret it...though that may be because of the parts it did, intentionally or not, get.

[Enlighten a
New state of mind]

It was catchy, even if a little naive as the S.I. said. Though they seemed to be more charitable to it

[And nooooow....]

Maybe it was because of Adam. He seemed to exist to prove the stereotypes right, so denying him...

[I'll stand with you
Shoulder to shoulder]

Well, that really shouldn't be the basis of all their decisions, just being contrarian. Still...it WAS Adam.

[Out of the ashes
A new flame ignites]

'We are the light that will burn Mantle to the ground.' That was part of a speech Oz gave early in the War. It's what they needed to hear, even if now the turns had tabled ...wait...

[Rise up From Shadows
And into the light]

And it wasn't a conclusion. This was more of the start than anything else. Nice callback, of course.

[We'll stand undivided
Our futures aligned]

That was the goal. Different but unified. Not just for Faunus and Humans, but all of Remnant. Again it was the only way they stood a chance against Salem...and their judgement. And it was the right thing to do.

[A New Brotherhood
This Tiiiiiiiiiiiiime...]

And with that... "Okay, uh, that was catchy, but I'm not sure if I should ask what we thought of it...?" Ruby sheepishly grinned.

"...No, I think it's fine." Blake gave her permission. "So?"

"It was...flawed, yes, and even I could tell you that, but it wasn't irredeemably so." Pyrrha offered.

"In terms of the composition I thought it was solid." Ren added.

"And I...think it's good what it's trying to say." Jaune concluded. "Even if it's making things sound easier than really they are."

"Well, I was interested in the...intersectionality of it." Ozpin stated. "It's obviously specifically about that, but the feelings it evokes are also...general, at least in relation to our show."

"There are...personal pleas that many will just ignore, but there's also what it implies on a larger scale." Glynda reminded them.

"The White Fang as it was is gone on Remnant Prime. I...can't even imagine what's that's going to look like." Weiss agreed. "For good or ill."

"I mean, I guess it means we're not gonna see them in the intros anymore?" Yang offered. "But yeah...there's what it's saying and what it tells us, and..."

"You can't get anywhere with stuff like that by just asking nicely." Nora summed up. "AND it means Adam gets nothing. NOTHING. Now, how was that?" she turned to Blake.

"...You pass." Blake joked. This was...different. She was JOKING like that, but not in a way that under minded the point-she hoped, her sense of things was still a little warped by him, after all. That was probably a good sign...that and her ability to call him out on what he was. Selfishness incarnate. A small, petty excuse for a person. Well, fuck him.

That wasn't important right now, though, and Blake HAD avoided bringing it up when she felt she could. Now... "Ruby, what do we have next?"

"The last song of Volume 5, actually, and it's caaaaallled..." Ruby was glad to spice it up a bit. "All That Matters. ...okay."

~~~~~~

Not Counting the "&" in the Lyrics, there were 40 in this chapter, none were used correctly