Possibilities raced through Qrow’s mind as Harbinger’s blade pointed at the Summer Maiden.

He was good. One of the best, though Qrow didn’t like to brag. Bart and Glynda were still on the sidelines, and there were the huntsmen that had literally dropped in on the situation as well as the ones from Shade that Glynda had brought waiting on the proper ground, ready to help out if needed.

But this was a Maiden at the peak of her power. One who very clearly knew what she was doing, and if her stunt just now was anything to go by, wasn’t afraid to use it against people. And with Glynda having to keep Cinder under control, while he didn’t exactly know the woman’s limits were in that regard…

Depending on how Misfortune played out, he could see a fight going either way… but that would be a bad way to draw Sam back into the fold. Even if faking her own death was a total bitch move, he couldn’t just allow a Maiden to slip back into the background, hidden away for who knows how long. Not when Salem and her minions were out there making plays.

So instead, he searched for the words that might have a chance of lowering her guard. Something that would get her talking. Something that might convince her to come back to them, like the old days.

But she beat him to it.

“You’ve changed, Qrow,” she started, her eyes trailing over him. “Just not enough. Still wagging your tail like a good little pet for Ozpin. Or should I say you’re chirping for him instead?”

“You think this is over?!” Cinder’s shouting interrupted. “I’ll kill you all and take what is rightfully- AGGHHH!” Her stiff body floated away, back towards the Beacon staff with her mouth noticeably closed.

He saw the flames flicker in Sam’s eyes, her attention brought back to her prey, and so he quickly interjected to bring her focus to him once more. “You sure sound a lot like my sister, you know. You two been hanging out behind my back or something?” If that was how she felt about him and Oz, then maybe trying to deny her assumptions wasn’t a great place to start. He’d seen how that would go with Raven time and time again, so he switched the topic in a way he hoped seemed natural.

She smirked down at him, as if the mechashift weapon pointed at her was little more than a children’s toy she found amusing. “Your sister finally started to use her brain, then? She must have if she’s saying things like that. That’s surprising.”

He scowled up at her. Sam had ‘died’ after Raven ran off. She knew what a moronic coward his sister was. Abandoning her family, her friends, her duty. She was just trying to rile him up, wasn’t she? He wasn’t about to bite the bait she’d laid out.

“I’m waiting for you to use yours, Sam. All this time, and you…” What had been the point? More than a decade leaving them without a Summer Maiden. More than a decade of letting them think she had died. More than a decade of sleepless nights, her face being yet another that he had somehow failed. And for what? He wanted to wring the answers out of her. But he had to try and salvage things, as much as it ate at him. “Come back to Beacon with us. I’m not sure Oz and I will appreciate whatever your reasoning was, but… we can at least hear you out. Try to patch things over.”

She laughed.

Not a quick little one. Not a small chuckle. A full on, drawn out belly laugh. As if he’d just told her the funniest joke she’d ever heard.

“Still as dumb as ever, Qrow!” She managed to get out once it died down. “Unusual circumstances might have forced me to act, but there’s no way I’m going back to that. Constant secrets and half truths… and for what? So we can be hunted down and killed?”

That… hit a little too close to home. But things were changing.

“Things are better now, Sam. Things are more out in the open, we’re all talking more, and nobody is being hunt-”

“Then where’s your team leader, Qrow?” she interrupted him. “Where is Summer if nobody is being hunted?”

His hands clenched around Harbinger as the temptation to try and fight her grew, consequences be damned. How dare this bitch mention her name.

But he had to keep cool. Slow breath in, slow breath out.

“Sam, if you would just listen to me-”

“No, Qrow.” Her eyes glowed brighter, the flames growing as sand swirled, electricity arcing off of her fingers. “If you fools want to keep a monster like that alive, then I suppose I can leave you to your stupidity.” She cast a quick glance at the frozen Cinder. “But I want no part of it.”

His muscles tensed as he prepared to fight. He hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but if she was whipping the storm up even more then he’d need to-

BOOM.

Qrow was blinded by the strike of lightning, his ears ringing as he took a defensive stance blindly. Her propensity for electricity was proving to be just as annoying as he remembered. He thought back to old spars, digging up what memories he could of a time long passed, hoping that some of her weak points remained.

But it wouldn’t matter.

When he could see once more, she was gone. Sand drifted on the wind before him, but there was no Maiden, and even the huge sandstorm around the city was visibly dying down at an astonishing rate.

He dropped Harbinger down into a relaxed stance, adrenaline rushing out of him.

“Well… shit.”

----------------------------------------

With one Cinder Fall in custody, and mysteriously unconscious, though nobody was brave enough to ask Glynda about what exactly she’d done to make that happen, they were on a timer.

Bart would love nothing more than to stay in Vacuo, helping to assist in the clean up efforts a bit more seriously now that things were wrapping up, but it would be rather foolish to stay and try to help with that when getting Cinder back to Beacon took priority. If all went well, they may even be able to get her into the aura transfer machine before she woke up again.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Though who they transferred it into was a question he didn’t quite have an answer for. He doubted that many would be on board with giving the power to Neo Politan and making it whole once more.

The local authorities initially put up a bit of a fight about transferring a captured criminal so quickly, but given what she’d done in Vale, and her responsibility for what happened here in Vacuo not exactly being common knowledge yet, they did eventually relent under Glynda’s harsh gaze.

But as they made their way to the airship that would get them back to Beacon as quickly as possible, Glynda floating the criminal’s limp body through the air a few meters in front of them, it was revealed that things wouldn’t be quite so simple as the whole lot of them rushing back to get the problem taken care of.

“You two have got this covered, right? Because I’m not coming with you,” Qrow explained.

Glynda didn’t even spare him a glance. “You plan on investigating the location of the escapee?”

And hadn’t that been a fun thing to learn. The two criminals they’d discovered in the alleyway hadn’t been in the same state Bart had last seen them in by the time Wukong and his companions dropped down to investigate. Mercury Black, who Bart had assumed alive, if only barely, was now most certainly deceased. Emerald Sustrai, who he had thought might be dead, was nowhere to be seen.

The possibility of her faking it with her semblance had crossed his mind, but with the quick turn of events once Qrow had called out for the Maiden, he hadn’t been able to actually confirm or deny that suspicion.

He would never wish death upon someone, but… well, Bart couldn’t deny that things would be easier for them if the one with the illusion based semblance had been the one who didn’t make it through the encounter. Hopefully she’d leave some sort of trail in her injured state.

Qrow’s mind didn’t seem to be on the same thing, however. He clicked his tongue, his eyes up on the now mostly clear skies. “...yeah. But mostly I plan on trying to hunt down Sam.”

Bart didn’t feel that it was his place to pry in such matters, he hadn’t even known the woman existed before today after all, but in the interest of safety… “Just to confirm, you wish to chase after a Maiden, on your own, when she most definitely does not like you?”

“I still haven’t heard an explanation on that matter,” Glynda reminded him in a very disappointed teacher tone.

Qrow scoffed. “You can get your answers out of Oz, then… and yes, I plan on going after her. She doesn’t get to just upend things like that and then act like she’s a lone wolf who gets to hide away from us forever. Though maybe going after her alone wouldn’t be a great idea…” He seemed to think it over for a moment. “...That Wukong kid is from Vacuo, ain’t he?”

Bart leveled a glare at him. “Absolutely not. We did not invite your nieces to join us for a reason, and I will not allow you to drag in children from other schools in their absence.”

Glynda joined him. “I am already not looking forward to informing their headmaster of what they’ve involved themselves in. Do not make matters worse, Qrow.”

The drunkard rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I’m used to working alone anyway…”

“Just get one of the local huntsmen to help you!”

----------------------------------------

Emerald’s head throbbed. Dried blood and sand clung to her face. She wanted to just collapse and sleep it all off.

But she couldn’t.

Cinder was counting on her.

Leaning against a wall for support, she took a moment to catch her breath, her surroundings just background noise in her mind. She needed to be paying more attention, ensuring that nobody could spot her, but everything was just… out of focus.

Mercury was dead.

Good riddance.

Cinder… she thought Cinder might have been captured.

Not so good.

Unthinkable, really. Cinder? Captured? It just didn’t compute. But seeing a beautiful black haired woman get floated off… Sure, she hadn’t been particularly close at that point, and she couldn’t confirm that it was Cinder beyond a shadow of a doubt, but… who else could it be, really?

When she tried to think about it, her head throbbed more.

Her head hurt. Her heart hurt…

But she needed to escape.

Maybe it was a delusion. Maybe she had used her own semblance on herself. But, if the impossible had happened, if Cinder really did get caught…

It was up to Emerald to save her.

So she needed to escape, slowly stumbling down the alley, hoping nobody would stumble upon her weakened state.

Who else would save Cinder?

That creepy dirtbag Watts would probably just laugh while going on about how much better he thought he was. And the others…

Well, Emerald didn’t really know anything about the others. Not including Cinder’s boss, the one who had made very vague threats… though given Cinder’s reaction at the time, Emerald wouldn’t dare assume that they wouldn’t be followed through on.

The White Fang, maybe? She was sort of low on options, but those animals had been ruled through fear and Cinder had already moved on from them anyway…

Her head throbbed in pain.

Emerald would need to do this alone. Save Cinder alone.

Be rewarded by Cinder alone.

…she liked the sound of that.

So she trudged on, forcing herself to keep going, to get to safety so she could start planning Cinder’s escape.

Cinder was her everything.

----------------------------------------

Ozpin slowly sipped his fresh mug of coffee. Truly, he didn’t know how he’d survive without the stuff, especially on a day like today.

Glynda’s call about Cinder’s capture was welcome news. Wonderful news, even! He’d need to call James and begin setting up the aura transfer machine so that it would be ready for their arrival…

But it would take time for them to arrive, and there was another important matter at hand. One that he had not expected in the slightest.

There’d been nothing about this in Jinn’s answer. Nor had there been anything about it in Second Thought’s little question and answer session that followed.

That seemed… improbable, in Ozpin’s eyes.

And what better way to deal with uncertainty than to go straight to the source?

Or rather, have it come to you.

The elevator doors opened, and a student and his semblance stepped out. There was some tension between them, he could easily tell. Perhaps that was for the best.

“You wanted to see us, sir?” Jaune politely began, with Second silently observing.

“I did.”

He took another sip of his coffee, enjoying watching Second squirm uncomfortably. Having someone on edge made them more likely to slip up if they tried to lie.

“Tell me, does the name Samantha Bellflower mean anything to the two of you?”

The blond and bluenette shared a look.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about. Am I supposed to recognize that name?” Second asked.

Interesting. Ozpin couldn’t detect a lie there.

But also unfortunate.

He really hoped that the Summer Maiden didn’t prove to have much in common with Spring.