A/N: Hello, everyone. In eager anticipation for RWBY Volume 6, I have created "The Third Crusade" to begin a bit ahead of the story. I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, I apologize. I was just so pressured to create it before Volume 6 began. Anyway, enjoy. :)

Prologue: "Like Mother, Like Daughter"

At a cliff overlooking Patch where Summer's tombstone laid, Ruby and the returned members of Team STRQ watched the moonlight as she asked them.

"So... what's next?"

Qrow felt it was obvious.

"Well, Oz did say to take the lamp to Atlas, so there's that."

"Oh. Right. Speaking of... Mom! I have so much to tell you!"

"I'll bet you do. How long was I gone?"

Raven held her head down as she spoke.

"You were dead... for 15 years."

This caught Summer by surprise as she widened her eyes.

"15 years?"

Next, Qrow gave out what had happened to Crimson since then.

"On top of that, Crimson's changed dramatically since you've gone. He's working for Salem now."

This made Summer go in denial before she turned to Ruby, who nodded to her sadly.

"No. That can't be true."

"It's true. He hates everyone's guts now. Even mine..."

As such, Raven felt herself responsible for what has occurred between then and now.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't kept Spring from you, you wouldn't have had to look for her, and you... you wouldn't have..."

Before she could speak any further, Summer placed her hand on her shoulder before she spoke.

"It's okay. I know how you really felt when you did. I can't get mad at you for that, even if I wanted to."

"But Crimson—"

"Is my brother. Whatever's happened, I'm sure we can make it right."

"Don't you think I've tried? I tried to reason with him but he won't listen."

As surprised as she was at this, Summer still understood his situation.

"We just need to try harder. And smarter."

"You wouldn't say that if you saw what he turned into."

"Try me."

Then, Ruby tugged on her mother's robe as the daughter cleared her throat before she turned to her and spoke.

"Oh, right. You said you had a lot to tell me?"

"Yeah, there's that. But more importantly..."

Ruby then pointed to a faraway village that seemed to be in flames as Summer glared at it.

"What's going on?"

Ruby then spoke up.

"I don't know. But whatever's going on, we need to help them."

"We?"

To clarify herself, Ruby got out her Crescent Rose and showed it to her mother.

"I picked up a few tricks in 15 years."

At the village, a wolf-like Faunus was breaking into a house, where a child and a mother were taken by surprise as he burst in and forcefully snatched a dust container that they'd been saving since the dust embargo began as he then turned to the rest of his men.

"Get all the dust you can find!"

As the thieves swarmed into people's houses, one group found a man with a little girl before they took a dust packet before they took it. Then, another group went towards an old man before they took his food and his small cartridge of fire dust. As this went down, Ruby, Summer, Taiyang, Raven, and Qrow were running throughout the forest via Ruby's semblance as they were in a swirl of red, white, yellow, black, and grey colored lines before they went into the air and descended into the center of the village before they unraveled into separate colors as Taiyang and Raven landed in front of two bandits while Qrow landed in front of a group that snatched a small fire dust cartridge and Ruby and Summer landed in front of the Wolf-like Faunus with a smirk on their faces before a small child spoke up to her father.

"That's her, daddy! The one who had those silver eyes and fought that mean dragon!"

Summer looked to her for an explanation before she spoke.

"That was one of the things I wanted to tell you."

However, the Wolf Faunus was more concerned with that information.

"Silver eyes? That's impossible."

Ruby figured out what he knew from that sentence.

"So, you know who we are? Good. That way, you'll never forget who whooped your butt."

Play RWBY Music: "Red Like Roses Part II"

With that, Ruby used her Crescent Rose to launch herself at the Wolf Faunus before slashing at him as he dodged her scythe swiftly, annoying her. While doing this, he then got out his scimitar before blocking the scythe and moving in to slice her way, only for Ruby to take notice and back away in time before glaring at him. Then, as he moved in, the Wolf Faunus then set aside his scimitar before getting out sharp claws and slashing near her, catching Ruby by surprise as she barely got scratched by them.

"Wow. What big claws you have."

The Wolf Faunus chuckled as he revealed himself to have taken a dust cartridge from her Crescent Rose.

"All the better for me to snatch your dust."

"I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute

Couldn't bear another day without you in it

All of the joy that I had known for all my life

Was stripped away from me the minute that you died

To have you in my life was all I ever wanted

But now without you, I'm a soul forever haunted

Can't help but feel that I took you for granted

No way in heck that I can ever comprehend this"

Ruby then looked at her weapon and noticed it was taken by the thief before she shouted at him.

"Hey!"

As she ran to him, the Wolf Faunus ran toward her before they clashed claw and scythe with each other. The struggle kept at it until Ruby and the Wolf Faunus found themselves at a deadlock, to which she took care of by firing her Crescent Rose at the ground, sending them to the air before Ruby used her semblance to fade into petals and land on the ground before bashing him to the ground with the back end of her scythe. However, despite this, the Wolf Faunus barely got a scratch as he snickered, peeving the Huntress.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone

I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong

How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay? Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single effing day!"

As this happened, Taiyang went over to a Wolf bandit that had taken a dust packet from a family before he grabbed him by the back and spoke to him.

"Excuse me."

Then, he punched him in the face before taking the stolen packet from his pocket. However, the other bandits began to swarm Taiyang before Qrow and Raven knocked them away as he noticed them and spoke.

"I could've handled it."

"It's like a movie but there's not a happy ending

Every scene fades black, and there's no pretending

This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well, there's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell"

Then, the three of them turned to see Ruby holding her own against the leader of the group before he tripped her and grabbed her hood. At which point, he tossed her to the floor before he spoke.

"Not bad. For a little girl. To think your silver eyes are the real thing, and all you use them for is a scare tactic. I'll bet you don't even know how to use them."

Then, Ruby got up from the floor before noticing her mother surrounded by bandits before she called out to her.

"Mom!"

"I know you didn't plan this;

You tried to do what's right

But in the middle of this madness

I'm the one (I'm the one, I'm the one)

You left to win this fight"

Summer only smirked before she got out two chained sickles from her side and she wrapped them around a wolf bandit before she pulled him to swing around her while knocking the bandits in full circle around her. With all of them knocked back, Summer then pulled him close to her face before she spoke to him.

"Why don't you guys get a real job? It'll save you the trouble."

Summer then chucked him to the leader, causing him to widen his eyes.

"Uh-oh."

Upon impact, they landed on the ground as Ruby turned to her.

"Score one for Mom!"

"I know you're broken down by anger and by sadness

You feel I left you in a world that's full of madness

Wish I could talk to you, if only for a minute

Make you understand the reasons why I did it

I wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered

Want you to know that, for eternity, I'm shattered

I tried so hard to protect you, but I failed to

And in a prison of abandonment I jailed you"

As Summer smiled, Ruby smiled back before she used her semblance to go up on the rooftops while Summer used her sickles to pull herself upward before she went back-to-back with Ruby as they cleared them of the bandits above while the daughter spoke.

"I can't believe I get to fight with my mom. I'm kinda excited."

"I never planned that I would leave you there alone

I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home

And all the times I swore that it would be okay; now I'm nothing but a liar and you're thrown into the fray"

The leader then shoved his compatriot off of him before he glared at the mother and daughter before he howled to the sky. With that, a rustling came from the forest behind them while Taiyang, Raven, and Qrow turned to see countless Beowulfs heeding the call before they ran to the people.

"This bedtime story ends with misery ever after

The pages are torn and there's no final chapter

I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do; I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you"

As the trio went toward the Grimm, Ruby and Summer noticed them going after the father and daughter before the former spoke.

"Over there!"

"Got it."

With that, Ruby took her mother's hand before they turned into a swirl of red and white petals that sped toward the Grimm surrounding the family before they came apart and slashed at them, turning them into black mists before they turned to them.

"I know you've lived a nightmare

I caused you so much pain

But baby, please don't do what I did

I don't want (I don't want, I don't want)

You to waste your life in vain"

Pause RWBY Music: "Red Like Roses Part II"

Ruby then turned to the family before she spoke.

"Are you guys okay?"

The girl smiled before she hugged Ruby.

"Thank you! I want to be a Huntress when I grow up!"

The father didn't quite like that, given the anti-Huntsman regiment, but still, he knew that they were good people deep down.

"I don't care what Barak said about you. You are heroes."

This made Ruby blush at this before she noticed the leader headed toward them.

"Incoming."

"Got it, Ruby."

As Summer prepared to attack, time seemed to have slow down as the symbol on his shoulder plate glowed red before it showed a flashback of Summer as a young child before it showed an elderly woman placing her in a wooden crib as she cooed at her. As she took off, however, the infant began to cry into the night before Summer found herself at the mercy of the leader as he moved into slash at her. Ruby saw this and grew worried for her, as well as desperate in not wanting to lose her again.

"Mom!"

As Ruby got her out of the way, she only got slashed in the arm as they fell to the floor before the leader scoffed at them.

"Beat on that, Red!"

As the leader took off with a laugh, Summer grew furious as she stood up, only for Ruby to speak up as she spoke.

"No, Mom. He's mine."

Resume RWBY Music: "Red Like Roses Part II"

With that, Ruby took off after him in petals before she spun around him like a tornado and lifted him up in the air as Team STRQ looked on in awe. After a moment, it spiraled downward to the ground and knocked him to the floor while Ruby landed in the ground with her scythe behind her.

"Red Like Roses

Fills my head with dreams and finds me

Always closer to the emptiness and sadness

That has come to take the place of you"

End RWBY Music: "Red Like Roses Part II"

"You were saying?"

As the leader groaned, he looked up to see Team STRQ walking up to them before Summer spoke to him.

"Alright. Who are you, really? And why are you stealing dust?"

"The name's Canis. And that's all you're getting out of me."

With that, Canis hot out a smoke bomb and used it before he chuckled as Qrow cleared the dust away with his Harbinger, only to find he wasn't there as Summer had another idea.

"Well, maybe we can ask the other bandits."

Ruby saw a problem with this.

"About that? They've all cleared out, too."

Seeing a sudden shortage of bandits, Taiyang complained.

"Great. The bandits are gone. Now what?"

Then, Summer brought up what Qrow said before.

"Well, Oz did say to take the relic to Atlas. But... what Relic?"

Summer then looked to Ruby as the latter smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask."

As they walked in the forest, Summer was told about everything that had happened to her and her team, RWBY, ranging from the moment of her "disappearance" up to the war for Haven Academy.

"Things have changed that much when I was gone?"

"For better and for worse, yeah."

"Ruby... I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you."

"It's okay. Not every story has a happy ending. That's why we're here. Besides, figuring that out about the world made it a lot easier to unlock my silver eyes."

Summer laughed lightly at Ruby as she rubbed her head softly.

"I'm glad to see you haven't changed."

However, as Summer rubbed her head, she felt two strange ears pop up from her head before Ruby spoke.

"Ow! Quit it, Mom!"

Then, as Summer noticed this, she jumped back before Ruby got curious.

"What? What is it?"

"Uh... I don't know how else to explain this, but... try checking your hair."

"My hair? What about...?"

As Ruby felt her head, she felt two fluffy ears on her head, earning a surprised gasp as she spoke.

"Why do I have wolf ears?!"

Then, Qrow looked at Ruby's arm and saw the cut.

"I may not be a genius, but I think that cut might have something to do with it."

"What?!"

Summer assumed she was panicking out of fear before she tried to speak to her.

"It's okay, Ruby. Calm down."

"This is so cool!"

This caught the team off guard before she spoke.

"Now there's two Faunus in Team RWBY!"

As Ruby played with her wolf ears, Summer looked to Raven before she spoke.

"Don't look at me. She's your daughter."

Then, Raven opened the portal to Haven before she spoke.

"In any case, I think we've kept them waiting long enough, don't you think?"

At Haven, Lionheart had sent Barak, Arthur, and Whitley to the police force as he spoke.

"Here you are, ma'am. Three fugitives ready to be sent to your charge."

"Thank you for your help."

As the policewoman dragged them with her, Blake, Yang, and Adam watched as he sighed, catching the blonde's attention.

"What's up?"

"Hmm? It's nothing."

"Come on, Adam. You can tell us. We're friends. Aren't we?"

Adam then looked to Blake who spoke to him.

"Just go with it. She'll just keep asking you otherwise."

Adam then sighed before he spoke.

"It's just... doesn't this seem too easy for you?"

"What? We just fought a giant Grimm dragon and a horde of the other Grimm to boot. Maybe we're just that good."

"Or maybe something else is coming. Or someone. How do you know it won't end in disaster this time?"

"Well, I talked with Blake about the exact same thing when we were students. It's not wrong to think about that stuff. Sometimes, it's good to slow down to get a good look at how to handle it."

"But how would you know?"

Yang only looked to Adam with a smile.

"That's easy. I don't."

Outside, Weiss looked up at the moon with Logan before she spoke.

"I can't believe it. We're actually going back."

"I know. You must hate that."

"I did before. But now... I just can't wait, knowing you're with me."

As they smiled, they heard a portal open and looked to see Ruby, Taiyang, Qrow, and Raven arrive before Weiss spoke.

"Ruby! Took you long enough. What kept you?"

As if to answer, Summer came back through last as she spoke.

"Oh. You must be Weiss. It's nice to meet you."

This made Weiss's eyes widen before she spoke.

"Who... Ruby, is that... your mom?"

"Yeah. And that's not the only surprise."

With that, Ruby removed her hood before Weiss and Logan gasped in shock.

"You're a Faunus?!"

Seeing their reactions, Ruby only laughed nervously.

"Surprise."