It wasn't my intention to leave you with that cliffhanger for months. This chapter was supposed to be posted a lot sooner. What kept me back was the much needed editing. I've been wanting to write this chapter ever since this story hatched in my mind. I wasn't happy with how I had written it, so I kept scrapping and rewriting until I was somewhat satisfied. I do want to warn you ahead of time, there is a spoiler alert at the end of the lengthy Author Notes all the way at the bottom. I labeled it in caps.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this 7.5k+ chapter.


Evading the second shot left me defenseless. Qrow had every chance of exploiting my opening, but he deliberately chose not to. His silence demanded for a fight, for me to turn my weapon against him. With every second that ticked by, it was proving to be a daunting task. Crescent Rose felt unreachable despite being attached on my back.

The strength inside my body was sapped. I couldn't pick myself up from my hands and knees even if I tried. My mind was too boggled over the fact that Uncle Qrow tried to kill me. His intentions were clear, so were the messages he conveyed.

My heart was confused, much more so than betrayed. The sweet, kindling memories of Qrow Branwen from my childhood days didn't line up with the man standing before me. Making demands was uncharacteristic of my uncle, so were threats. Qrow always went with the flow and was too laid back to make an effort. He fought to protect. Never once had he raised his weapon against an innocent.

At least… That's what I thought.

No matter how shakened up I was, my spirit, my heart, and my mind drilled the truth down to my old soul. What I pleaded to be a sick lie could never be one. That man standing right there wasn't some imposter or a malevolent creature that shapeshifted into him.

That was my one and only uncle, Qrow Branwen.

"I-I don't… I don't understand," I choked out.

My eyes hung lifelessly over the floor. Body numbed like a frost bitten carcass, I couldn't feel the dirt collecting underneath my nails when my fingers weakly clawed into a paling fist. I tried to process everything that was happening, but my head had a hard time wrapping around it.

There were a lot of things that I didn't understand. Was I wrong to think of this as a reunion? Had I misunderstood? Had I offended Qrow in some way? What exactly was going on?

My world had tipped from its axis, though not on the verge of crumbling.

Teeth clenching, I jerked my head almost mockingly at Qrow. He did not flinch in his spot from my glare. Not a single word slipped from his tongue, and he stood there with an eerie stone-faced expression, staring at me as if I was just an empty space. Like a mounted scarecrow in a farmland, he did nothing while the pole of his scythe rested on his shoulders.

"Qrow, how could —" I began, "— Why?"

The simplest question, and yet, the most difficult to answer.

Qrow wavered, though it was only for a split second until he recomposed himself. Those red eyes that he used to look at me softly in the past had now steeled with some sort of unquestioning resolve.

"Silver Eyes," Qrow clipped a response. His natural rasping voice made his tone dark. "You have Silver Eyes."

Those words were vaguely familiar. I sifted through my memories of where and who I had heard them from. I couldn't remember as everything drew out blank. Compliments were infinitesimally important to me. My silver eyes were just genes passed down, nothing special. Mom had them.

I crawled onto my toes and rose to my fullest height the second my mind could logically think. "...Is that it?" It didn't make any sense. "You hate the color of my eyes?"

I had half expected Qrow to give me a proper response, but he lunged at me with his scythe without warning. My mind leapt, and I parried in time with my weapon tucked at her dormant state. However, an unexpected boot slamming into my chest had sent me tumbling backwards.

"No," Qrow shook his head. "You have a special gift."

I dragged the back of my hand across the edge of my lips to wipe the crawling spit. "A special gift?"

Qrow opened his mouth.

"Qrow." Ozpin interrupted sternly like some kind of reminder.

Qrow willed his lips shut and lowered his head like a child who was in the wrong. The pain was apparent on his face, the first emotion he did not attempt to mask. Seeing how obediently Qrow remained silent, it seems Ozpin was somehow involved in this.

"It's nothing personal," Qrow said apathetically. "Believe me, Ruby, I am only helping you."

"Helping me?" I gritted. "How is this —"

Qrow rushed forward without giving me a chance to voice it out. His scythe swerved down and struck Crescent Rose still at her untransformed state. A spray of sparks flew in all directions, the second the metals made contact. They grated into each other just like how his ambiguity grated my nerves. Roaring into my step, I decided to push Qrow back and finally unfolded my weapon into her scythe form.

My weapon tore through the air, aiming straight for him, but he had escaped out of her killing zone. He distanced himself several paces away from me, and I took this moment to consider my options.

"What if I choose not to fight?" My grip on Crescent Rose refused to slack, and I gave him a quiet snort. "Could you really take your own niece's life?"

His red eyes laid on me almost robotically. The blank-slated stare in his eyes left an uncomfortable taste in my mouth. Anyone with a heart would react to such a question, or at least answered without hesitation.

Apparently not Qrow.

He deflected from my question by callously replying with one of his own. Time slowed to a crawl when his question had left his tongue. It became harder to concentrate on what was in front of me when all I could think about was what he had said. It kept whispering inside my head in an endless loop. My lips trembled at the sudden provoking question, and all I could say was a very shocked, "W-What?"

He looked straight at me, this time, more serious. He repeated again, "Do you really believe your memories suddenly vanishing was a random coincidence?"

I wasn't mistaken. I had heard him correctly the first time.

Qrow burst forth with the same ferocity as before. The muscles on his arms contracted from the sheer power he was pouring in. Swinging over his shoulders, his scythe came crashing above me, and my mind scrambled to buckle down.

Even after I steeled myself, I still felt the tremendous force quaking through my weapon after I blocked. The impact made every bristle on my skin stand and rattled through my body.

Qrow was not holding back, I realized. Nonetheless, I held my ground.

"What do you mean?" I growled at him. Pushing him back proved to be a challenge. My hands trembled every time I exerted force, but I doubled my effort to keep them under control. "Qrow. What do you know?"

"The answers you're looking for will come when you fight back."

I reeled back to break the stalemate and swung at Qrow with the same intent that he carried earlier. He deftly leapt out of the way, though he lunged at me the second he recovered. The flat side of his scythe briefly cast back my own reflection after I sidestepped in the last minute. Qrow was misfortunate when the tip of his scythe fastened into the floor. Quickly, I rounded a kick and sent him stumbling backwards.

"I-I don't understand." Yang's voice quivered.

There was shuffling in the background. A fist slammed into something wooden that I heard it splinter into what I believe were pieces.

"Please sit down, Miss Xiao Long." Ozpin remained level headed despite my sister's visible anger.

"Then what is the meaning of all this?" Yang shouted back. Her hands slapped against the guardrail and the metal creaked in protest. "Uncle Qrow, what are you doing?!"

Qrow was not deterred by the rage coming from the bleacher seats as his eyes were focused on me. He maintained that same neutral expression and ignored her further shouts.

"Miss Xiao Long," Glynda raised her voice by a few octaves. "Sit, or I will make you sit."

"You think I'm going to sit and watch while my —" Yang snarled a cry and I quickly twisted around to catch what was happening.

Glynda had manipulated her cape and bound Yang to her seat. My sister's eyes glowed red, but despite how hard she struggled out, her current strength wasn't able to pry them off. She needed to take a blow and redirect that energy to tear through the professor's semblance.

"Let me go!" Her voice steamed with anger.

"Yang!" The moment Blake got up from her seat, she flinched.

The temperature dropped by a few degrees. Even the fur on my ears felt the tiniest change.

"If you do not want to be in Miss Xiao Long's position, then you two best behave." Professor Goodwitch growled threateningly as she glared over to Blake and Weiss. While the light gloss in her eyes dimmed, the temperature slowly reverted back to its original warmness.

Blake slowly sat back down, conflicted. With that petrified look on her face, she had also noticed the fluctuation in temperature.

"Why?" Yang seethed her question through her teeth. "Just why are you doing this?"

"Trial by fire," Ozpin replied automatically.

"What?" Weiss whispered, her tone starting to drip with ice. "I know Ruby had shown exemplary skills during training, but don't you think this is going too far?"

"Not far enough," Ozpin answered. "This world as we know it carries many dark secrets. Some are still preserved in books while a number of it have been lost in history. Miss Rose having a special gift is one of them. Unfortunately, it requires a push."

"How far do you intend to push her?" Blake asked, hesitating.

"To the edge of her limits, hopefully not to the point of near death."

Everyone talked over each other at the same time which made it difficult to follow the conversation. Yang's offensive languages and disapproval, Weiss' rebuttals, Blake's questions, Ozpin's ambiguity, they all boiled down to one thing: unclear answers.

"Ruby." Qrow called my name detachedly. He had my attention now, but it quickly averted to his weapon carried in between his hands, then to my own feet.

"Can't you throw me into a pit of ursas and beowolves? I learn better like that."

I recalled my conversation with Weiss that dated all the way back towards the beginning of our semester.

Trial by fire echoed faintly inside my head like a voice ringing in an empty cavern. For a moment, my mind reeled me back deeper — from before I was born as Ruby, from before I was referred to as Captain, from before I became a powerhouse and was honored with the nickname Sword Angel, to the days when I was just a nobody.

The approach wasn't uncommon.

I was very familiar with the concept.

Many, not only limited to members affiliated with a guild, were quick to use this popular method when it came to teaching their pupils magic or learning for themselves. Tossed into a dungeon crawling with rampaging monsters, pressure did wonders to speed up the learning process.

Though, it was a gamble.

Death will only incur to those who failed. Those with determination lived to grow strong. Those who cried out with regret were shredded and eaten alive. The weak were weeded out.

As a child, I vividly remembered those long claws from a beastly monstrosity had its nails deeply wedged inside my stomach like a mythical sword stuck in a stone described in the legends. I recalled the burning pain of my blood seeping out from my wound like acid smoldering against flesh. I remembered calling — perhaps even bitterly cursing— for my first sword to come to me. I recalled a lot from that day as well as the rest of the other events that followed in the future.

Trial by fire was not a fond memory for me, but I couldn't deny the fact that it molded me to become someone with value. Qrow intended to bring the Silver Eyes out. I understood that much from picking into everyones' conversations. What bothered me the most was the mention of my memories vanishing. Qrow said it wasn't a coincidence. What did he know about it?

"The answers you're looking for will come when you fight back." His words replayed in my head.

He was taunting me.

I wanted to know.

Or was a bluff to get on my nerves?

I wasn't sure.

What should I do?

I had choices. There were so many paths I could take. All of them would lead me to different results, but I did not see the answers I wanted at the end of the road.

All except for one.

I sighed and decided.

I relinquished Crescent Rose from my hands and let her clatter onto the floor in front of Qrow. She laid there pitifully without her own master. Unarmed, I stared back at Qrow jaded, and he flicked his eyes between my weapon and me.

"Ruby…" He lowered his weapon down to his side along with his guard.

My figured blurred, leaving only a trail of rose petals in my wake. I seized my weapon from the ground and didn't give Qrow a second to react to my bluff of resignation. The back of Crescent Rose slammed into my uncle and forced him to sail backwards.

Before he had a chance to tumble across the floor, he tossed his scythe. His weapon altered into a different mode, skipping like a stone over water until it fastened into the ground in the form of a sword. Qrow caught himself with it as he perched gracefully at the top of his weapon between its guard and handle.

"I decided to fight." It was a dirty tactic to use against him, but now we were even. He attacked without notice, so it was only fair to give him a taste of what it was like.

"Makes it easier for me." Qrow stepped down from his sword and wrenched it out of the ground. He swiftly flicked his sword to get the grits off. Legs parted and two hands gripping onto the handle, Qrow readied himself.

I did not hesitate to do the same.

"You know something that I don't." My scythe folded into a blade. It had caught Qrow's attention and he quietly groaned to himself. "I intend to find out. If I need to cut a finger or two of yours, then so be it."

"Would you be able to?"

"Push my buttons and I will push you off the edge of a cliff," I warned him.

We drove forward, our weapons clashing against each other once more. Sparks ricocheted and the resonating metals played a fitful war melody that matched our mercilessness.

Qrow was fast on his feet, faster than I anticipated. He definitely lived up as a veteran huntsman, no doubt about it. He was no amateur or an easy target. Agile and dexterous, he exercised his attacks with flawless precision and with brute force. There was no distinct pattern he followed; it was dangerously chaotic. It took intense concentration to dodge his every move, to keep his sword from laying on me. He forced me to fight defensively, and I continuously fended off his attacks.

Qrow switched up his tempo and vaulted in a handspring, firing multiple times out of his sword when he flipped back. I deflected the first with the broadside of my blade and struck down the remaining bullets. They exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke upon being split in half, and Qrow advanced forward firmly believing my vision had been hindered.

His footsteps gave away his position, and I intercepted his impromptu attack. His sword carved a snake's trail by his feet, and he swung in a single crescent arc.

I stepped back, feeling the tailing wind of his weapon after evading it, and thrust my blade back at him. Unsurprised, Qrow parried without breaking a sweat on his forehead. With the strength that overpowered mine, he pushed me back in a single strike. It forced me to skid backwards, far enough to create breathing room.

"Tell me the truth, Qrow." Veil of flames flickered beneath me like a ripple in the water when I crouched low. I started to weave dust into my semblance, but I hadn't grasp its fullest capabilities. It will make do. "Was my memories vanishing a random coincidence?"

Qrow crouched back into his combative stance. "No."

The force of my semblance ruptured the floor, leaving only dirt and an illuminating plume of fire. I swirled into a storm of burning rose petals and parted into a cluster of two.

Qrow braced himself.

The flames of my showering petals harshly hissed at him like a hellhound born from molten lava. It snapped at his skin and stung him with no remorse. Caged in a blazing tornado, Qrow pried his eyes open and tried to swat the flames away.

I struck from above, spiraling and swinging my blade with full force. Qrow had lifted his sword in time and narrowly blocked with the broadside of his weapon. Knees bent against his will, he sunk further into the ground from the powerful momentum.

"Neat trick you got there." Qrow gritted his teeth down.

"You're in luck because I have more." I left only a fiery afterimage in my place when I flashed out of his sight.

It startled Qrow, his eyes were scrambling for me. He took a step back, twisting around warily while trying to predict where I would strike from. Upon realization at the last second, he staggered out of the way late.

Crescent Rose landed a solid blow and tried to tear through him. He skidded a few paces away and placed a hand over to where his wound was supposed to be. When his hand came back with no evidence of blood, he wrinkled his nose at his own foolishness. Clearly he had forgotten the existence of aura for a whole minute. Grunting, he took back his stance undiscouraged and unshaken.

"How long have you known about this?" I growled.

"About what?" His red eyes followed me carefully as I began to prowl around him like a wolf I was.

"About my memories being blank." The heels of my combat boots clacked heavily with every fuming stride I took. "That it wasn't just a random coincidence? That there was a causation? That it was bound to happen? How long have you known about this?"

"Before you were born, I suppose."

"How could you?!" I lashed at him, my swings barreling and my assault pressing on ruthlessly.

"Shit!" Qrow cursed. He parried my unforgiving onslaught and was forced to fight defensively.

"How could you let it happen?!" Every strike of mine was fueled with emotions. Rage, confusion, sadness, they were all bundled in there and made every hit heavy. I did not stop because I couldn't suppress the rage from spiraling out of control. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

I had every right to be mad. Everything could have been prevented. If he had told me from the beginning, we could've avoided this entire mess. Yang wouldn't be carrying the guilt for all those years. Dad wouldn't have wept. I wouldn't have gone through the pain and experienced those endless nights trying to find that missing piece.

No one would have suffered.

"You think I want it to happen?" Qrow started to raise his voice. In the midst of my attacks, he found an opening and exploited it.

Anger favored the enemy. My emotions had gotten the best of me and clouded my ability to think clearly, leaving me blindly open. His sword aimed for my chest and he struck diagonally down from my shoulders. It burned to feel his sword making its first clean connection. My aura drained quickly, but it did protect me against a potentially fatal attack.

"You think I want you or any of us to go through the same thing?" Qrow found himself arguing back as he stomped forward. I forced myself back onto my feet, heavily panting, but he shot me from his sword.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out. "Ozpin, call this off now. This is going to get her killed. Qrow is going to kill her! Professor Goodwitch, why aren't you doing anything?"

"Miss Rose will not die." Ozpin promised my sister.

It did nothing to relax her, especially when I was down on one knee. It felt like a stab when my aura absorbed the hit. I fumbled back down, but I stubbornly got back up.

"If I could have prevented it, I would have!" Qrow shouted, his voice almost on the verge of being broken. He shot me again, and I hissed at the pain. "I should have." Regret lumped inside his throat. "Your father and I, we didn't want to believe it. We had hoped the legends weren't true. We didn't think it would happen to you. We truly believed Summer would be the first and the last person!"

My mind stopped at the mention of her name.

"W-What?" I breathed out, sensing a deeper meaning laced within his words. I dragged myself up and narrowly trained my eyes at Qrow. His weapon had slumped back to his side as if he was the victim. "What do you mean? What of Summer?"

His jaw wired shut. Eyes slammed tight, he turned his cheek the other way and gave no response.

"Qrow!" My fangs bore out when I snarled his name. I hurled my weapon like a javelin at him when he refused to answer.

Qrow leapt out of the way, but plummeted back onto the floor like a flightless bird. The tip of my blade tacked his red cloak onto the ground. When I came flying ferociously straight at him, he gave his cloak a single hard tug and ripped himself free. He rolled onto his feet, but wasn't able to avoid what came hurtling at him. I peeled Crescent Rose from the ground and swung. I struck him without mercy like he had done to me.

Qrow sailed across the arena at the impact. Not willing to show restraint, I twisted the lever on Crescent Rose and flung my weapon at him again. He nimbly rolled out of the way but wasn't fortunate enough to escape the dust explosion that followed afterwards.

My cloak whipped behind me from the blast that unleashed in all directions. It swept and fogged the arena in a great cloud. I heard Crescent Rose fly off trajectory getting stuck somewhere. I made a mental note to retrieve my weapon when I deemed it necessary.

For now, Qrow was at a disadvantage. It would be a waste to not strike him when his sight had been hindered.

I sniffed for a scent, trying not to get the filthy dust locked in my airway. When I tried to track down Qrow, I failed to sense him. Instantly, the scent of distilled spirits had disappeared. My expression hardened until my ears picked up an unusual flapping noise.

It sounded like… A bird…?

A bird…

Why was there a bird in an arena?

A bird.

A crow?

Qrow

The puzzle pieces matched inside my head and clicked when I made the connection. The scent suddenly disappearing and the bird coincidentally appearing was Qrow all along. Everything made sense. His transformation masked his human scent and made it impossible to track.

Qrow chose to stay in the air, a wise decision on his part considering he depended on his sight to fight. If I were to guess, he was going to wait until the dust had disappeared.

I decided to trudge over to Crescent Rose and wrenched her out from the wall. Extending her out into a scythe, I twirled her at the center of the arena. The cloud of dust flowed and followed alongside my whirling weapon.

Judging from the echoes of those wings, Qrow descended back to the ground and the scent of distilled spirits returned. I heard the gears of his sword turn, and he also spun his scythe in unison with mine. Together, we created a whirlwind that blew away the dust.

"Just what are you, Qrow?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Was that your semblance?"

Qrow patted the small debris off his shoulder. "No."

So that transformation thing wasn't his semblance.

I closed my eyes and stroke them. What the hell was it then? There was too much going on and coming at me at once. Too many questions went through my head and Qrow fed me answers only in teaspoon. It was overwhelming.

He started off with silver eyes. They were supposed to be significant, that I understood. Next, he mentioned about my memories. Legends were mixed in all of this, then Summer. How were they all connected? How did it all relate to me? How did Qrow turn into a —"

"You should be familiar with it." He let on.

My hands dropped to my side and my brows furrowed into a scowl.

"What?"

"I said you should be familiar with it," he repeated again.

Dust were capable of producing elements. Learning from Weiss, there wasn't a dust that could manipulate a person's form in Remnant. Such a thing did not exist. If semblance and dust were crossed off the list, then that meant one thing.

Magic.

"Blake, on my mark." Weiss whispered considerably low.

Qrow had control of magic. It was not unheard of to cast magic without incantations. Only a rare few were blessed with such an envious gift. A simple gesture could kill a mercenary faster than a quick phrase.

"You know it, don't you?" Qrow caught the look on my face. How did he know I was familiar with it? "I never wanted to hurt you, Ruby. But I have no choice. What I'm trying to do is to protect you."

"Protect me?" I mocked with a hiss. "What have you done to protect me?"

"Your memories disappears only when certain conditions are met. There is no fix to it. It will happen again, and again, whether you like it or not. I'm trying to give you a leeway out of it."

"By death?"

A huge commotion erupted at the bleacher stairs behind Qrow. Weiss had given the signal for Blake, and they tried to take the professors by the element of surprise. For the most part, their plan was a success. They freed Yang of her restraints and distracted Ozpin and Glynda. However, the professors intentionally made it easy for them. That smile on Ozpin's face said it all.

"Why don't I make it easier for you, Uncle Qrow, since you're so determined." I let go of my beloved scythe and she hit the ground the moment my palms opened up.

Looking past Qrow, Yang had vaulted over the rail and rolled in her landing. Those lilac eyes burned red, and she bared her teeth in a low growl. The hands hanging down on her side clenched and unclenched, itching to hit something or someone. To see my sister come to my aid was admirable, I admit, but it wasn't very needed at this point forward. If Qrow had more magic up his sleeves, then this battle was considered over. Yang and I couldn't take him down even with our combined efforts.

"Go ahead, Qrow." I gestured in encouragement. "Use your magic."

Yang halted in her tracks. The commotions by the seats went silent in a heartbeat. The glyphs from Weiss' semblance retreated, and Weiss shared a brief glance with Blake.

"Qrow…" The unsettled expression on Yang's face also shone in her eyes. "What is Ruby talking about?"

Qrow visibly wilted, probably from the collective eyes scorching through his back. "What you noticed was the only thing I can do."

"There's no such thing as magic," Weiss said tentatively. She turned back to Blake knowing the cat Faunus will agree with her. "Right?"

"Right, it's nothing but fiction," Blake nodded, though she didn't look confident with her answer.

My two teammates looked over to the professors, but the teachers didn't seem surprised or confused. They had known about it all along.

"That's all?" I said, little disappointmented but also relieved. "You're only limited to transformation?"

"Specifically, avians."

"Qrow." Yang punctuated sternly. "What is Ruby talking about?"

"Have you heard of magic before, Yang?" Qrow asked airily.

"Magic doesn't exist."

"Magic is the kind of power that doesn't require dust," Qrow explained. "With the right incantation and a compatible affinity for it, magic manifests by drawing directly from a person's aura. It very much does exist, and Ruby is familiar with the concept."

Those lilac turned red eyes widen at the revelation, but slitted back to Qrow. "You're lying."

Qrow gestured to me. "Ruby can use magic."

I glowered at Qrow. "Nonsense," I pursed my lips. "I can't use magic."

I knew magic and understood how complicated it was. That didn't mean I could use it without trouble. No matter what I tried to do — incantations, snapping my wrist, offering my blood — nothing worked. I couldn't replicate what I had done to the White Fang. I couldn't use magic.

"Whatever bullshit you're spewing, it doesn't change the fact that you tried to hurt Ruby," Yang hissed. The anger building inside her sparked, and it reflected back in her march towards Qrow. Swallowed by her temper, Yang threw a fist at our uncle, but he effortlessly stepped away. "How can you do such a thing?!"

"This has to be done," Qrow said, dodging another fist that came hurtling at him.

"To bring out some Silver Eyes?" Yang swung a kick in which Qrow ducked forward to evade. "We heard from Ozpin, and we don't care! Do you know how much Ruby looked forward to seeing you? Then you do this kind of shit."

"Tai told me." Qrow shuffled his feet back to dodge another attack. "I wasn't lying when I said Ruby can use magic. She can only use it without repercussion through Silver Eyes."

"Silver Eyes…?" I exhaled softly.

"The ability to freely use magic." Qrow blocked an incoming kick with an arm.

My eyes widened when he finally revealed something more significant. Silver Eyes was a power that allowed me to use magic. Was that even possible? How did Qrow know so much about it?

"That's the whole purpose of this fight." Qrow grunted as Yang slammed her fist across his cheek. Despite being a solid hit, our uncle did not flinch. "To awaken the power that dwells inside you."

"Again with this bullshit?" Yang advanced in her steps, throwing sharp punches that had Qrow retreating backwards. He continued to avoid Yang's fists, and not once did he exploited her obvious openings.

"How exactly do you intend to awaken it?" I asked. Between his one sided brawl with Yang, I noticed how his scythe collapsed back to his sword. The longer I studied how he moved, the more suspicious he looked. Exactly what was he plotting?

"Sorry, Firecracker." Qrow's face fell apologetically, turning sorrowful as he dodged another fist. "I'm going to need you for a bit. I hope one day you and Ruby will forgive me."

His feet shifted, changing into a more offensive stance. A cold sweat crawled down my jaw when I knew what he was about to do.

"Look out, Yang!" I cried out.

"Shit!" Yang tried to put distance away from Qrow.

I dug my heels into the floor, preparing for a sprint, but full-body jerked when I abruptly stopped myself. Qrow had already reached behind Yang and placed his sword to her throat. Yang raised her hands, surrendering while keeping still like a marble statue. One misstep could lead to an unwarranted, fatal wound.

"Qrow..." Yang breathed out slowly from shock.

"You wouldn't…" I whispered.

He inched his sword closer to her neck, but not close enough to draw blood. Yang flinched, her face growing pale.

"Stop!" I screamed.

He didn't.

"Leave her out of this!"

"Do you know what it means to protect someone?" Qrow had the audacity to ask.

"Don't you fucking dare, Qrow!" I snarled.

"To protect someone is the desire to preserve their life."

"Don't lecture me! I know what it means to protect!"

"Do you want to protect Yang?" Qrow pressed his sword against her neck. It still didn't draw blood, but he was slowly cutting through her aura. "Do you want to save her?"

"Let her go!" I barked.

"Pry her off my hands. If you don't then..." His sword managed to prick a bit of Yang's skin, drawing a trickle of blood. "Time is ticking, Ruby."

I seized my weapon from the floor. My scythe folded into my blade and my nails dug into my skin when I gripped the handle tightly.

"You're their uncle!" Blake shouted. "How can you do this?"

Blake was prepared to vault over the rail, but a case of ice suddenly spreading up to her knees trapped her from moving. She caught herself against the rail before she fell forward. Weiss was the next to fall victim to the ice, and they both turned to see who was behind it.

"Professor Goodwitch…?" Weiss gasped shakily. "W-What… What did you do?"

There was no evidence of ice dust from what I could see. A fiery glow surrounded Glynda's eyes, flaring brightly until it slowly dimmed. That was magic, but was that the power of the Silver Eyes?

"The two of you must remain up here." Glynda finally spoke after being quiet for some time. She peered over the rail, monitoring us carefully. "It's for your own safety."

"Safety?" Blake snapped. "Yang is in danger! The two of you are professors, role models for the students of this school. How can you two accept this?"

Blake was right.

How was this acceptable?

How could Qrow hurt Yang?

How could he do such a deplorable thing?

It was unacceptable.

Outright unforgivable.

"Yang's life is not the one in danger," Ozpin said in an almost regretful tone. "Qrow is the one we're worried about."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Weiss exclaimed. "Qrow had been attacking them from the beginning. Ruby and Yang are the ones you should be worried about!"

What gave Qrow the right to lecture me about protecting? He didn't understand what it means to protect.

Protecting someone wasn't just against danger.

Protecting came with a price.

To protect someone meant giving up everything you have — your body, your soul, your heart, and your mind.

To protect meant preventing the worst from happening.

Protecting meant sacrificing.

I knew that better than anyone.

And, I needed to protect Yang.

Somewhere deep inside, a door shattered. I could feel a hidden bottomless pool of aura streaming from the entrance, and it channeled through my body into Crescent Rose. My body felt weightless like it had been lifted off from a heavy burden. Everything around me was brighter and more sharp, as if magic was coursing through my body.

"Ruby…?" Weiss sharply inhaled.

"Glynda!" Ozpin blurted quickly.

"Her eyes," Blake gasped. "They're glowing."

"Silver Eyes…" Qrow tugged the corner of his lips. It wasn't the brightest smile he had flashed, but it was the proudest.

I subconsciously poured an ample amount of aura into Crescent Rose, setting her into a veil of enchanting fire. The fire shrouded my weapon into a glittering blaze like a scarlet phoenix that had been reincarnated. I lithely traced the side with my finger tips, extending and fanning the flames. At heart, I understood this was magic. I knew it, and I remembered the word to chant.

"Burn."

I saw Qrow pushing Yang out of the way as far as possible, screaming something I couldn't care less. It had left him completely open, and I knew this was the time to strike. I quickstepped to him in a blink of an eye and swung my fiery sword that had been empowered with magic. When I swung at him, I struck a protective wall of ice. The impact created a massive explosive steam that knocked me to the other side of the arena. My back crashed into the wall, and I coughed out a wad of blood.

When I pried my eyes open, my face paled when I discovered thick shards of ice levitating inches away from me. Glynda appeared in front of Qrow, standing over the residues of ice with a fiery glow in her eyes, and had protected him. The palm extending out had lost its vapor of frost. Her riding crop in her other focused on her controlling her semblance, stopping the shards that were sent packing due to the blast. I should count my lucky stars because I would have been impaled by them if she hadn't.

"Ruby…" Qrow breathed out, his eyes widening. He had been knocked down from the blast next to Yang and scrambled onto his feet. "No, no, no. Ruby!"

A dull throb started to ache below my chestMy body started to grow pathetically numb and I glanced down wondering why. There, levitating in the air, was Crescent Rose impaling me from part of the tip. Glynda was seconds too late, unable to stop my weapon that had hurtled towards me. I watched my blood seep out from underneath my weapon, and glanced back up looking more weary than before.

"Oh my god," Weiss cupped her mouth.

"Weiss," Blake tried to snap her out of it. The ice around their feet had melted away. "We need to help Ruby."

"Don't!" Ozpin interjected. "Ruby is unstable. It is too dangerous to go down there!"

"Ruby!" Yang cried out, scrambling to her feet. Glynda latched to her arm, holding her back for the very same reason Ozpin had given to the girls.

"Weiss!" Blake tried to shake the heiress' stupor.

"Ruby!" Qrow cried out, rushing towards me. Watching me in this state tore him to pieces. The fear became more apparent and his tears were ready to break out. He cried out my name again and cursed his semblance for screwing everything up.

"S-Stay back," I warned weakly, my voice dropping below a whisper. "G-Get away."

My body felt weightless again. It was completely different than earlier. This time my brain felt full of static, but I was definitely stronger. The aura flowing through my body glowed white all around me instead of the natural red I was born with.

"Yeah..." I drifted off. Alright Ruby, initiating plan A, getting on her good side. "I... bzzzzzzzt…" I extended my hand out... bzzzzt… "I'm Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."

"You may already have heard earlier, but just in case your ears didn't pick up, bzzzzt." She refused to… bzzzzzzzzzzt. Awkwardly, I pulled my hand back, bzzzzzt.

"Qrow!" Ozpin cried out. "You need to snap her out of it!"

I grabbed onto the spine of Crescent Rose and cried out in pain when I wrenched her out of my body. It squelched, and more blood rushed out of the wound. My aura did its best to close it, but it couldn't seal the wound completely. With how deep it was initially, there was going to be another scar on my body at the end of the healing process. Snarling, I tossed away my crimson weapon that had been stained with my own blood. Crescent Rose flew, clanking across the arena until it crashed and tore a hole in the wall.

"And aren't you that girl who exploded?" Bzzzzzzzzzzt… her eyes never left her book.

Bzzzzzzzzzt… bzzzzzt.. "So my name's Ruby!" I finally broke the awkward silence, bzzzz….

"Bzzzt." She cut it nice and short.

"Ruby," Qrow pleaded, approaching cautiously. "You need to listen to me, please. Remember how I said that your memories vanish when certain conditions are met? It is your body's defense mechanism. In a life threatening situation, your body begins to tap an aura linked to your soul. Your memories will vanish as a consequence, stripping away the life you lived until you only remember who you once were. Silver Eyes is the only way to use magic without these repercussions."

It was hard to focus with this static inside my head.

What was Qrow spewing about?

I staggered to my feet, clutching over the wound with a hand while stumbling back and forth. Qrow inched his way forward with his hands raised tentatively as if he had no intentions to harm me. I couldn't believe him. After all, he had hurt Yang.

"Stay back!" I snarled at him, swiping a hand threateningly. A spinning glyph marked with intricate runes appeared adjacently next to me, and a manifested sword rapidly came shooting out.

"I suppose you can make a fine leader, Ruby," bzzzzzzt…

"Thanks...bzzzzt," I smiled appreciatively.

"Just so you're… bzzzt… I'll be the best teammate you'll… bzzzzzzt…

Qrow leapt out of the way in time, and the sword impaled into the floor. Its white particles slowly drifted away, leaving no evidence of it behind.

"A glyph…?" The white haired girl gasped. "That's impossible. Only a Schnee is capable of using glyphs."

"Don't tell me…" The black haired girl gaped in disbelief.

"It's magic." Ozpin dismally broke it to them, his shoulders dropping ultimately at its lowest.

Qrow got back up from his knees and tried to placate me again. "Ruby, I had no intentions of hurting Yang any further than that. Please believe me," he implored. "I did it to awaken the Silver Eyes that dwells inside of you. Never again would I hurt you both. Never would I ever."

I extended my hand and snapped my fingers.

"Hey, Bzzzzzt…" I called out to her. Bzzzt… Bzzzt… I turned to her one final time… bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt… I realized there was one…. bzzzzzt… bzzzt… turn into a lifetime of regret. Bzzzzzzt… Bzzzt… Bzzzzzzzzzt… I wasn't living in that world anymore. I'm now living as Ruby Rose… Bzzzzzzzzzzt… "Bzzzt… I like yo... bzt."

Rows of swords magically phase into the air, fanning throughout the arena with countless blades. They perfectly arranged themselves in a column of circles, ranging in all forms and sizes.

"W-What's going on…?" Yang stammered in question.

My weapons waited patiently for its master to give a command.

"Ruby," Qrow swallowed down his fear. "Don't… You will hurt Yang like this."

The mention of Yang managed to cut through the static. Idly standing, one gesture of my hand scattered the swords until they disappeared from sight. Qrow was right. It had been too long that I had forgotten. This technique will, without a doubt, obliterate everything in its path instantaneously.

I flicked my wrist for a different approach, and a swarm of light enveloped my hand taking a form of a sword that I had chosen from a random collection. In my other, light manifested into a shield made by the finest craftsmen from the past.

"Glynda!" Ozpin shouted. "Get Miss Xiao Long away from there!"

I sprinted towards Qrow holding my shield up first and my sword following closely behind.

"Roar like the wind." I chanted.

Panicking, Qrow fumbled for his weapon to block whatever I had in store for him. I slammed my shield against his sword and a powerful blast of wind sent Qrow flying backwards.

"Thank you, bzzzt." The last tears fell forth… bzzzzzzzt… my eyes crinkled into a sincere smile. Bzzzzzt… Bzzzt… sniffled a final time. Bzzzt… looked back at me with a warm smile… bzzzt… "Thanks for being there for me."

Raising my sword up, I begun chanting.

"Burn across the deserted lands and incinerate my enemies."

A string of fire spiraled around my sword. With one swing of my weapon, a trailing pillar of fire ripped through the floor targeting Qrow.

"When your battle is over," her voice… bzzzzzzzzzzt… "I'll… bzzzzzzzt… my answer."

Qrow instinctively went into his bird form, weaving left and right between the fire.

"Is that really you, Ruby…?" Yang eyes went wide when she saw beams of fire from one single slash. It crashed into the wall and dissipated into incandescent particles. Glynda immediately tore her grip from Yang to hold and fix the infrastructure from falling apart.

Qrow flopped down to the floor when he transformed back. He impressively evaded the columns of fire, but he didn't escape unscathed. On his right arm were patches of burn marks, singed to a severe degree.

Yang's heart dropped.

"Qrow!" Yang ran to the direction of the chaos.

"Miss Xiao Long, don't!"

"Ruby," Qrow gritted his teeth from the pain. He managed to stand despite his arms blistering in an unsightly way. Instead of pleading for me to hear him out, his eyes crinkled when he smiled. A smile that knew of a price that had to be paid. "I am so sorry. Everything will be okay. You'll be okay."

I crouched low to the floor and locked onto Qrow inside my tunnel vision. Abandoning my shield, I bolted forward in a monstrous speed and lifted my sword for an overhead strike.

"Don't Ruby!" Yang lunged in front of Qrow, an arm stretched to stop me.

My eyes widened when my sister had gotten between us. She had snapped me out of my state, and I poured in all my strength to stop myself.

It far was too late.

I had swung and severed Yang's arm from her body.


There's a lot of stuff going on in this chapter. It's supposed to come off as very chaotic, so hopefully I executed that well.

Many of you are probably upset and frustrated that I literally chopped off Ruby's memory… Again. That's the direction I've been wanting to take with story since the first chapter. To make things clear, no we are not back to square one. Not all of Ruby's memories were erased such as her family. That would be extremely tedious to write over again and for you to read.

A lot of the memories being 'bzzzt' is regarding to Weiss, and one of it was about Blake. It's more heavily focused on Weiss because Ruby interacted with Weiss more than Blake. Despite being centered around Weiss, they were equally "erased". I put that in quotes because Ruby still has some memories lingering somewhere in her head, but it will be hazy. That being said, there will be more White Rose interactions in the future chapters and it's about time the plot ties into place.

The idea of this story came to me before V4, so bear that in mind. Yes, Glynda is a maiden. [Fun fact: Maidens are capable of using all elements]. The chapters in the future will explain a little bit to why Ozpin didn't intervene, the roles everyone intentionally and unintentionally played to awaken the Silver Eyes, definitely a lot more about Summer, more involvement and usage of magic, and the relics will play a major part to the story.

Some of you are probably thinking: 'they should've told her!' There is a problem with that. Silver Eyes in this story has certain conditions in ordered to be awakened and the power is limited. Qrow was trying to fulfill these conditions in the safest way possible in which he successfully did until that mishap in the end. These conditions and limitations will be explained in the future chapters.

There is a difference between Silver Eyes and the defense mechanism as you have read. I want that to be clear. Both allows Ruby to use magic. One is more consequential than the other. How they activate is also different: Silver Eyes can be controlled (now that it is awakened) while defense mechanism is near death. Since the defense mechanism triggers only in a near death experience, you can automatically conclude that Ruby cannot die unless she burns out all of her aura. Every time she is about to die, it will activate. It shuts off when her body is out of harms way. Am I going to put Ruby in life threatening situations? Maybe. I will put one spoiler to this story right here in this line... So, [SPOILER ALERT] in three, two, one — this is the last time Ruby loses her memories. Why did I put this here? It's a reassurance kind of thing. Because if I was a reader, I would be so frustrated if it were to happen a third time. [END SPOILER ALERT]

When will the next chapter be posted? I'm not sure. It's time for me to study so I can send myself back to school ):

I do hope to see you soon in the next chapter.