CH 48 A return in many ways

The heat of the sun covered Vale in a blanket of heat so thick that the entire town seemed stuffy, the transition of the season doing nothing to deter the sun's effects Team RVBYS had returned to the walled city, their trip to the reclusive home of Witcher's now over. They were not the same as they had left, for better or worse they had grown, each in their own ways. New bonds had formed and history had been made. Now they turned their sights onto the quickly approaching Vytal festival, ready for the next adventure.

"It's hot." Blake said, stepping once more on Beacon Academy's white stone pathways.

"Ugh you're right. fair warning by the way, expect some serious travel sickness." Vyr warned as she readjusted a travel bag on her shoulder.

"There wasn't any last time though? I feel fine." Ruby added as her head swiveled to take in all the preparations happening around them. Not far away some people were setting up what looked to be a large fairground on campus.

"Aw-Yeah! It's good to be back!." Yang shouted, the last to exit the return portal which closed soon after.

"Not so loud." Weiss hissed nursing a hangover from the witcher's going away party the night before. Josh had somehow managed to worm his way past her frigid exterior, and got her to have a drink. She found out the hard way that just because she had good tolerance to wine, didn't mean that tolerance worked for hard liquor too.

"I need to let Ozpin know we're back. What're y'all gonna do?" Vyr asked as they walked, heading for the main campus.

"Sleep," Weiss groaned.

"I'll let dad know we are back." Yang said, pulling out her scroll.

Blake just shrugged, not having anything pressing to take care of. Ruby looked at the group before matching Vyr's pace, signaling her intentions. Though her focus was lasered in on a stall not far away setting up some kind of shooting game.

The meeting with Ozpin was uneventful really. Most of the time spent there was Ruby answering questions about the trip from her experiences. Ozpin was interested in the technological gap, having lived through similar times, but it was only a passing interest. He did request to see how witchers trained though, to which Vyr agreed on a demonstration if he fulfilled two conditions. One, to keep the demonstration private or at least semi-private. Two, he would have to set up an area according to her specifications.

Ozpin also wasn't too pleased at having everyone "blooded", but it was more of a timing thing than anything else. He wanted the girls to have more time to be children. With their plans for handling Salem in action, the thought that his students would still have to fight and kill wasn't one he wanted to think too hard about.

However, the two were simply debating the philosophy of it and their personal experience on the subject since they'd already agreed to the plan before the team had left. Maybe Ozpin was under the impression that Vyr would have some great metaphorical change after the fact.

Hearing Ruby talk about what had happened with their group, it was clear Ruby and maybe Weiss didn't properly understand what they did. Ruby seemed to have the idea that because the target was a monster, they weren't "people". If that made any kind of sense. Ozpin also picked up on this and sent Vyr an inquisitive look. The two shared a quick conversation skirting the subject, and came to the conclusion the team would have some time off still, so they could rest and fully process the excursion.

When they got back to the room, Yang had apparently been sidetracked by some of her friends, and was still on her scroll talking to her Taiyang. So Ruby naturally went to join the conversation and let the two know the group had downtime, while the other teams were still on missions.

They got Tai to agree to coming to the Vytal festival for everyone to spend time together. Hearing that he was coming left Vyr wondering if it was a divergence from the original canon. When Ash had told her about this world, it was just a casual conversation from a long time ago, back when she had yet to undergo the trail of the grasses. Had Ash not mentioned that he was there or did he not come in the first place? After meeting him Vyr could only say it was a 50/50 chance either way.

Weiss was deep in her covers asleep. It was clear she had been hit the worst by portal travels after effects, or she had drunk more than they realized. 'Eh fuck her.' Vyr thought. Maybe one day she would care more about Weiss, just not today.

Ruby seemed to be jet lagged as well. She was acting a bit sluggish and low energy, or at least compared to her normal high octane self. Blake was on her bed reading a book she had brought back from the keep. Something apparently caught her interest in the witcher's library. Or at least as much as a pitiful few shelves that leaned against the main hall's walls, with a handful of books tossed without a care, can be called a library. Any of the really important books were under Vesimir's personal care and not left in the main area.

That night everyone was happy to be back in their own beds again. Well almost everyone, Vyr wasn't having that great a time. She would never admit it but after getting together with Ruby, the act of sleeping together was somehow daunting. Where normally she would be comforted by Ruby's presence, now she was overly conscious of every movement either of them would make. Leaving her constantly anxious as to whether she was being too touchy.

This was the first time where they were sleeping in the same bed since they started officially dating. Being back in the valley led to Vyr wishing to meditate instead of sleep, she felt as if she'd been slacking. This was the first time that meditating became a problem. Vyr was left to lament, having never experienced this before. She had shared a bed with a few intimate partners she trusted, but never with one who she wanted for more than physical pleasure instead of a temporary respite. She'd never cared much about long term relationships with any of her past lovers. If they had a problem with that, then she would simply move on. Running from this wasn't an option.

Seeing no obvious solution, she decided to try and focus on something else. There was always something that needed to be done, at least it felt that way. The most pressing issue was what to do with Salem. She and Ozpin had touched on the topic before but even then they butted heads pretty hard.

Vyr thought Salem was necessary for the world. If they were to remove her, there needed to be a replacement. Without Grimm to be the world's enemy, it was clear the already brewing wars would only escalate catastrophically. Even with them here, faunus were fighting racism daily and in some places near to full on slavery and treatments that would make prisoners of Nilfgard shudder.

Ozpin, though, believed he and his associates could circumvent and prevent any war that may come, if only the grimm were no longer a problem. Apparently Ozpin had friends in places both high and low, with just as many informants.

'Though I guess that just comes with being an immortal reincarnating wizard dude. And as much as I want to just say fuck it and leave everything to Ozpin. I know one day Ruby will want to come back and see her family. It'd be pretty shitty of me to just ignore a problem this big, especially since Qrow and Tai are super chill. Fuck! What if Ruby doesn't want to leave? Great another worry to add to the list. Speaking of lists, I should add something new to the prototype playlists, it's been a bit.'As Vyr's thoughts were spiraling into who knows where, a voice brought her back.

"U-um, Vyr? Is everything okay?" Ruby's quiet voice broke the silence between the steady breathing of the rest of the team.

"You're awake?" Vyr whispered back, surprised at not being the only one still conscious. She focused her hearing and made sure the others were asleep still. Their heart rates were in their normal sleeping pace, though Blake seemed to be dreaming.

"I uh, couldn't, really sleep." Ruby said quietly.

"Want me to get something for you? Just tell me."

"No, no. I'm worried, is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well … " Ruby started but trailed off not finishing,

"I mean I'm not really worried or anything. Just lost in my own head, silly stuff, don't worry about it." Vyr said.

"Would you mind telling me?" Ruby asked, closing the small distance between them and leaning on Vyr.

Vyr took a moment to calm herself and wrapped her arm around Ruby as casually as she could " Among other things, I was thinking of a new song to put up on the prototype account. I haven't really released anything new since classes started, and with the time off I thought it was a good time," Vyr whispered, failing to hide how happy she was right now. All her worries taking a hard backseat to this moment.

Ruby similarly was ecstatic as she hid a smile and could feel sleep encroaching now that Vyr was there. The smell of huckleberries and metal wrapping her in an all too familiar comfort. All felt right in the world now that she was here.

"That sounds nice. Anything I would like?" Ruby asked, quickly fading into sleep, lulled by Vyr's voice even as she wanted to hear more. But, as her consciousness slipped away, there was a slight buzz behind her eyes, accompanied by a silent and small ache that throbbed with her heartbeat. It didn't hurt, so inconsequential that she wouldn't even remember it by the time she woke in the morning.