Lessons Learned

(Open POV)

Amity Colosseum...

The Amity Colosseum is still floating high amid the cheers of an excited audience as the two opposing pairs of partners for the match, the grinning Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai against a confident Coco Adel and meditating Yatsuhashi Daichi, wait in the center of the stadium for the holographic roulette to pick the field.

"Emerald and Mercury of Haven, versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!" Port said, over the broadcaster speakers.

"Good luck, you two!" Velvet said, from up in the stands alongside Fox Alistair, Ruby Rose, and Jared Shay.

"Team CFVY has this!" Jared said, eating some jelly babies. "Don't lose this! Coco!"

The Colosseum chooses four fields to rise up from below in quarter sections: A patch of tall grassy plains which has a single tree and some rocks; the ruins of a city, complete with buildings holding shattered windows and rubble among the pavement; a hot spring containing geyser spots along a small river and some blue Dust crystal growths; and a familiar section of dense forest.

Coco lowers her sunglasses as she eyes her opponents, "Hey! Love the outfit, kid!"

"I'll try not to get blood on it." Emerald said.

"I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch." Yatsuhashi said, getting up as he removed his sword from his back.

"I won't be the one bleeding." Emerald said, stretching out her arm.

"Ooh, I like her!" Coco said, smiling.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Port said, along with the countdown behind the combatants.

Instead of charging forward, Mercury and Emerald slowly walk back into the tall grass and disappear behind the leaves. Coco and Yatsuhashi smile at each other before the leader pops out her Gatling gun and begins mowing down the field as the crowds of sunglasses-wearing fans roar their approval, even when bullets nearly hit them from the other side of the forcefield. Coco lets up as she and Yatsuhashi realize the two opponents aren't in the plains section anymore.

"Huh?" Coco asked.

"Look out!" Blake said, while she and the rest of team RWBY and Jared look in shock.

Mercury drops from the sky, aiming for Coco, but Yatsuhashi pushes her out of the way and blocks the boots with his blade, pushing him back. Coco opens fire at him again, though Mercury is able to outrun each shot.

"He's good!" Sun said, also in the bleachers with the rest of Team SSSN.

"Yeah, but where's the girl?" Scarlet asked.

"Don't know." Jared said, still snacking on the jelly babies. "This fight is still gonna go on for a while."

Mercury reaches the two and kicks away Coco's weapon while dodging Yatsuhashi's blade, then delivering a double blow to the giant warrior before jumping over Coco's continued barrage of bullets. He lands on the barrels and kicks her in the face, leaping over another of Yatsuhashi's swings, only to let himself be hit so he can get behind Coco and force her to press the muzzle up to her own teammate. Everyone stands still until Coco compresses her weapon back into its handbag form and tries to hit Mercury with Yatsuhashi, but he deftly jumps back and launches two blasts from his boots that the members of CFVY deflect.

Coco is unfazed by the one shot, but looks surprised at the dozens of them now spiraling around the handstand-spinning Mercury until he sends all of them at his enemies, a barrage of light and smoke surrounding them that provides the perfect cover for Mercury to appear behind the two. He grabs the both of them by their arms and delivers a flurry of kicks that knocks them back, looking back as a chain comes out from the forest trees to wrap around Coco and pulls her back.

Yatsuhashi is reaching out to her in vain, "Coco!"

Despite his cry, Coco disappears into the trees, and he has to endure a blow from Mercury before being able to grab and throw him into the hot spring area. He jumps high in the air as Mercury's still sliding back, but his blade only comes down on his opponent's boots, the shockwave from this clash causing the water to fly back, the earth to crack underneath, and multiple geysers to form around them. Mercury fires his boots and gets out of the hold, aiming a swipe at Yatsuhashi's feet that misses, then ducking around each of his sword's swings. One of his kicks lets loose some stones from the ground, which Mercury kicks into Yatsuhashi and leaves him at the mercy of another foot-happy assault. This leaves his head in a small super-heated geyser, erupting and causing him to scream in pain as he frantically gets up, opening his eyes just in time to see Mercury coming at him.

Meanwhile, Coco is still being dragged back into the forest until the chain makes her collide with the trunk of a tree. She shakes it off until she realizes her sunglasses are lying shattered on the ground.

"I take it back; I don't like her." Coco said, glaring angrily as she looks around.

Just as she says this, a green shot rapidly comes at Coco, which she barely manages to jump back from as more come down on her from Emerald's position up in a tree above her. Coco unleashes her Gatling gun again and shoots high in the branches, but Emerald jumps around, using her own revolvers to fire back and change them to sickle form so she can swing from each tree until she suddenly vanishes behind one of them.

"Damn!" Coco said, looking around for her lost opponent.

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi said, coming up from behind Coco, his hand on his sword's hilt.

"Watch out, she's in the trees!" Coco said, calling back to Yatsuhashi as she continues to glance around.

"Oh, and with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated!" Port said, as a buzzer sounds around the arena.

"Crap, Yatsuhashi." Jared said, while Coco looks up to see the footage of the coverage. "It looks like my memory of this fight was wrong. I did go up against some Daleks the other day."

"What!?" Coco exclaimed, eyes widening in shock.

Coco looks behind her, only to see no one there. Her hand is shaking on the handle of her gun, and she doesn't even see the blur between the trees moving in for the kill, "Damn!"

Little does she know that Emerald is rising up from behind her, blades raised, turning around a second too late. The weapon descends with a ringing gunshot, and Coco is seen flying out of the forest, landing all the way in the center of the stadium next to Yatsuhashi, also knocked unconscious. Emerald swings her sickles by their chains as Mercury looks over their defeated opponents.

"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" Oobleck said, in the announcer's spot with Port.

"Coco?" Velvet asked, her hand over her mouth as Fox shakes his head.

Fox places a reassuring hand on Velvet's shoulder.

"You said that they would win that." Yang said, looking at Jared.

"My memory isn't as good as it used to be." Jared said, with Ruby looking into the stadium at Emerald and Mercury. "If there is one thing I know, I don't trust those two."

"Why not?" Blake asked, as Jared is eating some more of his jelly babies.

"Answer us." Weiss said, and Cinder is smiling behind them. "Why don't you trust Emerald and Mercury?"

"It's a long story." Jared said, while Cinder is getting up from her seat and walking away amid the combined cheers and boos from the crowds.

Kirito and Asuna's house…

"That wasn't a good match." Kirito said, drinking a cup of tea.

"Something tells me that it was rigged." Mami said, passing slices of cake.

"What do you think?" Nagisa asked. "Was it rigged?"

"It was definitely rigged." Sayaka said.

"Say I, if you think this tournament match was rigged."

"I!" Kirito, Asuna, Silica, Lisbeth, Sinon, Leafa, and the rest of the magical girls said, at the same time.

"Who do you think rigged the matches?" Kyoko asked. "I bet it was Cinder. What Jared said about her. It makes me so mad!"

"What did Cinder do that makes you think like that?" Yui asked.

"Just the thought of using Neo, Mercury, Emerald, the White Fang, and Roman Torchwick like soldiers and pawns. So she can please someone like Salem."

"You're right." Homura said, sipping her cup of tea. "It's wrong."

"Um, what do you think we should do about the next match?" Madoka asked. "Should we watch it?"

"Well, Jared isn't here." Silica said. "It's not so bad if we plan ahead, for his birthday."

"Good thing he isn't here." Lisbeth said. "All of us should tell him the wrong time, so he would show up later. Just so we can prepare."

"It mostly depends on the adventure it lies on." Asuna said, looking over at all of her friends in the room. "If it's during the Year that Never Was or the Fall of Beacon…"

"We don't really know for sure." Sayaka said. "He could be busy in real life. With his family, outside of this story. Where we are all like fiction, to him."

"True." Sinon said. "He cares about us so much, so he tries his best to keep continuity and develops himself well. While trying to keep us in character the whole time."

"Balancing out four canons is a handful." Mami said. "Doctor Who, RWBY, Sword Art Online, and Puella Magia Madoka Magica. And he is thinking of including the Marvel Cinematic Universe in here at some point."

"Way too many characters to balance out." Kirito said. "What can he do? Besides being an idiot."

Beacon Academy...

In an elegant twilit pavilion area of ivy-covered pillars, rounded archways, and lion-decorated fountains, Weiss Schnee and her elder sister Winter are sitting at a simple table with a plate full of croissants and strawberries. Winter is sipping from her teacup as Weiss repeats the news she was just told.

"You're...leaving?" Weiss asked.

"Yes." Winter said, setting her cup down. "I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. Our last shipment was lost to an ambush. I believe you had a run-in with its cargo, actually. It's fortunate those Paladins were in the prototype stage; otherwise your team may not have fared so well." She grabs her sister's hand reassuringly, as Weiss sighs and looks down dejectedly. "Weiss, you've done...well, out here, on your own. You should be proud. I'll be honest, it was quite amusing seeing Father's face the day you left for Beacon!"

"I can't wait to show him what I learned!" Weiss said, straightening up and smiling now, arms crossed.

"Oh? Then what do you think you've learned?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, not directly looking at her sister. "I'm getting better and better with my glyphs! I've even started Time Dilation!"

Winter is staring intently at her sibling, "And what of your Summoning?"

"I…" Weiss said, sighing and looks away. "You know I can't."

"Don't be ridiculous. Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations."

Weiss is splaying her hands as she exasperatedly cries, "I've tried! It's just... it's the one thing I've been having trouble with!"

"We Schnees are unique. Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary. But that doesn't mean it will come easily." Winter said, lifting her hand to summon a small, elaborate glyph over her palm. "Your Semblance is like a muscle. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it…" The glyph expands suddenly in a bright flash, causing Weiss to turn away before looking back up in awe at the white-and-blue Beowolf now at her sister's side. "If you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible, then you'll never truly grow."

Weiss smiles at this display of power she hopes to achieve.

(Jared's POV)

Team RWBY's dorm room…

"Man, having access to interdimensional cable rocks." I said, eating some fish custard and watching Sword Art Online on my iPad Pro. "I can't believe that's gonna happen to Kirito. As well as Asuna. I feel bad for Eugeo and Alice."

"That's just a parallel Kirito." Yang said, looking at the TV screen, where there are red lines appearing behind Ruby's character with oriental battle music playing. "Not our Kirito."

"You'll never beat me, old man!" Ruby said, angrily.

"You're nothing but talk, kid!" Qrow said, as his character has similar blue lines behind him.

"You can do it, Ruby!" Yang said, calling out her support as purple lines follow her character.

"Come on, Little Red!" I said, as green lines follow my character. "After that sad ending for Episode 24 of Alicization. Make me feel better with you winning!"

"Jared, you have too much faith in Ruby." Yang said, looking at the screen of the video game Ruby and Qrow are playing just as one of the pixelated ninjas decapitates the other. "Just for her winning. And you did promise me that if Uncle Qrow wins and Asuna comes to Kirito as an angel at the end of the episode you were watching. You would owe me a drink."

"I didn't promise you that!" I said, hearing the announcer say 'SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!'. "I never did."

"But still, it's a loss for you and Ruby." Yang said, while Qrow grins at his victory as Ruby lowers her head in shame.

"I know, I know, Goldilocks."

"Ouch." Yang said, whispering to me and Ruby. "You spent 24 minutes of watching fan service right there. While watching Ruby lose."

"Don't rub it in. I'll buy you your drink, even if I didn't agree to it."

"And by the way, don't ever call me old." Qrow said, annoyed.

Yang is pushing her sibling out of her spot as she grabs the spinning controller from the air, "My turn!"

"Now, where was I?" Qrow asked, while the game begins again with 'NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!'

"You were telling us about your last mission!" Ruby said, popping up from behind the two players excitedly.

"Right, right…" Qrow said, while Yui appeared in the room with me letting her into my Augma headset to see what's going on.

"It is story time?" Yui asked, loading up a hologram of a dark setting and eerie neighborhood the blade-wielding warrior is walking through. "Ooo, this looks cool."

"I'd come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right."

"What were you doing there?" Ruby asked.

"I needed information. Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's inn. The place was crawling with lowlifes and thugs, even a few Huntsmen that I could only assume had been hired by less-than reputable people for less-than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened."

"What happened?" Yang asked, as Qrow looks at something in the shady inn, wide-eyed at what he sees.

"Wait for it…" I said, watching Qrow kneeling in his flashback under a spotlight.

"I was defeated...by the mere sight…" Qrow said, suddenly grinning at what he saw is revealed. "...of the innkeeper's skirt length!"

The vision of pink hearts, a beautiful maid with slightly-skimpy clothing, and the very happy Qrow is interrupted by a thrown dog-head pillow, which Qrow deftly catches much to Yang's ire.

"As the Qrow flies for victory!" I said, hearing the game announcer calling out once more 'SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!'. "He went all out with a Yang!"

"Uncle Qrow, you are the worst! And Jared, this is not the time for pun making!" Yang said, angrily.

"Best two out of three?" Qrow asked, after he, Ruby, and I laughed at Yang's anger.

"So, Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?" Ruby asked, and she sat herself on Weiss' bed next to Jared.

"Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool." Qrow said, saving the question off.

"Cool for an old guy." Yang said, scoffing.

"Not funny." Qrow said, looking mad now.

"So, what are you doing here anyway? I thought Dad said that you would be on a mission, for like...ever." Ruby said.

"Well, a professional Huntsman like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible." Qrow said, getting back into the game at the sound of 'READY? FIGHT!'.

"Yeeeeaaaah, I get that." Ruby said, laughing. "We're pretty much pros, too."

"Oh, really?"

"Psch, yeah! Read the news sometime. We totally saved Vale while you were gone." Yang said, happily.

"Funny, because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train." Qrow said, leaning over to rub it in his niece's face as she scowls at the repeated 'SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!'. "But they don't give out medals for almost."

"They do, and it's called silver!" Ruby said, resolutely.

"A silver medal?" Yui asked, sitting on my shoulder. "Isn't that second place?"

"Well, we helped take down Roman Torchwick! He's locked up in Ironwood's ship and crime's been down ever since! That's basically a bounty mission!" Yang said, excitedly.

"Sure, you may be acting like Huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. You really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in a Kingdom?" Qrow asked.

"Nope." I said, eating some chocolate chip cookies. "That's like saying that Kirito, Eugeo, and Alice could stop what's going on within a virtual world. And what could leak over to the real world."

"I mean, I did until the both of you said that…" Ruby said, tapping her fingers together in embarrassment.

"Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed; it's stopped, completely." Qrow said, sounding more serious now. "No White Fang activity around the city. You cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head 's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his."

"You...know the General?" Yang asked, exchanging a look with Ruby.

"The guy who has Penny by his side, always." I said, handing a cookie over to Ruby for her to eat it. "I should really invite Penny over for my next adventure."

"Hey, I know everybody to some extent." Qrow said, back to his usual joking demeanor. "Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team that graduated Beacon!"

"How were you the coolest team?" Yui asked, watching Qrow reach behind him into one of his pockets and pulls out a photo lined with stains and age of four figures.

"Now that team was the Team CFVY in the past." I said, looking at the photo Qrow is holding. "From what I can tell of it."

"Hah, Team STRQ...that's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day." Qrow said, looking at the photo of himself, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long, and Summer Rose.

"And now Teams RWBY and JNPR are pretty well known for starting food fights." I said, as Yang's eyes widen and Qrow sighs in remembrance. "And Team CFVY is known for being the badasses today."

"It looks like Team STRQ were well known for crummy fashion sense!" Ruby said, looking over at her Uncle Qrow.

"Hey, we looked good! And I have a number of inappropriate stories to back that up!" Qrow said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, but notices Yang continuing to stare at the picture and puts it away. "But, I'll save those for when you're older."

"Oh, gross!" Ruby said, recoils in disgust.

"Anyways, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style." Qrow said, getting up and walking out.

"Seven months of writing this fan fiction." I said, while Qrow pauses in the doorway and sighs. "And I'm already on Book 2. When all hell breaks loose."

Qrow is addressing his family, Ruby and Yang looking up to him and Zwei sleeping on Blake's bed, "Look, just remember that you've still got a long way to go…"

"I think they know that." I said, eating more of the chocolate chip cookies. "And I know that, Qrow. I'll keep an eye on them for you."

Qrow turned around and he held a finger up to express his seriousness.

"And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done." Qrow said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder. "Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You've already gotten a head start on that, thanks to Jared letting you see all of time and space with him. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward."

With these immortal words of wisdom, Qrow exits down the hall.

(Open POV)

Pavilion…

A caterpillar is slowly inching around on the edge of a fountain at Weiss points her Myrtenaster at the ground, creating a rotating glyph made of blade symbols with Winter behind her, appraising the effort.

"Excellent form! Now think to your fallen foes! The ones who forced you to push past where you were, and become who you are now." Winter said, as the glyph flickers in and out of existence and Weiss grimaces in concentration. "Think of them, and watch as they come to your side."

Weiss is doing her hardest to make the wobbling circle follow her will, but eventually dismisses it and stomps the ground angrily, "I can't!"

"Stop doubting yourself!" Winter said, with her hand immediately coming down on Weiss' head in a slap.

"I'm trying!" Weiss said, turning around to face her sister.

"If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress!" Winter said, and she is suddenly smiling as if an idea has occurred to her. "Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist!"

"I don't need his charity!" Weiss said, looking away.

"But you do need his money, don't you?" Winter asked, leaning in towards Weiss.

"What!? How did you know about that!?" Weiss exclaimed, surprised.

"Lucky guess. I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military. So what have you done this time?" Winter asked, straightening back up.

"Well, that's the thing: I'm really not sure! I went to pay for lunch the other day, but the card didn't work!" Weiss said, as Winter circles around her.

"How embarrassing."

"I know!" Weiss said, seeing Winter shaking her head. "Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that?"

"Perhaps so that you'd stop avoiding him and call home."

Instead of answering, Weiss attempts once more to create a summoning glyph, gritting her teeth until Winter places a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"Emotions can grant you strength. But you must never let them overpower you." Winter said, watching the attempted glyph flickers and fades once more, though neither of them pay it any attention. "It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call him, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself." She allows Weiss a moment to absorb this information. "It's time for me to go."

Winter gives her sister a hug, which is returned.

"It was really good to see you, Winter." Weiss said, breaking off from the embrace.

"Until next time, sister." Winter said, smiling sadly.

The two Schnees walk out of the pavilion and go in opposite directions, neither of them noticing the caterpillar coming across a miniature, brightened version of a familiar-looking broadsword before disappearing into icy sparkles.

Beacon Academy...

"Oh Weiss." Jared said, sitting down on the fountain, wearing his pajamas. "Just answer his calls, why don't you?"

Later at night, Weiss is in the school courtyard, waving goodbye at the airship carrying her sister, with Jared watching Weiss from the distance. She stops just as her Scroll starts vibrating with an incoming call from 'FATHER', and her finger hovers over the screen in uncertainty until she closes her eyes and forces herself to press it.

"I will." Weiss said, looking back at Jared. "Thanks for being here with me, during this point in my life."

"Don't mention it." Jared said, smiling. "What are friends for?"

Suddenly smiling at the sight of her closed Scroll and the setting of a new path in life, Weiss puts it away and walks back inside with Jared.