Vacuo…
"We buried our friends today." Nora said, narrating.
A crowd stands on a large sand dune in Vacuo.
"I mean, you can't really bury someone that isn't there." Nora said, her voice breaking. "But we needed to do something."
Refugees from Atlas stand in front of a large gravestone that reads 'In Honor' in the sand.
"We needed to move on." Nora said, narrating.
Nora falls to the ground, sobbing.
"Putting the memorial at the gate site was Ren's idea. I think everyone lost something that day." Nora said, narrating.
Back in the sandstorm after arriving in Vacuo, a Ravager abducts an Atlesian evacuee. Winter screams and attacks the Grimm with ice shards and a large whirlwind. As more Grimm approach, Coco Adel shoots them down with Gianduja as the rest of Team CFVY, Sun Wukong, and Neptune Vasilias arrive to help.
"When the sandstorm cleared, we saw Ambrosius had kept his word. We were just outside the city." Nora said, narrating.
The sandstorm clears to show Vacuo in the distance.
"It was a relief for us, but for the Vacuans…" Nora said, narrating.
"Run! This way, come on! Hurry, to the city!" Sun said, worried.
The ground rumbles as the evacuees run away screaming. A Blind Worm emerges from the ground as the flashback ends.
"Grimm attacked the city for days. Things have calmed down since then, but there's still something worrying me." Nora said, narrating.
Nora walks through a crowd of Vacuans and Atlesians in the current time.
"The last thing we need is a kingdom of orphans!" A Vacuan yelled.
The angry Vacuan throws an empty can at the young boy, while Neon Katt knocks it away.
"It's not our fault we're here! No one came to help us when we needed it!" Neon said, grunting.
"We've had our own problems." A Vacuan said, throwing another can that is deflected. "The world doesn't revolve around Atlas!"
"What's wrong with orphans?" Nora asked, somberly.
Nora walks up to the two Vacuans and looks back and forth at them. The men huff and walk away. The boy starts to cry.
"Hey, everything's gonna be okay." Nora said, walking up to the crying child.
"I wanna go home!" The boy yelled, running away.
"What if we can't move on?" Nora asked, narrating.
Nora's scars are on her neck. Neon, looking at the scars, gasps and looks away when she sees Nora looking back at her.
"What if we're all just too... scarred?" Nora asked, narrating.
Memorial…
"If there was anything I wish I could borrow from you like what Jared borrowed from you, Ruby, it would be your certainty." Oscar said, narrating.
Oscar stands in front of the memorial, with Vacuo visible in the distance. Oscar looks over to see the sun setting on the horizon.
"You always believed things would work out... all the way up until the moment they didn't." Oscar said, narrating.
Shade Academy…
There is a dark room lit up by a lamp clicking on, showing Oscar reading at a desk in Shade's library.
"Ozpin has no explanation of what might have happened to you, your team, Jared, Jaune. I thought maybe I could search for an answer." Oscar said, while a book slams shut. "But given Vacuo's history of colonization, its records of antiquity are even worse than most places in Remnant."
Oscar gets up from the desk and walks to the exit of the room, which is closed off by a Hard-Light Dust barrier. Oscar turns off the barrier and walks to the railing at the edge of Shade. He gasps as his eyes turn green and he grabs onto the railing.
"Oz is fighting our merger just as hard as I am." Oscar said, narrating.
Oscar grabs onto his head, grunting, as an explosion sounds out in the distance.
Vacuo…
Screaming can be heard as Ravagers fly in the distance above a fire in the city. Winter Schnee flies out of Shade towards the Grimm attack.
"I- We are in unforeseen territory now." Oscar said, narrating.
Oscar arrives at the scene of the fight, as the Huntsmen fight off the Sulfur Fish and Ravagers.
"Everyone worries the next Grimm assault will be the last. Too many people to take care of, too many emotions, and dwindling time." Oscar said, narrating.
The wind howls back at the memorial site.
Memorial…
"You always believed in the best, saw people for who they really were. Some of us don't know anymore." Oscar said, narrating. "I guess Jared picked that up from you when I first met him at Haven Academy and he used that experience while traveling with that Doctor of his.."
Oscar walks away from the memorial, the sun still setting in the distance. He grunts as he falls over, his eyes glowing green again, as the sun sets.
"How did you do it, Jaune?" Ren asked, narrating.
Ren sits in front of the memorial at nighttime, holding his dagger in his hands.
"How did you go from the boy at Beacon to the leader at Atlas... when you lost so much in between?" Ren asked, narrating.
Shade Academy…
Ren sits under a tree while Nora and Velvet Scarlatina walk by. When he looks over and sees them, he smiles and gets up to walk towards them.
"Hey, I was going to try and cook some dinner for the gang, i-if you wanna stick around." Ren said, waving.
"Oh, that's really sweet. But I told Velvet I'd help her get more supplies out to the edge settlements. Would feel bad eating before those guys. You know." Nora said, sadly.
"Don't even worry about it. You just keep up the great work. Let me know if I can help." Ren said, frowning.
"You got it." Nora said, walking away.
Velvet smiles and waves to Ren before following Nora. Ren drops his smile as he looks back towards Nora, using his Semblance to see her emotions.
"Nora, she's putting the world on her shoulders like what Jared did with putting the entirety of Earth on his shoulders, and Oscar... just isn't himself." Ren said, narrating.
Ren gets a notification on his Scroll, seeing that Oscar replied to his message.
"Plans tonight? 🍜." Ren asked, sending a text to Oscar.
"Busy." Oscar said, sending a reply text back to Ren.
"Sorry." Oscar said, sending a reply text back to Ren.
"That's ok. Hope you two are well. 🙂" Ren said, sending a text to Oscar.
"I never realized how much you did to hold us together." Ren said, narrating.
Ren puts his Scroll away before starting to walk into Shade, before his Scroll starts ringing.
"Ren?" Yatsuhashi asked, on the phone.
"Yatsu. Hey, I was just about to…" Ren said, his Scroll near his ear.
"Where are you right now?" Yatsuhashi asked.
Ren begins to look worried, and runs off.
A screen shows Tyrian Callows and Mercury Black inside of a prison, while a woman in a prison jumpsuit trails behind the two. Mercury kicks down a door, as a man in a jumpsuit walks out.
"Who... are they?" Ren asked, looking down at the screen.
"Gillian and Jax Asturias. The Crown. We have to assume Salem has them now." Yatsuhashi said.
The camera screen shows Jax and Gillian smiling at each other. Mercury looks worriedly at Tyrian, who is laughing at the camera. Yatsuhashi closes the Scroll, as him and Ren look at the wall of the prison cell, where 'NO PLACE FOR ROYALTY' is written on the wall.
Monument…
Ren is at the monument.
"For a while I've tried telling myself that even though we lost a lot in Atlas, Salem's forces were damaged too." Ren said, narrating.
Ren stands up and puts his dagger back in its scabbard.
"But she's able to recover by preying on those filled with fear and anger... while we have to overcome them." Ren said, narrating.
Ren looks back towards the city of Vacuo, as he looks at the petals circling around the city representing the emotions of all the citizens and refugees.
"I've finally accepted you aren't coming back." Winter said, narrating.
Winter stands in front of the monument, with Willow Schnee, Whitley Schnee, Team EONR, Team SSSN, Team CFVY, Team QRFJM, and Team MEH standing behind her.
"It should have been me, not you, not Penny, not Jared, me. I was the one who stayed at Ironwood's side for far, far too long." Winter said, narrating.
Ren, Nora, Emerald, Oscar, Qrow Branwen, the Happy Huntresses, and Ace Operatives all solemnly stand behind Winter.
"I was the one who let the Staff fall into Salem's hands. Because of me, Penny is gone, forever." Winter said, narrating.
Vacuo…
Winter and Marrow Amin look at graffiti on a wall, stating 'ATLAS GET OUT' and 'LONG LIVE THE CROWN'. Winter hears an airship in the distance, and flies off to investigate. As she lands, she is greeted by Peter Port, who takes a step back.
"The Winter Maiden, Miss Schnee." Port said, chuckling and taking a step forward and bows.
"What's happened?" Winter asked.
"When Salem left Atlas, she came for Vale, and now there's nothing left." Port said, sighing.
Port looks behind him to Bartholomew Oobleck, who is looking down.
"Where's Glynda?" Winter asked.
"Gone. Trying to find help. We led the civilian retreat, brought as many people with us as we could, and uh, this, this is the only place we could think to go." Port said.
A roar is heard as three Blind Worms emerge in the distance. Winter flies off towards the Grimm.
"You are the one who believed in people." Winter said, narrating.
Later, Winter walks along Qrow and Willow, who are handing out food to the refugees.
"You stole it! Give it back!" Refugee 1 yelled.
"I didn't steal anything!" Refugee 2 said, angrily.
"You had faith they could be good." Winter said, narrating.
Willow takes a loaf of bread out of the cart and brings it to two refugees.
"Whitley, mother, they've worked hard to make amends, to fit in…" Winter said, narrating.
One of the refugees takes out a flask and drinks from it, as Willow's voice shakes.
"One step at a time." Qrow said, happily.
"But no amount of determination or hard work will change where we find ourselves now." Winter said, narrating.
Willow offers another loaf of bread to two children.
"Filthy Schnees! Not so high and mighty now, are you? What's it like, living at our level?" A woman asked.
"I'm, I'm sorry." Willow said, sadly.
"We're leaving, okay?" Qrow asked, holding Willow's shoulder.
The civilians look pleadingly over at Winter and back up away from her. Winter carries forward.
"How long are we supposed to live like this? Let's just leave!" The refugees said, at the same time.
Winter looks over to see a group of three refugees complaining to Marrow and Fiona's uncle.
"What do you do when there's no hope left?" Winter asked, narrating.
The refugees walk away, leaving the city. Fiona's uncle gives up and walks back inside the city.
"You would know what to do, sister." Winter said, narrating.
Monument…
The rest of the civilians leave apart from Whitley and Willow, Winter continues to narrate.
"You were the true heir to the Schnee name. You and your friends, you did everything you could to save the world. I guess that's why Jared hung out with us at Remnant more and more overtime. He believed in you and your friends, sister. And he wanted to save the world with you and your friends." Winter said, reaching to touch the monument. "You would be so disappointed in us."
"Whitley, you really should cover up." Willow said, looking at Whitley.
"No, I won't hide forever." Whitley said, frowning.
As Winter uses her Magic on the monument, a Manta can be heard descending down near them.
"Klein!" Whitley said, running towards the Manta, as Klein waves to him from inside and chuckles.
Willow looks back towards Winter, who has now applied the words 'Don't come back' onto the grave.
"Maybe it's for the best that you didn't have to see this, Weiss, Jared." Winter said.
Memorial…
As it turns to sunset, Qrow wipes dust off the names on the memorial.
"Call me crazy, but I'm actually feeling a little optimistic about things. Go figure. Don't get me wrong, it's bad. In fact, it's probably never been worse." Qrow said, narrating.
Vacuo…
Qrow walks through a refugee camp, looking around at all the people.
"And yet, you and Jared can still see the good in small things: acts of kindness, people trying to atone for past wrongs, like an oasis in the desert." Qrow said, narrating.
Qrow passes by Klein feeding an Atlesian child and Willow helping a mother sit down. As he walks past a person, the person trips, and Qrow grabs his hand, helps him up, and pats him on the shoulder.
"It's all a matter of perspective. I guess an old friend taught me that." Qrow said, narrating.
Qrow looks down at Clover's pin, which he now has on his coat. Still walking, Qrow finds the Happy Huntresses playing with children. Joanna Greenleaf twirls two children on her arms and Fiona Thyme summons a ball and tosses it in the air.
"Ready, catch!" Fiona said, excitedly.
Qrow moves out of the way as the ball hits Joanna's back. The children, Happy Huntresses, and Qrow laugh as Joanna turns around, confused. Qrow walks up to Robyn Hill.
"What was so important that I needed to come all the way down here?" Qrow asked, looking at Robyn.
"You can't spend all your time taking meetings in Shade. Come on." Robyn said, starting to walk away and Qrow followed beside her.
"Is this one of those... just wait, it's a surprise things? I'm not really a…" Qrow said, sadly.
"Just, shut up a second. Here." Robyn said, gesturing to the wall, where there is a mural of Ruby, with the words 'Remember Her Message' written around her.
"Things might be bad, but my biggest regret is that none of you are here to see the good that you started…" Qrow said, narrating.
Qrow stares up at the mural for a few seconds before covering his mouth and tearing up. Robyn puts her hand on his shoulder. The two look up as an airship flies above.
"...because you did start something." Qrow said, narrating.
Shade Academy…
Qrow, now leaning on the railings at Shade Academy, starts to walk inside the academy. Before he can, a red portal opens up behind him, and Raven Branwen walks out. Behind her, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, and Jared all walk out of the portal together. Raven smiles at Qrow, who smiles back as the six walk past her. The group looked up, past all the different airships, to Amity Colosseum floating above them.
"We made it." Jared said, looking at Team RWBY and Jaune. "Took us time."
"But... how?" Ruby asked, at a loss for words.
"You sent a message…" Qrow said, smiling.
The six look back to see Qrow smiling at them.
"...and the world answered." Qrow said, happily.
"Okay. After hanging out with Danny Phantom and the Powerpuff Girls for a while." Jared said, looking at the airships and Amity Colosseum. "This is amazing."
Oscar, Nora, Ren, and Emerald walk out of Shade.
"Hey Qrow, are you coming to the meeting, or…?" Nora asked, gasping.
They see the six standing there, all smiling.
"Hey, everyone." Ruby said, walking over to Jared to grab his hand.
"We're back." Jared said, squeezing Ruby's hand.