09x10 - Of Solitude and Self

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

♪ Sinking down into depths of nowhere ♪

♪ I am undone ♪

♪ Clasping tight onto memories ♪

♪ I know they'll be overrun ♪

♪ By a girl ♪

♪ We must live with balance
But balance is blind ♪

♪ Lost her world ♪

♪ Vengeance is a riptide ♪

♪ In a fairytale ♪

♪ She'll find ♪

♪ Inside ♪

♪ A new me, I'm ready
But who will I find? ♪

♪ Inside ♪

♪ I gotta let go
But could I lose my mind? ♪

♪ Inside ♪

♪ Our worlds unwind ♪

[Summer] "And on the wind,
Alyx heard one more question.

What... are you?"

I love you. Just the way you are.

Always.

[clock ticking]

[footsteps approaching]

It's not like you to rush off on a mission
in the middle of the night.

You know how Ozpin gets.
Mystery after mystery.

And when it turns out to be yet another
run-of-the-mill patrol, it'll be:

[both] "I always prefer discretion."

[Tai Yang chuckles]

I'll be back soon.

[Tai Yang] I know.

[Raven caws]

Nobody suspects anything?

No. They think it's a typical mission.

Summer Rose, telling lies.
First time for everything.

And, uh...

What about...?

You're just going to leave them?

You're one to talk.

It's...

You're better at that life.
Better than I was.

If I do this right,
there's nothing to worry about.

-Trust me.
-[sighs]

Let's get it over with, I guess.

What... what was that?

She...

She lied.

She left with Raven.
Why would she...?

Who knows why people
keep the secrets they do?

Maybe you're not the only one
who has felt the weight of others' expectations.

Like Alyx.

Like your mother.

Are you just trying to tell me
that it's useless?

That I shouldn't even try?

Is that the big lesson I'm supposed to learn?

Just give up?

Become someone else?

Is that what I'm telling you?

[Alyx] You never were the hero.

Alyx.

You couldn't save me.

I...

couldn't save a lot of people.

Maybe it's time for a change.

To be the kind of man
you've always wanted to be.

[groans]

[dramatic music playing]

[Jaune] The leaves!

Burn the leaves!

[Neo-Cat laughing]

Taking a page
out of the caterpillar's book, hmm?

The leaves have no effect on me.

Maybe not. But that's not the case for Neo.

[grunts]

[coughing]

No! These regrets!

These feelings! I can't...

I can't--

[low growling]

[laughing]

[Blacksmith] Your time is running out.

You must choose.

Choose for yourself one who could leave
your burdens behind.

Or choose one who would be
enough to bear them.

[Summer] I love you.

Just the way you are.

This one.

What happens if I choose me?

Then maybe that girl is enough.

Ruby!

You're...

You're you.

-How?
-[Jaune grunting]

She knew what she needed to be all along.

How perfect!

[upbeat music playing]

[grunts] You're broken.
You break everything you touch!

Like all humans!

Weak!

Confused!

Incomplete!

No. You're wrong.

She's never been any of those things.

That's why we follow her.

We're going to Remnant.
And you're staying here.

[snarling]

No. No, no.

No!

[Torchwick] To have what they have.

[chuckles] What a thing, huh?

So that's it, then?

Yeah. I know.

I'm not real.

[Jaune] What about her?

[Ruby] She'll find herself.

One way or another.

Ruby?

What's wrong?

When I was in the Tree,
I never saw Little.

I wish I could say thank you.

Do you guys think we might have made
things even worse in the Ever After?

Just like Alyx did?

I'm not sure.

I'd like to think that we did at least
a little good.

Right?

[Somewhat] Wait!

[panting]

-[exhales]
-[Ruby gasps] Little!

Do I know you?

Oh. I don't believe we've met yet.
Please, what are you?

I'm...

Well, you know,
I haven't thought about it yet.

You look like you have your wits about you.

What do you think I am?

Well, to me you seem like a friend.

A guide.

-A protector.
-Adorable.

Do any of those sound close?

Hmm.

Somewhat.

Yeah. Somewhat!

I'm not any one thing,
I'm somewhat of a lot of things.

It is a true pleasure to meet you,
Somewhat.

It will be my honor to serve you.

You've already done more for us
than you know.

You do feel familiar.

Like a happy dream I can't remember.

I'm so glad we got to meet you.

I'm sure you'll help lots of people.

But now we have to say goodbye.

[Somewhat] It will be all right, Huntress.

-[Jaune] Hey, Somewhat?
-[gasps]

-I am at your service!
-[Jaune chuckles]

Will you look after Juniper?
She means the world to me.

I will never leave her side.

[chuckles]

[all shouting]

[Blacksmith] Welcome...

to my workshop.

Um, Ruby? Is this the Tree?

Something like that.

[Blacksmith]
I've been waiting a long time for you.

Oh. Well, I made it.

I'm glad you did.

Can you answer a question for me?

I need to know if it's true
what the Cat said, that Lewis went back?

And Alyx...

Yes, only Lewis returned home.

The Girl Who Fell Through the World
is the story as he wished it had happened.

-Are those...?
-The Brothers!

Yes. These brothers were
the Tree's earliest blossoms,

and the first to inhabit the Ever After.

Remarkable beings. Very ambitious.

The Tree did not foresee
what they would become,

but that is the joy of creating,
the not-knowing.

Back then, the Ever After
was overgrown, wild, and dangerous.

The brothers were made to help tame it
and build the world that was to come after.

First they were given the power to destroy,
to clear the wilderness away.

Then they were given creativity,

to imagine what and who
could replace the wilderness.

The Brothers built homes for them...

and gave them roles to play.

If this is what they were supposed to do,

how did Remnant come about? Us?

The Brothers grew curious.
They wanted to do more.

And so, using the skills and tools
they had been given,

they began to design their own creations
in utmost secrecy.

Soon they realized their new creation
could do their job for them.

Finding the broken parts of the Ever After.

After this success,

the Brothers designed a second creature
to finish what the Cat started.

It came out brutal and effective.

[people screaming]

One brother believed
they had disrupted the balance,

while the other refused to condemn
their creations for their mistakes.

But balance is not two forces
locked in never-ending battle.

Balance is an ecosystem, an organism,

a living, breathing thing.

Thus, balance cannot be restored
with force or calculation.

True balance finds its own equilibrium.

It only requires love, and the patience
to see things through to the end.

[Ruby] So, how did they get to Remnant?

[Blacksmith] The Ever After could no longer
bear the Brothers' experiments.

And so the Tree built them
a special doorway to a greater beyond ,

where the brothers could try
creating worlds of their own.

A doorway that would remain open
for the brothers' return,

and any of their creations.

And what truly remarkable things
they accomplished!

Whenever the Brothers' creations
have come to the Ever After.

The five of you have had
a greater impact than you know,

just like Alyx and Lewis did before you,
just like others will after you.

One small kindness,

in one small moment

led to such a marvelous transformation.

Much like one act of dishonesty
caused an unfortunate change.

Alyx broke her promise to the Cat.

A terrible thing, to have a broken heart.

And there was nobody
to send them back to the Tree for repair.

[Ruby] What will happen to Neo?

She will have the chance
to return her broken heart

and become something new.

Such is balance.

That's Alyx's knife!
Wait, How do you have this?

When Alyx's life ended,
she chose to leave a part of herself behind.

A wish to fix what she had broken.

I-- I can't believe it. It's been so...

This is what I sounded like?

Where will this take us?

[Blacksmith] Not where.

When you are needed most.

Thank you.

[upbeat music playing]

["The Edge" playing]

♪ I arrive ♪

♪ At the edge of the world ♪

♪ And I wonder ♪

♪ Should I sit
Or should I stand? ♪

♪ Should I kneel? ♪

♪ What should I feel? ♪

♪ Will I fall apart? ♪

♪ Maybe that's all I want ♪

♪ I pretend ♪

♪ That I'm queen ♪

♪ Of a castle that's tumbling ♪

♪ Around my feet ♪

♪ And in my heart, it's there ♪

♪ Standing tall enough to fix it all ♪

♪ It's just a new beginning ♪

♪ It's just a different ending ♪

♪ It's just, it's just beginning
It's just, it's just ending ♪

♪ It's just, it's just beginning
It's just, it's just ending ♪

♪ It's just, it's just beginning
It's just, it's just ending ♪

♪ It's just, it's just, it's just,
it's just, it's just, it's just ♪

♪ Just you see ♪

♪ Watch as I go ♪

♪ All alone ♪

♪ Rising ♪

♪ Like a wave
It's clear ♪

♪ That I'm everything and nothing
All at once ♪

♪ I'll meet you at the horizon
Where we first met ♪

♪ Where I died, I'll be born again ♪