A Summer's Harvest Chapter 1: Roses Cast Adrift, a Halo + RWBY Crossover fanfic

Alright! Its finally here! One quick announcement before the chapter starts, though. Ruby B-312 has, again, encountered goddamn delays and will probably be out tomorrow (hopefully).

Anyways, that is all. Begin the chapter!

Chapter One – Roses Cast Adrift

/-\ Summer Rose; Forever Fall Forest /-\

Ten and a half years before the Sunset Invasion

Pain.

Pain was all that I felt… Well… and the cold emanating from my stomach. The place where I was stabbed.

'Oh, right… That happened.' I idly thought in my somewhat delirious state.

My silver eyes lazily fluttered open before just as lazily shutting again…

…until I heard a very child-like scream. Ruby's scream. My daughter's scream.

My eyes snapped open and locked onto my daughter…

…and the monster that was moving towards her.

I reached for the weapon holster on my right hip, but found it empty. Biting back both a curse and a scream of agony, I moved with all the speed I could muster, though the half-grimm was much too fast for me in my wounded state.

He- no, it gave a sadistic grin, showing off its fanged teeth. "Oh, how persistent you are, little rose…" It chuckled. "You know, it has been quite a few decades since I've had the pleasure of dueling with one of the mythical 'Silver-Eyed Warriors'…" He frowned. "You disappoint me."

"Heh…" I said, slowly inching towards my weapon, hopefully unnoticed by my would-be assailant. "That's what she said."

My comment had its intended effect, as it wracked its brain for a meaning, giving me just enough time to dive for my weapon and scoop it up. I slammed the wooden handle of my sawed-off shotgun into the ground and pulled the trigger, sending a four-gauge round into the monster's thigh…

…or that's what it was supposed to do.

When the considerable amount of airborne debris cleared, I saw the slug slowly float down a river of blue, soupy liquid. The monster looked unamused. "Oh, Summer…" It started. "Sweet…" It took a step forward. "Little…" another step. "Naïve…" it stepped upon the now-grounded slug. "Summer…"

I pulled the trigger again, aiming for the same spot… …and it got caught up in the same blue, soupy waterfall. I fired again, and again, and aga-

-click-

My eyes widened.

-click click click-

It let out a chuckle. "Ah yes, pull the trigger another thousand times. See what good that does you." It gloated.

The humanoid monster finally stepped into the moonlight enough for me to discern its features, and my eyes widened. I had suspected that it was a half-Grimm that I was dealing with, being in Ozpin's inner circle allowed you knowledge of such creatures, but whoever this was, they were far further along than any ordinary half-grimm.

Even if the head and upper torso were still human… nothing else was. Its eyes were the signature blood red that all grimm displayed. Around them, a bone mask etched with red sat. Its legs were morphed into twisted abominations of their former selves, muscles enlarged to ludicrous proportions, and claws jutting out of its toes. Though its left arm was human-ish, the right one certainly wasn't. Like the legs, the muscles on said arm were massively enlarged, and adorned razor-sharp claws at the end of each finger. On top of all this, pitch black fur crawled its way up his body, fully encasing his right arm, legs, and lower torso with inky tendrils crawling their way around what little humanity his body clung to.

It frowned. "Oh, little rose… I thought you were smarter than this." I quickly reached for my belt to retrieve a fresh five-round stripper clip…

…only to find none.

It smirked. "Always count your ammunition, little one. Especially when dealing with an 'Elite huntsman'," It mocked with air quotes. "such as myself." I blinked, an action which he seemed to notice. "Oh? Dear old Oswa-" It stopped itself before smiling. "Oh, what's that old wizard calling himself these days? Ozpin, I believe?" He nodded. "Yes, that is the correct one."

My eyes widened. "H- How?!" I practically screamed. "That was two reincarnations ago!"

"Oh my dear little rose…" it mocked. "I have been around for a very long time." The claws on its right hand lengthened, practically becoming knives. "But that's enough small talk, don't you think?" It said, stalking towards my daughter.

I let out a gasp before crawling forward, striving to protect her, a movement which miraculously went unnoticed. Just as he readied its hand to strike Ruby, I leaped forward. Taking the strike for her. "Gah!" I yelled, feeling his claws rip into my back. I looked into her eyes, lowering myself to her. "…Run…" I begged. "Please… just run…"

Her silver, tear-soaked eyes widened… …shortly before they began to glow. "MOOOOOM!"

Her eyes were activating and, at such a young age, they could kill her. As a last resort, I activated my own eyes, pouring every ounce of my energy into her in hopes that her body would use my energy instead of her own.

I never liked using my powers. They always ended up leaving me bedridden for days, or even weeks after a single use. What little literature Ozpin kept on the Silver-Eyed Warriors constantly stated that the 'Argilass' becomes less potent once the eyes are 'unlocked', as they put it. Unfortunately, due to the side-effects, I never practiced with my powers, thus, I never 'unlocked' them.

I screamed in pain, echoing my daughter's own shouts, as a stream of white light beamed from me to her, both amplifying her own awakening powers and protecting her from any harm.

Blackness crept into my vision; a combination of both blood loss and Argilass. As darkness began to overtake me, I saw the light reach the Grimm-man and set it ablaze. A smile crept its way onto my face as I saw it be thrown away; knowing my daughter would have a fighting chance.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I was at least somewhat accepting of my fate. In my delirious state, I scarcely noticed myself being swept off the ground by a strong wind. 'Is this what it's like to die?' I thought to myself. 'Have the Brother's angels come for me?'

I seemed to have passed through a barrier of some sort, because even in my condition, I felt the air around me change. No longer was it the humid yet cool air of the Forever Fall forest, instead, the air felt… musty, artificial, so many other words that just didn't make any sense.

I blearily opened my eyes, trying to get a glimpse of something, anything. I spied a woman sporting a blue glow. If not for said glow, her long, flowing hair would have been black, matching her dress pants but not her long sleeved shirt, which would be an off-white of sorts.

My eyes were transfixed on the woman and, mustering what little strength I had left, I opened my mouth. "A- Are you an angel?" I asked, shortly before my eyes fluttered closed and I drifted into semi-unconsciousness.

"…ly on… …oman h… ght?"

…

"…ye si… …dical te… ..TA fi… tes…"

…

"…t is she?"

"…on't kn… …ssor…"

…

"…table, I don… …aptain."

"…er here, profe…"

I stood in a grassy field, Beacon Academy loomed in the distance.

-beep-

I looked around for the source of the single beep I just heard, confused when I couldn't find one.

-beep-

I kept searching, finding nothing.

-beep-

"Hey."

-beep-

I spun around towards the familiar voice, seeing my daughter stand before me.

-beep-

"Ruby?"

-beep beep-

She gave me a smile. "I'll wait for you, mommy."

-beep beep-

"What does that mean?" I asked, stepping towards her.

-beep beep-

She ran forwards and hugged my leg. "I love you."

-beep beep-

I returned the hug. "I love you too, sweetie. But what do you mean?"

-beep beep-

She looked up and gave me a sad smile. "It's time to wake up."

-beep beep beep-

"Ruby, what are you talking about?"

-beep beep beep-

She gave me a sad smile. "They need you, mommy."

-beep beep beep-

She shot away from me. "RUBY!"

-beep beep beep beep-

My eyes snapped open and I just as quickly sprung up from the bed I had laid upon, disconnecting several machines from both myself and the wall…

…only to stumble as I felt the Argilass's effect on my system.

Suddenly, I heard the the sound of several rifles coming to bear. I spun around and came face to face with three black-armored figures pointing weird-looking rifles at me. I instinctively reached for my thigh, feeling for my weapon, Chromatic Rose, only to find it absent.

My eyes widened and I froze. I was never an unarmed specialist, despite Tai trying to change that fact on numerous occasions. I weighed my options. I could run, but where would I go? I didn't even know where I was in the first place!

Option two: fight. Given these were likely grunts with inactive auras, I could beat them with a summoned weapon.

Option three: Comply. I didn't know what they want, this could all be just a big misunderstanding, after all. I internally giggled at the memory of when Qrow used that line last.

"Put your hands in the air." The center one calmly ordered. Giving them a chance, I did as instructed.

"Don't trust her, Sarge." The rightmost one said. "Look at her ears, she's not even remotely threatened."

I blinked, the comment about my heritage catching me off guard. I shook my head to clear my own thoughts. "Look, I don't want any trouble." I said, still keeping my hands in the air. "Just tell me where I am, and I can be on my way."

"We aren't here to make deals, we're here to make sure you don't cause any trouble." The center one said.

I blew out a breath. "Alright, well… I guess I'll just- wait what?" I said, confused, as I realized I was in a hospital gown instead of- "Where're my clothes?!"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Anyways, as much as I'd love to talk with an alien," I blinked. "I'm just supposed to guard you, so do us both a favor and shutup."

I raised an eyebrow before shrugging, deciding to make myself comfortable on the bed I was resting on.

A few minutes passed, the armored men on the sides each lowered their firearms, though the one in the middle wasn't so trusting. I ignored him, people were violently racist against the Faunus back home, and it seemed that here is no different…

…wherever 'here' is.

I sighed in boredom, turns out that sitting on a hospital bed without a scroll, or anything, really, was quite dull. 'Quite a stunning revelation, Summer…' I idly thought.

My Faunus ears perked up, hearing three sets of footfalls. One was heavy, one light, and the last was somewhere in-between.

The door opened and revealed- "Captain on deck!" One of the soldiers shouted, and snapped a salute, as a man flanked by both a man and a woman entered.

The centermost man looked to be in his early fifties and wore dark green military fatigues in conjunction with combat boots and a hat. Both his fatigues and the hat bore an insignia that I was unfamiliar with. It resembled a bird of some kind resting atop a sphere which adorned a banner with the letters 'U' 'N' 'S' and 'C' inscribed upon it. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this man is the 'Captain' the soldier spoke of.

The other man looked to be a grizzled veteran of some kind, although his eyes and his stride spoke of his confidence; not overconfidence, mind you, but this man was good and he knew it. He wore several tan-colored armor plates over a black undersuit. His left pauldron was bigger than his right and, oddly enough, adorned an 'Ace' playing card.

The woman looked to be of Eastern Mistralian descent, and her hairstyle reflected it, as she had two chopsticks placed into her raven-colored hair that was otherwise pulled into a bun on the back of her head. Despite her lithe frame, I could tell that she still stood about nine inches taller than me. She wore a white labcoat over an orange top paired with dark grey cargo pants.

The Captain had his hands clasped behind his back and studied me for a moment. "At ease." He commanded, signaling the soldiers to lower their salutes. He began to approach, possibly trying to threaten me.

While I did sit, unmoving, on the bed, I was certainly not defenseless. I had already mentally checked my aura and, while it wasn't full, it also wasn't anywhere near empty.

He stared directly into my eyes, trying to intimidate me. Granted, his gaze was harsher than most, but it was nothing compared to the pure hatred and disdain that those of a Grimm held. As such, I figuratively shrugged him off, giving him an 'are you done?' type look.

Finally, he softened his gaze. "What are you?" He asked.

I blinked. "…What?" I half-confusedly asked.

"You obviously aren't human. So I ask again, what are you?" He repeated, his voice lacking any malicious edge to it.

"…I'm a Faunus." I said, still somewhat disbelieving that he hadn't heard of my people before. "How did you not know that? There's fourteen million of us out there!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be impressive?" He said. "The inner colonies have more than that in billions of people."

I scoffed. "I think I would've heard of a kingdom with that many people in it." I said. "Besides, the amount of farmland needed to sustain that many people would be completely impossible to protect from the Grimm."

"Grim?"

I blinked again and began stammering. "Wha- but- how- uhh…" I tried forming coherent words, but they failed me. "Okay, now I know you're messing with me." I finally managed to get out. "Everyone on Remnant knows about the Grimm."

He shrugged. "We've never been to this 'Remnant' before."

"Yeah, no." I said. "Just cut to the chase and tell me where I am."

"Lady," The armored man said. "I don't know how, but you just appeared onto the bridge of a military vessel en route to a combat zone."

The Captain nodded. "If I were you, I wouldn't be making demands." He said. "But if you really need to know, we're less than an hour out from the Epsilon Indi system."

"Captain, should you really be telling her this?" One of the black-suited guards asked.

"At ease, Corporal. We've relieved her of any and all communication devices." He said. "Plus, something about her tells me she's not with the Covenant."

I shrugged. "I don't even know what that is." They all gave me incredulous looks. "…What?" I asked.

The woman stepped forward. "Don't be so surprised, Captain." She said. "She's part of an uncontacted species. Its possible that they've been lucky so far."

"Woah woah woah woah." I interjected. "What do you mean, 'uncontacted'? You're treating me like I'm an alien or something."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, you are."

I blinked. "Uhh, no I'm not." I said. "I mean, unless you guys aren't Humans."

This seemed to catch their attention. "So you've heard of us, but we haven't heard of you." She stated before pulling out a datapad and typing a few notes. "Interesting…"

I scoffed. "Heard of you? My husband and all three of my teammates are humans." I said. "And so're my-" Suddenly, I remembered the events leading up to my arrival. "…daughters." My expression sharpened, and my ears pointed backwards. "Enough of this. Tell me where I am and bring me back to where you found me. My daughters are in very real danger and I need to get to them."

"We didn't find you anywhere." The captain said. "It's just like Sergeant Forge said, you just appeared on our bridge during transit."

"Then drop me off at Beacon. I can get a ride from there." I commanded.

"We aren't going anywhere." He shot back. "I'm not going to abandon my orders and that's final."

I scowled. "Fine. Just let me off at the next stop." I said. "Hell, I don't even need to be dropped off. Just fly below a kilometer or so and I'll jump."

The woman blinked. "You can survive a fall from that height?"

"Well, I am a huntress. Shit like that happens every other Tuesday." I responded before turning back to the captain. "Now, if you'd give me my clothes and my weapon back, I'll be on my way."

He hesitated for a moment. "Serina." He said.

"Yes, Captain?" A feminine voice over an intercom asked.

"Send someone to retrieve…" He trailed off before turning to me.

"Summer Rose." I supplied.

He nodded. "Send someone to retrieve Missus Rose's clothes."

"What about my weapon?" I asked.

"You're an unknown entity aboard a UNSC warship without authorization." He said. "Be glad that I didn't just order you detained." He shot back. "Serina, ETA to our exit?"

"Approximately twelve minutes, Captain."

"Noted." He said before turning to the woman. "Anders, think you'll be alright?"

She nodded. "I'll take it from here, Captain."

"Call us if you need anything." He said as both he and the armored man exited. Though the three black-armored guards remained.

The woman cleared her throat and extended her hand, an awkward smile on her face. "I'm Professor Ellen Anders."

I mentally shrugged off her awkwardness and accepted her gesture. "Summer Rose." I introduced, only realizing that it was redundant after the words left my mouth. "First thing's first, how long've I been out?"

She hummed. "A little over a week now, is that normal for your species?"

I shrugged. "Considering what happened before I got here… yeah." I paused as she took some more notes. "So, since everyone here thinks I'm an alien, whaddaya wanna know?"

"Oh, umm, yeah…" She said. "Firstly, have you heard of Earth?"

I blinked. "Like the ground?" I questioned.

She laughed. "I'll take that as a 'no', then." She tapped her datapad a few times. "Next, are your chactaristics representative of your species?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, before realizing what she meant. "Oh, right… Alien…" I sighed. "I mean, aside from one trait, these cute little things in my case," I wiggled my cat ears. "and night vision, we're identical to Humans."

She tapped her datapad more. "Hmm… and what about your eyes? Silver is a very peculiar color, is it common?"

"Nope." I responded. "I only know one other Silver-Eyed Wa-" I cut myself off. "Ehem… I only know one other person with silver eyes, and I only know of about a dozen of us."

She blinked. "That's mutation levels of rarity." She said under her breath, not realizing I could hear her. "You said your world population was fourteen million?"

I shook my head. "No, that's how many Faunus there are." I said. "Including Humans, Remnant's population is about fifty million, maybe a bit more."

"Hmm, not bad." She said. "That's bigger than most outer colonies."

I gave a slight chuckle. "Alright, this's been fun, but I really do have a daughter to save. If I could get my clothes now…" I trailed off as the door opened and revealed another soldier holding my clothes. "Well, that's convenient."

I quickly took them and gave the man a nod of thanks before he exited. I quickly made sure that I had everything. 'Let's see… Black long-sleeved dress? Check. Corset? Check. Leggings? Check. Cloak? Check. Combat boots? Check. Rose emblem?' I quickly went through my things again… …and came up empty. 'Godsdamnit…' I sighed. Realizing I probably left it behind in the forest, I elected to search for it when I got back. "Can you guys give me a bit of privacy for a sec?" I asked everyone in the room.

Professor Anders and one of the guards nodded and turned around, but the other two guards stood still. "We've been assigned to watch you for any suspicious activity." One of them said.

I gave him a deadpan expression. "Just turn around..." I said. "Besides, isn't it a bit rude to peek on a girl who's changing?"

"No can do." He said, a hint of amusement in his voice. I facepalmed before activating my semblance with a wave of my hand. White rose petals flowed freely, methodically assembling themselves into a privacy barrier that almost seemed to glow. The rose petal patterns engraved on my summons always brought a smile onto my face. Just as the last petal clicked into place, the skeevy guard shouted at me. "Hey! Take this… thing down immediately!"

I rolled my eyes, quickly donning my usual attire.

"Come out now!" He ordered as I was tying my boots. "Fuck it, just shoot her!"

I heard the staccato of gunfire from a single rifle as several mini spiderweb cracks began to form on my barrier. The cracks had just started to become worryingly large when I secured my cloak. Seeing no alternative, I activated my semblance again, this time summoning a sword.

I dispelled the barrier, the rose petals flowing into my cloak and lengthening it, just before I began flourishing with my blade, deflecting any and all bullets.

His firing ceased with a series of clicks emanating from his rifle. The other two guards looked too dumbstruck to do anything and the Professor stood there, her mouth agape.

I twirled my weapon and thrust it into the sheath I had installed on my belt for just this type of situation. "Now." I began. "Let's talk."

They all just stared at me for a moment before the guard that had been shooting reached up to his helmet and pressed a button. "The prisoner is loose! I need backup!" He shouted before slamming a new magazine into his rifle.

I sprinted forward and hit him with a wild kick to his crotch, grabbing his rifle in the process, before dashing out of the room.

I was spat out into a gunmetal grey corridor with a yellow stripe painted a little above head-height. Suddenly, the lights turned from their normal, white, color to a dimmer red. Seeing this as my cue to book it, I did so…

…just before a few bullets impacted the wall opposite me.

I ran onwards, wishing I had a speed semblance for a moment, while dodging or deflecting bullet after bullet from the ever-growing crowd of pursuers.

The bulkhead ahead of me began to close, but thankfully, I was just fast enough to avoid my cloak getting caught. The room I had stumbled into was fairly large and filled with strange 'pods', for lack of a better term. Each one had a single, heavily padded seat flanked by two slots. Above each pod, a large windowed canopy hung.

Suddenly, the avatar of a blue woman appeared on a nearby table. It took me only a moment to realize that I had seen her before, just as I was passing out when I arrived. She had a somewhat neutral face, though I could see a smirk playing at her lips.

"Hello, Missus Rose." She said.

I blinked before approaching. "Uhh… hi?"

"From what I was both hearing and seeing in the medbay, it would seem that you are quite a powerful warrior."

"Well, I am a huntress. Heh, and an elite one at that." I said. "By the way, can you tell them to, I don't know, not kill me?"

"I'm afraid that they're too angry for that at the moment." She said, causing me to deflate slightly. "As long as you're on this ship, they'll likely hunt you down. The only way would be for you to prove that you're not hostile to them."

"But I-"

"Relax." She quickly interrupted. "I was able to see the whole thing. You could've easily killed everyone in that room if you wanted to."

"Yea, I could've." I affirmed. "But I didn't really have anything against them, nor were they dangerous criminals…" I said. "…at least, I hope not." I quickly amended.

"You don't need to prove any intentions to me." She said before all the lights went out except for the ones around a certain pod. "Hmm, how odd." She commented, a smirk on her face. "It would seem that this Human Entry Vehicle, or HEV, has 'malfunctioned', allowing you to escape."

I blinked. "Uhh, thanks, I guess? How do I use it?"

"Merely place your weapons within the racks and buckle up. The automated descent computer will do the rest." She said. "Should the hatch become stuck upon landing, there are a series of four green buttons on the inside; press them all to engage the override."

"Thanks for the tip." I said as I followed her instructions and boarded the pod. As soon as I was situated, the hatch slammed down with a hiss and the entire pod shook.

I felt myself lazily swing about as the pod was rotated into position. Suddenly, the floor of the bay opened up, revealing a black void...

…and a planet below.

A planet half burned.

My eyes widened at the sight, as this was certainly not Remnant. It's almost like-

-beep beep beep beep BEEP-

My body was thrust against the restraints as a bout of sudden acceleration forced me upwards.

I gripped the handholds for dear life as the planet grew closer by the second. Soon, my pod was enveloped in flames, but oddly enough, the temperature inside the HEV remained steady. My pod began to shake wildly as I got nearer to the ground and, just as suddenly as the first bout of acceleration happened, a second one did as well.

This one, however, forced me into my seat with a tremendous force, and the rate at which the ground was approaching seemed to slow.

Seconds later, I burst through a layer of clouds, revealing the snow-covered landscape below.

I gasped when I saw what looked to be a battle raging in the distance. Thankfully, it was fairly far from where I was going to land, but it was still far too close for my liking. Oddly enough, blue streaks of light rushed past my pod.

The ground came closer and closer, and I braced for impact.

-thunk-

I was thrust into my seat even harder than I was the first time. 'Hang on a minute, wasn't the hatch supposed to-'

-beep beep beep-

-BANG-

The hatch flew off its hinges and cold air immediately rushed in, causing me to give a slight shiver.

Having found the restraints to be automatically retracted, I climbed out of the pod and retrieved my weapons.

My ears perked up, detecting heavy footfalls not far from my position. Oddly, they were heavier than any Human's I had encountered before. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head, and I dove behind my pod just as the offending animal entered the vicinity.

"Wort wort wort!" I heard.

The footsteps grew closer and closer… …and then I remembered that I had landed in a snowy area… …meaning my footprints would be visible…

I immediately prepared for a fight by tossing my rifle to the ground and drawing my sword.

A massive figure in blue armor rounded the corner and raised a strange claw-shaped probably-rifle.

I leaped into action, literally, and severed its arm with the flick of my wrist before bringing my blade up and decapitating the monster.

Its body fell to the ground with a loud -thud- and I scanned the area. Three ape-like creatures with giant spikes on their backs looked at me in what I could guess would be fear before bolting away.

Deciding that I wanted nothing to do with them, I not only let them leave, but also headed in the complete opposite direction.

After a few minutes of tredging through the snow-covered landscape, I came across a cliffside overlooking the entrance to some kind of structure. Oddly enough, the snow there was disturbed as if someone had been crawling in it not too long ago.

Several of those creatures guarded the entrance. They were mainly the smaller, cowardly ones, but a few of the blue armored big ones joined them. One of the big ones also had silver armor, though I only got a glimpse of the figure as it boarded some kind of forked airship.

I paused, deciding if I should attempt to take shelter in there, after dealing with the current occupants, of course, when a green streak of light passed by me.

I rolled my eyes before drawing my sword and charging into the fray. I dodged left and right as the green lights flew past me, oddly enough, making me ever so slightly warmer than I was before.

Finally reaching the first split-jawed one, I dropped and slashed its legs as I skidded past it, summoning a knife in my off-hand. I stood up and threw it into the neck of the nearest Derp, as I decided to call them, just as it formed.

I flipped over another glob of the blue stuff, impaling a Split-jaw as I landed and using it as a springboard to avoid another volley of projectiles.

Unfortunately, I was a fraction of a second too slow, and I yelped as two shots grazed my aura, draining a not insignificant amount of it.

Knowing that I wouldn't want to take any more hits from… whatever that was, I summoned a buckler with which to deflect them.

I flared my semblance, causing a cloud of rose petals to explode out from me and obstructing the vision of my adversaries. Still airborne, I quickly undid my cloak and threw it ahead of me, allowing it to draw the enemy's fire. I landed with a roll and sprinted towards the nearest group of enemies.

I bashed in the face of a Derp just after I slashed open the throat of one that I ran by moments ago. I collapsed to the ground, hooking my feet behind the collapsing Derp, and flung it behind me, distracting the squad's Split-jaw, while rolling onto my feet.

I sprung forward, throwing my sword into a nearby Derp and using the now-dispersed rose petal cloud to add some shiny new spikes to my buckler just as I threw it, impaling the formerly-distracted Split-jaw in its unprotected stomach. My actions, unfortunately, earned me a couple more hits to the back.

I rolled again, dodging more enemy fire, donning my cloak, and summoning a handful of throwing knives in one fluid motion. I charged the Split-jaw, throwing some knives into a few Derps as I passed them.

The Split-jaw took out a forked glowing blade of some kind and lunged for me just as I was nearing. Thankfully, I rolled between its legs just in time, thrusting my knives into the gaps of its armor as I passed.

Wasting no momentum, I leaped up and twisted my body midair before plunging my knives into either side of its neck.

It gurgled for a moment as I descended before falling to the ground.

No more blue lights flew at me, as that particular Split-jaw was the last enemy, and a smile crossed my face as I headed into the structure; seeking its warmth.

(A/N) Well… that probably didn't go how anyone thought it would.

Just to be clear, Serina helped Summer because she realized that she wasn't really intending on hurting anyone, but that could be changed if some idiots tried to engage her. So she elected to get her the hell off the Spirit of Fire. Of course, the best way was to drop her using a SOEIV. Also, she on purposely dropped her next to the covvie position in hopes that she'd either kill them or be killed by them.

I kinda wanted to do something a little different with Summer's weapon(s) than I've seen in other fics. I figured that it would be kinda cool to see a Roguish Summer for once; one who uses misdirection and constantly changing tactics to win her battles. Obviously, she won't be using full-on illusions like Emerald or Neo, but its still a cool idea imo.

One last thing: Argilass isn't technically a word, though it is made from two Latin words (Argentum lassitudinum) meaning 'Silver exhaustion'; I thought that'd be an appropriate descriptor of what Argilass is.

Since this is ch1, there's no reviews to respond to… meaning I'll see you guys in the next chapter; called 'Of Kittens and Fancy Maps'