A/N: Here's another one-shot from me. This is taking place immediately after S3E11. Hope you enjoy. Although you might not like what happens.
Shattered RWBY
She had to run. She had to get away. He was going to kill her. Kill them. She need to escape and hide. She said she was through with running, but now she had no choice. As soon as Blake got outside she ran for the woods surrounding Beacon. Knowing that… monster was on her tail she quickened her pace. Doing her best to go as fast as she could with her friend in her arms.
Blake looked over to Yang. The blonde had yet to regain consciousness from Adam's attack. She was growing paler by the second. The Faunus knew she had to do something, but she needed to get away from all the chaos. Ignoring the pain emanating from her abdomen she continued her way through the woods. The sounds of combat growing more distance. She reached a clearing and collapsed on the far side of it.
She couldn't go any further. She was tired and in too much pain to continue on. The Faunus could hope that she had put enough distance between him and them. Blake eased Yang down on her back and check her pulse. To the her great relieve, her friend was still alive. Her pulse was faint but still there. Then Blake forced herself to look at Yang's right arm. She couldn't help but flinch at the sight of the blonde's missing forearm. Taken by her former mentor.
Blake shook her head to regain control over her thoughts. She need to do something. Yang's aura and stemmed most of the bleeding, but not all of it. And all the running had aggravated the wound. She thought back to their first aid class and how to deal with such serious injuries. She took off her black vest and pressed in as hard as could against Yang's dismembered arm. The blonde flinched but remained unconscious. Blake tried to think of what she could use to tie it in place to maintain the pressure. The in hit her. She reached up to her head and pulled her bow off freeing her cat ears to the cool night air. She wrapped her bow around her vest as tight as she could. Once she was done with her makeshift tourniquet Blake laid back against a tree to catch her breath.
She winced when another wave of pain spread out from her stomach. Blake pressed her hand where the pain was coming from and felt something wet. She pulled her hand up to her face and saw blood, her blood. Blake's eyes widened. In all of the excitement she had completely forgotten that Adam had stabbed her. She quickly pressed her hand against her wound to try and stem the bleeding as best as she could.
The young woman couldn't get what had happened out of her mind. How far had Adam had fallen. The attack on Beacon. His senseless killing of innocent people. The way he treated her. A small part of herself was beginning to wonder if this was partly her fault. Had her leaving been the catalyst. Had her betrayal been the final push that caused her mentor to fall into darkness.
When she had still been with the White Fang Blake thought she could change Adam back to the way he had been once before. She believed that she could bring him back to a proper path. One of peace. But as time went on he just kept on falling further and further into darkness. The train had been the last straw for her. When he showed little care for those onboard. Blake had felt the last string the had kept her in the White Fang be cut in that moment. And so she left. Leaving everything behind.
She looked at her best friend who laid in aguish in her unconscious state. Adam had attacked Yang because of her. Her former mentor turned monster was set on destroying everything and everyone she cared about. All because she had left him. If she had stayed, perhaps he wouldn't have had fallen so far.
She must have lost quite the amount of blood because she was starting to feel tired. The Faunus forced herself to stay awake, if she fell asleep, she and Yang would be helpless. Blake's fear only grew when she heard some rustling in the in the trees from the direction she had come from. She reached for Gambol Shroud for on her back only to find that it wasn't there. She realized that in her rush to escape that she left it back at Beacon. Her heart beat escalated as the sounds grew closer.
"Blake!" A familiar voice called out. To the Faunus' great relieve it wasn't Adam.
Weiss. She let out a breath she had been holding.
"Yang!" Another voice cried out. This one made Blake freeze.
Ru… Ruby. She looked back at Yang wondering what she would say to the younger sister once she saw the blonde. Ruby would be devastated. Then the two girls came through tree line and came running towards her once they saw her.
"Blake, we saw you heading into the woods. Are you alright?" Weiss asked as she got closer. She looked winded and tired. Ruby, who was a bit bruised up but looked fine, was not too far behind. "What happened to Ya- Oh god!"
The white haired girl stumbled back when she saw Yang. Her eyes widened and her hands shot up to her mouth.
"What happened?" Ruby asked once she caught up. But she went silent at the sight of her sister's dismembered arm. The young girl's eyes widened just as much as Weiss'. Her mouth agape. "Ya- Yang?"
"Ruby I-." Blake started to say, but struggled to get the words out. "I'm sorry."
The young leader didn't seem to hear her as her silver eyes were locked on Yang.
"Ruby." Weiss said while putting her hand on the hooded girl's shoulder trying to comfort her. But again, she didn't say anything as she continued to stare at her sister.
Slowly but surely the red cladded girl moved towards Yang. Blake exchanged a worried look with Weiss before turning back to her leader. Ruby sat down on her knees next to the blonde and slowly reached out for her.
"Y- Yang?" Ruby said quietly as her hands cupped the older sister's face. Blake couldn't help but notice how fragile she sounded. "Can you hear me?"
"Ruby I don't think-" Blake tried to say but didn't know how to continue. She wanted to comfort Ruby, but she really didn't know how. She wasn't like Yang. She didn't have that motherly nature that could calm someone down. It only hurt her more that it was Yang's condition that was now causing Ruby's distress.
"Please wake up." The young girl said shakenly but Yang remained comatose. At this point Ruby began to let out small sobs. Weiss sat down next to the hooded girl and wrapped her arms around her. Letting Ruby let her anguish out. The white haired girl looked up to Blake, small tears forming in her blue eyes.
The Faunus girl could feel tears forming in her own eyes. She tried to get up, ignoring her pain. She had to comfort her friend. She wanted to tell her everything would be okay. She continued to get up but froze when she saw someone stand on the other side of the clearing. Blake's blood ran cold at the sight of the red haired bull Faunus.
"So, my darling," Adam said, causing Weiss to jump up upon realizing someone else was there and her hand reached for Myrtenaster, "more friends for me to take from you."
"Adam," Blake felt a bit of shame from the pleading sound in her voice, but there wasn't much else she could do, "please, stop this."
"Why would I do that, my love?" The bull Faunus said as he walked over to them. "I already told you. I will destroy everything you love for your betrayal."
"You did this?" A small voice said next to Blake. The Faunus girl turned and looked at Ruby. The young girl's whole demeanor seemed to have changed.
"What was that?" Adam asked, he had come to a stop in the middle of the clearing. Ruby stood up from where she knelt.
"You're the one who hurt my sister?" The hooded girl said again. "You're the one who tried to kill her?"
"So what if I am?" The red head man said with smirk.
Blake was shocked to see the change in Ruby's eyes. Silver eyes that had always been filled with a caring kindness. Where now filled a burning vengeance. It was then that Blake realized everything that the young girl had seen that day. Her friend Penny killed. Her home being destroyed. And now her older sister maimed. Something in the young cheery girl had snapped. Weiss also seemed to notice the change in Ruby and backed away.
The amber eyed girl watched as the young girl's hands twitched towards Crescent Rose. Her left foot turned slowly towards the bull Faunus. And her legs tensed. Blake didn't need to guess what Ruby was about to do.
"Ruby, don't-" Blake tried to stop her, but it was too late. A trail of roses petals was all that were left in the young girl's place.
Ruby was letting out a scream of fury as she ran towards Adam. She pulled out her weapon and it shifted into its scythe mode. He seemed surprised for a moment. But the red head regained his composure and his hand latched on to Wilt's hilt. He was completely prepared to cut down the young girl charging towards him.
"Ruby, no!" Blake screamed trying to warn her young friend.
When Adam swung his red blade at the hooded girl all he hit was a rose petal filled air. Again he looked surprised. Then Ruby appeared behind him and swung her scythe at the red head. But the Faunus reacted quickly and brought up his sword blocking the strike. Several dust rounds were fired off from Crescent Rose, causing the blade to fly towards the bull Faunus. But Adam pushed Wilt against the opposing weapon in defense. That didn't stop the force of the attack to make him stumble back a few feet. He stopped when the sound of a dry clip echoed across the clearing.
Blake watched as Ruby pulled her weapon fruitlessly with both hands, trying to get at the bull Faunus. But Adam effortlessly pushed back with his blade with one hand. The black haired girl wanted to do something, anything to help her young friend. But her legs refused to support her weight. Weiss seemed to be frozen in the place she stood.
"I must admit, girl." Adam said to Ruby. "You've got spirit."
Wilt began to push Crescent Rose away, causing the young girl to be pulled closer to the bull Faunus. This elevated Blake's fear. Ruby had to get away, but again there was nothing the amber eyed girl could do but watch.
"It's almost a shame to kill you." With that said his elbow slammed into the hooded girl's face causing her to stumble back. Blake watched in horror as Adam swung his red blade around and thrusted it through Ruby's abdomen. A small gasp escaped the dual-colored haired girl's lips and her eyes widened in shock. Crescent Rose fell to the ground.
"Ruby!" Blake and Weiss screamed. Adam pulled Wilt from the young girl and for a moment she just stood there. Then collapsed face first onto the ground.
"Adam, you bastard!" Blake screamed in anger.
"That's two." The red head shifted his eyes towards the white haired girl. "You're next."
"Wei- Weiss." She stuttered to say, her fear returning. "Run."
The heiress however pulled out Myrtenaster and jumped in front of the Faunus girl. Defiantly standing between her and Adam as he approached. Despite her bravery Blake could see Weiss shaking ever so slightly.
"How far have you fallen, Blake? Befriending a Schnee." Adam said with a glare before returning his attention the white haired girl. "I look forward to taking you head as a trophy."
"Weiss, you need to get out of here!" The Faunus girl pleaded with her friend. "He is going to kill you!"
"I'm not leaving you here with this psycho." Weiss' head darted between Yang and Ruby's prone bodies. The heiress resolve seemed to become stronger. "I'm not leaving any of you."
"Weiss, run!" Blake screamed.
"You should have listened to her, princess." Adam said as he charged forward. Weiss raised her rapier in a defense position, but Blake knew it was pointless. She was forced yet again to watch as the red blade began to come down onto another friend. But then someone appeared in front of the white haired girl blocking Wilt with a large sword.
In the moonlight Blake saw a man with black, with hints of gray, hair and a tattered dark red cloak. His sword was long with an elegant design running up the blade. There appeared to be a few slanted lines going across it. The hilt was long and red. And there was a clockwork of gears where the handle and blade met. The description matched only one person she had heard of.
"Qr- Qrow." Weiss said, confirming the black haired girl's assumption.
The older man turned his head back in response but his red eyes landed on the blonde haired girl lying on the ground. Qrow returned his attention to the bull Faunus and with one mighty push sent Adam flying halfway across the clearing. But the veteran Huntsman wasn't done. The gears in his blade began to spin and the weapon began to shift into a scythe. The weapons appearance told Blake exactly where Ruby got her influence for Crescent Rose.
Qrow charged forward and Adam brought up his blade in defense. The Huntsman attacked the terrorist with precise strikes. The bull Faunus blocked each attack but was getting pushed back. The older man gave one more good strike sending Adam to the far side of the clearing. Qrow now stood next to Ruby's body. He seemed reluctant to go any further.
Blake saw a look of rage slowly growing on the masked man's face. The red head put Wilt back into Blush. His feet spread out and his hand hovering over the hilt. Her eye's widened at what was about to happen. But before Adam could make his move a loud roaring overhead stopped him. Blake looked up to see a bullhead descending down upon them. It all but landed next to the bull Faunus. The door opened and to her shock, inside were Emerald and an uninjured Mercury.
What's going on? She asked herself.
"What do you two want?" Adam yelled over the sound of the craft's engines.
"Orders from above." Emerald said. "Time to leave."
Her former mentor turned his attention to her for a brief moment before stepping on board the bullhead. Once it lifted off the ground and was out of sight Qrow quickly put his weapon away and knelt down to Ruby. He carefully moved her onto her back. Her abdomen was covered in blood. The uncle tore off his cloak and pressed it against his nieces' wound.
"Weiss." He called out to the white haired girl. "Tend to your friend's injury."
The heiress turned to look at the cat Faunus, her eyes widened. It appeared she only now realized that Blake was seriously injured. Weiss knelt down next to her and quickly pulled off her jacket and moved the black haired girl's hand out of the way and press the coat against the wound causing Blake to flinch.
Blake felt weariness fall across her body. Everything began to catch up with her. The mental stress and physical exhaustion was proving to be too much for amber eyed girl. The Faunus girl's eyes began to grow heavy.
"Hey Blake, stay with me." She heard Weiss say. But it was no use. She couldn't stay awake any longer. "Blake!"
Qrow stepped out of the room with a defeated sigh. The Faunus girl, Blake, had regained consciousness. He attempted to question her on what had happened. Particularly how exactly Yang had lost her forearm. But the girl remained unresponsive. There had been nothing but a cold distant look in her amber eyes. The shock of the previous night had yet to pass.
The old crow walked down the hallway thinking about what he had seen. His oldest niece lying unconscious on the ground, her right forearm gone. His youngest face down on the grass bleeding out from her wound. He could feel the fire burning in his veins even now. Qrow resisted the urge to grap his flask to drowned out the images. But his nieces didn't deserve to be degrade by him getting drunk over them.
The Huntsman walked into a small waiting room where three young Huntsman-to-be were sitting. Weiss sat quietly looking at the try blood in her hands. Despite his insistence the girl had refused to leave and get herself cleaned up. Next to her was a blue haired boy and there was a blonde haired monkey Faunus boy who was standing against the wall. Qrow recognized them, but couldn't remember their names.
The three looked up at the red eyed man when he entered. There was a short pause before he nodded his head back down the hallway. The three got up and walked down to the black haired girl's room. Qrow had gotten the doctor to agree that since Blake had no next of kin that her friends be allowed to see her.
The tired man sat down waiting for more news from the doctor. Yang had just been recently moved to a room after her arm had been treated and was now sedated to keep her from aggravating it. In time they would get her set up for a prosthetic. Maybe if he pressed Ironwood enough Qrow could get her a good one. James owed him that much.
Ruby was another matter entirely. Unlike her friend Blake, whose stab wound had missed vital organs, his youngest niece had suffered from serious internal injuries. Even after the hours that had passed when Qrow brought her and her team in, Ruby was still undergoing surgery. At this point he could only hope that things turned out okay.
He looked out a nearby window hoping to find something to calm him down. This proved difficult due to all the smoke rising up from Vale. There was an occasional small explosion from continued fighting. Most of the White Fang had left but there were still small pockets of them as well as grimm running around. But the battle was beginning to wind down, in the early hours of the morning. The dragon had since left the city but not before doing damage to the CCT tower, effectively cutting the Kingdoms off from one another. Qrow could see the smoke clearly from the now evacuated academy grounds.
They had all been played for fools. The infiltrator, Cinder Fall, and her group had set up everything perfectly. The virus, whatever it was, had effectively handed her control of everything in Vale. She had created the chaos that had nearly destroyed the city. And in the end she had killed Amber taking the remaining Fall Maiden power. If he could have recognized her face maybe Qrow could have could have flushed her out before all of this happened.
He pulled his attention away from the window when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. A moment later a tall white haired woman walked into the room. The two eyed each other for a moment. A small amount of tension rising in the room. They never got along with one another so it was no surprise to him. The woman eyes shifted away from him and went across the room.
"Where is she?" The blue eyed woman said.
"Hello to you to, Winter." Qrow said dryly.
"I'm not in the mood for games, Qrow!" She turned to glare at him with her tired eyes. He couldn't fault her for that. The Ice Queen must have raced here as fast as she could when the attack started. Too late for the party though.
"She's checking on her friend." He said sticking up his hands in surrender. For once not really interested in starting a fight with the woman. A minute later the younger Ice Queen walked back into the waiting room with the blue haired boy. The girl looked even more tired than she did before. The boy was resting his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"Weiss!" The older woman rushed over to her sister and embraced her. The younger Schnee seemed to be taken by surprise by the show off affection.
"Winter." She said quietly before hugging the older woman. Tears started to flow from her eyes.
"Are you hurt?" Winter asked looking over the young girl. Her eyes landed on Weiss' blood stained hands. "What happened?"
"It's… It's not mine." The younger sister insisted.
"Have you gotten any rest since last night?" The older one asked her hand caressing the yonger one's cheek..
"I can't rest until I know they are all alright." Weiss said.
"You are no good to them if you drop dead tired." Winter said affectionately. The young girl looked like she wanted to resist, but she dropped her head in surrender. The older woman then turned to the boy.
"Who are you?" She asked eyeing him.
"Um… I'm Neptune." He said nervously. "I'm a friend of Weiss."
Qrow couldn't help but snort at the boy. Luckily for the kid Winter didn't hear him otherwise he was be locked in a pillar of ice.
"Thank you for look out for her." Winter said. "I'll take her from here."
As the older woman lead Weiss away Neptune walked back down the hallway towards Blake's room. It wasn't long before a tall blonde haired stressed man walked into the waiting room.
"Tai." Qrow said hesitantly.
"Qrow." The blonde's voice was filled with anxiety. "Where are they?"
"Yang is resting." The black haired man said. "They're still working on Ruby."
"How did this happen." Tai asked, his anger clearly boiling to the surface.
"From what I could get out of their teammate, Weiss Schnee, Adam Taurus, a high ranking member of the White Fang did this out of spite towards there other teammate, Blake Belladonna." Qrow said. "If I had to guess she used to be a member and was close with Taurus, but left at some point."
"If I ever find that bastard…" Tai said as he clenched his fist.
"When did you get here?" Qrow asked hoping to get his brother to simmer down before he punched something. Or someone.
"About an hour ago." The blonde said. "As soon as I heard what was going on I came as fast as I could. I reported to Ozpin and he told me what happened."
"What did you find out?"
"Not much. Whoever this Queen is she has covered her tracks well."
"I can only imagine what kind of power she has to trust someone else to take a Maiden's power." Ozpin had told him about Cinder mentioning someone else being a part of this. Rather or not the new Maiden was working with or for them was just another question to add to the growing pile.
"Mr. Branwen." The doctor who Qrow knew had been working on Ruby came into the room but stopped when she saw Tai.
"This is her father." He was quick to inform her.
"Mr. Xiao Long." She went on. "We were able to stabilize you daughter's condition. But she will need further check-ups. We've moved her into the same room as her sister for the time being and keeping her sedated."
"Can I see them?" Tai asked with a slight plea.
"Of course." She leaded them to one of the larger patient room big enough for two hospital beds and needed space around them. In the room lay Ruby and Yang. Both almost looking lifeless. Tai walked up between and looked like he was about to break down. Qrow eyed to the doctor tell her to leave, which she promptly did.
He returned his attention to the small family to see his brother pull up a chair and take both their hands. Qrow couldn't help but notice how pale they were. Both had lost so much blood. Now they were hooked up to a bunch of machines monitoring their vitals and a bag off blood for each of them, pumping the need substance into their bodies. His red eyes landed on the small device that was attached to Yang's dismembered arm. It was meant to stop the bleeding and prevent any further damage, but not to fully heal otherwise the nerves would be sealed up and would not be able to be fitted for a functional prosthetic.
"I should have never allowed them to become Huntresses." Tai said solemnly braking the black haired man from his thoughts. Qrow couldn't stop himself from letting a small chuckle escape his lips. Tai turned to glare at him. Asking what was so funny.
"You wouldn't have been able to stop them." He said. "They're too stubborn. Just like Summer."
Qrow avoided bring up his sister as she was still a sore subject to the family. But Yang did take more from the woman who raised her. His blonde niece's motherly nature was evidence of that. Although, every now and then he did see a bit of Raven in her.
"They would've sought to become Huntresses, with or without your approval." Qrow went on. "They just preferred that they had it rather than not."
"They're just going to keep getting into these messes aren't they?" Tai asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah." Qrow said. He didn't like it but it was true. "They're going to need a lot of training if they are going to want to keep going."
"And we're going to make sure they are ready for what is to come." Tai said with a new determination.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated.
Update 3/17/16: I feel like I must make a statement after being asked a few times rather or not I will continue this. I'm sorry to say that their are no plans to do so. This was just me making a guess at what could happen in season three's episode twelve (clearly I was off the mark in that regard). That was all this was meant to be. Besides I have too many story ideas as it is that I want to get to.