The sight of the barren Haven Academy, especially at night, was something between serene and unsettling for the hooded girl trekking towards her destination with her friends.
Ruby had grown used to silence, especially after the Fall of Beacon, where she rested with her dispirited sister.
She recalled that, at that time, Yang was too bitter and hurt to even respond to Ruby saying she loved her, giving the same sort of silence that their father had given when their mother passed away.
The first experience with silence had left her saddened in her young age, and the second taught her what silence truly entailed when it followed the pair who Ruby had known for her whole life.
It was perhaps the greatest sign something was amiss.
With her companions' footfalls being the only sound she heard, as they collectively went to see Professor Leo Lionheart, the serene silence therefore acted to unsettle her nerves.
As they stepped inside the meeting hall, while keeping a relative distance away from Qrow as per his instructions, they came to the front of the quiet hall and gazed upon the lion faunus they'd come to see.
"Why hello," the bearded man said, gazing down at all of them from a stage that had symmetrical spiral staircases leading up to it, giving a curious look, "thank you for, uh, coming."
He seemed to count all of them, and commented on the new arrivals, those who hadn't arrived with Qrow and RNJR/JNRR (name still pending).
"There... Seems to be MORE of you than last time." He said, a chuckle that Ruby thought sounded rather nervous in his voice.
"Eh, you know what they say," Qrow replied nonchalantly, "the more the merrier. So, what's going what's going on with the council?"
He didn't respond immediately, him eying the weapons holstered on them.
"Why... Did you bring your weapons?" Lionheart questioned, and Qrow gave a justified look of confusion, since the man had his own weapon strapped to his forearm, something Lionheart tried hiding behind his back as he questioned them.
"What?" Qrow asked, and Ruby wondered if it was only her imagination that Lionheart's nervousness seemed to grow. "Leo, we're Huntsmen. You okay?"
The faunus forced a small smile onto his face, trying to keep his composure.
"Yes, yes, of course." He nodded, playing off his earlier question. "Just haven't had my evening coffee."
"Look, it's nice to see you," Qrow made to leave, "but we've got work to do. Are we getting support from the council or not?"
Unbeknownst to Ruby, the feeling of unease was not unique to her; Qrow could feel it the moment he walked inside.
His years working as a Huntsman had honed his senses, alerting him when a situation was liable to go awry due to factors beyond his Semblance.
For this reason, when the man would hear his elder neice say a singular word - "Mom?" - he acted as any normal person would act in his position.
He shot a warning shot at the woman in question.
She dodged out of the bullet's path of destruction, her flying to Lionheart's side before transforming out of her bird form, standing at the ready with her own weapon at hand.
"They... They really are MAGIC..." Nora muttered with a level of shock.
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot me." Raven chuckled, removing her mask. "That was insulting."
This was the last thing he needed, he thought bitterly.
"What are you doing here?" Qrow asked.
"I should be asking you that." Raven replied, and her smile thinned, red eyes narrowing. "Planning to attack your own sister?"
Qrow's eyes widened.
"How did you..."
The dots quickly connected in his mind, and he looked to the one person who could've told her.
"Leo," a mixture of betrayal and anger entered his voice, "did you tell her?"
The man seemed to freeze, and for a moment, Qrow saw a flicker of regret cross his aged features.
"I..." Leo tried to speak, but couldn't.
The shame of his betrayal haunted him for a long period of time, and though he thought he'd grown numb to his own actions, this situation reminded him of just what he'd thrown away because of those fears.
"Qrow, I'm... I'm sorry."
Qrow needed a moment to comprehend it, and he narrowed his eyes.
"Alright." Qrow looked to Raven. "Do you have the Spring Maiden?"
"I do." Raven said, her walking down the length of the staircase.
Qrow breathed a sigh.
The first plan was a bust now, but at least he had the woman's attention.
"I didn't want it to be this way." Qrow lamented, remembering the days where he and his sister had been members of the same team, before Raven had defected. "Raven, we need all the help we can get right now. We can work together again. We can beat Salem."
He tried to reason with his sister, but he doubted it would work.
From the start, he understood reasoning with her was pointless.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered trying to take the Spring Maiden by force to begin with.
True to form, Raven was unflappable.
"All this time you've spent, spying for Ozpin, and you STILL don't get it?" Raven asked, eyes narrowing in anger. "There IS no "beating Salem"."
"Are you really sure about that?" Yang asked her mother, eyes narrowed with cold resentment. "Or did you run away, the second things looked dangerous for you?"
Raven looked to the young woman, frowning deeply.
"I've already told you what it is you'd be dealing with Yang." Raven told her.
"I know. We ALL know." Yang told her. "I lost my arm, trying to fight one of the people we've made enemies out of. We all saw Beacon get destroyed, when it was overrun with Grimm. These guys didn't let it stop them." She gestured to the people around her. "They've been traveling all the way here for months, trying to help. They didn't come all this way just to give up. We were all given an out. And we're STILL here."
A tense silence filled the room as the mother and daughter gazed at one another.
"So, whether you're scared, or trying to play smart, or WHATEVER you tell yourself, fine. It doesn't change the fact that we're fighting to stop Salem. You don't need to be there helping us, but the least you can do is NOT get in our way."
Raven gazed at her for a few moments.
"You're all hopeless." She replied, and with dextrous speed, she drew her katana and slashed the crimson blade through the air, the glowing red portal that resulted opening.
Out of the portal came a fireball, it hurtling towards Ruby before she could dodge out of the way, her blown back through the air as little other than her aura protected her.
"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed as her sister was blown back, her rushing to her aide.
Qrow looked back at his niece, eyes widened, before looking back at the portal, seeing the form of Cinder Fall waltzing out of it.
"Hello boys and girls." She said, only to lift her aura charged hand up to block the bullet Qrow shot at her, her unprepared for a second bullet he aimed and shot at her gut, and, like Ruby, little beyond her aura saved her from severe injury as she stumbled back a step, a dark skinned girl with mint green hair and a young man with grey hair running to her sides to aide her.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Cinder waved them off, smile dropping as she glared up at Qrow, who was apathetic in light of things this woman was responsible for.
As Raven witnessed the sight of Qrow shooting at Cinder, her frown waned slightly.
"Oh, so SHE gets an honest effort." Raven muttered with a roll of her eyes, her glancing back to Qrow as he aimed his weapon at her.
"Ruby, are you alright?" Qrow asked.
"I'm fine." Ruby said, slowly rising up to her feet with Yang's help.
"Good." Qrow said with an air of relief, gaze never leaving Raven. "But you're with them now Raven? For how long?"
"Don't take it personally little bird," Cinder said, tone filled with thinly veiled malice, "your sister was a recent addition."
The woman had long since grafted Grimm parts into her body, and as such, could feel the amount of anger boiling in his mind, it making her feel a dark sort of pleasure to feel his negative emotions.
"The lion on the other hand..."
Cinder glanced back to Lionheart, who's expression seemed almost pained.
"Entrance into the Vytal Festival was a real treat. But Leonardo has been sending Salem all sort of information for a very, VERY long time."
She could sense his own inner turmoil from where she stood, and her cruel smile grew.
"Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Stop it." He replied, as though sensing her intent.
Ever since having Grimm parts inside her body, it gradually warped her sense of purpose, and it was debatable if she was more human or Grimm at that point.
The fact that this was true made every moment others stood in her presence, with the intense emotions that drew out a Grimm's destructive instincts, a wellspring of euphoria for the woman.
"It was you." Qrow said to Lionheart, the disbelief in his tone dwarfed by the anger and outrage he felt for the man before him. "You sit on the Mistral Council. You had information on EVERY Huntsman and Huntress in the Kingdom... And you gave it all to her."
Lionheart said nothing to deny it.
"I couldn't find ANY of them." Qrow continued, and as quickly as the anger filled his voice, it fell to a saddened amount of betrayal. "Because YOU let her kill them."
Cinder sensed Leonardo's pain growing with his guilt, and with her smile remaining, she spoke to him.
"Don't beat yourself up Lionheart. Tyrian and Hazel would've found them eventually... Oh," Cinder looked back at the sound of the doors opening, revealing the hulking figure of her comrade, "speak of the Devil."
Hazel turned to the doors, closing and locking them.
"The White Fang is prepping demolition, and securing the school grounds. No one's getting in," he turned to face them, "and no one's getting out."
"... This was all just a trap?" Weiss asked, looking between them all.
"Of course." Cinder mused, chuckling to herself. "But, now that the dramatic reveals are all out of the way... why don't we do what we came to do, everyone?"
She lifted her palm, a burst of flame coming to life in her hand as her golden eyes glowed.
"Remember," Hazel's gruff voice said, "Salem wanted the Silver-Eyed girl alive."
"Yes." Cinder affirmed. "But she surely wouldn't mind if her legs are burnt to a crisp."
"You're not TOUCHING her." Jaune said, eyes narrowed as he positioned himself between Ruby and Cinder, drawing his weapon and shield.
He wouldn't let it be like last time, he thought, he wouldn't let someone else get hurt by her.
"Yeah." Nora said as she drew her hammer, and the others followed suit, Yang getting between Ruby and Hazel while bringing her gauntlets out, Ruby herself drawing her scythe, with Ren and Weiss drawing their weapons in turn.
The tension felt within the room was heavy now, and Cinder's smile grew wider than she could remember.
"Suit yourselves." Cinder said, and out of the flame in her hand came a smoldering sword, her gripping it tightly. "Salem doesn't need any of YOU alive after all."
She gave a hearty chuckle, mind drowning in the ecstasy of this moment, before she lunged forward, fully intent on killing the people before her as she allowed herself to succumb to the impulses driving her wild.
A/N: Hello there.
This is just my attempt at reworking the events of the Battle of Haven into something I personally prefer.
Note that there will be a few major shifts in certain events (though you probably guessed it from how things like Jaune not attacking Cinder and Qrow not telling everyone not to get their weapons ready when they did) so as to fit my vision of how it should've gone.
If you got bored rereading the events, thanks for sticking it out until now. Hopefully you can enjoy these fights for what they'll have.