"Hah!" Nora leaped around the corner, her hands spread wide as if she were about to pounce upon some unsuspecting victim. Ren followed calmly behind her, his eyes roaming around the shadows and walls for any sign of danger.

"I still say this feels like a trap…" Ren muttered as they rounded another corner. Nora climbed up onto a shallow ledge to peek into the shadows, then jumped down with a half-twirl.

"Well, duh, but we have to find the clue!" Nora chided him. She patted him on the head for a brief moment, then bounced on ahead to try and startle the next shadow around the bend.

Ren sighed and continued on along the path at a slower pace, making mental notes about the various structures they were able to see and marking their trail with mental landmarks. He didn't like the fact that they had split up, but Pyrrha did have a point—the castle ruins were enormous, and they had only a limited time to try and find the clue from the riddle Cinder had sent Ozpin. It seemed like the whole world was spinning out of control, and the teams at Beacon were the only hope the world had.

"REN! OVER HERE!" Nora's voice echoed off the crumbling walls. Ren took off at a steady jog in her direction. I will have to talk to her about using her stealth abilities
more often, he decided.

The narrow hallway opened up into an enormous room that was almost a cave. The ceiling curved into a arches that vanished up into darkness. All around where pillars and stones, crumbling walls, and debris that was unidentifiable. Nora was in the center of the room, bouncing up and down on her heels and clapping her hands in joy. When she saw Ren, she pointed to the far wall on the other side of the large circle of pillars she was standing in. It was the one wall that was completely in-tact. Upon the wall was a large glyph scribed in inky-black smears that were still smoldering from an unseen fire. Ren took a step forward, then froze as the sound of a stone echoed across the chamber.

"Nora…." Ren began, drawing out Stormflower slowly. Nora, still bouncing on her heels, reached back and grabbed the handle of Magnhild. In one smooth motion, she drew it before her and fired off a single shot with a single shout of "AW YAY!". The bullet whirled off into the darkness, slamming into something with a sickening thwack before a soft thud followed.
At that moment, several shadows came alive. Some crawled, some staggered, some walked toward the two of them from all sides. Hundreds of Grimm surrounded them, blocking all possible escape. Nora and Ren stepped back several paces until they were back to back.

"There's that trap you were waiting for," Nora giggled. Ren sighed, but still could not suppress a small smirk.

"I think we might need help on this one, though…" Ren replied. He felt Nora shift against his back.

"Maybe…but for now…Let's PAR-TE!" With that, Nora flung herself forward, firing off several shots into the ever-increasing crowd of Grimm. Bullets flew through the air slowly, slamming into one or two and throwing them back into their allies. Ren followed suit, aiming into the packs and picking off as many as he could as he jumped and twisted through the air to avoid the flying claws. Never in his life had he heard of so many Grimm coming together. Packs of Ursas, King Taijitu, Boarbatusks, Beowolves, and even some Death Stalkers. They all crowded into the enormous courtyard, climbing over stones and pillars and seeming to materialize from the very shadows. For every one he fell, three more appeared in its place.
Behind him, he could hear Nora's infectious laughter bouncing off the walls followed by an explosion of a bullet or a crack as Magnhild met its target. She must have already switched it into the hammer form.

"WEEEEE!" Nora cried out as she went flying past Ren with the momentum of her blast. She spun around and swung the head of the hammer into an Ursa, then leaped backwards and landed lightly on her feet. "Come on!" Off she went again into the fray. Ren took her cue, turning his back on her targets and jumping into a group of Boarbatusks. With the momentum of his landing, he swung his body around into a spin and slammed his heel into the shoulder of the nearest one. It let out a grunt of anger and turned to ram him with its tusks, but he was already moving. Up unto the air he leaped, flipping over the over-sized pig as it charged him and letting a flurry of bullets crack its mask and blind it. It squealed, careening into another Boarbatusk and impaling it with its tusk. The two fell into a lifeless heap. He barely had time to duck as the claws of an Ursa flew over his head. Somewhere off to his left, he could hear Nora laughing and smashing her way through her own group of Grimm.

Just as he was nailing the attacking Ursa in the eye with a clean shot, the ground beneath his feet began to shift and a deep rumbling filled the air. All the Grimm, Nora, and Ren stumbled over their own feet, fighting to keep their balance.
Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped to freezing. Loose rocks slid from the walls as the deep rumbling increased. A flash of light and a thick plume of black smoke erupted from the fall wall where the glyph was. It was glowing with a light that seemed to increase the shadows and darkness all around them. The glyph flared again, then seemed to suddenly shift and turn on the wall itself. The black smoke thickened from the edges of the glyph as it turned faster and faster. The light died, and then there was a brief moment of silence. For half a heart-beat, nothing moved. Then, without warning, the wall erupted in a huge explosion of stone and wood. The shard flew in every which way, burying into hundreds of Grimm all at once. Ren barely managed to avoid a flying shard of stone, twisting and contorting his body as he danced through the air.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared and the shards ceased, Nora and Ren rose to their feet to face their newest foe. Where the wall once stood was a beast unlike any they had ever seen. It seemed to stretch to the very top of the ceiling, clawed hands scraping through the air.
"What the hell is that thing?" Ren cried out in shock. The white tell-tale mask of Grim was half shattered and full of odd symbols he had never seen. Teeth the size of daggers glistened with saliva, red eyes glowering down as it sought its prey.

"Party Crasher!" Nora screamed out with a manic grin as she flung herself forward.

"Nora, NOOOOOOOOOO!" Ren tried to snatch her as she flew by, but it was too late. She launched herself into the air with a single blast from Magnhild, the hammer raised high as she prepared to slam it into the newest Grimm's face. But the hammer never connected. Several feet before the beast, Nora froze in mid-air, held by a thick layer of black fog that seemed to thicken around her middle. Even from where he stood, could see Nora struggling to breathe, her shoulders twitching as she tried to force Magnhild forward. Electricity seemed to fill the air, causing his hair to stand on end. Then, Nora screamed.
It was the most inhumane, torturous, blood-curdling scream he had ever heard. It made his blood run cold. Before him, Nora seemed to be split in two. One half of her was being drawn toward the red jaws of the creature before her, while the other was throwing her head back in shear agony. Ren tried to move, but he was rooted to the spot. Every muscle in his body was clenched up and frozen, the electrical current rendering him immobile. Her screaming continued, shattering every ounce of sanity in him. Nora….NORA! Still, he could not move.

Even as she was screaming, she was fighting for every inch of movement. Her body arched backwards, her soul seeming to stretch forward, and her hand slipping inch by inch down the handle of Magnhild. Ren watched helplessly, struggling to force each breath out of his own lungs, willing his hands to raise, he eyes to take aim with Stormflower—-but Nora's will was stronger. Her finger found the trigger on Magnhild and all she needed to do now was pull it. The shot from the barrel of Magnhild was like the sweetest music. Her bullet found its target on its own, exploding into the open jaws of the creature before them. Nora's shrieks of inhumane pain were replaced by the guttural growls and squeals of the unknown Grimm as the bullet shattered its jaw. The electricity within the room vanished, and Nora went flying backwards through the air. She slammed into a partially remaining wall several yards behind Ren, then fell ten feet to the ground, her head narrowly missing a large stone.

Freed of the electric field, Ren flew to Nora's side. He gathered her limp body into his arms, trembling all over.

"Nora…Nora…are you okay? Talk to me? Hey—-Nora? Nora?" Ren cried out over and over again, moving her hair from her eyes and lightly shaking her shoulders. "Hrrrrrrr. Remember? That was the sound of the sloth right…our secret signal. It is easy….just do that…let me hear that to know you are okay..Nora?"
There was no response. Her eyes stared vacantly beyond him, her body unmoving. She didn't blink and no breath seemed to be coming from her chest. In a quick, gentle caress, Ren brushed her eyes closed and gathered her tightly to his body. In that moment, everything suddenly stopped. Time itself froze and all of the world seemed to turn and look at him. He could feel nothing but an overwhelming coldness that seemed to seep out of his soul. Then, like a whip, his head snapped back and a cry ripped from his throat. It drowned out all other sounds and feelings, erasing all thought and feeling from his mind until he was completely empty. It was beyond a human cry of anguish, beyond torturous pain and fury. It was a cry promising vengeance upon all the world. It was a cry that would only be silenced by the flow of blood.

Ren gently lay Nora onto the ground again, adjusting her arms and head to be sure that she was comfortable. The movement was almost ritualistic. Then, slowly, he rose to his feet. His eyes snapped up and locked onto the Grimm within the room that surrounded him. From the ground where he stood, flashes of lightning crackled and sparked, engulfing his hands and forming a shield around his body. It was only a moment of pause, of mentally seeing those that would feel the wrath of his loss. Then, the lightning struck.

"What was that?!" Pyrrha and Jaune froze in their tracks as the agonized screaming echoed around them. They exchanged a single, frightened look before realizing what it was. "Nora!"

As one, they took off down the hall in the directions of the scream. The hallways before them twisted and turned, some leading into dead-ends that forced them to backtrack and try again. Just as they thought they might be getting close, the screams suddenly stopped. There was a long pause of silence that caused them to tense up.

"Do you think she's…." Jaune began worriedly.

"No, of course not," Pyrrha said, perhaps too quickly. "Nora and Ren are one of the top fighters in our school. There is no way…"

And then the second scream began. No, it wasn't a scream, but it was the only way that Jaune and Pyrrha could think to describe. They wasted no time on words or looks, but just ran as fast as they could, trying their best to find their way through the maze of corridors.

The sounds of fighting soon echoed all around them, the cries of Dying Grimm adding speed to their feet. Ahead of them, they could see a light flashing on and off. It was a strange, purplish or pink color, like lightning unleashed. Smoke and rubble flew out of the door at odd intervals, and then, suddenly…silence.
Jaune and Pyrrha slowed their pace, approaching the door with caution. Only darkness and dust greeted them as they peered through the archway and into the central corridor. A cloud of purplish-black smoke gusted away, revealing Ren carrying the limp form of Nora toward the door. His eyes raised briefly, revealing a tear-streaked face and emptiness, as if he could not recognize anything around him.

"Ren! Nora!" Pyrrha ran forward, catching Ren before he fell but struggling under his wait. Jaune took Ren's arm and pulled him up while Pyrrha pried Nora from Ren's other arm. Ren slumped forward, unconscious.

"Is she…." Jaune swallowed back a lump in his throat. Pyrrha gently set Nora on the ground and began to examine her, touching her throat and checking her wrists, leaning forward to listen to her breathing and heart.

"She's alive…barely.." Pyrrha sighed in relief. "We need to get her to a doctor and fast." Jaune nodded, shifting the weight of Ren on his shoulder. It was at that moment that Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Weiss came dashing into the room from another door off into the shadows. Ruby skidded to a halt, barely missing the large hole in the floor that was still smoking.

"What happened here?" Yang asked in awe as she surveyed the hundreds of dead Grimm.

"We don't know, but we gotta get Nora out of here," Jaune said, gesturing toward her limp form.

"I…I will do it," Blake said suddenly. She dashed over to Pyrrha and lifted Nora up into her arms. Pyrrha helped Blake shift her body until it was comfortable. "I….I will run on ahead…you guys follow." Blake glanced nervously at her team, then was suddenly gone. Pyrrha blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"Wh—what just happened..where is Blake?" Jaune turned left and right, looking for the spot where she had just been standing.

"I know she is good at sprinting, but is that kind of distance possible for her?" Weiss muttered aloud.

Slowly, Ren blinked his eyes open and waited for them to adjust to the blinding light. Above him, he saw a tiled ceiling and railing that held hooks for curtains. It as blurry and shaky, but eventually settled enough for him to identify that he was in a hospital bed with a curtain partition closed around him. After his eyes adjusted, he blinked and wiggled his fingers a bit to get the feeling going in them. What had happened? He couldn't remember much. Just pain and cold and…

"NORA!" Ren shot upright with a cry, only to find a hand forcing him back down. "Nora…NORA!"

"It's all right, Ren," Pyrrha's voice seemed distance and strained. Ren struggled to sit up, trying to force his way past the disembodied arm that held him down. "Ren, it's okay—-you are safe. Nora is safe. Everything is all right!" Reluctantly, Ren ceased his struggles and sank back into the pillows of the hospital bed. Even that brief movement had sapped him of all his strength.

"What…what happened? Where is Nora?" he demanded weakly. Pyrrha leaned into his view, adjusting the blankets around him.

"That is what we want to know," she said calmly as she sat back in the chair beside him. "We found you surrounded by dead Grimm….Nora is alive, but she is still unconscious and very weak. The doctors say she might make it…but they aren't sure…"
Ren sighed and closed his eyes, feeling a wave of emotion wash over him. Once he was sure he was in control again, he opened his eyes and slowly sat up again. This time, Pyrrha did not stop him.

"She is in the next bed," Pyrrha explained. She stood and pulled the curtain open to reveal Nora lying motionless on the other side. Jaune was staring down at her, his face strained and full of sadness. He blinked once and then looked over in surprise.

"Ren…you're awake!" Jaune walked over and knelt beside Ren's bed, the relief so evident across his face. "I…I'm sorry…this is my fault…" Jaune lowered his head, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"No," Ren said. He couldn't bring himself to say more.

"I'm the leader….you are my team…my responsibility…." Jaune refused to look up, his voice the only indication of the emotion he was trying hard not to reveal.

"I've already told you, Jaune, it isn't anyone's fault…no one could have predicted what would have happened," Pyrrha sighed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ren looked at both of them, then threw the covers from the bed and swung his legs over. All he could see, all he could think of was Nora…he had to touch her, to feel the warmth of life in her. Just once.

"Ren, don't…you have been out for three days! You are still too weak to walk…" Ren ignored Pyrrha, pushing aside her hand and forcing himself to his feet. He made it two steps before falling to his knees on the linoleum floor. He barely felt the impact. After a moment of hard breathing, he forced himself up again and took two more steps. Slowly, he inched his way towards Nora, stumbling, half crawling, until he was finally kneeling by her bedside. He took her hand into his and stared down into her face.

She didn't move. She didn't even flutter an eyelash. It was like she was sleeping, but in a way he had never seen her sleep before—-completely still. It was so unnatural, that it was painful to see. Even in her sleep, she would sometimes mutter something, or turn over. One time she recited her dream to him in her sleep. Another time, she had eaten a whole cake. There was one dream where her fist had found its way into his chest, knocking the wind from him. Later, she said she had dreamt she was fighting an Ursa.

"The doctor's aren't sure exactly what is wrong with her…but it seems that something tried to eat her soul…her aura was almost completely gone…so it will take time because they can't heal that kind of wound…" Pyrrha said softly. Her words seemed to come from a far away plain, in a language Ren couldn't understand. Nora was his only focus.

She shouldn't be so still. So silent. Ren watched her face intently, waiting for a twitch, for a quiver…for any sign. He could barely tell that she was breathing.
"Nora…" he whispered, burying his head into the blankets around her. "I'm….I'm so sorry….I couldn't protect you…"

The days went by in a blur. People came and went, leaving various gifts on the table around Nora. Velvet left her a little card. Ruby brought her some cookies. Yang had found some syrup. Everyone had words of comfort and consolation. She would be all right. She would wake up soon. All Ren heard was silence.
The silence was the worst part. It was thick and sticky, forming a cocoon around him and feeding the sadness in his heart. Every day he sat beside her bed, waiting for her to open her eyes. Every night he knelt by her bed and laid his head beside her to sleep. He rarely left her side. Pyrrha and Jaune argued and forced him to eat and take at least bathroom breaks. Ozpin came in once or twice, but he couldn't remember why. All he could hear was the murderous silence.
Silence…never existed when Nora was around. She always had something to say, something to talk about. He had always let her do the talking because she enjoyed it. With each moment of silence, Ren felt as if he were dying inside. It was suffocating him. Drowning him. As each moment passed, he found it harder and harder to fight the sadness that was filling him. Nora. She was never going to wake up again, was she? But how can she wake up in silence…she needs sound. She needs laughter. She needs…to move. To open her eyes. To bring the light of life back into his life. Nora….

"Cardin came in," Ren said softly. He was at first startled by his own voice. It was as if he no longer had control, and just started talking. "He said class was boring without you. Everyone keeps coming in. Did you know that Yang brought you a giant bottle of Syrup? She found out that you like syrup. She said she bet that you couldn't drink the whole thing in a minute. So when you wake up and down that whole thing, I am going to have some extra money…"
He voice felt raw, felt fake…but it was better than the oppressing silence. Maybe…maybe if he talked more…she would finally wake up. "So…after that, let's go to the zoo. I heard they got some sloth. We can see what they really sound like. Remember? You said they made a 'hrrr' sound. Well, I still don't think that is what a sloth sounds like…so let's find out. They also have big cats—tigers…lions…And you like ice cream, right? They have a new flavor. I will treat you to an extra giant cone..just…just open your eyes…please…?" Ren felt a sob catch in his throat. He took a breath to steady himself, but it was getting harder and harder to keep the sadness at bay.

"Just…open your eyes a little? Maybe a crack? Maybe a flutter….just any sign that you are okay? Please…Nora….That sloth sound is really easy…you can just do that…please…Nora..you gotta be okay…Nora…" his voice cracked and left him, the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. Everything around him seemed to disintegrate. He tried to wipe the tears away, but they seemed as endless as the hordes of Grimm that had taken her form him. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, hoping that his eyelids would be the dam to stop the tears. It was at that moment that he felt it, the soft, gentle brush of a finger against his nose. Then, weakly, softly, came the sweetest, most wonderful sound he had ever heard.

"Boop."