"What was that?"
Qrow opened his Scroll, reading the message from Gideon, "he says that one of the other Gatewatch members says to look for 'places of great suffering'."
Albian gave a noncommittal grunt, limping towards the medical bay.
"Tell me, Qrow, what do you think of all this 'magic' nonsense?"
"What do you mean?"
"It can't be real can it? It's just some clever manipulation of Aura, right?"
"Maybe," Qrow said, "my niece and a couple of her friends are Planeswalkers, and they've got pretty strong Aura for their ages. Even if it is, from what I've heard, most planes use magic, so maybe we're the odd ones out."
"Your niece is one? How'd that happen?"
"Best answer I've gotten is that it's random. Some people are just born with the potential, and some of those become Planeswalkers when something happens."
"Something?"
"It changes," Qrow shrugged, "Ruby, my niece lured a Grimm away from her class. One of her friends, Sun, got dragged along when Ruby was Planeswalking, the other got caught up in that riot at the Dust refinery in Atlas a while back."
Albian grunted, a scowl spreading across his face.
"Idiots, the lot of them."
"The Faunus?"
"And the Schnee's. Acting like fuckin' animals isn't gonna get them what they want, but treating them like they are is just asking for another war."
"You don't really think they'll ever get along do you?"
That seemed far too idealistic for the White Bloodhound, more like what he would hear from Ruby or Gideon.
"Of course I don't, but we've got Grimm and morons attacking villages, so what does it matter if the man sitting next to you at the bar has a pair of horns?"
Qrow shifted uncomfortably at what was probably a roundabout reference to Raven. How had he known?
"So, how's Aurelien?" It was a weak attempt to change the subject.
"He's doing well enough, him and his youngest were talking about going camping when I talked to them before I left. Jaune should be around Rae's daughter's age. Is Yam the Planeswalker?"
"Yang," Qrow stressed, "and no, Ruby, Summer's daughter, like I said. You met them before."
"What makes you think I bothered to learn their names, boy?"
Qrow rolled his eyes at the former combat instructor's words, "well, you should probably learn Ruby's, she works with the Gatewatch."
"That's a good sign," sarcasm dripped forth, "I thought Ironwood's pair of wet-behind-the-ears 'Specialists' were going to be the worst thing I had to deal with, but now you tell me there's some kids involved too?"
They stopped in front of the medical bay, and Qrow took a moment to direct a glare at the back of Albian's head.
"Ruby's a fighter, through and through. You'll see."
"She's a little kid. It's not like she's some sort of veteran," Albian scoffed, "I'm going to get this over with, the sooner this is replaced, the sooner we can get going."
"See you on the other side then," Qrow gritted out.
Albian had never been the easiest man to tolerate, and Qrow was starting to get sick of him already.
-X Line Break X-
Ilia peared into the dimly lit tunnel.
This was the way to Mountain Glenn? It seemed too… orderly.
"Ilia!" Blake called, "over here!"
The rest of the group were piling into a abandoned subway cart. Ilia climbed aboard and looked around, taking in what everyone was doing.
Chandra was sprawled out the bench, already looking like she was ready to get back to sleep after being woken up at three in the morning, Thalia was pressed into one of the corners, eyes scanning the area, and Nissa was seated opposite Chandra.
Before Ilia had time to look around for Ruby, Yang, and Blake, the door slid shut behind her and she was forced to grab onto railing to avoid being thrown forward.
Sliding into the seat, Ilia looked outside as the subway began moving.
"I'm surprised this still works," Ilia muttered to herself.
"They have to," the chameleon Faunus jumped slightly as the missing three stepped out of the conductor's room, Ruby and Blake sitting across from Ilia while Yang went and found another empty stretch to lay down across, "They send Huntsmen through the tunnels every couple of months, clearing out any Grimm that got in and checking for damage that needs to be repaired."
"Seems like a waste," Blake said.
"Don't have much of a choice, unfortunately," Ruby mumbled, rubbing at her eyes, "The tunnels end runder Vale, so if enough Grimm flood the tunnels-"
"-They could break through," Blake finished.
Ruby's head bobbed, once, twice, thr-
Blake caught Ruby, laying the younger girl down.
"Rubes fell asleep?" Yang asked from her spot, eyes closed.
"Yeah."
"Not surprised," Yang said, "she hasn't been sleeping much since you got back."
Got back? They had gone somewhere?
"She hasn't?"
"Nope," Yang popped the P, "sneaks down to her workshop most nights. She thinks Dad and Uncle Qrow don't know, but they've been keeping an eye on her. Even when she does sleep, she normally rolls around in bed."
"I wonder why?" Blake asked under her breath, eyes glowing slightly.
"I dunno," Yang stretched out, "Hey cloney! Wake me when we're almost there so I can start stretching!"
Cloney?
A hand swung out in a thumbs up. But, everyone was in the room, so-?
Pushing herself up, Ilia made her way over to the door, peering inside.
Seated at the controls was another copy of Ruby, hands a blur as they worked at different buttons, switches, and levers.
How the heck-? Must have been her Semblance.
Ilia sat back down, watching as Blake pulled out a book started to read from it.
Within an hour everyone else had dozed off, leaving the two friends alone. Blake screwed up her face, rubbing at her eyes, and then placed the book behind her back.
"So…" Blake looked around, "you said Adam was in Vale? How is he?"
"He's… ok."
"You said Mom didn't want him coming to find me?"
"Yeah, Adam was hoping you'd join the White Fang. Would you?" Ilia tried to keep too much hope leaking into her voice, "I mean, you were at the refinery, weren't you? You saw them start attacking the Fau-"
Ilia stopped at the look on Blake's face, a combination of her being stricken and confused.
"What?"
"What do you mean, attacking the Faunus?"
"Well, the news said it was the Faunus who started it, but Adam said that didn't make any sense."
"It was."
"What?"
"It was the Faunus that started it," Blake said quietly, "and… and… no, I won't join the Fang."
"What? Why? We always agreed to-"
"That was… that was before," Blake said the word like it carried some heavier meaning Ilia was unaware of, "I thought the Fang was, that all it would take was," Blake looked like she was blinking back tears, "I thought the Fang was a way to help people. But what I saw there, nobody was helping. The minute my dad tried to calm them down, they turned on him, and so many people died. If that's the way the White Fang is going, then I don't be part of it, Ilia."
"And being a Huntress does that? Let's you help people?"
"It does. And," Blake looked down at Ruby, who had latched onto Blake's hand at some point, "I have friends here, now. I should introduce you to Sun when he get's back from Mistral, he's a Faunus that I met through the Gatewatch. He's a good guy, funny."
"Like Adam?"
"Yeah, but less angry."
"...What about me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just… we were friends, what about now?"
"Of course we are. And if you ever want to talk, come over. Nobody in the Gatewatch will complai- actually, that's not true, Liliana might, but that's because she's…"
"Kind of a bitch?"
Blake laughed, "Something like that. We should rest, last time we went on an adventure together, me and Ruby didn't get to sleep for three days."
"That sounds terrible."
"It was."
-X Line Break X-
Winter ran a whetstone down Mohnblume, examining the blade.
"-an hour and a half. Where are th-"
"Gawain," Winter cut him off, "one of them had to be fitted with that prosthetic leg, remember?"
Gawain Bronzewing sighed, collapsing back into his chair.
"I know. It's just… why do you think General Ironwood choose us for this?"
"What do you mean? We were top of our class."
"Yeah, but Ironwood made it seem like whatever this was something big, so why didn't he send someone with more experience?"
Winter paused halfway through running the whetstone down her blade again, thinking it over, "maybe he needs someone who isn't easily recognizable?"
"Then why would he send over the heiress to the biggest company on Remnant?"
That… that was a good point.
"I don't know, I suppose we'll have to wait until they arrive to tell us."
Gawain sighed again, throwing his head back and closing his eyes.
Winter popped the smaller blade out of Mohnblume, sharpening it as she waited.
Gawain was right, it was getting annoying.
Eventually Gawain turned on the screen along one wall of the airship, crashing down next to Winter and flicked open his Scroll, playing some fighting game on it.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready? General Ironwood said we were probably going to leave as soon as the procedure was done."
"I am ready," Gawain said, "I was ready when we landed."
Winter rolled her eyes, slotting the parrying dagger into its groove and walking towards the kitchenette.
"Throw me a soda, would you? I have a few cans on the fridge door."
What?
Winter tore open the door, eyes snapping from the door to her partner.
"Gawain!"
"Wha-? Whoa!" Gawain dropped his Scroll, juggling the thrown soda between his hands before grabbing it from the air, "what was that about?"
"What happened to my water bottles?"
"I put them in the cabinet," Gawain turned away from her, picking up his Scroll and focusing on the game.
Winter grabbed the bottles, putting all but one in the fridge and heading back to the living area.
Four years. Four years of living with Gawain and he was still the boorish idiot she had been partnering with on their first day at Atlas. How had he managed to stay at the top of the class ib the first place?
Winter had been hoping that they would be split up once they finished, but instead they had been sent on missions together for the last six months, and being given this 'long term' assignment didn't bode well for them getting split up any time soon.
Winter walked over to the small bookcase, grabbing one of the books and sitting down.
It was another hour, according to the screen, before anyone showed up.
"You two Jimmy's kids?"
Winter looked up at the man who looked to be in his mid-thirties.
"Jimmy?" she asked.
"Yeah, wears white, likes robots, has a stick up his ass about this- OW!"
Another, much older, man swatted the back of his head.
"You're Ironwood's?"
Winter nodded.
"Good," He slammed the ship door shut, "listen to me you two. What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this ship unless you're given explicit permission, understand?"
Winter nodded again, as did Gawain, who had dropped his Scroll to sit up straight. Winter could tell, whoever this man was, you didn't want to get on his bad side.
The man pulled out a Scroll, and after a moment Gawain's game disappeared, replaced with a picture of a grinning man with red skin.
"This, is what is known as a Planeswalker. Beings with the ability to move from one world to another-"
Gawain snorted.
"-Something funny, boy?"
"'Planeswalkers'? You're joking right? We didn't get sent here to help some old geezer hunt down something as ridiculous as-"
Winter jumped up as the man blurred into motion, a blade being drawn out of his cane as he launched at Gawain. Mohnblume diverted the blade into the couch before coming up at his throat, only for a second blade to pop out from the bottom of the cane next to her throat.
After a tense moment, the man ripped his blade out of the couch and stepped back. As he turned away, Winter caught him muttering to himself.
"I've gotten slow. I'll need work on that."
That was slow?
"And to answer your question, boy, yes you are expected to believe that. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Ironwood. Now, who pilots this damn thing?"
"I do, sir," Winter spoke up.
"Then start heading towards Mountain Glenn, that's the last place he was at that I can for for sure with my Semblance. What's your names?"
"Winter Schnee, sir. And this is Gawain Bronzewing."
"I'm Albian Arc, and this is Qrow Branwen."
As Winter walked toward the cockpit, she heard Gawain turn his game back on, and 'Qrow' sit down next to him.
- X Line Break X-
Blake woke rather abruptly as something stuck her face. Scrunching up her face, she tried to ignore it.
Then it happened again. And again. And again.
Opening her eyes, Blake had just enough time to jerk back and avoid an elbow crashing into her nose.
What the-?
"No…" Ruby moaned out in her sleep, trying to thrash around in Blake's arms.
"Ruby!" Blake dodged another strike, "Ruby! Wake up!"
The younger girl's glowing eyes snapped open as a knife appeared in her hand in a spark of lightning, swinging at Blake.
Blake grabbed Ruby's arms, sending them both to the ground as the knife went skidding away from them.
Ruby stopped moving, looking like a caged animal as she looked up at Blake.
"Blake?" Ruby's voice quivered slightly, "What- why-?"
"You were having a nightmare."
"Oh," Ruby looked like she was trying very hard to shrink into nothingness, "Sorry?" she squeaked out.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm- I'm fine," Ruby insisted, "It happens you know? People eat something bad, or get to worked up over something, and then they can't sleep and-"
"Yang said you haven't been sleeping well."
Those seven words seemed to take the wind out of Ruby's sails. The Artificer staring down, looking all the world like a kicked puppy. In fact, Blake could see the tears building up in Ruby's eyes.
"Hey- hey-" Blake climbed off Ruby, pulling her into a hug, "it's fine. Everything's going to be fine."
"But…" Ruby stopped, before suddenly standing up and rushing towards the front of the train, gesturing for Blake to follow.
Looking behind her, Blake saw Nissa starting to stir. After a moment, Blake stood and followed Ruby into the conductor's den. Once she entered, the clone of Ruby walked out towards Yang.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just," Ruby toyed with the hem of her dress, "I'm worried I might have done something dumb."
"What?"
"I… I don't remember. What!?" she must have seen something she had thought was doubt on her face, "I don't!"
"Then why are you worried about it?"
"Because… because not remembering is the problem," Ruby said finally, "I remember wanting to get Tezzeret, and I remember knowing I wouldn't have time to get him if I went looking for Elspeth, but I can't remember actually going to get him, or how I got him to work with me. We don't like each other, you know?"
"So you're worried that whatever you did was dumb?"
"Or dangerous."
"And that's why you've been having nightmares?"
"Yeah," Ruby started to nod, "I mean, what if someone gets hurt because of it?" Ruby was now nodding rapidly, "Tezzeret already hurt Ral, and who knows what else-"
Blake reached out and grabbed Ruby's hand.
"If something does happen, we'll deal with it ok? Between the Gatewatch and any other Planeswalkers you know, I'm sure we can deal with it."
Ruby nodded, biting her lip, "but what if we can't?"
"If there's something we all can't stop together, I think we have bigger problems then if you did something dumb. We stopped Emrakul, didn't we?"
Ruby opened her mouth, before sighing and nodding, "Yeah. We did."
"Then let's stop worrying for now, and get ready."
The train stopped, allowing them to get off and walk towards the surface where they wandered until a strange Grimm came along.
The Ursa Major had green spikes sprouting from it, and when it opened its mouth to roar, Blake saw the same light come from within.
"Yang, Ilia, Thalia let's deal with this while the others try to find Tibalt's trail!"
"With," Yang pulled her arm back as Ember Celica deployed, "Pleasure!"
The Ursa threw up its arms as a pair of Dust rounds smashed into it, before it charged through the smoke and at Thalia.
The cathar tried to dodge to the side, only to be grabbed and thrown into wall as the Grimm turned towards Yang.
Just before it hit her, it ducked, dodging below a strike from Ilia's whip and allowing it to drive an uppercut into Yang's torso.
Blake flinched slightly as Yang crashed into a building. Even with Aura, Blake was pretty sure Yang would be feeling that in the morning.
Though, considering the excited grin on her face, she wasn't feeling it now.
Yang plummeted, embers flaking off her skin as she drove herself into the Grimm, who backed up, trying to defend itself.
Blake threw Gambol Shroud around one arm, pulling it back to make it more difficult for the Grimm to block.
Ilia's whip wrapped around the other arm, leaving the Ursa wide open to Yang's barrage of blows.
As Blake helped Thalia up, Ruby cried in triumph.
"Got it!"
"Shh!" Nissa pushed them down an alley, eyes on the sky, "Something's coming, we shouldn't be here when they arrive. On Drache, quickly.
As they climb on board the Drake, who had been grown until he was the size of a Bullhead, Blake heard the rumble of an engine.
- X Line Break X-
Tibalt examined one of the bullets, watching the green liquid where there would normally be Dust.
"You're sure these will work?"
"Almost certain," Merlot didn't look up from where he was leaned over a test subject.
The small snake Grimm, a… damn, what were they called? T- Ta- Taiju? No, that wasn't right… Taijitu! That's what they were called! The Taijitu was writhing on the tray, it's two heads straining to escape the syringe full of green liquid.
Tibalt closed his eyes, inhaling through his nose to take in the sweet smell of pain.
"You know, I really don't get you, Doc."
Merlot grunted, eyes focused on the writhing serpent. One set of eyes had turned green, and the other head had turned, apparently try to tear off its mutated other off.
"I mean," Tibalt leaned forward, slapping the revolver shut and storing it under his coat, "You're so focused on using these Grimm to 'save' this world. Why not do something else?"
Merlot didn't answer, grabbing his Scroll and taking down notes as the mutated head started to bulge, forcing the other off it easily. After a moment, the non-mutated head started to go through the change.
"Interesting," Merlot muttered, wheeling over to another station, "I should try…" Merlot hit a switch, causing a window to open, allowing Tibalt to see a Beowolf shackled to the wall.
"What are you doing, Doc? And you kind of I keep the snake?"
"Yes, yes," Merlot waved him off, "Whatever. Just keep quiet."
Tibalt released the Taijitu, taking control of it and letting it wrap around his neck.
Merlot grabbed another vial, mixing it around, and placed it in some sort of gun. He took a moment to line up the shot, before firing it at the Beowolf.
"Well," Tibalt tisked as it stuck the Grimm's arm, "That was a pretty big miss."
"I said," Merlot growled out as he shut the window, bringing the room up on the Scroll, "keep quiet!"
A simple button press let the shackles loose, allowing the Beowolf to move.
Or, more exactly, tear off its arm.
"Huh?" Tibalt blinked as Merlot laughed, grabbing another scroll and hitting a button. A black silhouette appeared, along with a voice.
"George," the slightly ethereal voice said, "I take it from your call you have something?"
George?
"Yes!" Merlot said giddily, "The Grimm, if given the chance, will amputate their limb in an attempt to keep the mutations from happening. This implies that they have enough knowledge of their own biology to locate where the serum is!"
The voice hummed, "Interesting. And who is that man with you? I don't recall seeing him before."
"Uh…" Merlot's eyes flicked over to Tibalt, "this is Tibalt. He has an ability similar to you, ma'am."
"Truly?" The slightest amount of interest leaked through, "Tibalt, was it?"
"Yeah? Who are you?"
"My name is, at the moment, not important. If I were to send an acquaintance of mine over, would you be interested in coming with him to meet with me?"
"Why don-"
Before Tibalt could finish asking the question, a warning chime went off from Merlot's Scroll.
"George?"
"A team of four people just entered Merlot Industries. I'm looking at their vita- ma'am."
"Yes?"
"One of them is Qrow Branwen."
She hummed again, "What could cause Ozpin to turn one of his eyes towards yo-"
"And another is Albian Arc."
"...Pack everything of importance, I'm sending Tyrian over at once."
"What? Is this Albian dangerous?"
"Not anymore," she said, "He's much too old and out of shape to be the threat he was in his prime, but his Semblance makes it so there's not a better tracker on Remnant."
-X Line Break X-
Albian stopped as he stepped off the ship, eyes scanning the sky. After a few seconds, he lowered his gaze, moving forward.
"Everything alright?"
Albian waved Qrow off without a word, walking forward and placing his hand on the ground and opening his senses.
In his other hand was the knife the murderer had used.
Albian breathed in, before unleashing his Aura as a wave with the exhalation. Information flooded his mind, searching for traces that tied their man to this place.
It didn't surprise Albian when he found plenty of them. The security footage had shown that the killer wasn't particularly careful
Standing, and ignoring the protest of his muscles, Albian walked farther into the city.
"Hey!" Ironwood's brat called after him, "Where are you going!?"
Albian didn't answer drawing the blade in his cane, flipping it, and locking it into place.
The White Bloodhound walked through the streets, eyes locked on Merlot Industries, where most of the traces were.
Now what had the killer been doing there?
Albian stopped as he walked into the foyer of Merlot Industries, eyes dancing as a small pack of Beowolves slinked from the shadows. Young ones, missing the bone plates that normally grew in by their second year.
A perfect warm up.
Albian span his glaive around, lowering himself and letting a grin spread across his face. Spreading out his Aura, Albian found each Grimm.
Then he moved forward, ducking under one Beowolf's claw and severing the right arm. Rolling around that side, Albian allowed one of the Beowolf's siblings to crash into it, before plunging his blade through them both.
Drawing the weapon from its macabre sheath, Albian threw it into the third Grimm.
The improvised javelin struck the Grimm in the arm, causing Albian to curse under his breath. He had meant to hit the eye. He really had gotten rusty.
Before the Grimm could capitalize on his mistake, something red tore through its chest, a crescent of destruction gouging through the cracked tile.
The brat was standing behind the Grimm, a vented longsword in his hand and sweat rolled down his face as the last spiral of Aura wafted off his arm.
As the last Grimm turned, the brat's Aura swirled back into existence. Red tendrils like smoke rose from his frame, coalescing at the vents on his sword.
An Aura condenser? Interesting.
At that moment, Qrow walked in, arms behind the back of his head. Looking out of the building, Albian saw the other kid whipping the oily blood of a Grimm off her blade with a black handkerchief, the substance smoking and evaporating.
Albian almost covered his face in shame. Sure, it had been over a decade and a half from the last time he fought, but this was downright embarrassing.
The last Grimm collapsed as the Auric blast tore through it, and Albian grabbed his weapon, turning away to hide his shame.
Was he too old for this? He was approaching eighty now. Maybe it would be a good idea to back down, decide to not work with them after all?
Eventually, the group arrived in George's old office, where they found undeniable proof the killer had been there.
There were overturned tables and chairs, with a pair of dead body impaled to the wall by pieces of rebar. One was missing his left eye, and the other her ear on the same side.
"Whoa!" the brat cried in shock, "What- that's- Maidens that's-"
"Would you stop that?" Albian walked to the desk, moving aside pieces of paper with scribled out pen marks.
"It's just… who did that?"
"This Planeswalker we're looking for," while Albian didn't vocalize the 'duh' as the end of the sentence he was sure the brat picked it up.
"You didn't tell us he had been torturing people!"
Albian looked up from the desk, a manila folder in his hands. The boy looked agitated, pacing back and forth in front of the body.
"Well," Albian said condescendingly, "clearly he does."
"That's," the brat bristled, hand clutching his sword so tightly Albian was slightly surprised it hadn't turned white. It looked like he was considering attacking Albian briefly, before thinking better of it, "who were they?"
"I don't know," Albian groused, returning to the folder, "Why don't you check his pockets for a wallet?"
Albian looked through the folder. It was bills of sale for several pieces of estate across Remnant.
As he reached the back one, one silver eyebrow curved upward.
Several important pieces of information were underlined, like someone had wanted to be able to find it quickly.
"They were married," the brat said, "That's weird."
"What?" his partner asked
"The woman has a ticket for a cruise in her purse and the receipt."
"So she was going on a cruise," Albian said, "What's weird about that?
"The receipt is for them both, but I can't find the man's ticket."
"Maybe he lost it?" Qrow asked from where he was leaning.
"Maybe?" the brat asked in agreement.
Albian keyed a set of coordinates into his Scroll, checking the results.
Nothing. Just some water in the middle of nowhere. Who the hell bought a piece of land that didn't have any land on it? It was just a bunch of water in the middle o-
Albian felt the points click as he activated his Semblance. He really was too old.
"Everyone back to the ship! He's gone to sea!"
"Why?"
"That's what I plan to find out."
One last adventure, one last moment of glory.
-X Line Break X-
Ruby clung to Drache's ridges, a giddy laugh bubbling up as Drache skidded low, sending a spray of saltwater into the air as his taloned feet skimmed the surface. Grabbing the line of mana between her and her familiar, she watched from his eyes.
This, this took some of the weight off her shoulders. No questions about what she did during the three day long blank spot in her memories, no migraines as her mind finished repairing itself from being fractured on Innistrad, no sitting in the room her mom had once used for pottery, leafing through one of the slowly building up collection of mechanical journals, 'obsolete' Izzet alchemy papers, or tomes on illusion and mind magic from Jace in a monotone self-hypnosis ritual to try to fall asleep.
Drache listed slightly to the side, skimmed the water with his wing.
He stopped at a cry of outrage from behind Ruby.
"Can you not!?" Chandra cried out, struggling to cling onto the scales as saltwater dripped from her face.
"Sorry!" Ruby laughed, guiding Drache up, "We're almost there, I think!"
Ruby pointed at the quickly approaching island, following the trail of mana.
"Good!" Chandra yelled back, "We're buying a saddle before we ever do this again."
Ruby ran a hand down Drache's extended neck, giggling.
"It isn't that bad! It's fun!"
"Yeah, maybe from where you are, but I feel like I'm going to slide off any second now! Can we land and walk the rest of the way once we get to the island?"
"Fine! Fine!"
Drache folded his wings, diving towards the ground. Ruby heard Chandra cry out again, and sent a spike of warning at Drache. The drake flared his wings, slowing down and landing on the beach.
Chandra rolled off Drache, planting into the sand and sighing.
"Oh thank Jaya. I thought I was going to drown!"
"You don't know how to swim?" Nissa asked, landing with significantly more grace, before turning and helping Thalia down. The Cathar drew her spear, leaning on the two pronged weapon as a wince ran through her.
What?
"No," Chandra said hurriedly, "Of course I know how to swim, who doesn't? All you gotta do is move your arms and legs around. I'm just wearing chainmail."
Even as Ruby watched Thalia lean against a tree, looking winded, she could hear the silence that made it clear nobody believed the Pyromancer.
"We're going to have to teach you to swim," Nissa said after a moment.
"What about Blake!?"
"What about her? She knows how to swim. Or are you implying that she can't swim because she's a Fau-"
"Thalia, are you alright?" Ruby cut Ilia off before a fight was started about the racist undertones of assuming a Cat Faunus was incapable of swimming.
It would probably be a smart idea to do a crash course on Do's and Don'ts for Remnant, especially because there weren't Faunus on other planes.
"I'm," Thalia gave a weak smile, more of a grimace, really, "I'm fine. Just some bruises from that Grimm. I don't know how Yang's moving around, really."
"I'm surprised your Aura went down after one hit," Ilia chipped in, "did it really hit you that hard?"
"I-" Thalia was cut off as another wince flashed across her.
"Here," Ruby took Thalia's hands, channeling her Aura into the older girl.
To Ilia, it probably looked like Ruby was giving Thalia a transfusion of her Aura, but she was actually looking if Thalia had an Aura to unlock in the first place.
There were so many differences between Remnant and Innistrad that she couldn't be sure that Aura, something seen as the basis of fighting on Remnant, had transferred over.
After a moment of probing, Ruby felt a pulse from Thalia.
The cathar had stopped curling around herself, a thin golden sheet of Aura wrapping around her.
Ruby stepped back, eyes locking onto the point where she could see the mana as Yang handed her the shrunken down form of Drache, who climbed onto his owner's shoulder.
"Let's go."
-X Line Break X-
Thalia took the rear with Nissa, eyes jumping from tree to tree as she ran a hand along the healing bruises.
She had gotten too used to fighting with Traft, he could blunt the pain, allowing her to go on fighting well after everyone else had to stop.
And she had left him on Innistrad.
It was weird, and uncomfortable, to live without the geist, like something had been carved out of her.
It made her want to go back to Innistrad. Traft couldn't have picked up a new host that quickly, right?
Nissa slowed down until she was in step with Thalia, looking down at the torn leather of her armor.
"Are you alright, now?"
"Better," Thalia rubbed the spot where she had been hit again, looking around.
There was a flash of green.
"What was that?"
"Eh?" the group turned, weapons in hand, as another Grimm waddled out from behind the trees overlooking a stream.
It was bipedal, but missing any arms, instead, a thick tail swished back and forth, green spines sprouting from its back.
"Oh," Ruby turned away, "It's just a Creep."
"I've got it," Blake lifted Gambol Shroud, pulling the trigger on it.
The Creep fell, unmoving.
Everyone other than Blake moved along. Once Thalia and Nissa were even with the cat Faunus, she turned and continued to move.
"Creeps are the weakest Grimm we know of, even untrained civilians can kill on-"
Thalia felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, throwing herself to the ground along with Blake and Nissa as black offal flew over their heads. A green spike impaled into the ground next to Thalia's hand, and she heard a yelp from Yang.
"Did it-?! Since when did Creeps explode?!"
"Maybe-? Ruby stopped talking with a grunt of pain, "Maybe it has something to do with that green stuff? Drache, stop tugging on that."
"On what-?"
Thalia stopped talking as she stood, staring at the bloody hole in Ruby's side where one the spikes had torn into it, stopped halfway through, something red fizzling next to the hole
"It broke through your Aura!?" Chandra grabbed Ruby, lowering her to the ground as gently as possible.
"My Aura's still there, it just punched through it. If we can get it out-"
"You want us to pull it out?" Blake asked, kneeling across from Ruby, "No. Mom always says you should call for medical help-"
"We're on an island in the middle of nowhere," Ruby gritted out, hand fumbling on the rapidly bloodying shard of bone, "We don't have time to wait from medical help. If we can get it out, I can heal it, but-"
"Dad's going to kill us," Yang moaned slightly.
"It will be fine," Ruby insisted, "just-" she grunted again, "Just pull it out, I don't think it's in that deep."
"Can't we just wait for it to fade?"
"And risk it getting infected?" Nissa responded, planting her flag as she reached out to grab the shard of bone, "How long do Grimm normally take to fade?"
"Half an hour or so-"
"And she'll be bleeding the entire time, plus she could get infected, and it could be poisonous. I'll-"
"Wait!" Thalia pulled the bident off her back, holding it next to the shard of bone. As it approached, the bone turned grey, chipping rapidly, "This speeds up their decay!"
"That's... weird…" Ilia said.
"I'm still pulling it," Nissa tore a long strip of fabric from Chandra's sash , stuffing it into Ruby's mouth as a gag, "Ready?"
"Yes," Ruby's voice came from Drache.
Nissa didn't respond, merely pressed one hand on Ruby's shoulder, wrapped the other on the blood slicked bone, and pulled.
Thalia winced as Ruby screamed into the gag, trying to thrash away from Nissa's hands, and tears running down her face.
After a minute, Nissa's hand was was covered with so much blood she couldn't keep it up, standing and walking back towards the stream.
"Don't stop," Drache continued to talk in Ruby's voice, "It's almost out- I- I can feel it."
"Rubes-"
"Chandra? Thalia?" Ruby cut off her sister.
"Ah," Chandra grit her teeth, "What the hell? Sorry about this, Ruby…"
The process repeated itself, but the bone was definitely almost out by the time Chandra let go. The Pyromancer walked away, joining Nissa in holding her hands under the water.
"Blake? Ilia? Thalia?" Ruby's voice wavered again, "Please?"
Blake breathed in deep, before grabbing the bone, "You're sure?"
Ruby nodded.
"Ok," Blake tightened her grip, "ok."
It only took one sharp yank to tear the bone out, and Blake immediately dropped it.
"Nissa! It's out!"
Nissa rushed over, pressing her blood flecked hands onto either side of the wound. The blood flow staunched, and a light sheet of skin appeared over the injury
Chandra walked over, pulling Ruby up and into a hug, "You're alright now, kiddo?"
"Yea- Yang! Still sore!"
The blonde brawler had tackled both of them into a hug, apparently doing her damnedest to crush them both.
"Don't ever do that again! You hear me!? Do you know how painful that was to watch?"
"Probably not as painful as it was to have it happen," Blake drawled out.
"...Shut up and get over here."
"I'm not normally one for group hugs. That one on Innistrad was a spe- ak!"
Yang dragged Blake into the hug. After a moment of protest, Blake joined in.
"That," a voice whistled out, "looked like it hurt."
Before Thalia turned she caught the look of horror on Ilia's face at the man's voice.
"I mean," he continued on, "I consider myself a connoisseur of pain, and that, that had to be at least an eight. Seriously, that looked like hell to go through once. And you did it three times! Sure, the last- woah!"
He dodged around the whip strike from Ilia, letting it tear into another mutated Creep, which he turned and kicked into the forest before it could explode
"Ilia! I had thought I would have to go looking for you! I'm glad you decided you wanted to play some mo-"
"SHUT UP!" She snarled.
"Well," Tibalt huffed, "that's rude."
- X Line break X-
Gawain tapped his feet impatiently, eyes trained on the ocean out the pilot window.
"Are we almost there?" he demanded to Winter.
"Within five minutes," she flicked on a couple of buttons, slowing slightly, "are you alright? I know how you feel about…"
"I'm fine," he said.
Winter dropped her hand, guiding it forward, "Can you tell Mr. Arc and Mr. Branwen we're almost there?"
"Yeah," Gawain stopped halfway out of his chair, "What do you think about them?"
"Mr. Branwen… Qrow… he doesn't seem that bad. I think he might be a lush, though, which might be a liability. Mr. Arc though... he's… he's…"
"An ass?"
Winter didn't agree, but also didn't reprimand him for his language, which was just as telling.
"You think he's telling the truth? About these people being from a different world?"
"It sounds unbelievable. But I suppose if you're willing to open yourself to the possibility of there being other worlds, you have to consider that there might be people who can come from one to another."
Gawain sighed, "I'll go get them ready."
Hitting the button, Gawain walked into main living area, looking around.
Qrow was on his Scroll, talking to someone, while Albian sat on one of the chairs, apparently brooding.
"Tai- Tai- TAI!" Qrow snapped, "have you called Gideon? Or Chandra? They're probably hanging around there. You know Ruby and Yang don't get along with Bai's kids. I'll be back by tonight, and if they aren't, I'll go looking for them, ok? Ok. See you then."
"Your husband?" Gawain asked.
Albian snorted.
"No," Qrow threw a dirty look at the back of Albian's head, "brother-in-law."
"And Ruby and Yang are…?"
"Nieces," Qrow typed a number in, bringing it up to his ear, "They're supposed to be at home, their uncle and his kids are visiting."
"And they aren't?"
"N- Hey, Pipsqueak! It's your Uncle Qrow, call me back, would you? Your dad is about ready to send out a search party again!" Qrow hung up, starting to dial in another number, "No. I don't blame them. They're all dicks."
"How bad?"
"Bad," Qrow pulled a face, "he's not even their uncle. He's Tai's cousin, Tai just spent most of his teen years living with him, so Bai insists that, and I quote, "makes them as good as brothers". I keep telling Tai he- Firecracker! You're with Rubes, right? Call me back, I'll think up some excuse to keep you away from Bai!" Qrow hung up, falling back into the chair, "I keep telling Tai he shouldn't let Bai over, but he never listens."
Gawain grabbed a seat as he felt the ship start to dip down.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Sexist," Qrow pulled another face, "his wife left him- oh… four years ago because of it. Messy divorce too. I'm actually glad Ruby isn't around, I'd hate to see-"
"Mr. Branwen? Mr. Arc? I'm picking up Aura spikes."
"So something is happening," Albian tightened his grip around on his cane, "bring us in as close as possible."
The ship landed, allowing the door to open, and everyone to spill out.
It only took a couple of minutes to reach the spot of the fighting.
The killer had a sawed off shotgun in his hands, firing at a group as a horde of Creeps moved forward.
He could control Grimm? Yeah, they were Creeps (admittedly strange ones), but a serial killer who could control Grimm was bad news.
"Nissa!" one of the other fighters yelled, before swinging her arms around.
Was her hair on fire?
Three arcing missiles of fire smashed into three Creeps, burning away their bodies.
"Actually, nevermind!" the woman smiled, apparently uncaring about the flames licking around her hair.
Qrow unfolded his scythe firing at two of the Creeps. As they writhed, a pair of golden barriers snapped down around them.
"Watch out!" Gawain stopped at the young voice from one of the trees, "They explode when they di- Uncle Qrow?"
"Ruby? Where's Yan-"
Another girl crashed through the forest, apparently wrestling with a Taijitu.
"Yang!" yet another girl appeared, landing on a branch, "Hold it still for a second!"
"Not that easy," Yang growled out, holding both heads away from her body.
A double headed lance caught the Grimm, impaling to a tree as two more girls came out, one dodging whip blows from the other, striking out with a sheathed swords.
"Ilia! I don't want to hur-" she ducked under the whip, planting the sheathed sword into Ilia's gut.
Well, he knew which fight he was joining.
"Winter! You deal with the Taijitu!" He yelled out as he ran towards the two fighting girls, ignoring Winter's protest.
"What's wrong with her?"
"He can," she ducked again, "he can release a smoke if he see's anyone get too close to him. It lets him control them."
"That's bad. Why not just use ranged attacks?"
"Ruby's working on it," she threw up an arm, letting the whip wrap around her leather-clad arm, "Ili- Ahh!" the call devolved into a cry of pain as electricity jumped along the whip.
"Are you alright?" Gawain asked as he dodged the newly freed whip.
"Fine," she had switched hands, using the still sheathed blade to bat away another strike, "Traft? Can you do anything ab- Withengar," She cut herself off with a snarl of rage.
"Who?" Gawain looked around. He didn't see anything, other than a newly made wall of flames from Flame-Head.
"No, it's just- Ruby! How much longer?!"
An unholy roar filled the air, and Gawain just barely caught something tear through most of the Creeps, before stone domes covered each just before they exploded.
"There!" Ruby dropped down, limping slightly closer to make the killer, "It's over! Let Ilia go and give up!"
Ilia lowered her whip, blinking in confusion.
"Fine. You win," the killer lowered his gun as they got closer, Gawain reaching for his handcuffs, only to be stopped by his fighting partner.
"What?"
"Didn't I say that he could take control of anyone who got too close?"
"Damn," the killer muttered, eyes glowing "I had hoped you would be dumb enough to forget that. Guess I have to do this the hard way.
"What's that supposed to mean-" Gawain staggered as a rush of vertigo and a ringing in his ears. It reminded of when he had been hit with a Grimm stun baton as part of training.
"Ilia! Get over here, now!"
Gawain tried to stop her from moving, despite seeing triple. Then Albian stepped forward, grabbing her, only to jerk as the killer pulled out another gun.
"Alright! That's it," the killer raised his voice, "If any of you tries to stop me, I'll kill he-"
An explosion of rose petals cut him off… literally.
Ruby had appeared behind him, his arm and head falling separate from the body.
"Ruby!" Qrow cried in horror.
"I had too," she said, "he was going to hurt Ilia, and kill other people. I had too," it sounded like she was trying to convince herself, "I had too, didn't I?"
"Oh course you did, Pip," Qrow pulled Ruby into a hug, "but you're bleeding pretty badly, so we need to get you to a hospital. It looks like you reopened a cut."
- X Line Break X-
Thalia walked through the halls of the chapel, noticing how quiet it was.
Once, there would have been sermons praising Avacyn, or the Saint of Geier Reach, or his heirs.
Thalia pushed open a door, following a familiar path through the chapel.
Eventually, inevitably, Thalia came to the room she had been looking for.
Walking forward, Thalia looked up at the picture, eyes tracing it again.
On it was a red haired woman, her left hand, missing the ring finger, wrapped around a sword, while her right hand stroked the blade.
Standing behind her was a hazy image of the geist of Traft, a hand on the woman's shoulder. To the unknowing, it would look like the artist had used some technique to make the geist shimmer, almost as if it was following you around the room.
Thalia knew better.
"You can come out," she said softly, "that trick doesn't work twice."
I would not know, Thalia, the geist moved forward, leaving the painted facsimile behind, I've never the need to use it more than once on the same person.
Thalia nodded as Traft stepped forward, waving his ghostly hand over the grate. Blue flames ignited in the long abandoned fireplace, lighting up the room and, paradoxically, making it colder.
What is it that dragged you back here? he asked softly, I did not believe I would see you again.
"I- I came back to ask you to come with me."
Traft stopped, hovering an inch above the seat he had settled into.
Come with you? You know as well as I that I can not leave Innistrad as you can.
"But you could if we shared a body again."
And why would I do that? Traft asked, walking slowly closer, did you not believe you were equipped to fight the Gatewatch's foes without me?
"No- I mean yes- I mean," not good, starting off on the wrong foot, "I- I was wrong. I'm not ready yet. I need the advantages you gave me. Every time I've fought a Planeswalker, I've lost. I can't, I'm just a detriment to the Gatewatch if I can't win. We fought one today, Tibalt-"
Thalia jumped as Traft slammed his hands down, passing through the table silently.
Him? He was one?
"Yes. I should have been the one to kill him, but I couldn't. He used something like the madness we felt in Emrakul's wake, and it stopped me for a moment. If you had been there, I could have stopped him, but instead Ruby, a girl little older than she," Thalia gestured to the picture, "had been when you saved her, was forced to kill him. She was the only one fast enough. That failure-"
Is not your fault. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone underestimates their opponent, or overestimates their own abilities. If I had not, we would not be here, having this discussion.
"So," Thalia continued, hating the weakness in her voice, "will you come with me? Please?"
I only have one question in return.
"What?"
Traft stepped forward, taking his hand like he had the first time they met.
Will you take me in?
"Yes."
Traft smiled, then he stepped forward, filling her lungs as she inhaled deeply, turning her blood into icy fire, then it settled at the base of her skull.
Thalia snapped open her eyes, turning on the spot, and returned to Remnant.
Stepping into the building, Thalia walked towards the receptionist, opening her mouth, only to be cut off as Traft sent a warning, dodging a man rushing to the counter.
"I got a call about my daughter? Ruby Rose?" Tai panted out.
"One moment," the receptionist pulled up a holographic screen, typing in a few words. Traft sent a spike of surprise through to Thalia, "Room 207. Can I help you?" The question was directed at Thalia.
"I was actually looking for Ruby myself," she said politely, "hello, Tai."
"Thalia!" Tai said in relief, "everyone's alright?"
"On our side, yes," Thalia said, falling in step with Tai, "a few scraps here and there, but other than Ruby's wound, nothing remotely serious."
Ok, wrong wording.
"It's serious?" Tai asked in fear.
"No, I mean, nothing that required a hospital visit. The wound was already begin healing, and they had begun suturing the wound before I left."
"What about 'the other side?'"
"Ruby killed the Planeswalker we were tracking-"
Perhaps you should think before you speak? You're only making him more worried.
Thalia sighed, Traft had a point.
"What!? Tai practically thundered, "she killed-?"
"He was too dangerous to let live, and nobody else could reach him before he killed Ilia," she tried to calm him before they were removed from the building, "It's far from a good thing, but it was the only path she felt we had. Meanwhile, someone on Qrow's side was seriously injured. He was older too, so I can't be sure he'll make it. Is this it?"
Tai nodded, pushing open the door, allowing them both to see inside.
Blake was curled up in a chair with a blanket, eyes closed and her chest rising softly.
Ilia was slumped against a wall, a bucket next to her. She had been ill after waking from Tibalt's control, and hadn't shown much signs of stopping.
Chandra and Yang were laying up on the fold out bed, apparently trying to rest.
Finally, Ruby herself was sitting up in the hospital bed, eyes roaming a heavy tome.
"Ruby!" Tai hissed rushing over and throwing his arms around her shoulders, causing the little girl to practically disappear, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Dad," Ruby said around the bear of a man, "I just needed some stitches. They said I'm clear to go home in the morning, and will be good to go in two weeks."
"Where's Qrow?"
"He needed to talk to Professor Ozpin, and Nissa is out on the roof."
"I'll go look for hi-" Thalia was cut off as Qrow pushed open the door, perhaps a bit harder than expected.
"What's wrong?" Tai asked.
"Nothing," Qrow said, "just heard you had gotten here."
Why did it seem like he was lying?
