… atop a tree near Kuroyuri.
Ruby was perched on a branch, leaning against the centre of the tree with one leg hanging off she rested Crescent Rose in her lap with her eyes closed determined to keep her breathing and by extension herself under control. While glad that the job was over both the thought of returning to Salem's castle and the distant battle with the Nuckelavee both weighed heavily on her. Normally Ruby felt relaxed after finishing a job for Salem but this time whenever she heard the distant shouting of those fighting the Grimm she got this sinking feeling in her stomach that refused to subside.
"This is just ridiculous I've killed huntsman before why is this time any different."
Becoming increasingly infuriated with herself she scowled and stood up and used her semblance to reach a higher perch upon a tree noticeably closer to Kuroyuri. Fully extending Crescent Rose she planted it in the tree and peered through the scope scanning the nearby village. At first nothing stood out until her eyes fell upon her uncle visibly injured, his right hand resting over his bandaged stomach as he was lying against a tree but what scared her even more was to his side Neo was leaning over him and before she could even process this a shot rang out.
As a bullet implanted itself in the tree narrowly between both Neo and Qrow's heads, she realized it had been her who had fired. This can't be happening Neo works for Roman, she must be trying to kill Qrow but if Neo is here then who is fighting the Nuckelavee. Seemingly answering Ruby's question, Neo turned to warn her team about the presence of a sniper, as she followed the girls line of sight she stopped upon the sight of a blonde figure whose sword was impaled into one of the Nuckelavee's arms.
As the figure looked over towards Neo, Ruby's recognition of him was instant as Jaune stood in Ruby's sights. Immediately her mind was overwhelmed with so many voices shouting it might as well been white noise, falling from her grasp Crescent Rose was lost dropping it to the ground as she grasped her head, screaming in pain collapsing down in on herself she soon followed dropping some metres to the ground in a loud thud, the pain she felt from the fall paled in comparison to the one in her head.
"You really thought you would never see them again?"
Ruby's mother stood in front of her with a look of contempt. Still grasping her head Ruby looked up to her, shouting in a vain attempt to overcome the noise.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Summer knelt down and took Ruby's chin in her hand before slapping her away with her other.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST RELY ON OTHER PEOPLE! THIS IS YOUR MESS… YOU HANDLE IT."
Summer took a deep breath as she closed her eyes while pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance until sitting next to Ruby crossing her legs next to her daughters slumped form. She rested her hand on top of Ruby's head in between Ruby's hands and rocked it slightly.
"Think about it this way, either their working with Neo, which makes them traitors or Neo is working with them and she's waiting for the chance to kill you and everyone you care about since you murdered Roman."
"A GRIFFIN murdered Roman not me."
"You really think she cares about pedantics."
As Ruby lay there slumped over with her head in her hands, a quiet ringing pierced its way through all the shouting and white noise. Looking for its source she sees her scroll some feet in front of her, she didn't know how long it had been ringing but only one person would be calling her, and she knew the consequences of failing to answer. Slowly she shuffled forwards, reaching out for it with her hand, she swiped to accept the call and placed it against her head.
"Yes."
"Why did you take so long to answer?"
Salem's voice was both annoyed and threatening. Fearing the cost if she told the truth she opted for a half lie and due to the pain in her head she spoke through gritted teeth.
"You damn Nuckelavee is being a handful but after much arguing it's at the village and I can hear the fighting."
Salem took a moment to respond. Ruby feared she could see through her slight deception.
"… Very good but the plans have changed. Tyrian has just returned in a bundle of mess and missing a tail thanks to the actions of those huntsman. So, while it's fighting them, your going to kill them and prove your usefulness to me."
"It'll be done."
Salem hung up after Ruby's answer and Ruby growled in annoyance throwing her scroll towards Crescent Rose. Summer scoffed at her.
"Well I guess you have to handle it now."
...Kuroyuri.
Neo had her blade going through one of the Nuckelavee's arms while Jaune had his sword through the other with Ren using Jaune's shield as well to pin it trapping the Nuckelavee down.
"NORA"
Ren looked up at his partner who was stood on top the building in front of them however instead of killing the Horse part of the Grimm her attention was dawn by a hooded figure stood at the entrance that was walking towards them. As everyone's eyes turned to them when the Nuckelavee saw the figure it increased it's thrashing and attempts to get free, Jaune and Neo was noticeably beginning to struggle at keeping its arms pinned.
Jaune shouted at the hooded red figure.
"Hey, I don't know why you're here but care to lend a hand?"
At his question the figure stopped and scanned each of them until in an instant all that was left was rose petals and a loud mechanical noise and gunshot filled the air. Nora screamed as the figure flew at her hitting her and propelling themselves and Nora through a wall and into a nearby building.
"NORA!"
Ren got up and ran towards the building. The Nuckelavee sensing its freedom began to thrash and screech even more until it had managed to rip up through Jaune's sword and freeing its hand, with its free hand it swiped toward Neo who had to remove her umbrella and dodge its attacking enabling it to stand, forcing both Jaune and Neo to focus on it while Ren went to check on Nora.
"NORA!"
Ren scanned through the windows and doorways but there was no sign of movement until a Nora shaped projectile was thrown at him crashing into him and into the opposing building. As Ren looked down at Nora it became clear that she was unconscious, resting her down prepared himself for the follow attack from the attacker to come from the building but as a few seconds passed he became increasingly annoyed at the lack of their presence.
"STOP HIDING YOU COWARD!"
as Jaune looked over to check on his teammates he was hit in the back by one of the Nuckelavee's arms, while he was mid-air another gunshot rang out and the figure appeared on of him, unleashing a flurry of attacks on him as he continued his descent, they placed their feet on Jaunes chest and fired point blank propelling him next to Qrow and the attacker landed next to the Nuckelavee folding their weapon away in the process, while the Nuckelavee had turned its focus solely on Neo.
As Nora regained consciousness she struggled to get up on her feet while Jaune was coughing and was surprised that his aura hadn't depleted. The Figure shouted.
"STOP!"
And while everyone did indeed stop to turn to them, even more surprisingly the Nuckelavee also stopped its attacks on Neo and shrieked away from the lone figure. As everyone gathered around Jaune and Qrow, Jaune stood and rested his arm on Ren's shoulder.
"Why are you helping a Grimm?"
"Why are you helping HER?"
The figure responded pointing a finger at Neo and continued.
"SHE helped bring the fall of Beacon!"
Neo looked away with shame at the accusation. While Jaune stepped forward enabling the semi-conscious Qrow to see the figure and from his position under the hood.
"She's trying to make up for what she's done, but what's your excuse for partnering with a Grimm?"
"RUBY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Everyone turned their attention around to Qrow and his sudden outburst visibly confused while the hooded figure took a step back.
"Qrow your hallucinating again, Ruby isn't here."
Qrow turned his gaze to Jaune and pointed at the figure.
"I know my niece when I see her, stop being a fool and open your eyes kid."
As everyone turned back to the attacker, Jaune took in their profile. Red cape, Rose Petals, speed and an oversized weapon, but it can't be Ruby. Any response died in Jaune's throat as the hooded figure brought down their hood and everyone stepped back in shock.
"RUBY!"
As Jaune shouted her name she visibly winced in pain as he looked at her, he noticed some visible changes since the last time he saw her, her eyes and turned from a shiny silver to a dull grey while the bags under her eyes made it clear she wasn't sleeping well. What Jaune had focused on however was the pendant on Ruby's collar where Cinder's symbol stood proudly.
"you're working with Cinder?"
Ruby looked at him straight in the eyes, what he didn't know and couldn't see was the internal turmoil inside her head as numerous voices continued to shout at her and she her only focus was on her task at hand.
"Technically I'm working for Salem."
"But why? We're your friends and family!"
"Do friends just abandon partners atop towers because I feel like me and Pyrrha should've been warned about that while family just acts as nothing but a source of disappointment."
Jaune was shocked at the callous nature in which Ruby mentioned Pyrrha while Qrow started to laugh, coughing and drawing everyone's attention.
"you sound just like my sister."
Suddenly the Nuckelavee charged at the team, evidently becoming impatient at the lack of fighting, Jaune was forced to stand in its way or risk it charging straight into the injured Qrow, however before it could crash into Jaune Ruby launched herself towards a nearby wall and combining her semblance and weapon propelled herself at the Grimm pushing it into Neo and Nora. Jaune was surprised by Ruby's actions as he turned to her she looked at him.
"I'm not just going to let it kill him without a fight"
Ruby spun around extending her scythe and catching Jaune's neck and pulling him towards her, she ducked under him and swept his feet out from under him, pointing Crescent Rose at Jaune's face.
"Granted you aren't really putting up a fight either."
As Ruby fired Ren threw his dagger at Ruby causing it to ricochet of her scythe and missing Jaune's head by inches, she turned her attention towards him leaving to Jaune for later.
"Seriously‽ Go help your girlfriend, leave me with vomit boy."
Ren replied with peppering Ruby with bullets from StormFlower as he ran to Jaune's aid, this forced Ruby to dodge with her semblance or risk wasting her aura so early in the fight. Ruby landed on top or a building and turned her attention to the Nuckelavee which was busy fighting Nora and Neo, Nora had just her hammer to slam into the riders face disorienting the beast while as Neo used the handle of the cane to swing of a tree towards it Ruby interrupted by throwing herself at Neo as the two landed on the ground they rolled around fighting until Ruby ended on top taking both of Neos wrists in her left hand she pinned them above her, pulling out a hidden knife Ruby used her other hand to slam it through Neo's and into the ground eliciting a scream from her. Ruby stood up and looked down at Neo who was struggling in vain to remove the knife as everyone paused shocked by Ruby's brutality.
"Relax, your aura will heal it up in no time, if you don't die of course."
"hey kids."
Qrow beckoned Jaune and Ren over quietly so as to not get Ruby's attention, whispering to them a plan he handed Jaune something covered in a cloth and his flask, Jaune put it in his pocket and looked to Ren who both nodded at each other. They turned and Jaune shouted to Nora.
"Nora, keep Ruby busy we'll handle the Nuckelavee."
Nora responded by slamming her hammer into the Nuckelavee's face and using the momentum to flip over it landing in front of Ruby, preventing her from finishing off Neo.
"whatever you're gonna do you better do it fast."
As Nora stood still Ruby used her speed and scythe to run circles around her, all attempts by Ruby to break Nora's defence were deflected and as she continued to run Nora became bored, swinging her hammer she caught Ruby dead centre in the chest from seemingly nowhere propelling her back into the house she had launched Nora into. Nora huffed and rested her hammer on her shoulder.
"That's for earlier."
As Nora distracted Ruby, Jaune and Ren led the Nuckelavee into the biggest building they could find as Ren sprayed short bursts from his pistols to agitate the Grimm into going further inside Jaune ran behind it, jumping of a nearby wall he stabbed it with all his might in one of its back legs causing the beast to collapse its back. As it shrieked in pain it attempted to swat at Jaune, but the restricted space prevented it from reaching him, as he stood up he took his sword and stabbed its other back leg for good measure. Ren took his dagger and slammed it into the horse's head incapacitating its bottom half as the rider continued to shriek in pain. Jaune reached into his pocket and took off the cloth revealing a dust fire crystal, wrapping it back up he undid the flask and soaked the crystal and cloth in strong alcohol before throwing it next to the Nuckelavee. As Ren and Jaune left the building the rider part of the Nuckelavee continued to struggle in an attempt to move itself, outside Ren turned and fired a single shot at the crystal causing an explosion that engulfed the Nuckelavee, causing the building to collapse on top of it. Satisfied that the Grimm was beaten they turned and ran to help Nora and Neo.
Ruby and Nora had their weapons locked together as each fought to overpower the other, a small line of sweat trickled down Ruby's forehead that signalled to Nora she was winning. As a sudden explosion close enough for them to feel the warm they both disengaged and backed away. Ruby turned at saw the remains of the Nuckelavee slowly evaporate into smoke.
"You IDIOTS! Do you have any idea how pissed Salem is going to be?"
Ren ran over to support Nora while Jaune checked on Neo, he removed the knife eliciting a small scream from Neo. Before anyone could respond to Ruby a faint beeping rang out in the distance.
"Guys I think I hear something."
Jaune turned his attention to the direction of the sound and saw two Mistral airships descend onto their position. Ruby growled in anger as she could manage 3 trainee huntsman and a criminal, she couldn't also deal with a full Mistral patrol, she turned to Jaune and the rest.
"Consider yourselves lucky."
Using her semblance, she retreated out of Kuroyuri and into the forest, making the return to Salem in failure. as she ran she pulled out her scroll and began calling, the scroll rang once then was answered and Salem's voice came through.
"I trust your mission was a success."
"I'm afraid not, just as I was about to deal with them a Mistral patrol intervened."
"… I'm not very tolerant of failure Ruby."
Ruby shook at the tone of Salem voice
"I succeeded in bringing the Nuckelavee to them, if you had told me from the onset I would have to fight them I could've set an ambush."
"I'm even less tolerant of excuses Ruby. Nonetheless, you are right in that you did fulfil your first mission and while you may not have been a complete failure you did demonstrate you could be trusted to act alone. Return to me and we can discuss the consequences of your failure."
Ruby hung up and shuddered at the thought of what Salem may do.
… Back in Kuroyuri.
As Ren and Nora carried Qrow onto the airship Jaune helped Neo carrying her umbrella and cane while a medic checked over her wounds. Jaune turned to the medic as the ships took off.
"how did you find us out here?"
"We were on patrol, heard the explosion and saw the smoke. No one has been out here for years thought something might be wrong."
As Jaune put down the weapons he rested a hand on Neo's shoulder who turned and smiled at him.
"well we're glad you found us."
As a few minutes passed the medic turned back to them.
"when we clear the mountains brace yourself for the view."
Unsure what he meant Jaune went to stand beside Neo but was stopped by Qrow's hand reaching out to grab his, turning in worry Jaune looked towards him.
"Hey kid, you got my flask?"
Jaune scoffed and retrieved it from his pocket handing it back to Qrow who emptied its remaining content in a few gulps before putting it away and collapsing back on the ground to rest.