Chapter 10

Silence permeated the Bullhead as it raced through the air. Two medics were leaning over Westley's body working frantically to make sure he didn't fade away. They hadn't said anything in almost twenty minutes, their focus completely on team WNTR's leader. His jacket and shirt had been discarded and several cords had been hooked up to his chiseled chest to monitor his weakening vitals. Riley had expected the wound to be gruesome, but seeing it uncensored by the shirt was something else. The bruising and internal bleeding had spread black and blue and purple all across the top half of Westley's torso and Riley now had the clarity of vision to see that the initial wound had actually left a dent in the man's chest. As she surveyed his frame, Riley also noted three large scars just below the bruising that started at his stomach and stretched down at an angle toward his waist disappearing beneath the belt line of his pants. They were most certainly much older than his current wounds, but Riley found herself somewhat curious about their origins. For something to have caused such grievous injury to Westley, surely it must have been a powerful foe.

Pelyope was standing directly behind the medics, one hand cupped over her mouth and one set across her chest and tucked under her other arm. She had stopped crying, but she refused to leave Westley's side. The medics had made attempts to get her to sit down elsewhere, but Pelyope had refused wholeheartedly.

Riley's eyes trailed to Axel who was sitting at the rear of the vehicle. When they had first boarded he had kept silent watch over what transpired, but he was now sitting with his legs crossed and eyes closed; she assumed he was meditating or something. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Riley moved from the side of the Bullhead back to where Axel was sitting. She gingerly took a seat next to the right of him and whispered, "Do you think Westley is going to be alright?"

Axel didn't respond at first, but, slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. He pursed his lips as his mind began formulating a response and finally said in a matching tone to hers, "I have hope that he will. Westley is as stubborn and hearty as they come. This will certainly be a mountain he has to climb, but I have faith he'll reach the summit."

Riley nodded and fell once again back into silence. As the moments passed and no conversation was initiated Riley found herself getting skittish. She needed something other than quiet. So long as she was surrounded by hush her thoughts were allowed to travel in any direction they wanted and right now they refused to go in any direction other than sickening self blame. As soon as she began coming down from her adrenaline fueled high, she had begun to rebuke herself for her actions and draw every ounce of blame on herself. If she hadn't rushed off on her own, if she had only waited for Westley to catch up with her, if she hadn't defaulted to being so consumed by anger and irritation that she'd ignored his pleas, if she had been a better fighter, if she hadn't froze, if, if, if. It had been eating at her, gnawing at her efforts to keep composed and with nothing to distract her she was coming dangerously close to her breaking point.

"It wasn't your fault…"

Axel's quiet words hit her like a truck. She looked at him and questioned, "What?"

Axel was looking at Westley's motionless form and occasionally cast a glance at Pelyope. Taking in a deep breath he repeated, "It's not your fault. I know what you're thinking."

"Oh?" Riley scoffed, "So you can read minds now?"

Riley's mind screamed at her. What in the hell was she doing? Axel was trying to offer comfort and Riley found herself responding with a harsh attitude. What on Remnant would possess her to react so venomously like that?

…

Unless…

"Not exactly," chuckled Axel, apparently not fazed by Riley's demeanor, "You just happen to wear your emotions on your sleeves. You're not very good at hiding how you feel. Which is fine despite what others might say. And right now you're feeling like Westley ending up like that is all your fault. You shouldn't feel like that because it's not true."

But that's exactly how Riley wanted to feel. She had a sudden, horrible realization that she wanted to feel like crap. She wanted to take all the blame for what had happened because it would prove herself right. All of the doubts she had had regarding her praise from Ozpin and the others, all of her hesitation at believing that she was talented enough to sit on the same level as the rest of her team, all the fear inside her that she might not actually be cut out for a career as a huntress. It would all become true for her if she was completely at fault for what had transpired. She felt a cry get caught in her throat and choked on the sound. A single tear wiggled its way from the corner of her eye despite her protest. How? Why would she be so desperate to feel like that? Was her self doubt truly that immense?

Riley's next question came out choked, "How can you be so positive about that? If it wasn't for me-"

"Did you land the blow that injured him so?"

The faunus blinked at him, "No, but-"

"Then it's not your fault."

Riley opened her mouth to argue her reasoning, but never got a word out as Axel elaborated his point, "Westley knew what he signed up for when he started training as a Huntsman. This right here is one of the risks each and every single one of us who are working toward that same goal will face every day of our lives henceforth. It doesn't matter that you ran off on your own. Westley would have ended up on that train one way or another. It's in his nature to chase after the bad guy be they Grimm, human, faunus, or anything else. He probably would have gone by himself just like you if no one else was available. And, to be perfectly honest, that man in black's semblance was tremendously powerful. I've got a feeling we'd have been hard pressed fighting him as a team let alone one on one. One of us getting hurt was inevitable in a confrontation with that man and Westley chose to be the one to take that hit rather than one of us. So don't you dare take any blame on yourself. The man in black is the one who hurt Westley. He's the one who instigated the attack on the refueling station. He is the one who is wholeheartedly at fault. Not you. And it would be wrong on so many levels if you let him get away without justice for anything less than everything he was guilty of."

Riley felt trails of tears stream down her face. She wasn't sobbing, but she couldn't hold back the droplets that had started to form at the corners of her eyes earlier. She was at a complete loss for words. Despite all of the circumstances and despite all of the guilt she felt, all of the guilt she wanted to feel, Axel had made it plain and clear that no matter what she said she was in the clear regarding Westley's wellbeing. Riley had only ever known two other people who would have supported her the way Axel was supporting her now and betwixt the shock from discovering someone else like that was a surge of relief as his words banished away the negative feelings that had been weighing her down.

She jumped a little when the warmth of his hand met hers. He was looking straight ahead at Westley, but had moved his hand so that he was able to give hers a small, comforting squeeze. Riley gave a sniff and used her free hand to wipe away some of the streaks on her face. Axel remained still for a few moments, his hand unmoving, before finally letting her go and placing it by his side on the bench. Riley repositioned herself so that her back was against the wall of the Bullhead and watched Westley in silence with Axel. Suddenly the silence wasn't as heavy. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She wasn't going to forget this for the rest of her life. The kindness Axel showed her today was something she was going to cherish forever.

Pelyope had fallen asleep on the bench nearest Westley and Riley could just barely hear her soft breathing. The medics had apparently stabilized Westley and had promptly moved to the cockpit; Riley assumed they were on the horn with someone back in Vale discussing what to do with her leader when they touched down. They were less than half an hour out at this point by Riley's estimations. Axel had returned to his meditation and Riley had simply been reflecting in the quiet. In her reflecting she had remembered something Pelyope had said on the roof of the train and the faunus had been struggling with whether or not to ask about it. Her struggle ceased as soon as her curiosity had exceeded her ability to restrain it. Turning to Axel she nudged him to get his attention. He opened the eye closest to her and murmured, "Hm?"

"I….um….Something Pelyope said back on the train has been bugging me."

Both eyes were open now and his head swiveled to look at her showing she had his full attention.

Taking his silence as affirmation to continue, Riley took a deep breath and asked, "What did she mean when she said 'not again'?"

Axel's lips immediately set into a firm line and he exhaled audibly from his nose. He nodded and replied, "I was wondering if you were going to bring that up. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you."

He uncrossed his legs and set them on the floor. Bending over slightly, he set his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. Looking at the sleeping Pelyope he began his explanation, "This is the story of your predecessor, our friend, Ruruki Darkwolf."

Several Months Earlier….

Air whipped around the cabin as the Bullhead doors opened mid flight. Axel watched from a seated position as Westley and Pelyope moved to the door and looked down. A hand landed roughly on his shoulder and a gruff voice yelled over the wind, "You ready Ax?"

Axel turned to his speaker. Ruruki Darkwolf stood tall enough that he was having to hunch over to keep from hitting his head on the roof of the ship. A messy, tangled mop of pitch black hair resided on his head and was so thick you almost couldn't make out the lupine ears sticking out of the top of it. Pale skin seemed to almost glow in the low light and piercing red eyes smiled down at Axel. Over his body he was wearing a long, black jacket similar in length to Westley's, but noticeably less bulky. The jacket was zipped up and clung tightly to the thin frame beneath it. If Axel hadn't seen him get dressed that morning he never would have been able to tell that he was wearing a flame red t-shirt and black jeans under the jacket. Dull, golden gauntlets tipped with wickedly sharp claws were worn on his hands and heavy duty boots, albeit not as heavy duty as Westley's, covered his feet. Overall he was quite intimidating to people who didn't know him. Those that did knew that he was, in fact, a veritable teddy bear to those who he called friend.

Sporting a confident smiled, Axel nodded and answered, "Always."

"Good," beamed an excited Ruruki, "I don't need Westley beating us again."

That drew a chuckled from Axel, "It's not a competition. How many people you defeat doesn't matter, only if the mission is completed."

"Those are the words of a loser," Ruruki teased.

"They're the words of someone who doesn't keep score."

Ruruki simply snickered in response. Westley turned back from the door and hollered, "Well this is where Pelyope and I get off! We'll meet you guys at the warehouse! Last one there is a rotten egg!"

Without waiting for any sort of reply, Westley gave a grin and fell backwards out of the Bullhead as he brandished a faux salute and goofy, tongue out expression. Pelyope rolled her eyes with just the barest evidence of a smirk across her lips, waved to Ruruki and Axel, and then dove out after their leader. As soon as they had exited, the Bullhead veered to the right and began to enter into a wide arc as it maneuvered to the otherside of the facility they were encroaching upon. According to their information, the White Fang had been illegally amassing large quantities of dust over the last few weeks and the warehouse they were heading to was where the organization was keeping the majority of their bounty. The volume they were stockpiling certainly wasn't conducive to anything peaceful and their team had been tasked to…'redistribute their product' as Westley so elegantly put it. Pelyope and Westley were to invade the location from the south and Axel and Ruruki were to circle around and come in from the north. They'd then descend upon the facility, pacify any hostile resistance, and secure the location for Vale authorities to move in after the team was gone. Pretty simple and straightforward compared to their previous missions.

The speed at which the Bullhead was traveling brought Axel and Ruruki to their destination in under five minutes. The airship came to a hover several dozen meters above the forest that surrounded their target and waited for the two to depart. Ruruki was the first to leap into the night, releasing an excited howl toward the moon as he did so. Axel stood up and made his way to the door. Looking down he quickly surveyed the area to discern the safest point of landing and found a small clearing slightly to the right of the Bullhead; fortunately it was on the way to the warehouse so he wouldn't lose any time. With his destination in mind, he threw himself out of the airship.

Gravity immediately took hold of him and began pulling Axel toward the surface of Remnant. Rapidly gaining his bearings, he tilted his body so that his descent would curve toward the clearing. As he was wearing nothing more than a white tank top and camo cargo pants, the cool night air nipped at his exposed body parts. It didn't bother Axel too much, though; he was actually quite fond of the cold, it was heat that often did him in. The trees beneath him closed in fast and as the canopy began to tickle at his legs, he had a brief moment of doubt that he'd make it all the way to the clearing. He pulled his arms in and increased the speed of his descent to try and avoid having to deal with the thick trees below him. It wasn't like they would present much of an obstruction, they were simply a nuisance he didn't want to waste time trying to work around.

Luck seemed to be in his favor as he just barely managed to scrape past the treetops and breach into the clearing. The ground came up rapidly and he angled himself so that his shoulder was positioned to hit the ground first. Axel folded his arms up to brace himself and activated his weapon. A single Chronos Veil unfurled into it's full shield form, the mass of metal large enough to completely block Axel's torso. The attached brass knuckles flipped over initially, but Axel flicked his wrist sending them back to their standby position; all he needed was his shield for the moment. There were mere seconds between the complete activation of his Chronos Veil and impact with the ground. The earth shook and blasted away, knocking up a cloud of dust. A resounding thunderclap tore through the clearing, but was quickly muffled by the surrounding tree cover. As the dust settled, Axel stood unharmed at the center of a decent sized crater. He hadn't felt any of the force from the impact, his shield bracer completely absorbing the kinetic energy that tried to reach his body. Glancing at the front of his shield, he just barely managed to see the faint blue glow of the dust veins infused within the metal that helped facilitate the weapon's kinetic osmosis before they faded away into dormancy.

Movement out of the corner of his eye put him on guard. Despite being fully alert now, however, he maintained his calm presence of mind and swiveled his head to view who or what it was. Axel's shoulders slumped in relief slightly as he realized it was only Ruruki. The wolf faunus was looking over the damaged clearing and asked, "You alright?"

"Of course," Axel responded as his weapon rolled back into its passive form, "How was your landing?"

"Not as bad as back on our first mission," chuckled Ruruki.

Axel responded with a nod and a smile. He couldn't imagine a touchdown much worse than one involving landing in the center of a group of Ursa. But Ruruki managed like he always does. Maintaining his amused expression, Axel pulled out his scroll so that he could discern the correct direction the two needed to travel. He slowly turned his body until the compass program he was using lined up with the south and then said, "Let's go. Westley and Pelyope should be there soon. If we keep them waiting, Westley will never let us hear the end of it."

And so the two set off.

Despite the denseness of the deciduous forest, the two men traversed the terrain with virtually no impediment to their travel time. It took them just about twenty minutes to reach the top of a hill that overlooked their destination. Several hundred meters away loomed the two story warehouse. The exterior lights were off and even with the moonlight it was hard to see the building unless you were focusing on it; the trees provided an impressive amount of camouflage. Axel didn't see any sentries off hand and that lent to an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Additionally there was something else that had been gnawing at him since they had landed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He reached his hand up to his ear and tapped on the com resting on it.

"Axel to Westley, we're in position. Are you guys good to go?"

"Good to go?" replied Westley, "We were just getting ready to have tea. I put the water on and everything. Pel and I weren't sure how long you two were gonna-"

"You were right…" grumbled Ruruki to a smiling Axel.

"But I suppose we could postpone our midnight trist if you guys are-OW!"

In addition to Westley's exclamation Axel heard the distinct sound of someone getting punched. A disgruntled sounding Westley came back over the coms after a brief moment of silence and said, "Yeah, we're ready. Radio silence from here on out. We'll rendezvous in the center of the complex."

Westley's mic picked up a few words before it cut off completely, "You didn't have to hit me so hard, Pel. A simple love tap would have sufficed!"

Axel released an amused sigh and Ruruki shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

"How that guy was made leader is something I will never understand," grunted the faunus with a snicker.

Looking over the warehouse again, Axel inquired, "Shall we?"

Ruruki nodded, "Lead the way."

Axel activated both of his Chronos Veils and allowed the knuckles to fall into place this time, battle ready. Ruruki flexed his claws and the tips began to glow a dark red, almost the same shade as his eyes. Now ready for combat, the two proceeded toward the warehouse. As they closed in, Axel realized what had been bothering him; there was a distinct lack of wildlife. No owls hooted, no mice skittered, no snakes slithered, there was no nocturnal activity at all. Aside from their almost silent footfalls and the occasional rustling of leaves when the wind blew, no other signs of life were present. He and Ruruki took cover behind some trees as they came upon the warehouse. It's outer walls were covered in dark grey sheet metal, but through deteriorated cracks in the alloy, Axel could see a sturdier concrete base beneath the metal shielding. There were no windows on the ground level, but Axel noted several on the second; they were all boarded up, however, so there was no chance of scoping out the inside from them. A pang of anxiety concerning the once again struck the pit of Axel's stomach and he opened his mouth to voice his concerns, but Ruruki beat him to the punch for conversation topic.

"I'm gonna ask her out."

Axel blinked, completely caught off guard by the seemingly out of nowhere declaration.

"Um...what?"

Ruruki looked at Axel and elaborated, "Pelyope. I'm gonna ask her out tomorrow."

"Ah!" said Axel, now having the context needed to understand the conversation. Ruruki had had a blatantly obvious crush on Pelyope form the moment the two met when their team was first formed. He'd never actually acted on his emotions, but his feelings were quite transparent. At least to Axel and Westley. And despite not mentioning it around her at Ruruki's request, Axel was fairly certain Pelyope knew as well; she was far too observant a person to miss something so obvious.

Ruruki moved out from behind his cover and dashed to the sheet metal wall of the warehouse. Axel followed suit and questioned, "Are you sure that's wise?"

As the two began moving down the side of the building toward a door that was now visible Ruruki whispered back, "Even if it's not, I've got to do it. Isn't it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?"

"I have literally never heard that phrase before."

Axel took position in front of the door as Ruruki tried the handle. The faunus gave a nod indicating it was unlocked and began to mouth a countdown to Axel.

Three.

Two.

One.

Ruruki turned the knob and threw the door open. Immediately, Axel rushed through the door, weapons at the ready, and surveyed the area as he entered. He was standing in a ten foot wide hallway with slate colored walls and concrete floors, his only companion the pitch black darkness that lived in the corridor. Ruruki moved in behind Axel and guarded his flank. There were only two options to travel, east or west, and Axel gave a nod toward the east. Ruruki took point this time as his eyes were better suited to the dark environment; nothing was going to surprise them from the shadows so long as the faunus led the way. Ruruki continued their conversation quietly as they proceeded down the hall.

"Do you really think it's such a bad idea?"

Axel gave a huff. Truth be told there probably wasn't any actual harm in Ruruki's pursuit of Pelyope, he just didn't want either of his friends to get hurt. Axel stated as such aloud, "I suppose not. I'm just trying to look out for both you and Pelyope. For obvious reasons fraternization amongst teammates could be detrimental to the team as a whole whether you get her or not, but on a personal level, what if you two get together and things end badly? I don't want to see two good friends wind up bitter with each other."

"There's always a chance a relationship could end badly," acknowledged the faunus as they rounded a right hand corner to another hallway lined with locked doors, "But if everyone on Remnant held back in love because something might happen, because things might go wrong, the concept of love would have died out a long time ago. Sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit. And let me tell you, I think the biscuit is worth it."

"Hm," was Axel's only initial response. That was actually a pretty good answer to his question despite the odd expression. Perhaps Axel was being too cautious. Besides, how was it his place to try and deny Ruruki a shot at happiness. If things did work out between his friends, his elation would be tremendous.

The two came to a stop at a double door at the end of the hallway. Axel reached into the pouch on his side and retrieved his scroll. He turned it on and was relieved to find that, fortunately, he had remembered to dim the screen brightness when he had opened it earlier. The scroll's glow was minute and, in addition to not immediately blinding him, it wouldn't have been obvious to anyone behind closed doors. He pulled up the schematic for the warehouse they had been given and pointed out a spot on the blueprint.

"I believe we're here. Once we go through the doors we should be just a single right turn away from the main storage room. That's where we're going to meet up with the other two."

Ruruki gave a nod and pressed an ear to the door. After a moment of pause he took his head off it, "Nothing on the other side. Let's go."

The faunus opened the door and the two slid through into yet another narrow hallway identical to the one they had just left. As the door closed behind them Axel took the silence as an opportunity to ask Ruruki his opinion on their current subject, "Do you think she is going to say yes when you ask her?"

Ruruki went silent for a few feet before answering, "Like I said, I have hope that she will. The tunnel visioned optimist in me sees only a future where she says yes. However…"

Axel could almost feel the melancholic smirk on Ruruki's face through his words as he continued, "My more pragmatic side knows that optimism only gets you so far. I mean we're two very different people. She's kind and sweet and intelligent and beautiful and high class. I'm, quite literally in most respects, a mutt. Born and raised in a slum in Vacuo and in constant poverty my whole life. I'm not super smart or super good looking and my temper often gets the better of me when I'm stressed. She'll probably tell me she's flattered at the proposal and then politely and gently let me down. And I'm prepared for that; it'd be fine if that happens so long as I tried. But I'm still hanging on that maybe, just maybe, the feelings that I have for her will go beyond the outer differences between us and touch her heart in a way that she'll say yes."

Axel's smile was stretching from ear to ear. Stifling what could have been a loud chuckle, he said to Ruruki, "You certainly are the romantic, aren't you? I'm surprised I haven't noticed that about you before. We've been living together for almost a year now and I've never once heard you talk so passionately. It's a good look on you."

Ruruki cleared his throat, suddenly very self conscious about what he was saying aloud, and stated in his a slightly gruffer voice than normal, "Well…don't tell anyone…"

"Maybe you should tell Pelyope. According to Westley, women love a man with a strong romantic side."

This drew a quiet laugh from Ruruki, "You want me to take relationship advice from Westley? The man who has a success to failure ratio with women on the order of 0 to 100 and counting?"

Now Axel was laughing softly, "I suppose you're right. For all the charisma that man has, romance always seems to elude him. Well I suppose your aptitude for romance will remain our secret then."

Ruruki gave an amused nod and Axel concluded the conversation with, "Good luck, Ruruki. I wish you the best."

"Thanks," the faunus responded, "I appreciate it."

The remaining brief stint of their trek went on in silence. When they reached the doors Axel had previously pointed out, Ruruki checked the other side for activity. Upon finding nothing, Ruruki looked to Axel who gave the go ahead to breach. Like before, Ruruki opened the door and Axel entered first, shields raised in preparation for any sort of potential attack. When nothing came, Axel laxed a hair, but continued to be on the lookout for anything that might approach them with hostility. The room the two had entered was definitely the main storage area. Large crates littered the several dozen meter long room and were stacked almost to the ceiling in some places. The roof was higher than the previous sections of building as this area merged the two floors of the complex to make more space for whatever needed to be kept here. As Axel and Ruruki traversed the labyrinth of crates, Axel noticed that almost all of the boxes here were marked with the Schnee Dust Company logo. That confirmed the team was in the right spot.

The duo had only been walking for a few minutes when a nearby voice spoke up, "It's about time. What took you so long?"

Axel and Ruruki twirled around, both taking up a defensive battle stance. They simultaneously slumped their forms as the realized it was Westley who was talking to them. Pelyope was standing next to him, giggling slightly.

"A bit on edge?" she mused at Ruruki.

"Uh...n-no! I'm good. Always good!"

The faunus quickly stood up straight and adopted a more macho demeanor. To Axel, it was humorous to see a man as imposing as Ruruki scrambling to look composed in front of someone. What was not humorous, however, was the fact that Pelyope was right. Axel had been and currently was at least a little on edge. Taking on a serious expression, Axel nodded to Pelyope, "All joking aside I am concerned about this place. Something is way off. Where is everyone? If this place was such an important stronghold for the White Fang, why is it completely unguarded?"

"I had the same questions," Westley responded, stepping forward, "I've got a feeling this has been one heck of a wild goose chase. Schnee Dust Company logo aside, we don't even know if these crates actually have dust in them."

"Easy way to find out," stated Ruruki.

He moved away from the team, scoping out a ground level crate that wasn't completely covered and found one twenty feet or so to the right. The faunus worked his clawed gauntlets under the wood lid and lifted up. He was instantly engulfed in a large explosion and vanished from sight.

"Ruruki!"

The unified cry from his teammates resounded throughout the warehouse as several other crates began exploding as well like some sort of chain reaction. With each detonation the warehouse shook violently. Fire rapidly began spreading to the crates that hadn't exploded and smoke began to fill the air. Crates had collapsed in the wake of the first explosion and blocked the immediate path to where Ruruki was. This didn't stop Pelyope from starting toward his last location. She leapt through the air onto the toppled crates and had to stifle a cough as smoke entered her lungs. Looking down at the area where Ruruki had once stood, Pelyope couldn't find any trace of her friend.

Axel called up to her, "Pelyope! Be careful! This place is coming down all around us! Do you see Ruruki?!"

Pelyope shook her head, distressed, "No! But he has to be somewhere!"

"You don't think…" started Axel, the worst possible outcome immediately springing to mind.

"No!" snapped Pelyope, her head turning back and forth trying to locate any trace of Ruruki, "Don't even start thinking that! He's going to be fine! His semblance…"

Her voice trailed off as despair began creeping into her body. Westley's voice then sounded, completing her thought, "Pel's right. Ruru can control the intensity of any flame that touches his body. The force of the explosion might have knocked him somewhere, but that's it. That fireball wouldn't have done anything to him. And a burning building is definitely no danger. Not to mention how much aura that guy has. We'll find him. Don't worry."

Pelyope nodded slowly, doing her best to calm herself down. She inhaled slowly and as she reached the apex of her breath the faintest sound touched her ears. It was a whistling of sorts that was almost drowned out by the roaring of the fire. Pelyope recognized it immediately as she was quite accustomed to the sound coming from her own weapon; an arrow was flying through the air and heading straight for her. She turned to try and find it so she could properly dodge, but was hindered by the billowing smoke and bright flames. Too late, she saw the minute object pierce through the smoke mere feet in front of her. Pelyope immediately reacted to dodge, but when she shifted her weight on the crates their precarious nature caused them to collapse under her. She lost her balance immediately and grit her teeth in frustration as the arrow soared true, directly at her person. She braced for impact, but when it came she was surprised to find it didn't come from an arrow. A body tackled her to the ground on the opposite side of the crates closer to where the arrow came from. She heard the arrow impact something, a sound that was accompanied by what she thought was shattering glass, and a grunt from whoever threw her to the ground.

Quickly gaining her bearings, Pelyope looked up at her savior and felt a wave of relief wash over her; it was Ruruki. The faunus was positioned on top of her, his hands on the ground on either side of her head, acting as a shield. He was panting, obviously low on energy, and battered from the explosion. He smiled down at Pelyope with a wince, "Sorry for the last second save. I was a bit busy making sure my body was in one piece."

Pelyope released a chuckle that was more to make sure the atmosphere remained light rather than because she was actually amused. A look of concern still overtook her face as she questioned, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little-"

"Ruruki!" cried out Pelyope suddenly.

The ceiling gave a groan as the fire nipped away at its structural integrity and finally failed to hold itself up entirely. Concrete and rebar and metal supports plummeted toward the two. Pelyope closed her eyes and prepared herself to be buried. A significant weight landed on her legs and she winced as pain shot through them. But that was the only part of her body that felt any sensation. She slowly opened her eyes and released a gasp. Ruruki had jumped to his feet and was now supporting the entire section of ceiling that had fallen on the two. He was clearly struggling to keep his composure; he was straining himself significantly trying to keep the mass of material from crushing them both. Pelyope's eyes moved down to her legs and found they were covered by several I-beams. She could still feel them and knew they weren't broken, but the weight was too much for her to move by herself.

Movement nearby drew her attention. She saw Westley and Axel moving through the rubbled crates Pelyope had once been standing on. Upon seeing the situation, Axel immediately wound back his arm to throw a punch and destroy the ceiling that Ruruki was holding up, but was stopped by Westley holding a hand out in front of him. Westley pointed up at the end of the ceiling furthest from the group, "I wouldn't do that Ax. Look. This ceiling is barely holding together as is. If you blast that section away it could bring down the rest of it on top of us."

"Then what do you suggest?" questioned a stressed Axel as he pointed to the wall of fire that was spread out across the rooftop Ruruki was holding, "We can't get much closer because of the flames. He's too far back under the rubble to roll toward us and get out in time. This is the only option we've got!"

Westley took a deep breath and answered, "I'll see if my semblance can help Ruruki get into a position to get out of there. Give me a minute."

Axel realized what Westley intended to do and gave an affirming nod. Westley called out to Ruruki, "Ruru! I'm gonna take some of the load off you. I don't know how well it's going to work and it might only give you a second or two, but get Pelyope and yourself out of there when you can."

Ruruki answer with only a strained grunt as he looked from Pelyope's trapped form to the concerned looking Axel and Westley. Westley held out both his hands and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Axel heard his friend mumble aloud, "Grey Shift."

For a brief second from Axel and Westley's perspective, several chunks of the rubble being held up by Ruruki developed a black outline. It disappeared as quickly as it had come and as it did so the affected sections began to float upwards. Ruruki noticeably found relief from the pressure and began lifting his burden into the air. Just as he had extended his hands straight up above him and gotten into a position he was comfortable enough to try and work on attempting his exit, he felt something tear through the air next to his head. A black arrow zipped through the air, spun Ruruki's hair in a tizzy, and slammed into Westley's shoulder. The huntsman let out an 'oof' and staggered backwards. His aura held and he received no damage, but his concentration was broken causing the full weight of the ruined ceiling to fall back onto Ruruki. As soon as Ruruki was under pressure again, arrows began streaming from somewhere behind him, pelting his back incessantly. Westley moved to help Ruruki again, but the moment his hands were raised arrows streaked toward his body in an attempt to cause him to falter. Westley let out a frustrated growl and hissed a curse. He moved over to the side, out of view from the angle the arrows were previously coming, and tried again. He managed to activate his semblance fully this time, but it was momentary. An arrow launched toward a still intact portion of the roof and ricocheted off it entering into a trajectory lined directly with Westley. Westley held fast, ready to simply tank the shot and muster through it, but was spared the experience when Axel moved in front of him with his shields at the ready.

"I've got you covered. You focus on getting Ruruki and Pelyope out of there."

A grin shoved the sour expression Westley had away and found a home on the huntsman's face, "Appreciate the assist."

Axel nodded and began focusing on any incoming arrows. In response to Westley's upgraded security, several arrows began appearing from multiple angles. Some came in from the right, some from the left, others soared from straight ahead, and still more ricocheted off walls and the ceiling. Axel expertly intercepted every single one and allowed Westley enough time to take a significant amount of the burden off their friend. Ruruki shoved upward and found himself ready to make his move. The moment he did that, however, arrows shifted target from Westley to Ruruki. Several arrows impacted his back and the faunus could feel his aura draining dangerously low. The faunus couldn't properly do anything while having to worry about his assailant. Axel dropped his shields upon seeing Ruruki take the shots and took a step forward, instinctively driven to try and help his friend. In the instant his shields were down, an arrow whizzed from overhead and landed hard on Westley. This time, unlike the others, the arrow exploded. Westley was thrown backwards and buried in a pile of crates. Axel turned to Westley and was suddenly knocked airborne by an explosive arrow striking the ground at his feet. Ruruki's knees buckled as the weight came crashing back down on him. He looked over the scene in front of him; Pelyope struggling to free herself from her steel prison, Westley stumbling out of the crates dazed and disoriented, and Axel toiling to find his bearings.

He let out a sigh of resignation and called out to a now mostly recovered Westley, "Hey Westley!"

An arrow struck his back and he winced in pain.

"Get Pelyope out of here," he continued, "I'll finish this."

Westley blinked a couple times to completely wash away his daze and then frowned at Ruruki as the faunus' request registered with him. Pelyope saw the exchange and began shaking her head frantically, "No. Don't even think about it Ruruki. We're both getting out of here."

Ruruki chuckled somberly, "I think we both know that's not true. We're in no position to save both of us."

Tears began to form at the corners of Pelyope's eyes, "Ruruki don't give up! We can still-"

She was interrupted by Ruruki letting out a pained grunt as another arrow hit him. Ruruki did his best to form a smile and cast it at Pelyope, "I know this is really bad timing and all, but if I don't say it now I'm not going to get this chance again. Pelyope...you are beautiful and caring and one of a kind-"

The faunus was momentarily cut short by several more arrows impacting him. He grit his teeth and forced himself to press on, "And you are going to live. I just need you to know that I'm fine with this. Don't for a second think this is something you could have changed. It's just the way the dice rolled."

"No!" Pelyope cried out, "How can you be fine with this? How can you-"

"Because I love you."

All words left Pelyope's mouth. No sound left her lips as she looked at him with complete and utter shock. Westley's eyes cut down toward the ground at the declaration and Axel, who was now on his feet, frowned deeply. Ruruki exhaled audibly and said with a small chuckled, "Wow. I feel a lot better after saying that outloud. Like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders….so to speak…"

Pelyope felt the tears spill over and she quickly stammered, "W-w-well now we both have to get out of here. You don't get to drop that on me and then walk away. We've got a lot to talk about. You have to-"

"Westley…"

Ruruki and his friend locked eyes. Then, slowly, Westley nodded. He held out his hand and said, "Grey Shift."

The beams pinning Pelyope shuddered and sluggishly started to rise into the air. At the same time he followed with, "Blue Shift."

Before Pelyope could properly react, her body was yanked toward Westley and her form was quickly grasped by him. The moment her faculties were her own again, she began struggling to get free from Westley's hold in an attempt to make it to Ruruki.

"Westley! Let me go! I'm free now! We can get him! We can-"

"Take care of her guys," called Ruruki, "I'll buy you some time to get out of here. See you on the other side."

Pelyope strained at Westley's grasp and reached out her hand in desperation, "RURUKI!"

The faunus released a small sigh and smiled at her one last time before using the last of his strength to momentarily throw the ceiling into the air just enough to allow him to fall backwards toward whoever it was that had been assailing them. The ceiling crashed into the ground and the entire building shook. Other sections of the roof were quivering now and it was obvious the building was no longer going to hold. Axel and Westley quickly carried a struggling Pelyope through the wreckage as she continued to call after their teammate. As they breached through the doors and into the night, they heard a final howl and then silence.

Axel took a moment to collect himself, the memories obviously drawing on some intense emotions. When he was well enough, he finished, "The intensity of the fire kept us from immediately going back in; there must have actually been dust in some of those containers that were feeding the flames. When we did we manage to get back inside to search the building, we spent hours sifting through the rubble. In the end we found nothing but his gauntlets amid a sea of ash and tinder and stone."

Riley's breath had long since gotten caught in her throat and as he concluded she remembered she had to breath. She took in a deep breath and immediately followed with, "Axel...I'm so sorry…"

She cut a glance at Westley and Pelyope and now understood Pelyope's fierce reaction. She turned back to Axel and asked, "Did you ever find who attacked you? Did they make it out of the building?"

Axel shook his head, "No. And we don't know if she died or not either."

"She?" questioned Riley, curious.

"Yeah. We couldn't make out any significant details because of the smoke and the shadows cast by the fire, but from a silhouette we saw, Westley and I are sure it was a woman who was attacking us. That's about it aside from one other thing."

Riley looked at him intently as she waited to elaborate.

"Westley and I only ever got one decent look at her figure when we were rushing to the exit, but when she began engaging Ruruki we're positive we saw a fiery glow encompass one of her eyes."

He let out a sigh and continued, "We tried for several weeks to figure out exactly what happened and the best we can come up with is the White Fang got fed up with us constantly interfering with their operations, so they decided to stage the ambush to try and eliminate us as a threat. It really makes you think though. If they have someone like the woman we faced in their midsts just how dangerous is the White Fang truly?"

Riley gave a nod in agreement; the White Fang was certainly not a group to be taken lightly. She remained silent for a short while as she processed everything Axel had told her. Finally breaking the silence she said, "Axel...I've got to ask this. From what you said, I think it's safe to assume you've gone up against the White Fang several times. On sanctioned missions no less. Why in the heck are students actively opposing a political group, terrorism or not? That's something the police or actual huntsmen should be handling."

Look straight ahead at Westley, Axel replied, "You raise a valid question. Unfortunately I'm not the one who should be explaining everything to you. Professor Ozpin gave Westley the freedom to bring you up to speed at his leisure, when he thought you were ready. Because of that you shouldn't hear it from me. It needs to either come from Westley or, and I suppose this is going to be your best bet at present, Professor Ozpin. Sorry."

Riley gave a huff, but couldn't bring herself to argue. She could somewhat see Axel's point and with everything she just learned, she didn't have the energy to try and push him into conceding the information to her. Instead she said simply, "Fine…"

The airship gave a shudder and the sensation of it descending tickled the pit of Riley's stomach. Pelyope was roused from her slumber as the two medics returned from the front and began prepping Westley for departure. Riley and Axel both got to their feet and Riley found herself wondering what exactly her next move was going to be. She had a lot of questions and a lot to process and there didn't seem to be enough time in the world to completely wrap her head around everything. As the ship touched down and the door slid open, Riley watched as Westley was rapidly carted off. Pelyope followed, close on their trail, and Axel moved out after her. Riley stepped up to the opening took a moment to look out over the helipad. Medical personnel were crowding around Westley and she could see Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch observing from afar. Deciding she couldn't remain on the ship any longer, Riley took a step off the Bullhead and concluded her return to Beacon.