Taiyang's POV
Qrow and I walked side by side though the forest, my daughter and her friends following close behind. It's been 9 miles and none of them have complained once, not even making a sound really. They had been quiet since the drop off at "The Meadow." I've wanted to ask about who they were mourning, but Qrow wouldn't let me say anything. It wasn't even really mourning, it was more like… respecting. Yeah, that's it. Respecting the dead. Oum, I'm off topic again. I need to be thinking about the mission. Go in, wreck everything, kill as many assassins I can find, get out.
"Tai, you alright?" I looked over at Qrow to see him looking ahead, ignoring me. It occurred to me then that the voice had come from my earset, not Qrow in particular. I looked ahead again and I heard him through the speaker.
"Murmur under your breath. The mics are sensitive enough to pick it up." I nodded for a split second before stopping.
"Yeah, I'm fine." There was silence.
"You can't overstay your welcome when we get there."
"What do you mean?" Why couldn't my brother be a little more blunt with his speech?
"I mean, you can't lose your mind and kill everybody there for taking Yang. You need to keep a cool head and get out of there when I tell you." I practically snarled.
"I'll be fine. And I will kill those son of bitches, you can't stop me."
"What about Ruby?"
"..." I hadn't thought much about the fact that her and Weiss would be joining me.
"Do you really want your daughter to see that side of you?" No, I didn't. Ruby couldn't see that, she'll never look at me the same way. I growled.
"Fine. But if I find a chance to take out the sumbitch that took Yang, then nothing will stop me from tearing his throat out." There was silence on the line. A while longer and Qrow stopped, pulling out his Scroll. We all stopped to look at him.
"Alright, the mansion is right through these trees, only a while longer. Ruby and Weiss will go with Tai ahead of Blake and I. They'll get inside and make some noise inside, while we will take an alternate route to get inside quietly to find Yang and Zachary." The girls all nodded in affirmative. I looked behind me, squinting my eyes to look through the trees. I could barely see a large building about a hundred feet out. When I turned back to them, Qrow and Blake were already gone, probably waiting for our distraction, and the other girls were watching me. I gave a smile.
"Let's go. There are people to save!" I gave a triumph laugh and started to walk towards the mansion, The girls following close behind. I spoke to them as the started to walk at my sides.
"Don't unsheath your weapons yet. We can move more quickly without them, but when we come across any Assassins, I will tell you when to get ready for combat."
"I said No Combat." Said Qrow through the headset. I frowned, taking the earpiece out. I don't want Qrow talking in my ear this entire time. I stuffed it in my pocket as Weiss watched me carefully.
"Isn't that the only way to find out when Qrow and Blake have found Yang and Zach?" I nodded.
"It was, but the plan has changed. I'm taking you two throughout the house until we find them, and we won't stop searching until we find them." I pulled my weapons from their attachment to my pocket, unclipping them from the inside. I pulled the knuckle dusters apart, pulling them onto my fingers. I smiled as I flexed my fingers, the golden spikes coming out and retracting with each flexed muscle. I glanced at Ruby to see her watching the spikes coming in and out, most likely wondering if I will use blunt force of killing blades. I stared at her for a moment before retracting the spikes once again, leaving only the golden blunt metal on my knuckles. I could hear her sigh of relief as I put my hands back at my was a couple more feet before I stopped the girls. We were on the edge of the clearing, the giant building just ahead of us. I turned to whisper to the girls.
"Okay, If they're smart, then they have at least on sniper in one of those windows, watching the perimeter. Remember, these people are masters with weaponry. If you put a gun in their hands, they will not miss." The girls looked at each other nervously, but I raised a finger. "I have a plan though. Ruby, may I borrow Crescent Rose?" She pulled out her scythe, staring down at her loved weapon for a second before handing it to me. I held the block with precise efficiency having watched Ruby practice with this tool thousands of times. I switched it into sniper mode, pulled the cock to release a bullet, and then pulled it up to my shoulder around a tree. I wasn't used to the gun's small stature, made for Ruby, but I was able to aim up with it with ease anyways. I searched the building's windows, as well as the roof, looking for snipers or assassins. It was nearly 20 minutes before I found a shape completely in black, hiding prone in one of the top buildings. I stared at it for a moment before I saw the slightest twitch, and a long barrel being moved around. I very slowly took in a breath before pulling the trigger. The sniper moved for a split second before the bullet pierced his skull. I grimaced confidently before pulling Crescent Rose back up.
"Did you get him?" I turned to Ruby with a nod before giving it back to her.
"Yes, there will be people coming out here in seconds. Here's the plan, we move forward now, pushing forward as quickly as we can before too many come out, then we'll just search the house until we find your friends." I looked back at the house to see a man and a woman walking out, both armed with rifles. I nodded to the girls and we all came out of cover. I charged forward, ahead of them. The assassins saw us almost immediately, but before they could fire, I raised a hand up, releasing my semblance. In between the soldiers, there was a bright flash, like a tiny supernova created from nothing. I smiled as they both reared back, literally blind from the flash, and pushed back from the explosion. They shot fires randomly in the air as I charged towards them, but before I could get there, there was a shot from behind me and when I turned to look, there was already a red flash past me. When I looked back at the assassins, I saw Ruby sweeping the feet from the man, slamming the side of her blade in his head to knock him out, and a half second later, Weiss plummeted from the sky right into the woman, plunging her rapier into the assassins shoulder. There was a scream before she pulled her blade back out, jumping off the soldier. When she landed, Ruby had already knocked the woman out as well. They both stood up, turning to me. I nodded, having just gotten to them.
"Reinforcements will be here soon, let's go ahead and meet them inside." Ruby nodded, taking the lead, but Weiss hesitated. I sighed, turning to her.
"Weiss, you can head back to the Drop off now, if you want. You don't have to go in there if you don't think you can." She stared at the door for a few seconds before I started to tap my foot. We didn't have much time to stand around, and I couldn't waste this opportunity. Just before I sent her back, she gulped and shook her head.
"No, I will not run. Let's go." She ignored her own fear and confidently walked forward, meeting with Ruby at the door. I quickly followed with a smile and walked in to lead. When we got inside I found a huge staircase in the middle of the house, going all the way up to the top floor. Around the sides were hallways that lead to different rooms. I looked around for a minute before seeing a door under the stairs, on the side of the support.
A Basement. I turned to the girls.
"Okay, We're going to check out down here. Just follow behind me, but just stay at the bottom of the stairs to watch the entrance." They nodded in affirmative before I opened the door, starting to descend the steps. When we got to the ground floor, I stopped them when the girls tried to follow me. They nodded, staying on the third step. By myself, I started to look around the dark room. It was a single room, not much larger than a flat appartment, but it was quite obviously a torture room. There were various bloodied tools and machines around the small room, all seemingly used recently. In one of the walls was four separate jail cells, all in close to complete darkness, the light from the single light fixture in the ceiling not reaching the small rooms. Very slowly, I walked over to the cells, hoping to find my daughter inside, but when I looked in, it was much too dark to tell.
"Yang? Are you in there?" No response. "Zachary? Hello?" This time I got a very low whimper from the far cell. I quickly switched over to that one, holding the bars as I looked in.
"Hello? Who's in there?" I got a slightly louder whimper before a small shape started moving from the corner of the cell. The small prisoner walked forward very slowly until I could see him just behind the bars. It was a young boy with brown hair, ratty brown clothes stringing off his body. There was a single fox ear sticking out of his head, the other one sadly disappeared. He refused to meet my eye, looking straight down. He spoke very quietly, barely more than a whisper.
"Are you here to take my other ear? Or will you torture me? I already said I'm sorry, I did." He seemed have had a huge amount of trauma. I crouched down so we could see eye to eye, but he still refused to look at me.
"No, I'm here to save my daughter and her friend." He finally glanced up at me, but a second after he saw my face, he look away again.
"Can you save me, too? Please?" I bit my lip to stop from saying anything. If I said yes, then I would have to take this boy away from here immediately, and that's not an option. I need to find Yang first.
"Have you see a girl and a boy here in the past couple days? One has long yellow hair and the other has short brown hair." He shuffled on his feet.
"The only people I've seen here were the ones that hurt me." I got angry at that. Where could they possibly be then?! I looked back at the boy.
"Are you sure? You haven't seen anybody with the names Yang or Zachary?" He then looked up at me. He met my eyes and and held them there for a good while.
"I know the boy, Zachary. And I think I saw the girl as well, but that was weeks ago, before I was put here. Th-they were the reason I was here in the first place." I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say anything, I heard a gasp behind me. I quickly turned to see Ruby standing at the foot of the stairs, staring right at the boy behind the bars. The boy looked past me to see her with widened eyes.
"You…" She stared back at him.
"Justin?" The Faunus boy started to tear up.
"They hurt me, cut off my ear." He held his arms against himself. "They burned me, but the fire, it didn't leave any marks, it didn't hurt me. It just hurt." She raced to me and pulled on the bars, as if to open the cell.
"Dad, we have to let him out, to get him out of here!" I stared down at her, not sure what to do.
"Well, well. Who do we have here?" I turned to the stairs again, but this time, I saw a standing at the bottom of them a man in black in orange. In his left hand, he had Weiss pulled against his body, and in his right was a revolver pushed against her skull. I stood completely still, not wanting to push that trigger finger. Justin whimpered behind me again, backing to dark of his cell.
"That's the man. He has the fire that hurts." The man smiled.
"Ah, yes! I see you've met my most recent...canvas." I had to bite my lip once again, just to stop myself from yelling at this man. I glanced down at Ruby to see her staring in complete fear at Weiss. The Heiress had about the same look on her face. Very slowly, I spoke.
"Where is your dignity? Why don't you fight me head on, instead of holding a young girl hostage." He cackled at that.
"And why would I do that?! You're Taiyang Xiao Long, one of the most famous Hunters for killing both of his wives!" I started to taste blood in my mouth, but if I unhinged my jaw from my lip, I might just kill this man. I opened my mouth to speak, but he started again. "No, no. That wouldn't be in good fun, and that's what matters! The fun! This is all a game isn't it, and isn't having fun the purpose of the game?" He smiled before a flash in his eyes. At once, I could hear an intense screaming come from the cell that the boy was in. I turned to see the boy engulfed in flames, screaming his head off as he rolled about on the damp floor, but the flames persisted. I watched in horror for nearly a minute before at once, the flames just ceased to be. Justin's screaming slowly came to a halt before the low whimpering began again. I turned back at the man, knowing that this was his doing.
"Burning a child alive is a game to you?!" He clicked his teeth.
"No, no, you don't understand, my friend! The boy is not burned, he is not injured, he was just merely in pain! And isn't pain just an art?!" Ruby shook her head in horror.
"You're a monster."
"Pah! You just don't understand the thrill. Maybe you'll understand when your beloved friend is burning." Not a moment later, the flash returned to his eyes and Weiss was alight with fire. Weiss' high pitched screams filled the chamber, high eyes nearly rolling back into her head in the burning pain. The man behind her smiled and laughed in her agony, but all I could do was stare. Watch in horror as I couldn't save the girl I was supposed to protect. Ruby did not just watch though. With a fierce yell and a flash of red, Ruby was at the two of them, her scythe pulling around to attack the man. Before he could say anything, his right arm was already moving towards the floor. Weiss was still burning when the man let go of her to put his hand to his right side, feeling where his arm used to be as he screamed in pain. I didn't wait this time, and rushed forward, cocking my fist back and punching him directly in the chest. He went flying back into the cement wall behind him, his head snapping back into it. When his head slopped back forward from the hit, Weiss suddenly stopped burning, the fires going out almost instantly. I glanced at her, to make sure she was alright, and when I turned back to the man slumped against the wall, Ruby was already there. She stood over him as he cowered, feeling for his arm, staring up at her with fearful eyes. She gave no mercy as she pulled him up to his knees with one hand on the front of his shirt, holding him up as he cried, and started to pummel him with the other hand. He fists were a fury that held nothing back as she slammed into every part of his body. I watched my daughter as she beat this man to almost a literal pulp, and with a final punch right to the jaw, he went slamming back into the wall. She started to walk over to him again, but I was there, holding her back. She thrashed against me, obviously wanting to hurt this man further, but I wouldn't let her go.
"Ruby, Ruby, calm down. You need to calm down." When I turned her around to look at me, she continued to push away, trying to attack the man again. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she punched at the air.
"Ruby." She stopped all at once, strange in my arms. We both turned to see Weiss struggling to sit up, hardly able to do anything on the ground. Ruby was then out of my arms and at her side, pulling her up to a sitting position.
"Weiss, are you alright?" There was a desperation in her voice. I kneeled down next to them, surprised at Ruby's sudden change of emotion, but more focussed on Weiss' condition.
"Ruby, I'm fine, just very very hurt." I looked down at them with sad eyes. Ruby fretting over Weiss as she lied harmlessly on the ground. They were out of the fight this time.
"Okay, We need to get you two out of here. Ruby, can you carry Weiss back to the drop off?" She seemed to be ignoring me, staring down at her Partner, but Weiss' answer was clear.
"She can't carry me, but I just need support." She made a huge effort to sit up, and succeeded, grunting in pain as she brought herself to her feet, altough the second she was up, she falling onto Ruby. Ruby pulled her arm over her shoulder and slowly walked her over to the stairs, but they would've fallen halfway if I hadn't caught them.
"I can help." I looked back at the cell. The small boy's voice had been clear, despite what he had been like earlier. When he saw that I was looking, he turned to me.
"I-I need to get out of here. If you let me out, I can help carry her out." He was pointing pitifully at Weiss. I looked down at him mercifully.
"Alright, stand at the back of your cell and hold your arms over your eyes." He nodded, and disappeared into the cell. A few seconds later, I held up my hand and the bright nova appeared at the lock of the cell. When it disappeared, the lock was a molten piece of what it was, easily pulled to the side. I beckoned the boy out of the cell, and as he slowly walked to me, he seemed to be getting more and more confident with each step. He passed me, and walked straight to Weiss and Ruby, taking Weiss' other arm over his shoulder. Ruby turned to me before she started for the door.
"I'll lead them back to the Meadow. Find Them." I nodded to Ruby, watching her as she headed up the stairs. Somehow I looked at her not as my 15 year old daughter, but a woman with responsibility. I followed them up a second later.
