RWBY Rider of War (Discountinued)

by Lightning Lord Kaji

Ruby and Jaune always heard stories of the Riders of the Apocalypse. They never thought that they would end up going to school with one though. Will this young Rider prove to them that he is not just another one of his family? Will they stop the apocalypse or will they be the cause? Or perhaps they will simply be caught in the middle of it. (Pairings obvious inside.)

14. Trains and Blood

I don't own RWBY or Fire Emblem

Hey everyone, another chapter for you and man did it take a lot longer to write this than I thought. Seriously I just wrote and then it turned out like this! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, with school and life breathing down my neck. I have no real time frame for when the next part will be up, I'm mostly just doing this when I have time or when I have the spontaneous desire to write. I also have exams next week…for every class I'm taking currently. Anyway a little warning, it gets a little dark in this chapter, not bad in my opinion but I'll leave that up for you guys to decide. And also, yay for fight scenes, I was looking forward to them for awhile!

On a side note, I wonder if you guys can tell where the inspiration for one of the fights in this chapter came from. I made it real obvious. Enjoy and please follow or favorite!

Chapter 13: Trains and Blood

Ruby's POV

"Bad Zwei…I told you not to antagonize Blake," Ruby chided her dog as she cuddled the adorable dog as she walked through the streets of Mountain Glenn. She volunteered to look around for clues and well she didn't want Blake to kill Zwei so she got out of there fast. She wanted Kamui to come with her but apparently Weiss wanted to talk to him more, Blake did too actually. Those two were always the most studious of the group; they probably saw him as a history goldmine, literally.

"!" Zwei just barked happily as he stared up at her and Ruby couldn't help but cuddle the little guy tighter much to the dogs joy. He really was too cute for her to be mad at or chide in any way. Maybe Kamui would be able to do it for her, then again she saw him break when his nieces and nephews begged him for sweets. To be fair she would have broken faster than he did. Maybe one kid could be resisted but five?

"So do you like Kamui, Zwei?" Ruby asked as she brought her dog up to face level. Zwei gave an approving bark and Ruby giggled and hugged him again. She knew he would love Kamui! It would be awkward if her dog didn't like her boyfriend, not that it would break them apart…right? It was still weird calling Kamui that, she really never thought that she would come to Beacon to find that.

"Hey do you think the Hunters know our base is here? That was a lot of noise, like a lot of it," a voice rang through her ears and in a flash Ruby was behind a building, peeking out to see who was around as Zwei peeked around with her.

"That's stupid, the boss said no one knows we're here. Besides, the Grimm and those…things are very heavy here. They don't have enough info to risk sending so many hunters here except for scouting and small clearings. It was probably just a small scouting party," another voice chided the first. Ruby and Zwei peeked out from their hiding spot to see two White Fang grunts walking through the ruins. Ruby almost screamed in success but she bit it back when she realized it would tip them off.

"Got to tell the others…" Ruby thought as she quickly pulled her scroll out and typed a quick message to Kamui, Weiss and Jaune but it wouldn't send. She sighed before she started trailing after the grunts again, using Zwei as a way to see around corners. She snuck up on the Grunts with skills that would make Blake proud as she tried to follow after them. Except luck wasn't on her side, the moment she moved onto the next street the ground under her literally crumbled. In reaction she threw Zwei clear but she fell through. She tried to grab her weapon to cling to the edge but it ended up slipping out of her hands because of the sudden motion. Losing Crescent Rose, poor Ruby was unable to stop herself as she fell down the hole.

"Ah!" Ruby fell for a few moments in darkness until blinding light hit her eyes for a moment then she hit sound hard. She groaned as she lied on whatever she used to break her fall. Thanks to aura she wasn't really hurt but it still stung a lot like Yang hit her with one of her light punches...in the face. She moved onto her front and stood up shakily and dusted herself off.

"I won't be telling Kamui about that…" Ruby groaned as she shook her stars off. Then her eyes widened as she took in the new sight. She was basically in a full underground city! Wait! That's right, Mountain Glenn had an underground network! Ruby slapped her head in stupidity, how could they forget about that! They were so concerned with the area above ground they forgot that maybe the enemy was using the underground as a base! She had to figure out how to get out and tell the others in case they didn't get her message. Yang and Kamui would freak out if she got captured!

"Hey you!" Ruby mentally screamed in annoyance. Jaune was supposed to have the bad luck not her! Yang was going to give her an earful and Kamui was going to be worried sick!

"Go away!" Ruby yelled as she turned around to face the two White Fang grunts approaching her. The guards weren't exactly impressed by her attempt at intimidation…especially since she dropped Crescent Rose upstairs…

"You're coming with us!" one of the grunts commanded as he approached her. Ruby sprung forward and launched a fist into the man's gut but it had little to no effect. Ruby paled as she realized that even with aura backing her up, she didn't exactly have the proper strength to take someone down, they were different from the creeps Torchwick had sent after her months ago. She looked up slowly at the grunt and was met with a punch to her eyes. Stars were the only things she saw for a few minutes. She vaguely felt herself get lifted up and carried or dragged somewhere but it took her awhile to knock the stars out of her eyes. When she got coherent images again she was met with someone she would prefer not to meet unless she had Crescent Rose leveled at his throat.

"Hey there Red! Fancy meeting you here!" Roman Torchwick, the mastermind criminal behind all the issues they've been dealing with was right in front of her and she was at his mercy. She really hoped everyone would hurry up, they noticed she was gone right? Kamui would be wondering what was going on and Jaune had grown very punctual, he'd notice right away too right?

Jaune's POV

"You feeling better now, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she helped Jaune walk around the makeshift camp. Jaune's aura reserves were always impressive and the blonde knight was very thankful for them as always. It helped him bounce back from always getting beaten up by his friends in spars. Yang once said that ever since he started improving that it was like he kept getting up, she joked and said that was his greatest talent. Pyrrha actually agreed with it though.

"For the most part, I've been able to walk without support for the last hour though…" Jaune mentioned, while he was touched that she was tending to him, he felt embarrassed. Pyrrha flushed and moved towards the fire to start tending to some of the food they were cooking. His heart kept beating fast when he was around her nowadays. The only one he actually had this feeling with was Weiss wait. Was he really growing a crush for Pyrrha…No!

He couldn't be growing a crush on his own partner! He had just learned never to aim too high for a girlfriend; it would only end in disaster and pain. Weiss had seen it fit to teach him that cruel lesson and he had to swallow the medicine whole. He poured his heart out once before and it was cast in his face and he was belittled for it. Pyrrha was just as much out of his league if not more than Weiss. Jaune was really tired of heartbreak and moping around feeling sorry for himself, Pyrrha was just his friend, his partner, one of his best friend. His heart just wouldn't give him a break! He didn't want to be stuck between a rock and a hard place again.

It was bad enough he was still having trouble squashing his feelings for Weiss! He wanted to be angry with the white haired girl, he wanted to give her the cold shoulder for once. The heiress was starting to be nicer to him now and curse his heart for seeming to forget all the mean things she ever did to him. This was the girl who stomped on his heart in front of everyone multiple times and made it a point to belittle everything about him! He should be absolutely furious with her! Why couldn't he be mad at her though! Ever since the dance, he's been asking himself why he even bothered telling Neptune to go to her, he really wanted Weiss to suffer like he did…but did he really?

Jaune sighed as he looked over towards the heiress in question. She was currently absorbed in a conversation with their now revealed Nephilim friend, Kamui. She was actually…pleasant when she wasn't being mean. He always knew she was but still, he had grown accustomed to only seeing her mean side directed at him. She had only started being nicer to him recently, something he never thought would happen, figures. Jaune really really wished that his love life was a lot simpler. First the girl he crushes on hates on him and now suddenly starts being nicer to him while at the same time he is growing feelings for his own partner. Jaune wished his dad never told him to just show confidence all the time.

The blonde allowed himself to look at his redheaded partner while she was busy with the fire. He had a vague flash of her wearing an apron while baking sweets; he would be helping her out too. He pictured her serving cookies or something to two little children with both blonde hair and green eyes or maybe even blue eyes and red hair. While he would…Jaune sighed as he shook himself out of his thoughts. It would never happen, he already knew reality; life wasn't a fairy tale for some people. He would worry about his weird love life after he got out of the demon-infested place they called a mission. Now that he thought about it though, he realized that Kamui didn't explain exactly what the Faceless were; he was actually pretty vague.

"How about some food, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she came back to him with a bowl of their instant rations. He shuddered at the thought of eating it but it was still food…sort of in a disgusting and stomach clenching way. Pyrrha smiled sheepishly at him as she gave him the bowl of offending slop. Before he even lifted the spoon though, he heard the rather frantic barking of a dog.

"Zwei?" Yang asked as she sat up from her sleeping bag. Everyone else seemed a bit startled as well, since the dog sounded frantic and they didn't hear Ruby telling him to be quiet…Jaune gulped and grabbed Crocea Mors from the wall and snapped it to his belt.

"What's going on? Where's Ruby?" Weiss asked as she and Kamui stood up from their makeshift table. Zwei ran into their camp and ran up to Yang and Jaune's eyes widened when he saw Crescent Rose in the dog's mouth.

"Crescent Rose…where's Ruby?" Yang asked as terror started to leak into her voice. Zwei dropped Crescent Rose at her feet and started barking excitedly. He ran around the place as Yang picked up her sister's weapon. Zwei trying and succeeding to get everyone's attention. Then he went over to Kamui and started tugging on his cloak with his mouth.

"Ok, we're coming, take us to Ruby," Kamui said as he tugged his cloak free but Jaune could hear the fear in his voice.

"Everyone, gear up, travel light, I doubt we're coming back here if Ruby's stumbled onto what I think she has," Kamui commanded as he followed after Yang and the little Corgi dog. Weiss was hot on his tail as was Blake. Ren and Nora were going to follow as well but they stayed to look at their leader.

"Can you run, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she picked up her weapons. Jaune shrugged but his friend was in danger, he'd suck it up.

"We'll find out, come on!" Jaune commanded his team as they ran after the rest of their group.

Ruby's POV

"Torchwick!" Ruby sprung up to hit the thief in the face but her hood was tugged back and she fell onto her back with a small thud.

"You really really like being a major pain don't you Little Red?" Torchwick said as he appeared in her vision again, looking down at her with his annoying smirk. Ruby grit her teeth and bounced up onto her feet and swung her first at his smug face. Her fist connected but he didn't even wince, he just looked surprised before he smacked her with his cane, sending her into the dirt again.

"Oh!" Ruby sighed as she shook her head and looked up. She saw a large train on tracks that actually looked like it was ready to go. One of the train cars was open and she saw it filled up with Atlesian robots and weapons and she thought she saw a bomb. Before she could get a closer look though someone grabbed her hood and yanked her off the ground.

"Wow, you really are a little weakling without that overgrown gardening tool or your little boyfriend to back you up," Roman sneered as he threw her into the ground again. Ruby grit her teeth, this was plain humiliating, if Kamui or any of her team saw this they'd laugh at her! She was supposed to be the prodigy leader of Team RWBY!

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked as she got onto her feet. Roman chuckled at her as he twirled his cane around nonchalantly. Then he suddenly sprung forward and slammed his cane into her gut. She lurched forward before he grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head into the ground again. Ruby coughed as she tried to regain her breath, then she got kicked into a wall. Her aura dulled most of the pain but it still hurt a lot and her aura wouldn't last forever either. She shakily lifted herself from the ground to see Roman and the White Fang laughing at her obvious misfortune. She would get no mercy here.

"I'm going to be asking the questions here, Red. So tell me…how did you know we were here, and where's the rest of your little band of children?" Roman asked as he leveled his cane at her. Ruby tensed, she had to figure out how to get away, she figured that Zwei probably told her friends where she was but still. She really needed a distraction right now or a weapon. Roman leveled his cane and his little crosshairs popped up from the barrel and Ruby took a deep breath, she'd have to overdrive her semblance to get away but even then, how would she get away, she was seeing stars when they pulled her in. The only suitable weapons she could see were the ones the White Fang were holding, but she couldn't just hit them, the only way she would be able to get them would be…The words Kamui said to her rang through her head at this point.

"If you are threatened, use whatever means you deem fit to defend yourself…even if it's fatal," Ruby shuddered internally as she thought about it. Sure she "knew" how to…kill, she used a giant scythe that acted as a sniper rifle. Even then she knew how to do it with her hands, her Uncle taught her how without her dad knowing. She never thought she'd actually ever do it though, at least not so soon. She had little choice in the matter though; it was thrown in her face whole. Either she would commit to survival or endure whatever Roman had planned for her.

Ruby didn't want to die, she wanted to live…she wanted to see her sister again and almost get smothered to death. She wanted to bicker with Weiss over what was proper etiquette or listen to her chide her over not studying. She wanted to try and see what books Blake were reading, which she never let her see. She wanted to mess around with Jaune again and tease him over his motion sickness and his terrible pick up lines. She wanted to tease Pyrrha about her crush on Jaune. She wanted to torment her friends with Nora and their energetic antics and watch as Ren was forced to try to contain them. She wanted…she wanted to see her boyfriend again, her angel, she imagined all of their heartbroken faces but his stuck out the most in her mind. If she died then she would be leaving him all alone. Her heart hardened and her eyes narrowed as she locked onto the ones who would rip her away from her friends and loved ones.

"So what's it going to be Red? Are you going to talk or am I going to have to resort to something far more unpleasant?" Roman asked as he tapped his cane on the ground. His White Fang grunts approached with their weapons raised and Ruby tensed. She couldn't just charge in she'd get shot for sure, she needed a distraction. She hoped Roman would fire one of his shots at her but apparently he was more content to watch her get beat up by his goons.

Thankfully she got one as if Oum above had decided to take pity on her. There was a large explosion followed by a series of screams, Ruby blocked out the fact that they sounded like dying screams. Roman and the White Fang all turned away to see what was going on but she didn't look, she acted.

Ruby used her semblance to appear behind the smallest White Fang, a female deer Faunus from what she could tell. She jumped on her back, wrapping her legs around her and her arms wrapped around her head. The Faunus tried to throw her off but Ruby acted quickly. In one motion, using her semblance to aid her, she snapped her neck clean around in a one eighty motion until her face was facing her. Her mask was covering her eyes but her mouth was agape in surprise. Ruby pushed away her feelings and moved on instinct for survival. She quickly took the gun she had and leveled it at Roman and the White Fang.

"What the-" Ruby pulled the trigger and the gun fired in full auto. Roman jumped out of the way before she fired but the three others she was aiming at weren't so lucky. They must not have had their auras unlocked or they weren't too strong because her bullets cut through them like paper in a few seconds. Ruby blocked out her feelings as she gunned them down. When their bullet riddled corpses fell to the ground to spill their blood on the ground she stopped. Then she turned to Roman who was actually looking at her in shock. She pulled the trigger on him but her gun clicked, signaling she was empty.

Ruby's eyes widened as she looked at the side of the gun to see the word empty running across the screen on the side of the gun. She looked back up at Roman who had already taken off for the train. Ruby dropped the gun and was about to run after him but before she could, a few shots hit the ground in front of her. She looked to the side to see a few more White Fang approaching her, at least six of them this time. They all raised their weapons at her; they weren't going to bother asking her to surrender apparently. She acted but it wasn't enough apparently…

"You brat! We saw that! You killed four of our brothers and sisters!" one of them roared.

"Get ready to join them!" another one of them shouted. They leveled their guns at her and Ruby was about to activate Dragon Fang since it was an emergency but before she could, she heard one of the voices she really wanted to hear desperately.

"Ruby!"

Kamui's POV

"Ruby!" Kamui shouted as he threw a fireball at the White Fang threatening his girlfriend. He didn't feel much remorse as four of them were caught in the fire explosion, he actually felt quite satisfied. It was a quick death; they were burned to ashes in only a few seconds, long enough for them to scream but short enough so they didn't feel it for long. The last one turned to him in fear but before he could raise his weapon at him Kamui ran him through with his sword, easily. Then he yanked his sword out, letting his victims blood spill onto the ground. The grunt fell to his knees, holding his hands to his gut as if trying to hold his blood in. Kamui severed his head from his body with no hesitation. Kamui didn't spare the corpse a look and went past it towards Ruby. He had run ahead of the others on Yang's urging since he had no qualms of dealing pain to get to Ruby. The others were busy fighting through the rest of the of the defenders. Though Kamui had hacked a bit of a path through to get to Ruby fast.

"K-Kamui?" Ruby asked as she fell to her knees, she started shaking erratically and Kamui thought she was afraid of what he did but when he saw her look to the side he realized she was looking at four other corpses. Kamui noticed that most of them were pooling in their own blood and that one of them had their head snapped backwards. It clicked in his head almost right away and he quickly went down and wrapped his arms around her. She clung to him almost instantly and Kamui sighed as he held her protectively. He looked around to make sure no one else was going to try something but he was content to see that apparently everyone was busy fighting his friends. He looked at the train and his eyes widened at all the tech he saw in the open cart but before he could ponder it further Ruby started sobbing.

"Kamui! I…I killed them! I…didn't mean to, but they…they were going to…" Ruby sobbed as she cried into his chest. Kamui frowned sadly and stroked her hair gently as he held her.

"I'm sorry Ruby…I should have gotten here faster…" Kamui soothed as he kissed the top of her head gently. Ruby tilted her head up and kissed him gently before she buried her face into his neck again. Kamui thought he could defend her from this, from the darker side of fighting. He thought he could protect her from having to make the choice between survival and death. He thought he could protect all his friends from making that choice. He should have known better…he couldn't save Pyrrha from that choice so why would he be able to protect more people from it? Another arrogant thought on his part. He held her for a few more minutes as she cried but she stopped a little faster than he thought she would.

"How do you do it, Kamui? How do you…kill without flinching?" Ruby asked in a hollow voice. Kamui would have shuddered if he didn't know he sounded exactly like that when he had to kill for the first time. He really didn't know why he could do it.

He was playing in the woods; he was able to sneak away from his mother (Raven), a rare treat considering whom she is. He was still in hiding but he was tired of being cooped up. He ended up almost getting killed by one of the people hunting him. He was a little boy so he didn't know how to fight exactly but he had his semblance. He still remembers the screams. His mother was blunt and told him that sometimes life doesn't give you any other choice. Sometimes it's survival or death while surrender is not an option for either side.

He managed to bounce back from everything fairy quick, he just sort of accepted it, and perhaps his parent's deaths had a hand in that. Perhaps it was because he is Rider of War and death is part of war. His mother told him he was one of the cases who manage to accept killing rather fast and come to peace with it. She thought it might have been because he was a kid and that he could have easily gone to the other extreme. He has only had to kill a few times in his life and every time it got easier. In fact he found himself…reveling in it and even hungering for it. He didn't know why he felt that way or otherwise was rather indifferent about it. Even Takumi and Camilla reacted more "normally" to killing at least from what he heard. Supposedly Ryoma adapted to it fairly fast from what his mother told him, he is the Rider of Death though and he had plenty of incentive.

Still though, he doubted Ruby could bounce back like he did, at least not without a reason. She was different from him despite sharing some similarities to him. She would need a reason for it to justify herself. In fact everyone was going to need a reason pretty soon, Kamui knew that they weren't holding their punches now. Not when the threat of Ruby getting hurt was very real. Like him they were pressed because someone dear was in danger. He was more surprised that Ruby wasn't getting mad at him for killing right in front of her but that might come later when they weren't in danger.

"I…Ruby…they were going to kill you if you didn't…I would have done the same in your position…I would have done it just because they were going to hurt you…" Kamui said slowly, not the best words but he didn't want to risk sugar coating it and he meant it too. If he got there before she killed them he would have ended them all without a second thought in order to protect her. Ruby tended to get annoyed when things were hidden from her after all and he tried to be as truthful as he could with her. Her naïve desire for the truth was actually quite endearing, something their entire group tended to hold. Fortunately Ruby didn't start shaking again and just looked up at him, her eyes weren't darkened or hollowed out like his supposedly got. Certainly they were red and puffy but they were full of wonder instead of dread.

"How did you deal with it though? Could it be taught?" Ruby asked. Kamui's eyes went downcast as he thought about his "gift" of killing and feeling no long lasting hard feelings but almost satisfaction. He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing still to this day. He once asked his brother, the only one who had adapted to the action fast that he knew closely anyway. Ryoma was actually disturbed when Kamui told him that he kind of enjoyed it but he didn't turn him away. Ryoma didn't know the reason he was able to adapt either. No need for Kamui to tell Ruby the part where he kind of enjoyed it though.

"To be honest…I don't really know, I mean it was survival or death, maybe that was enough for me. I am the Rider of War; maybe it was just in my nature to accept it. Ruby, it's not good and it's not bad by nature exactly, it depends on how you perceive it really. There is little glory in killing even if its for a good reason but you need to do it sometimes, even if what you're fighting for is something people would see as wrong…likewise sometimes the only way to save a life is to take one…and keep in mind sometimes death is a blessing compared to pain or dishonor…" Kamui said softly, hoping that was enough for her. He didn't feel like that was enough for anyone really, he took a mixture of both sides really, mostly because of his "enjoyment" in the act of killing. He didn't view killing as herofication or villainous though, it had potential to be both.

"That sounds interesting…first time I've heard death framed that way…" Ruby said slowly, her voice returning to its usual tone though she was still a little stiff. She tapped his arm and he helped her stand wordlessly.

"Thank you, Kamui…that helps more than you think…" Ruby said in a more chipper tone as one of her usual smiles filled her face. Kamui smiled back at her but Ruby's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"The train! It's loaded with robots and weaponry!" Ruby shouted and Kamui looked back at the train as he remembered what he was looking at before Ruby's episode.

"Why would they be getting a train ready though? The tunnels were sealed…" Kamui thought as he watched the White Fang start boarding the train. Kamui was about to say they should hitch a ride but before he could, their friends had finally caught up.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as she ran over. Kamui wisely stepped out of the way as Yang scooped the girl into her arms and squeezed her tight. Ruby squirmed around a little but she returned the hug after a few moments, thankfully seeming to return to her usual self, at least for now. Blake and Weiss ran up and hugged the little red reaper as well. As little Zwei ran up and started barking as he ran around the group hug, Kamui smiled at the warm scene.

He frowned though when he noticed Blake and Weiss's blades were covered in blood and Weiss's dress was caked in a bit of blood as well, not Grimm blood, the blood of the White Fang soldiers. Yang's fists were bloodied too but she didn't seem to mind as she hugged her little sister. Kamui turned to see JNPR catching up, Jaune was limping slightly and apparently he left his broken armor behind but at least he was relatively recovered now. Kamui was more concerned with the rather…shaken look on his face as he cleaned Crocea Mors of the blood covering it. He wasn't breaking down at least but it was wreaking havoc on his mind. Ren and Nora were at least more composed if a little disturbed. Pyrrha well, she had placed her guilt aside some time ago.

"Hostiles…eliminated…" Pyrrha said as she flicked her spear, sending the blood off of it. Everyone seemed to realize what they had just committed as well when Kamui heard Zwei stop barking and start whimpering. Kamui looked at where they had all come from to see many White Fang, their bodies broken or hacked up and some were even scorched. Blood was pooling all over the area, Kamui sighed softly as he shook his head, what a waste. Yet in the back of his mind he felt the small tug of satisfaction.

"Did we really just commit…" Weiss sounded a little horrified and Kamui turned to team RWBY to see that a somber mood had befallen them, specifically Yang and Weiss. Surprisingly Blake didn't exactly look disturbed aside from the small twitches her bow gave off. Weiss and Yang seemed a bit horrified though of what they did. Kamui shared a sad look with Pyrrha who just shook her head.

"Whatever you're feeling now…put it aside…" Kamui spoke firmly as he addressed his group.

"What?! But we just…" Yang stammered as she stared down at her hands and tried to wipe the blood off. Kamui waved his hand in a dismissing manner though. He moved so he was able to look at both teams and he kept a firm look up and Yang actually flinched at his gaze.

"We have a mission to finish, we can't afford to be bogged down by feelings now. Whatever you're feeling…push it aside until we get home. Ruby has informed me that Roman has that train filled to the brink with weapons. I don't know what but I find it in Vale's best interest to act now! So everyone get ahold of yourselves and move now! We'll talk later, I promise…" Kamui ordered actually managing to shock the guilt out of their expressions.

"He's right, we have to stop that train! Torchwick is on it too!" Ruby added in as she started running towards the train that was no starting to get going on the track. Kamui followed after her and everyone else seemed to get knocked into action at that point. They all scrambled after them and Kamui prayed he made the right choice. It was only a temporary fix; pushing feelings aside, when they were safe again…anything could happen.

"Let's hope this goes as well as I think it will…" Kamui sighed but while he was running, he felt a familiar feeling and he smiled slightly, they would be just fine.

Jaune's POV

Jaune grunted as he landed a little roughly on the moving train. His injuries were still prevalent despite the fact that he was healing fast. He pushed it off though; he'd suffered much worse pain before. Pyrrha steadied him though when their group moved onto the top of the train.

"Where would they be going? The tunnels are sealed!" Weiss screamed over the souring wind as the train shot through the tunnel. At that point though they heard a loud beeping...that was starting to grow more frantic by the second. Everyone looked confused since they all heard it as well; good Jaune wasn't going crazy. Blake ripped open one of the hatches on the train and she gasped.

"Bomb! Move!" she shouted. Everyone kicked into gear almost right away. They all jumped onto the next train car and right when they did the train car they were on, detached. They all watched it as it slowed down and when it was a good distance away it exploded. The explosion cracked a hole in the roof, letting sunlight shine down into the tunnel.

"What the hell? What are they doing?!" Yang shouted.

"The tunnels to Vale are sealed, why would they be brining bombs?!" Ruby yelled over the rushing winds. Suddenly they heard a loud crumbling sound and they looked back at the hole the train made and Jaune jumped when he saw a large King Taijitu slither down into the tunnel followed by a rather large number of other grimm of various species. Jaune actually recognized a lot of them, Professor Port's class finally came in handy!

"Grimm! And a lot of them!" Ren shouted before anyone else could. Jaune thought about what was going on and his eyes widened as he slowly came to a realization. The massive amount of Grimm, the bombs and the sealed tunnel that leads straight into Vale past the walls. He turned to whoever was right next to him and it happened to be Weiss and she had a horrified look on her face that he no doubt was mirroring.

"But why would th-…" Blake paused mid sentence and she gasped slightly. No doubt everyone else was piecing it together as well.

"Those bastards…" Jaune thought as he grit his teeth.

"They…They're going to blow open a hole into Vale and lead all the Grimm into the city!" Weiss shouted in a horrified voice, Jaune and no doubt everyone else was immediately hit with the gravity of the situation. Unfortunately though as if fate was trying to make fun of them they heard the familiar sound of a frantic beeping, growing faster by the second.

"Move! Next Train and keep going! We have to assume they all have bombs except for the trains in the front with all the weapons! We need to stop this train now!" Kamui ordered; the rest of them didn't need to be told twice, especially Jaune. They all jumped to the next train and kept on going. Unfortunately Jaune's injuries were slowing him down despite the fact he was the first to start moving and he ended up in the back of the pack. He still managed to keep pace though regardless. Jaune heard another car blow up behind him but he didn't risk looking back. He just focused on trying to keep up with the rest of the group. They made good progress, and were unchallenged, they probably weren't expected.

"Look out!" Jaune's focus went from the train cars to in front of the group and he saw a crate flying right at them, past the crate he saw one of the Paladin mechs, a couple of them actually. Kamui and Pyrrha jumped over it while Ruby and the others slid under it. Unfortunately Jaune was in mid jump but he managed to tip out of the way just barely. But unfortunately again he realized he was going to miss the next train car.

"Oh come on!" Jaune shouted as he fell. He reached out and tried to latch onto the car. Both his hands found something to hold onto but the rest of his body was off the car and his front hit the side of the car with a loud thud. He bit back the cry of pain he wanted to shout out as his injuries flared up more noticeably. Thank Oum for aura but still he felt like his side was on fire again. He bit back the pain as much as he could because if he gave in, he'd fall off to his doom. He refused to be a liability or worse a crybaby on a mission!

"Damn it come on!" he yelled in his head. He clenched his eyes shut to keep the tears from coming out as he tried to wrench himself onto the train car. Normally he probably would have had no problem but he was exhausted from his fight earlier in the day still and his injuries hadn't completely healed either, in fact he thought they got bad again. He heard the sounds of fighting coming from further along the train, his friends engaging the White Fang no doubt. He had to pull his own weight and catch back up this time. Then he heard the sound of another train car detaching, he opened his eyes and looked back and saw that the car right before the one he was on detached and his eyes widened.

"Come on!" he grunted as he tried in vain to pull himself up but his sore and injured body wasn't responding well enough. The only thing he could manage to do was hold on. He heard the frantic beeping of the bomb in the car he held on to and he felt his heart beat pick up along with it. Jaune felt his eyes close though after another futile attempt to save himself. He was going to die down there…a horrible death at the hands of the Grimm…alone…

"Jaune!" Jaune's eyes snapped open from the cry of his name and the feeling of someone tugging on his arms to help him up. He thought it was Pyrrha at first, maybe it was the pain and exhaustion getting to him though. Because when he saw his savior, it was Weiss. She came back for him?! That's something he never thought would happen in a million years! He was too shocked seeing her to really hear what she was saying.

"Jaune come on! We have to go!" Weiss' voice finally hit his ears as she continued tugging on his arms and his body kicked into gear. With Weiss' help he was able to pull himself onto the top of the car finally. He held himself up on his knees as he panted softly from exhaustion, now that his arms weren't stressed they were really sore and his chest still burned. He wanted to lie down on the car and rest but he knew that he couldn't.

"Jaune! Please, we have to move come on!" Weiss ordered rather urgently. Jaune felt Weiss grab his arm and help him up but the action was so sudden that he felt a sharp pain in his side again. He gasped and he almost fell over but thankfully Weiss managed to hold him up. His eyes were a little blurry but he shook it off when Weiss slapped his face to make him look at her.

"Come on Jaune, let's go! I got you!" Weiss pressed, her blue eyes were wide with worry and Jaune felt the irony of the situation despite the danger. He didn't even bother responding and nodded. Weiss hefted his arm over her shoulder and with her help Jaune made it to the edge of the car he was on. Weiss shot her hand forward and a few of her glyphs appeared in the gap between the two cars. Weiss placed her other hand on his chest as she eased him onto the glyphs and onto the next car. Just in time too because Jaune heard the sound of the car behind them disconnecting.

"It's ok, Jaune we checked this car, the bombs stopped with the last one," Weiss said softly as they slowed their pace down. Jaune finally turned his attention from the car at that point to where the rest of his friends were.

He saw Ren and Nora both work together to knock a Paladin off of the train. Ren knocked its legs out with a nicely timed aura kick, while Nora batted it off of the train with a hard swing of her hammer. Jaune winced as the Paladin slammed into the ground helplessly as they quickly left it behind. There was a person in there after all…

"Come on, we need to get to the others…" Weiss said as she helped him along. Ren and Nora saw them coming and they looked alarmed but they didn't rush over to coddle him. Jaune knew the stakes too, they had to focus on the mission and right now they were all in danger. Ren and Nora at least waited for them to catch up and stood guard over them as they made their way to the platform cars where the Paladins came from. The shouts and screams followed by gunfire and blades clashing signaled that the rest of their group was still fighting the Fang.

When Jaune could see what was happening he yelped as a bullet shot between his head and Weiss'. The heiress even gasped slightly but thankfully she didn't drop him. Jaune focused in on the fight and he felt a bit sick again. His friends weren't holding back again.

To Yang's credit she wasn't firing her guns when she hit people but the force of her blows were no doubt breaking the bones of the weak grunts. They slumped to the ground in heaps of agony and Jaune thought he saw a grim look on Yang's face whenever she dropped one. Blake wasn't pulling her swings back either, she was slashing down White Fang Grunts with her blade but he noticed that she wasn't killing them, she was slicing their legs or their sides, enough to incapacitate them. They were just finishing up though by the time Jaune and the others reached them.

"You feeling alright, Jaune?" Yang asked without calling him the nickname he hated. It sounded almost foreign though with the tone she used.

"I'll live, where are the others?" Jaune asked, he didn't see Kamui, Pyrrha or Ruby. He did notice that leading up to the passenger cars, there were bodies of White Fang who weren't just downed, they were killed, some quite brutally. A lot of the corpses were missing limbs and had deep gash's across their chests as blood pooled around them, they weren't even twitching. A few of them just had their heads cut clean off and Jaune saw some of the heads had their mouths agape. Jaune shuddered at the thought of his three friends actually killing people like that.

"They…they went on ahead..." Yang answered slowly as she combed her hair back.

"You guys go, we'll make sure no one sneaks up behind you," Ren quickly asserted as he and Nora turned back to the other cars, even Nora didn't say anything. Jaune had a feeling they just didn't want to see what the other three were doing.

"Right…let's go then…" Jaune said softly. Yang and Blake nodded as they took the lead towards the other cars. Weiss helped Jaune make his way after them, surprisingly the heiress didn't try to push him off on anyone else or ask if he could walk on his own, which he kind of could now.

"Here we go…" Jaune thought as Yang opened the door as she and Blake rushed in but to Jaune the first thing that came to him were the screams followed by a cry of shock from Yang. When Weiss and Jaune entered the car Jaune gaped as he basically saw a lot of red.

"What the…" before Jaune could finish his sentence he felt Weiss stiffen, her hands left him and he saw her fall to her knees and actually wretch onto the ground, Jaune ended up falling down with her since he wasn't expecting it but he made himself a use and started rubbing the heiress' back as she threw up their crappy rations. Jaune vaguely saw Yang look horrified and Blake's eyes were widened and he couldn't blame them.

The entire car was painted in blood practically. There were dead White Fang littering the floor, these ones were in worse condition than the ones right outside. Some of them were killed relatively fast from what Jaune could tell but a lot of them were hacked up more, like they were missing parts of their torso or they were even cut clean in half and some of their organs were leaking out onto the floor. Then of course there was all the blood, it was nauseating. Jaune actually saw some that were just burned, blackened corpses, Kamui's work no doubt, oh Oum the smell too. It smelled of either burning flesh or blood. The worst part though was that his friends were still in the room and they weren't done.

"Ah!" Jaune watched as Ruby cleaved her scythe across a White Fang's chest once before she twisted around and hacked his head clean off, blood spurted from the stump where his head was as the head itself fell down somewhere around the room. Then she twisted herself around and rend another grunt's head off cleanly before she kicked the body down. Then she slammed Crescent Rose into the ground and fired right into an unsuspecting grunt, whose head had a large hole in it the next moment after she fired. Then she ducked under a grunt's strike and sunk her scythe's blade into her chest before she lifted her off the ground and slammed her body into another one of her fellow grunts that died soon after, by a shot from Ruby's Crescent Rose as blood rained around Ruby like rain. Jaune might have called that pretty if it wasn't blood. Ruby herself didn't look like she was enjoying or hating what she was doing; she just had a determined look on her face as if she was fighting Grimm. Jaune couldn't believe he was seeing sweet innocent Ruby doing that though. She was just dancing with her boyfriend a few days ago!

"Wai-ah!" Jaune's heart cracked a little as he saw Pyrrha stamp her foot onto a grunt's chest, causing the poor grunt to cry out in pain before Pyrrha drove Milo right into her chest. Unfortunately the grunt didn't die right away and she let out a gasp of pain but as if Pyrrha was deciding to have mercy or just feeling violent, she stomped on her throat as she drove her spear in deeper. Thankfully the grunt died a little bit after that as she stopped moving. Pyrrha held a grim expression but it wasn't like the expression Yang or Blake held when they were fighting. It was more like a resolve.

"Ple-ahh!" Jaune's eyes widened as he saw Kamui slice a poor grunt, clean in half with Yato, blood spilling onto the ground plentifully like there wasn't enough on the ground already. Another grunt tried to sneak up on him rather fearfully but Kamui just flicked his sword towards the grunt and knocked their weapon from their hand before his hand lit up with fire and he swiped his hand and sent out his flames, burning at least five grunts with his semblance. Jaune's ears rung with the sound of their screams even if they were short lived, he literally saw the grunts burn to ashes. Then one brave White Fang sprung through the flames and tried to stab Kamui with his blade but Kamui stepped out of the way and grabbed the grunt's arm. The grunt cried out in pain as he dropped the sword, Kamui was crushing his arm apparently. The grunt fell to his knees and stared up at Kamui, Jaune could just picture the fear in his eyes. Then Kamui raised his sword and cut the grunt down with a slash from his shoulder down to his hip, severing the two parts. Jaune almost wretched himself like Weiss still was as Kamui held up the part of the grunt's corpse that was still attached to the arm he was holding. Kamui threw it into the flames as he turned to them slowly. The flames cast a large shadow over him and his face was obscured, only his smoldering orange/gold eyes stared at them, Jaune felt his skin crawl since he thought he saw…hunger and glee in those eyes again. It was only for a moment though since the flames died down and Kamui adopted a frown, Jaune just assumed it was the light playing with his mind again.

"Took you long enough…" Kamui said softly, there was no humor in his tone though. Ruby wiped down her "baby" and she had a guilty look on her face but Jaune had a feeling that was more because they saw her do what she did. Pyrrha was the one that looked a little shaken though she took it in stride, she wouldn't meet Jaune's eyes until she started approaching him though. Jaune barely registered Weiss stand up after she finished putting her rations on the floor of the train car. Jaune stood up as well after Weiss pulled him up. She used him as a standpost now and Jaune could feel her trembling still.

"What…happened?" Jaune rasped out, his voice felt horse like all air was just dry even though it shouldn't be. Kamui just turned his head away slightly while the two girls looked a little embarrassed or nervous.

"Ruby!" Yang shot forward and caught the little red girl in her arms as if she hadn't seen her in years. She held the girl's head in her hands and forced her to look at her even as Ruby tried to fidget her way out of her hold.

"They…they wouldn't get out of the way…" Ruby mumbled and Jaune still felt his throat tighten. He was really surprised that he hadn't thrown up yet.

"They left us no choice…" Pyrrha added as he looked at Jaune, she was pleading for him to understand.

"But…Ruby…" Yang choked a little bit and Jaune couldn't blame her. If he ever saw any of his little sisters doing what he just saw, he'd be reacting the same way.

"Why?!" Yang finally screamed, nearly making Jaune jump out of his skin. She clutched onto Ruby like she was about to disappear. Jaune looked to Kamui again but he wouldn't even look at him. For a moment everything was silent except for Yang's small sobs. Then Kamui broke the silence after a minute or so had passed.

"Look…whatever feelings you have about…what you saw or whatever disgust you feel. Push it down now, I said it before, I'll say it again. None of that matters now, what matters is that we stop this train from attacking Vale, now!" Kamui cut in rather curtly. Jaune was surprised at the rather heartless way he was pushing them all; the others seemed surprised too.

"You…" Yang let go of Ruby, her eyes red. Jaune was worried she was going to attack Kamui but before she could, Ruby got in front of her and Blake grabbed her and held her back.

"Yang! He's right, we have to focus on the mission now," Blake pressed, recovering surprisingly fast. Yang actually stopped struggling thankfully at her partner's words.

"Yang, please…just wait until we get out of here, please," Ruby pleaded. At that point Yang's eyes returned to their normal color and she let out a loud huff and Jaune let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in until he heard Weiss do the same thing, next to him. At that moment he also noticed that Kamui's hand left his sword's handle at Yang's submission to his order.

"Just until we finish the mission and save Vale…" Yang echoed and Kamui nodded.

"I promise…" he said and Yang nodded before she shook her head.

"We need to move, I don't know how much time we have left now," Kamui said quickly.

"Ren and Nora are hanging back to cover our rears," Jaune added in, trying to aid in pushing everything along. He didn't exactly understand why but he felt like he should place his trust in Kamui explicitly at least for now. Yes…he would deliver them from this foul place wouldn't he?

"That's good, we need to move fast and we can't afford to dally too long," Kamui said.

"We shouldn't be too far from the engine car," Weiss chimed in, apparently finding her nerves again. Jaune didn't feel like he had recovered from the sight but the fact that they had a mission helped him at least try to get back on track.

"We better get going then!" Ruby said as she grabbed Kamui's hand and started pulling him off towards the next car. Zwei stuck his head out of her backpack again and gave off a little affirmative bark, was he in there the whole time they were on the train? Yang and Blake followed after them silently, having steeled their nerves apparently.

"We'll talk later," Pyrrha told Jaune softly before she rushed after the others. Jaune shuddered slightly at the look Pyrrha gave him, she was afraid he would see her differently. Though he kind of was unfortunately.

"Come on Jaune," Weiss said as she grabbed his arm and tugged him along. Jaune didn't even realize that he was still frozen to his spot. He didn't even feel his injuries anymore really except for a small sting in his side that was basically nothing.

Despite their sluggish time in running after Ruby and Kamui, they managed to catch up to them fairly quick as they were making their way through the next car, which was actually empty. Thank Oum, Jaune was in no mood to go through another slaughter even if he wasn't participating. Jaune was surprised that Weiss was still holding onto him since he could clearly walk and run on his own but he wasn't complaining, after what he saw he kind of needed it to keep himself from thinking about the slaughter he just saw. Weiss might have been thinking the same thing. It wasn't until they got to the next car that everyone came to a stop.

"It's her…" Yang said quickly. In the middle of the car was a rather short girl but Jaune recognized her just like the others. It was the girl with the Neapolitan hair- style and the kaleidoscope eyes that seemed to change every time she blinked. Jaune shivered when the umbrella-wielding girl looked right at him and she gave a rather soft smile and winked at him flirtatiously, just like before. His face flushed again and if he didn't feel Weiss squeeze his arm and knock him out of his embarrassment he probably would still be blusing.

"Go I got her!" Yang shouted as she cocked her gauntlets and marched in front of their pack. It was obvious it wasn't up for debate. Kamui, Blake and Ruby just agreed and silently ran around the pair, the Umbrella girl didn't even move to stop them at all.

"Good luck, Yang," Pyrrha placed her hand on the blonde's shoulder for a moment before she turned to Jaune and Weiss and nodded towards the door. Jaune managed to move first this time; more because the Umbrella girl scared him and this time he pulled Weiss along as he followed after Pyrrha. Jaune tried not to look at the ice cream colored girl since he felt her eyes on him as he ran by. At least she didn't try to stop them. The moment they passed the door though, Jaune heard the firing sound of Yang's gauntlets.

The others were waiting for them in the next car. The moment they saw them they started on their way but before they got to the end of the car, Blake and Ruby ducked under two blades that were meant for their necks and got away from their attackers. Both attackers were clad in cloaks and White Fang masks, Jaune thought the bigger one was a guy and the smaller one was a girl. The girl was wielding two little knives while the guy was holing a sword, though even Jaune had to admit that his stance was horrid. Kamui caught one of the assaliants by their wrist when they tried to slice him with their blade. Then he grabbed the attacker by their shoulder and pulled them into a knee before he threw them into a wall. The other one tried to attack Kamui while his back was turned but before their blade reached him Pyrrha surged forward and slammed Akouo into the attacker's side, pushing them into another wall.

"Go I'll handle them!" Pyrrha yelled as she threw the attacker she pinned into the other one before she drew Milo and adjusted into her stance. Jaune didn't even have time to say anything before Weiss pulled him forward after the others.

"Good luck Pyrrha!" Jaune managed to say as he passed her. Her eyes found his and she gave him a small smile in the one moment they had before he passed by her.

Ruby shot forward and opened the door as Blake and Kamui passed by and she herself ran in after Jaune and Weiss passed by her. Jaune heard the door close behind them but he ignored it, he couldn't worry about his friends for now. Pyrrha was a champion fighter; she could take care of herself. Yang could handle that ice cream colored girl too; she was at least twice her size. Unfortunately before Jaune could think about it longer, another cloaked White Fang dropped down in front of their pack. She held out a black gloved hand, which lit up in an orange color before a big plume of flames shot towards them. Jaune's eyes as certain demise or third degree burns surged towards them.

"Not so fast!" Kamui shot forward in front of Ruby and Blake and held his hand out to the flames and dispersed them with his hands to the sides, sending the flames away in a cone like way around Jaune and the others. Jaune could feel the heat of the flames even though they didn't get too close to him. Then Kamui shot his fist forward and launched his own fire plume at the White Fang. The woman twisted to the side and like the flames were little more than a beach ball, she pushed it into the side of the train car, scorching it. The White Fang then ground herself and took a tight martial arts stance, facing Kamui.

"Go…I'll handle this one. I have a little score to settle with this one, anyway…" Kamui said as he adopted a tight stance as well.

"Be careful, Kamui…" Ruby said a little hesitantly. Jaune saw her reach out to touch him but she stopped before she could like she couldn't. Then she shook her head and adopted a more serious expression.

"Kick her butt, Kamui!" Ruby said proudly and Jaune almost laughed since she managed to do it in her cute way again. Blake was silent but she nodded before she ran around the pair about to duel.

"I will…now go…all of you…" Kamui said passively. Jaune shared a look with Weiss and she nodded as they made their way around the fire users, thankfully Blake held the door open and they all piled through, leaving the Rider of War to face his adversary alone.

Thankfully the person in the next car was standing right in the middle of the car when they entered it. Jaune was starting to get annoyed by all the enemies that were jumping them. Except this guy was pretty menacing if Jaune was any judge. Unlike the last three, this guy was very big, like almost seven feet tall big with big muscles. He wore a improvised White Fang uniform but that wasn't what Jaune was worried about. It was the chainsaw sword that he was hefting.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, his voice was rough and low like something straight out of a movie almost. Jaune sighed softly in annoyance, though with his luck this guy was probably weaker than all of the others he bypassed.

"I got this one," Weiss said as she finally let go of Jaune's hand and unsheathed her blade to face the chainsaw wielding White Fang. Blake and Ruby just accepted it and ran off. The big guy didn't let them pass though, he took a swing at them. His chainsaw flew through the air towards the two girls. Ruby easily avoided it with her semblance, speeding past him, while Blake let the man hit her, but it was one of her clones and she actually ducked and slipped beneath his legs and ran for the door after Ruby. The large man grunted in annoyance but he chuckled as he turned to face them.

"Well then…looks like I get to kill a Schnee…" he said rather viciously. Jaune grit his teeth a little at the way he seemed to stare at Weiss. He didn't feel like he should leave her by her lonesome against someone like him. Even if he'd just be little more than an annoyance to the chainsaw maniac. He had to stand and fight at some point, everyone had to do their part here.

"Why didn't you run, Jaune? I would have covered for you," Weiss said off handedly. Jaune shook his head as he drew his sword and formed his shield on his left arm.

"I doubt I would be any help against Torchwick up in the front. Ruby and Blake got it handled. I think you might need my help more," Jaune said confidently even though he was shaking in his boots. He expected Weiss to say some kind of insult or even scoff but she just made a small humming sound before she actually laughed.

"Thanks, Jaune…" Weiss said and Jaune was so surprised by the compliment that he barely registered the fact that she actually smiled at him, genuinely. Jaune didn't have much more time after that since the large White Fang in front of them let out a roar as he charged at them.

"Die!" he shouted as he hefted his big chainsaw/sword around like it was made out of paper. He was surprisingly fast, despite the way he looked. He wasn't faster than them though. Jaune moved out of the way rather easily if he was any judge as the large man brought his chainsaw down where he and Weiss were standing. There was a loud ripping sound of metal as the man's weapon hit the floor. The man seemed to know that Jaune was the weaker one so with handling that should have been difficult, he pulled his chainsaw from the ground and directed his next strike towards Jaune.

Jaune reacted on instinct and lifted his shield. Normally he would have sunk his feet in to tank the blow like Pyrrha taught him but he didn't want to even entertain the idea with a weapon like that or the strength it took to use the thing so effortlessly. The moment Jaune touched the ground after his dodge, he dug his feet into the ground and with as much strength as he could muster he swiped his shield at the attack to try and parry it. Thankfully months of practice had drilled the motion into perfection. Jaune grit his teeth as his shield met the chainsaw, he could feel the rigid force through his whole body in the small moment his shield collided with the chainsaw. The motion worked perfectly, the chainsaw was flung away from him. The man let out a surprised grunt as he was knocked off his posture. Jaune's eyes narrowed as he swung his sword at the man.

"Got you!" Jaune thought confidently as the motion rang true. His sword connected with the man's torso in a diagonal slash across. Jaune grit his teeth as he felt the rough barrier of the man's aura but he still managed to cut through and slice through the man's clothes, into his flesh, it wasn't deep but it was a cut nonetheless. The moment he finished his slash though, the Fang grabbed his head with one of his hands and lifted him up rather easily.

"You little brat!" he shouted. Before Jaune could even react he felt himself swung around before he was thrown. Fortunately Jaune was used to getting tossed or knocked around and he had learned to land better. When he hit the ground of the car he rolled to spare himself some of the pain. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of room in that car and his back hit one of the walls with a thud. Jaune bit back the cry of pain. He felt his side flare up again at the impact. He shook his head and looked up to see the Fang turn to him and raise his weapon at him, the wound he inflicted was bleeding but it didn't seem to be slowing him down. Jaune rose to his feet and raised his shield and sword in his usual stance. But before the Fang could do anything, Weiss sprung in and took his legs out from under him with one of her usual lunges.

"Ah!" the man's aura absorbed the blow but he was still knocked off balance. Weiss activated her semblance again and just like with the Boarbatusk in Port's class months ago, Weiss created a dome of her glyphs around her target. Then with amazing skill and speed, she sprung from glyph to glyph, slashing the Fang again and again. With every hit, another wound appeared on the Fang, who was helpless to the assault; even his aura did little to stop the assault with that kind of magnitude. Jaune could do little but stare as the heiress took the no doubt more experienced man with amazing skill.

"Hiya!" Weiss ended her spectacle with a big slash over the man's shoulder, adding a rather grievous gash to the man's already cut up form. The man's clothes were worse for wear and soaked in his own blood. Weiss turned to the man and flicked Myrtenaster to send the blood off of it. Surprisingly her blade was the only thing that got touched by blood.

"Urk…" the large man fell to his knee, catching himself with one hand before he fell over. His chainsaw was still now, not revving at all. It was only used to further help the man not fall over.

"You'll be fine as long as you stay put, I avoided hitting anything too fatal. You won't be fighting again anytime soon," Weiss said as she sheathed her sword and turned back to Jaune. The blonde knight let out a breath of relief and moved to congratulate her but before he could, his eyes widened and Weiss froze upon seeing his expression change.

"You little Schnee brat!" the Fang's chainsaw revved up again for a vengeance as he stood despite his injuries. He lifted his weapon up again to strike Weiss. Jaune knew that Weiss didn't have the best defense when it came to taking blows. A slash from a weapon like that would cut through her like butter or worse!

"Weiss!" Jaune sprung forward on instinct and instinct alone. He jumped in front of her and blocked the chainsaw directly with his shield. It was all a blur after that, he just wanted to protect his friend. He felt himself push the attack away with a shrug of his shield and then he slashed upwards. He felt no resistance nor heard any sound but he vaguely felt some liquid hit his body but he ignored it. The Fang reached for him and Jaune stepped to the side and slashed it, barely paying it heed. Then he bashed the Fang in the face with his shield and followed it up with a stab, right through the man's chest. The moment he finished the strike, all his senses came back to him and he blinked rapidly, feeling quite feint also.

"J-Jaune…" he heard Weiss whisper behind him. Jaune finally realized that he had his sword driven through the large Fang's chest and that his blood was covering his hand. The more terrifying thing he noticed was that the man wasn't moving at all. Jaune quickly pulled his sword out and stepped away as the man slumped over and didn't get up. His blood began pooling around him at an alarming rate. Jaune looked at Crocea Mors and saw that it was covered in blood and he looked back at the corpse fearfully. It was different from before when they were rushing to save Ruby, the man looked so…destroyed.

"…I" Jaune could barely speak as he took in the fact that the large Fang's corpse had a large gash across his chest and that his right arm had been severed at the elbow. Then of course there was the hole made when Jaune ran him through. Jaune looked down at himself and he felt his heartbeat quicken when he saw that his clothes had been caked in blood, even more blood than before when they rushed through the White Fang earlier in the underground. He looked towards Weiss, and he felt his entire being chill when he saw the fear in the blue eyes of the heiress. Jaune felt dizzy suddenly, he heard something hit the ground and it wasn't until he looked down that he realized that he dropped Crocea Mors. He suddenly felt weightless and it wasn't until he heard Weiss yell his name that he realized that he had fallen. He didn't even feel the ground, he just felt dizzy and tired. He welcomed the darkness that followed after, anything to get away from the cruel reality at least for now.

Kamui's POV

Kamui ducked under a fireball and shot out one of his own towards his opponent. Then he moved to the side to avoid a larger fireball and he cupped his hands together and fired a large plume of fire at his opponent. His eyes widened when he saw the masked girl put her hands together and like a blade and split the stream of flames, sending it past her, not even licking her body. Kamui bit back a curse and ceased his attack but before he could do anything else she launched a large fireball at him. He grit his teeth behind his lips as he dispersed a fireball aimed at his face by reached into the fireball and pulled it apart, throwing the flames to the sides. He glared at his opponent, the girl that nearly incinerated his friends. She quickly followed her last attack up with an even bigger fireball that filled up the entire car. Kamui felt the heat even before the attack came. There was no way to dodge it.

"Fine then…" Kamui didn't flinch and took a knee and slammed his hands into the ground, creating a wall of fire in between him and the fireball. He grit his teeth when he felt the flames collide but he powered through and sent the wall forward towards his masked adversary, he knew it wouldn't stop her though. He rose from his knee and formed two orbs of fire in his hands. Then he brought his hands together as he shot them forward in a twisting motion. The two fireballs turned into a giant one that brought the heat of the car up sharply to the point that Kamui was sure the metal of the car was starting to melt. He smirked slightly when he saw his wall of fire disperse to reveal his enemy. She had her arms outstretched to either side and he was sure she was surprised by the incoming attack since she just brought her hands up to try and stop the attack. She managed to stop the attack in its tracks and Kamui grit his teeth in annoyance as his vision turned a little red.

"Just die!" Kamui shouted as he shot his arm forward in a twisting motion, creating an even larger twisting plume of fire that he fired at his enemy, fully intending to incinerate her where she stood. His desire to kill her intensified every moment that she refused to fall. His nature as Rider of War was pulling at him, hard to just lose it and go on full instinct. A pull he barely managed to hold back, he longed to let himself fall into the flow of combat fully but he knew he couldn't do it there, not with his friends so close.

"Die…" Kamui thought as his flame collided with the first plume, igniting an explosion. He didn't even cover his eyes as the explosion blew the roof of the car and the walls off, leaving just the floor and parts of the wall. Most of the smoke dissipated due to being exposed to the air outside and the fact that they were on a moving train. There was still a lot of smoke though despite the motion and the space.

"Did that do it?" Kamui thought as he stayed on alert. He looked around; smoke didn't hamper him like it would hamper others. He didn't even move so he wouldn't tip his opponent off if she were still alive. He listened in for anything but other than the sound of the wind, he didn't hear any movement. Then suddenly his senses screamed at him and he ducked under a flaming kick. He could feel the heat against his neck as he ducked. He dove forward, hearing something slam into the ground where he was.

Kamui rolled onto his feet and turned to his attacker only to move to the side to avoid a flaming fist meant for his face. He grabbed her arm and tried to deliver his own fire punch but she jumped over him. He watched her as she delivered a kick, sending a fireball from her foot but Kamui just tilted his head to the side to dodge it before he rushed her. He ducked under another of her flame attacks as he closed in on her. He tried to punch her but she moved to the side and grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. Kamui grit his teeth from the counter but he caught himself by placing his hand on the ground so he could cartwheel onto his feet. The moment his feet touched the ground he turned and did a straight kick towards the girl, sending a fireball towards her but she smacked it to the side before she rushed him this time. Kamui felt strangely gleeful despite his growing desire to kill this person. Only Pyrrha had brought this kind of feeling out in a spar but that was four years ago and he wasn't trying to kill her.

Kamui scoffed as he knocked her punch to the side before he punched her gut but his eyes widened when he felt her hand catch his fist. He grit his teeth as he tried to strike her face next but she caught that hand too and wouldn't let go. He was more surprised that she was strong enough to hold him over the fact that she caught his fists. Kamui glared at her masked face, he would rip that off before he killed her, it was rude to do otherwise. He found himself a little drawn to her mask though; it wasn't exactly a White Fang mask now that he could see it better. It was a darker color and it was shaped a little smother than the rest almost like the faceplate of a helmet more than a mask.

"It's nice to see you again…I wondered when I'd see you again after the CCT Tower…" the girl spoke. Her voice was morphed a little but Kamui only chuckled darkly. So he was correct in assuming that it was the spy he and Ruby found the other night.

"So it is you…I thought so…that's why I wanted to fight you. I wanted to settle what you started…" Kamui said confidently. Then a small blade made of fire extended from his hand that she was restraining in front of her face. She actually flinched and backed away from it. Kamui smiled as he did the same with his other hand and using her surprise to his advantage, he struck. Unfortunately he didn't hit her as decisively as he thought he would but he did score hits. His flame dagger near her face only skimmed her mask, making a little black line where her cheek would be. His dagger near her stomach hit skin.

"Ah!" the girl actually let out a pained yelp, however fast it may have been. His flame dagger cauterized the wound right away so he didn't see any blood but from the way she clutched her side, he must have struck a nerve. He closed in and slashed at her with his flame daggers again. His first slash missed and his second only skimmed her cloak before she jumped away from him. He still pursued her but she materialized a black sword in her hand and he quickly leaned back out of her strike and back flipped away from her. He summersaulted in the air a few times before he landed on top of the car behind the one they fought on. He dispersed his flame daggers and he smiled at her again. He felt a familiar presence for a few moments and he turned his head towards one of the cars behind him and he smiled slightly before he turned back to girl in front of him.

"You should feel proud, only four others have made me resort to using my semblance in such a manner," Kamui said, panting lightly from exertion. He felt elated and annoyed at the same time that he met someone who could actually force this much out of him like Ruby and the others. Even then this was the first time in awhile that he used his true semblance to such a degree. Still though, obviously this fight would not be decided by their skill with their semblance's as his masked opponent proved. There was nothing that could replace the feeling of locking blades with an opponent after all.

"Let's see what you can really do, Rider of War…" his opponent taunted as she twirled her sword around in her hand expertly. She wasn't even holding her side anymore, a superficial wound at worst probably. She probably only grasped her side since she didn't expect him to actually cut her. Kamui hopped down back onto the car and he unsheathed Yato.

"Oh don't worry…I will…" Kamui thought as he held his sword in his usual stance, pointing the blade towards her with both hands on the hilt. His opponent twirled her sword in her hand once more before she materialized a matching sword in her other hand. She pointed one of them towards him in a beckoning manner while she held the other one at the ready. Kamui took a breath as his eyes locked onto his opponent, his focus tuning to just her and their immediate surroundings. The moment he let his breath go, they began.

Kamui let himself go into the heat of battle again the moment his sword met one of hers. Sparks flew every time their swords met. Kamui felt even more elated with every clash as the fight went on. It must have only been a few seconds but to him it felt like hours. This was a dynamic dance that he had only experienced when he was pushed to his best. Even then it felt deeper than usual, like he really was being forced to his limit, in his mortal form anyway.

Kamui deflected a strike to his neck with a simple flick of his sword and then he parried her other sword with a strong slash of his own. Then he brought his sword down towards her head but the masked girl simply tilted her head out of the way before she brought both her blades up in a cross lock onto his sword. Kamui pulled his sword away and moved to the side and met her two blades with his own. Her swords slid against his, causing a large array of sparks to fly into the air. His eyes followed her though as she harmlessly passed him. He slashed at her back as she passed but she slipped under it and stabbed towards his face with one of her blades. Kamui tilted back out of the strike, though she managed to cut a few strands of his white hair down and he parried her other blade aside when she tried to follow up. His eyes locked on where her eyes would be on her mask and he was sure that she was mirroring the glare he was directing at her. They continued that dance for what felt like hours. Neither of them were able to gain an advantage, their swordsmanship was almost completely even…except for one thing. Kamui was far more ruthless…

"Time to end this…" Kamui thought. Kamui slashed horizontally, forcing his opponent to block with both her blades. He noticed her arms buckle ever so slightly as she held his slash back. She tried to back away but Kamui moved his foot to the side, sending a wave of flames towards her side. She moved the other way suddenly to dodge the flames but her footing was off now. His eyes narrowed as he slashed through, sending sparks into the air and breaking her guard. Caught off guard, she tried to regain her footing but Kamui wouldn't let her. He shifted his foot forward again, sending a small wave of flames to her feet, forcing her to take a step back or be set on fire.

"Now!" Kamui closed in and brought down a hard vertical slash. His opponent held up her blades to block but he caught her at an awkward angle as he slid his blade down her swords. While he didn't fully break through, he managed to strike one of her arms, his blade cutting through like butter. Before he could completely sever the arm though his opponent jumped away. The arm he cut, dropped her sword as it turned back to dust, the arm itself wasn't cut too badly but it still hung loosely at her side. He could see the red of blood leak down her arm and hand as it dripped onto the ground. To her credit she didn't cry out and held her other sword out towards him, defiantly. Still though, it was obvious he had won.

"Impressive…very impressive…surprisingly so actually…" she commented as she lowered her sword, Kamui could detect some exhaustion in her voice. Kamui returned to his usual stance but he stayed in a more relaxed version of it.

"How about I hear your name and see your face before I send you to the other side?" Kamui asked. The girl actually laughed at his statement and before he could do anything else, the girl with the tricolored hair and the two White Fang that Pyrrha was supposed to be dealing with just appeared behind his opponent. Kamui's eyes widened and he grit his teeth, of course, that midget's semblance could make her virtually unnoticeable, especially since he was too caught up in his "fun".

"In due time, Kamui…in due time…" she said simply as she backed away. Kamui growled and lunged at them, he wouldn't let them get away especially if their presence meant what he thought it meant.

"None of you are going anywhere!" he shouted as he shot towards them. The tricolored girl's eyes turned from their usual brown and pink to just white and the other two White Fang flinched as he closed in. The moment his blade connected with the fire girl's neck though she shattered along with the rest of them. His eyes widened, it was just like before when Roman got away. He grit his teeth and let out an annoyed growl.

"Next time I'll have your head! All of them!" Kamui shouted angrily into the air. He panted for a few moments as his blood cooled down. After a few minutes he sighed in annoyance but he sheathed his sword and crossed his arms in thought. Who the heck was that? And she seemed like she knew him already. He wasn't secret knowledge but still, she sounded like she actually knew him and her semblance…it was just like his. That wasn't right, unless she had that much dust imbued to her clothing, no that wasn't right, there was limits there, limits that a semblance outstrips easily.

"Kamui!" broken out of his thought, the young rider turned to see Yang and NPR rushing towards him. Yang looked a little worse for wear but she seemed fine, her mother probably bailed her out, Kamui thought he sensed her nearby. Pyrrha looked slightly disheveled by was tiptop other than that. Ren and Nora were exactly the same as when he last saw them.

"What happened?" Yang asked in wonder as she looked at the mess he made of the car.

"Just settling a score. I won but before I could press the advantage that tricolored girl and the other two-cloaked White Fang showed up and bailed my opponent out. I can only assume they're out of reach now," Kamui said in an annoyed tone. This was exactly why he tried so hard not to get too lost in fights; people could sneak up on him if he had too much "fun". He couldn't help himself though, he never could.

"What about the others?" Pyrrha asked.

"They went on ahead," Kamui said and the moment he finished, Yang ran by him, no doubt eager to help her sister.

"Let's go, they might need out help!" Kamui said as he quickly ran after the blonde, the others following behind him. He'd worry about everything after they averted imminent invasion.

Ruby's POV

Ruby and Blake quickly entered the engine car only to disperse when a dust round was fired at them. Ruby was all too familiar with the type of shot fired at them. It was from Roman Torchwick's cane. She'd been shot at and hit by it enough to recognize it by now.

"Well well, little red and the cat come to try and save the day?" Torchwick said with disdain. Ruby narrowed her eyes and brought out Crescent Rose to bear against the criminal mastermind.

"We're going to stop this train!" Ruby shouted. Torchwick looked like he wanted to laugh and that made Ruby a little mad. Thankfully Blake shut him up by charging after him while he was focused on her.

"Whoa there!" Roman ducked under her sword and delivered an uppercut to the girl but he struck one of her clones. The real Blake had ducked and delivered a kick to the man's chest, sending him flying.

"You little brat!" Roman landed on his feet and fired his dust rounds at Blake, who easily dodged them. While he was focused on Blake though, Ruby closed in.

"Laugh at this!" Ruby shouted as she used her semblance to basically teleport right in front of him, her scythe raised for the attack. Roman actually seemed surprised but when she struck he managed to block her attack with his cane. Ruby narrowed her eyes and fired Crescent Rose, sending her back but she pulled Roman's cane with her at least partially. She didn't pull it out of his grasp but she did knock him off balance before he pulled his cane out of her scythe's grasp. Ruby used this to her advantage and thanks to constant training against Kamui and Pyrrha she easily twisted Crescent Rose around while she was in mid motion and fired it off again, sending her back towards Roman before he could realize what she did.

"Hiya!" Ruby brought both her feet up and delivered a two-booted kick to the criminal's face. She heard him let out a pained yelp and then she used his face as a springboard and jumped away as Blake rushed in under her. Roman glared at them and blocked Blake's strike again and tried to grab her head but when he did, Blake phased away, leaving a clone but this time her clone turned to ice, catching the criminal's hand inside.

"What?!" Roman tried to pull his hand out of the ice sculpture but he didn't have to. Because Blake did it for him by kicking through the ice, nailing him in the jaw.

"Ah!" Roman grasped his jaw with his now free hand but before he could raise his cane up, Blake moved away and Ruby rushed in with her semblance. Ruby aimed for his hand holding his cane and in one motion, she slashed his wrist with her scythe. She made sure not to sever the hand though; she just cut it deeply enough to make him let go of his cane. It should have unnerved her that she knew how to do that but she did. It was similar to when she fought Grimm, just a little softer since there was no bone armor in the way. Ruby saw red stain his coat, so she knew that she cut him even before she noticed the blood on her Crescent Rose.

"Ah! You little…" Roman did let go of his cane due to his injury but before he could say anything else, Blake kneed him in the gut, taking him down to the ground.

"Enough!" Blake shouted as she stamped her foot down on the criminal's chest as she pointed her sword at his face. The criminal mastermind seemed genuinely surprised but he actually laughed despite the fact that he was in pain from Ruby's attack.

"You think this will change anything, Blake? What about you Little Red? Even if you stop the train in time, you'll all be trapped here with the Grimm. Think you can stop a few thousand Grimm just by yourselves? Not like it matters…we're almost there anyway…" Roman taunted rather gleefully despite the situation he was in. At that point the console in the car started beeping erratically. Ruby's eyes widened and she looked towards the console of the engine train to see that their destination was coming up much too fast now. They were going to hit the wall to Vale…

"I guess the good guys do lose sometimes hu-umph!" Blake stomped on Roman's face before he could even finish his sentence, knocking him out. Ruby shared a look with her Faunus teammate and Ruby groaned as she stamped Crescent Rose into the ground.

"Let's get up top!" she ordered and Blake nodded as they left the engine car and went up on top of it so they could see what was happening. Sure enough in the distance they could see a wall at the end of the tunnel…and it was getting closer by the moment.

"Ruby! Blake!" Ruby's heart jumped for joy when she turned to see her sister and the rest of the group coming towards them. They all looked relatively untouched aside from the small black marks on Kamui's armor and the bruises on her sister's arms. She noticed Jaune looking a little out of it, he was even leaning on Pyrrha for support now and he didn't look like he was moving too well, the other thing was that he was covered in blood and Ruby shuddered since she didn't think that was his. She shook it off though since she still had a mission to finish.

"Yang! Guys!" Ruby shouted joyfully as she went forward to hug her sister before she ran to Kamui and gave him a deeper hug.

"You alright, Kamui?" Ruby asked as she pulled back to look at him. Kamui smiled a little tiredly and he nodded. Ruby couldn't recall him ever looking tired from fighting anyway. That person he fought must have really been something to make him actually show exhaustion like that.

"Just a little winded, I'm sure the others feel worse than I do though," Kamui responded. At that point Ruby looked at Jaune again, now that he was up close though he seemed really really out of it like he hadn't slept in days.

"He'll be fine, we just need to get him out of here," Pyrrha said as she held the blonde knight up rather possessively if Ruby was any judge. Weiss seemed a little put off for some reason but before Ruby could ponder more, Blake cut in again.

"The more pressing concern is that there's no way for us to stop the train now," Blake cut in quickly before anyone could talk more. Ruby looked back at the fast approaching wall, they would hit it in a minute or so at this rate.

"We'll have to prepare for impact…and for fighting afterwards. We'll be on our own still for a while and there will be a lot civilians out there too probably…" Kamui said as he unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the car. Everyone else started preparing themselves as well. Nora just clung to Ren and he wrapped his arms around her and everyone else was latching onto each other too. This would be a hard thing to take after all… Ruby felt her nerves bunch up again like at initiation but she swallowed them down.

"Weiss, put up ice barrier around us," Ruby ordered and her teammate nodded and stabbed her rapier down, creating a sort of shell around the whole group. Ruby clung onto Kamui as she braced herself and she felt someone else latch onto her, everyone had bunched up together.

"Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, Jaune! When I give the command, release Dragon Vein! If we time it right, we could lessen the impact we feel! Only do it for a second though! I'll handle the rest!" Kamui shouted.

"Right!" Ruby answered, she thought the other three answered as well. She saw the wall coming up through the ice and she clentched her eyes shut as she clung to Kamui tighter; the other people who were holding onto her tightened their hold as well.

"Now!" Kamui shouted and Ruby immediately flared her aura up as she summoned up Dragon Vein. She felt the immense drain of aura on her but she put it up like she was asked to. She felt weightless again as she forced the space around her to lessen its pull on herself. She probably kept it up longer than she was asked to but she didn't care. She dropped it whens he realized that she was supposed to drop it fast. She felt exhausted again, using her friends as support for her so she wouldn't fall. She opened her eyes at that point to see that Weiss was slumping on her sword for support and she almost gasped when she saw that they had already crashed through the wall, she didn't even feel it! They were gliding through the air and towards the ground at a gentle pace as if they were a glass. She felt Kamui shaking and she looked up to see that his eyes were closed in concentration. He must have been trying to hold their shield together with his Dragon Vein as well. Ruby was worried though since she knew that using Dragon Vein depleted reserves of aura fast, how much more would it drain if he used it to an extent like this?

"Uh…" Kamui gasped when they touched the ground, their little ice shield remaining intact. Ruby felt before she saw Kamui's Dragon Vein reside and then she felt the Rider slump against her, tiredly. While Ruby was feeling drained herself, she still managed to try and support him.

"Weiss…drop the ice," Ruby panted, tiredly as she supported her boyfriend who was somewhat leaning on her and his sword. Weiss must have been really exhausted still since she didn't even answer back as she dropped their little shield. Ruby's eyes widened when everything around them hit her senses finally.

The first thing that Ruby noticed was that they were in the middle of Vale, specifically near the heart of the kingdom itself. The train had sprung up right through one of the main squares. The next thing Ruby noticed was the sound of the siren, signaling an attack on the kingdom…along with the screams of the civilians that were around them. Then finally, the chilling roar of the Grimm hit her ears but what really got to her was that it wasn't just one Grimm that roared, it was a large number of them…

"Oh…shit…" Jaune said, apparently he got ahold of himself during their little crash. Ruby normally would have gotten on his case for cursing but…she agreed with his assessment considering the amount Grimm that poured out from the hole in the ground. Grimm of multiple species aside from the big behemoths she saw near Glenn poured out into Vale. The civilians panicked the second they poured in but thankfully the Grimm seemed to ignore them at least for now, in favor of the tired group of kids sitting in front of the hole…