The winds grew more and more violent. Dust and dirt created a light haze over around the outpost. Long hair fluttered, and skirts flew up.
"So much for your combat skirts," said Blake in her deadpan style.
"Shut up," said Weiss holding down her dress.
Amadeus and Olivia were fixed on the treeline. Each had a red eye vigilantly searching. Amadeus aimed his pistol and loosed a single round. The shot rang out and disappeared without a trace.
"It curved," said Olivia, "Haven't seen that in a while."
The earth shook. A large crack snaked across the ground. Small towers of hard, jagged stone rose and fell.
"Haven't seen that in a while either," said Amadeus watching the earth, "They're as strong as ever."
"And there they are," Olivia pointed with her sword.
A pair of shadowy figures calmly walked out of the shadows with a gloomy song on their lips. The silhouette with her flowing purple gown was the first to emerge. She donned scaled silver armour beneath her bosom and on her forearms. She unfolded her elegant fans, releasing a small cloud of fire and ice. The devilish smile she had made her empty obsidian eyes all the more frightening. The wind around her was calm and serene. It blew her black hair gently.
Beside her was a towering broad brute. It was covered in battle scarred plate armour head to toe over a layer of rusted mail and cracked leather. His helm was missing. The hunters gazed upon his pale face. Stone eyes stared back at them through scruffy brown hair. Every step he took was followed with a small tremor. Massive maces pulsed with bright lights when his hands clenched around the hilt.
"She's missing," said Amadeus.
"Huh?" Ruby pointed to the silhouette, "She's right there."
"Let's hope she's late," said Olivia ignoring the novice, "Do we wait for them?"
The brute pounded his foot into the ground. Everything shook violently. JNPR and RWBY lost their footing. Olivia and Amadeus held firm. The steel door of the garage flew from its hinges in a rain of stone and shrapnel. An upbeat rhythm and melody jolted out of the jury rigged speakers. For all the doom and gloom that was before them, the music was just an added insult.
"Nevermind," said Olivia.
BANG! BANG!
Ruby rushed a pair of shots toward the abominations. The silhouette waved her fan and the winds replied. Ruby's shots flew around the pair and crashed into the trees.
"What's the plan?" asked Jaune.
Amadeus and Olivia nodded. Their silent conversation was quick, but a thousand words had been exchanged. Memories from their failed mission. Shadows of the comrades they lost. The lives of those with them now. Everything that hung in the balance. Everything was exchanged to create this perfect plan.
"Stay alive," said Amadeus.
The abominations charged forward in a storm of wind and stone. The hunters accepted the challenged and dropped to meet them. No retreat, no surrender. Fight or fall.
"Let's go!" ordered Ruby.
Everyone let out a bellowing battle cry as they followed the hunters. The brute stomped his foot and shattered the earth beneath them. Dirt fell into a sink hole, threatening to swallow them. Instinctively the teams leaped in their own fashion. Nora with her hammer. Weiss with a glyph. The brute tapped his foot and small stones shot up from the sink hole. A nuisance at best, but the annoyances made the novices flinch as dust flew into their eyes. Olivia and Amadeus closed theirs and effortlessly maneuvered through the dust storm.
Then the silhouette giggled. She twirled and spun, creating a multi-coloured storm cloud from her fans. The winds whirled and blew the storm toward them. Ice and fire mixed with earth. Lighting arced and flared with the booming thunder. High, low, left, or right, there was no escape from the storm.
Jaune and Phyrra raised their shields and braced for the whirlwind. Rocks and stones crashed against the shields. Fire turned the metal red, ice made it cold and creak. The shields sparked when the lighting struck. Their arms went numb first, then their shoulders. The beating of their hearts sped up, threatening to burst. Muscles twitched and tightened as power coursed through them.
Burns, hot and cold, scalded the exposed skin of their friends. Stone knocked them to the ground. Bolts of lightning impaled them and arced from body to body. JNPR and RWBY were barely in the battle, but they had already suffered.
The hunters paid no attention. They weaved past every stone and rock, burst through the blazing fire and into the soothing ice. Lightning danced around them as they moved. Even with eyes closed they saw every attack before it came. When the storm had past they opened their eyes. Crimson. Both eyes were burning crimson. The continued their charge, undaunted and unwavering.
The brute blinked.
BANG!
Amadeus fired a shot. Wind picked up the shot and carried it up and away.
BANG! BANG!
As the wind blew another pair rang out. The same wind picked them up. Red and blue streaked across the forest. Sparks burst from the brute's pauldrons. His armour had been dented, one shoulder glowed red, and the other stained with dark icy blue.
Amadeus loosed the last three shots at the silhouette. No wind saved her, nor did the earth resist. She grinned and stepped gracefully. The first shot flew to the left. She raised her arm to let the second pass beneath her weeping fan. The third made her lean back in a beautiful dip.
A singing blade slashed. Strands of black hair fell to the ground. A closed fan swiped upward with a thin edge of blue. Olivia let the keen blade swish by her ear as she retracted her sword. A moment sooner and the head would have been hers.
CLANG! BOOM!
Olivia raised her swords and parried a heavy mace. Dark blue light flashed. Snow fell around them and the earth shook. Olivia was about to fall to a knee when she forced the mace aside. The silhouette was about to strike. Amadeus slid between them and pulled the silhouette aside. Light flashed. The bang of the revolvers was the rhythm to the beat of the maces. Swirling clouds and stunning streaks danced to the melody of the swords. The four masters stepped in perfect time. Four shadows swirled and danced in the flashing lights.
"We have to get in there," said Yang.
Phyrra took a knee and aimed down the right. Her crosshair traced the brute and fixed on his exposed head. Just as she was about to pull the trigger the forms would shift. Amadeus' head dropped into the sights. Olivia's chest followed. The silhouette appeared and faded behind a fiery shroud.
"I can't get a clear shot," said Phyrra.
Nora's thumper let out a series of dull thuds. Pink tipped grenades screamed through the air. The teams gawked at bubbly orange girl.
"Look –"
Without even looking at their impending doom the four targets quickly separated and dealt with the bombs. A plume of hard stone shielded the brute. Amadeus' amazing accuracy shattered a pair before it even got close. The silhouette's trick winds hurled another pair high into the air. Olivia gracefully dodged hers, letting it fly over her and splinter the tree behind in a cloud of pink. As soon as Nora's volley was finished the four figures quickly jumped back onto each other.
"Don't just stand there," said Jaune hopping past, "We have to help them!"
"Right!"
The novices entered the fray with a flurry of strikes. Blake's black blades wrapped around the combat with its long chain. Phyrra and Jaune focused on the brute. Their swords lashed out and were quickly parried by the extending and retracting maces. Yang jumped between Amadeus and the silhouette, much to his annoyance, and began kicking and punching without thought or reason. Fiery clouds from the fans were doused by the snowy storms of Weiss. Steam and smoke began to shroud the area. Nora and Ren were never far apart. Ren was constantly in the air, thrown up by the tremors and carried by the wind. He flew around the shadows, slicing and shooting as he saw fit. Nora battled the brute with tremors and quakes of her own. Scarlet black Ruby darted in and out of the fray. Crescent Rose flashed in the swirling battle.
For all their effort and might and spirit, the novices were scarcely a match. Subtle winds threw their attacks toward their allies. Amadeus and Olivia had no problem dodging. They always seemed to be two steps ahead no matter where they faced or stood. But many a time Jaune and Phyrra hastily raised their shields to save their heads from Ruby's scythe or block Yang's wayward fists.
"Let! Me! Hit! You!" shouted Yang at the silhouette.
Her target giggled and waved her open fans. Lighting arced from the edge and leaped across Yang's body. The feeling was identical to when Amadeus shot her. Yang twitched and grunted, frozen to the spot. The silhouette closed her fan and a sharp earthen blade with a molten edge.
"Oof!"
A heavy kick knocked Yang aside. Singing blades cut through the fan's stiletto. The silhouette flipped backward as a bullet flew beneath her. Amadeus pulled Yang up and twirled her. The blonde wanted to rush forward but the hunter stepped into her path.
"You're in my way!"
"Shut up and start swining."
"Fine by me! YAAARRRG!"
Yang threw fist and foot with all her might and without regard for the hunter in front. It wasn't of any consequence. Amadeus let the punches roll over him and unleash its flaming breath behind. Amadeus danced around the kicks, expertly stepping with Yang to let her solid kicks through. As Yang boxed around the hunter, Amadeus shot through every opening he could find. His hands were a blur as they darted in and out and around Yang's body.
Yang gasped when a cloud began to take shape, but Amadeus remained cool and collected. When the cloud began to become a storm and Yang unleashed a punch Amadeus stepped. Subtle movements pulled Yang forward and forward and forward. Her momentum was never wasted. Her vigor created chaos in her attacks. Left, right, centre, quickly, slowly, furiously, calmly. Yang's attacks took them everywhere, but never into the storm. They were always in the eye. The perfect, still, calm eye.
"Damn it," grumbled Blake, "I can't get to them."
A surging tempest crackled with the elements. Its cutting winds threatened to hurl the torrent to the four corners of the earth and sweep everyone with it. The cloud was dark and flashing, and contained within were two hunters against the odds.
"Don't worry about him," said Olivia rolling over a tower of earth.
"I'll keep them safe," said Weiss hurling ice and snow to douse the firestorm, "Keep him off of me."
GONG!
"Easier said than done," said Jaune as a short mace bounced off his shield.
GONG!
Heat radiated through the shield and washed over the edge. Orange light made her wince. She fell to her knees and braced against the ground with her spear. Any harder and the impact may have broken her arm. The hot mace retracted. Phyrra slowly started to rise and lower her shield to attack. She gasped as the second mace came speeding toward her. White flashed.
GONG!
"ARGH!" Jaune groaned as his arm buckled.
His shield and arm crashed into the ground as the mace slid off like rain down a roof. Nora forced the brute away with a pink grenade. Ren and Blake fell from above and struck. Their small blades glanced off the heavy armour. Olivia got between the brute and the children. She dodged and weaved around the maces. Her singing swords sparked when the brute parried.
"You alright?" asked Jaune.
Phyrra nodded, "Don't lose focus. Keep your eye on the target."
The brute grunted as his pauldrons flew off his shoulders. Another pair of bullets soared from the swirling storm. Heavy earth flew up and shattered the bullets. Slashes and stabs bounced off of his armour. The maces extended and retracted to parry the onslaught of attacks. Nora's hammer crashed into his back and hurled him forward. Blake and Ren slashed at his legs and fired an annoying curtain of bullets across his armoured back. Phyrra thrust her spear at his head while Jaune blocked another attack. Olivia quickly seized the moment. She pressed every piston on her sword. The huntress rolled over Phyrra's shield and brought her blades slicing down. A high sweet tune joined the medium melody of the annoying speakers. The brute jumped back. The tip of Olivia's swords sliced through the heavy breast plate. His heavy plate flew open leaving on the rusty mail and old leather as his defense.
"Shit," cursed Olivia.
The brute stomped his foot and made the earth quake. Everyone disengaged before stone and rock shattered at great speed. He huffed and cast the breastplate aside. The hilts of his maces extended to its maximum length. Olivia leaped away and up into a tree. The brute brought his maces crashing down with pulsing red light.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Yang cursed as the silhouette gracefully avoided every single one of her punches.
Amadeus fired his final round to make the silhouette turn. He holstered his revolvers and the long reloading process began.
A splash of refreshing ice was caught in the trick wind. Weiss' blizzard mixed with the silhouette's firestorm. Flames flickered and died as the ice turned into steam.
"Out of sync," cursed Amadeus.
The silhouette laughed and raised her open fans. Amadeus grabbed Yang and yanked her away, amid a storm of frustrated curses and haphazard swings. Steam stuck to their skin. The heat made them sweat. Dense and long was the artificial cloud.
"We won't make it."
"What are you talking about? Let me at her!"
The crackle and twinge of electricity was unmistakable. Sparks jumped from droplet to droplet, speeding in every direction in the cloud. The sparks became arcs which turned into furious lighting. Amadeus snapped to the left and jumped, pulling Yang with him.
A wind swept them off their feed. Red and black blurred their vision. Yang hit the ground hard and rolled in the dirt. Amadeus stumbled a few steps but kept his footing.
"Thanks for the save, Ruby," said Yang.
The little hunter flourished her scythe. Amadeus stood beside her and nodded. The cloud crackled with electricity. Blinding arcs of lightning spit and shattered. Anyone inside would have anguished as their muscles twitched, their heart burst, and chest stiffened making you gasp in desperation for air. A gentle wind swept away the squall. The silhouette was standing, unabated, and smiling behind her elegant fan.
"Be more careful, Weiss," said Ruby her eyes fixed on the foe.
"That's rich coming from you," said Weiss taking her place beside her, "How was I supposed to know she could do that?"
"By watching, thinking, and making her movements a part of her own," said Ruby, "Right, Amadeus?"
He nodded.
"So what's the plan?"
Amadeus looked around with his burning red eyes.. Olivia and her group were fighting a hard battle against the brute, but did not let him get close. Yang was cracking her knuckles, ready to jump in recklessly. Weiss could do little up close, but her spells could create a lethal situation if she wasn't careful. Ruby was calm, relaxed, and seemed to stare off into the precious seconds ahead.
"Yang, take the lead."
"My pleasure."
Again Yang charged head first into battle without any regard for her life. Streaks and stilettos of ice, earth, and fire darted around her. A few bolts glanced across her exposed midriff, cauterizing the wound as it went. This only made the blonde bombshell furious. Her eyes were on fire when she began hurling attacks. There was no rhythm or reason behind the strikes. Just pure rage and anger. Fire from her fists mixed with the fans' flames. The silhouette weaved around the punches and stepped to avoid the kicks. With every attack she countered with a light dusting from her fans. Yang grimaced from the flames and ice and stumbled from the earth.
Ruby sped into combat with her long scythe. The little novice stood behind the silhouette and began her series of attacks.
"Watch it, Ruby!" yelled Yang, "You're going to cut me up from there."
Ruby didn't listen and continued to strike without hesitation. Her grey eyes darted between the silhouette and Yang's fiery eyes. To the untrained eye it would seem like Yang and Ruby were in perfect sync, but Amadeus could see the truth. Crescent Rose moved only after Yang had begun her attack and the silhouette began its move. The darting of Ruby's eyes was to find the subtle hints everyone gave when fighting. A shift in the eye, twitch in the cheek, a clenching of the hand. It was still far from the true harmony he spoke of but it was getting closer.
"Are you just going to stand here?" Weiss asked Amadeus irritably.
The hunter stayed silent. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot to the music in his headphones. Dust slowly filled the cylinders. Amadeus closed his eyes and let the battle progress at its own pace.
Weiss clicked her tongue, "Fine. If you won't do anything, I will."
Ice and snow swirled around the tip of her rapier. Runes and glyphs snaked across the earth beneath the three women. Weiss' eyes flared as the focused everything into this attack.
"Eeek!"
Amadeus yanked Weiss to the side. The spell exploded prematurely. The split second of the miscast gave Ruby and Yang a chance to leap back. The silhouette summoned a defensive cloud of fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every single round in the revolvers soared into the cloud. The bullets shattered inside the clouds and made it surge with lighting. The horrendous storms which had been the bane of the hunters had been turned against the silhouette as electricity coursed through her bodies. Amadeus holstered his guns and smirked.
The abomination shrieked and summoned a trick wind to push the storm away. Her armour still sparked. The purple gown had been torn and tattered from the improvised attack. She breathed heavily.
"Shit," cursed Amadeus.
Obsidian eyes glared straight into his crimson blue. The silhouette laughed and cackled as it swirled its fans. The summoned winds became violent and uncompromising, unlike anything they had experienced before.
The brute crashed his red maces into the ground. Cracks snapped and snaked across the ground, threatening to shatter everything beneath their feet. Ominous red light seeped out of the cracks, giving the brute a more sinister aura. He raised his maces and released a violet pulse. The novices stammered for a moment. Olivia was already searching for safety above. Phyrra let out a cry and led a hasty charge.
The beast glared at them. He crashed a mace back into the earth. Thunder boomed beneath them. The world shattered and exploded in a massive plume of flame. Burning rock crashed into their chests and limbs. The searing heat made the novices drop their weapons and fall to the ground. As the stones rose, lighting jumped from peak to peak. The brute lumbered through the firestorm, his heavy steps making everything tremble.
Amadeus immediately sought cover amid the trees.
"What are you running for?" hollered Yang, "We've got her on the ropes."
The silhouette swirled her fans around her. Mists of dust surrounded her and became caught in the horrible wind. She crashed her fans together and unleashed a terrible tempest. The winds were a gale force that even the tornados of Vale would pale to stand against.
The swirling dust reacted violently to the winds. A firestorm melted the ice and turned it into steam. Lighting electrified the droplets while the earth gave them an unbreakable form. The tempest shot out in every direction. Ruby and Yang bore the brunt. They were hurled high into the air and swept away as they suffered from the elemental onslaught. Weiss hastily conjured a spell. It shattered without so much as an ounce of resistance when the storm came. Weiss was tossed in a whirlwind. Her shining rapier ripped away from her hands and lost amid the winds.
The earth exploded beneath the storm, hurling burning rocks into the winds. The large stones crashed against the girls. The tempest swept over the brute and his foes. Where the monster faired against the storm, the novices were caught up in the winds to endure the attack their comrades had. Time had no place amid the chaos. When the storm had cleared the novices were writhing on the ground, dazed, confused, and wounded. The abominations walked around their prey, but they didn't finish the kill.
AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!
The familiar unwelcome screech of the beast pierced the air and echoed. The novices covered their ears and writhed on the ground. Olivia and Amadeus winced and strained against the sound.
"Here she comes," said Olivia.
Amadeus snarled, "We need to –"
"Yeah, I know."
The hunters quickly turned tail and ran back into the outpost. The abominations watched the veterans flee, but thought better of giving chase.
"They're leaving us behind?" asked Ruby in a hushed voice as the lay on the ground.
A bright form dropped in from the sky and landed before the novice. It was as tall as the silhouette with a more curvaceous figure. Like the screecher it had wide, sweeping wings, but it was more clean and peaceful. The screecher had black wings, like a bat. This being extended white, razor-feathered wings which glowed with a strange aura. It was like an angel had descended. Black skin, typical of the grimm, was hidden beneath ivory armour. The ivory on this being and resembled finely crafted armour. Intricate symbols, like Weiss' runes, were etched into the white surface. The grotesque bone mask was absent from the face. Instead the white shadow had a bare black face with diamond eyes. Red pulsing lines that laced across the body and face were a deep glowing blue. The face itself was almost human.
The white shadow glided across the field. Her eyes scanned over the bodies and seemed to inspect the stunned novices. It took a deep breath and began to sing. It wasn't the sweet sound of the cavatina, but a coarse, rough, tune that was eerily soothing to hear. The world began to wash away in a cloud of multi-colours. The pain receded like the tide. Ruby's eyelids became heavier and heavier until she could no longer stand to stay awake.
"Child," echoed a voice, "Can you hear me, child?"
Ruby opened her eyes. The violet shroud had disappeared and the world was before her. A world she had never seen before. Shapes and forms seemed to blend together, distinguishable only by the dark solid colours that defined them. Around the dark colours, bright and soft colours danced like butterflies. She could hear the wind, the rustle of the leaves, the steps of the brute, and the laugh of the silhouette. Every sound made new colours appear for a brief moment and disappear. Every sound and sight made her body tingle with a different sensation. Every sensation gave her a taste of foods familiar and strange.
Ruby reached out to a small object. It was black as coal and hard. A stone, it had to have been a stone. The surface was lukewarm and moist, but when she stared at the black colour she felt a hot sensation in her other hand and tasted something akin to marmite. She touched another object.
"Come to me, child and see your kin," echoed the voice, with a wave of evergreen.
Ruby followed the sound and the fluttering colours to the source. What she saw was an ethereal form surrounded by a pure light. It had wide, soft feathered wings and a full figure. Its skin was flawless and smooth like porcelain. She seemed to be dressed in a flowing blue dress, beneath which there seemed to be a slip of gold. Silver symbols covered the blue dress. Her face was warm and kind, her diamond eyes were most striking.
"You are the first to arrive, child. Have no fear. I am your mother in this place," it opened its hand, "These are your elders, greet them. Join them."
It's them!
The abominations stood before her, as if they were untouched by the unholy corruption. The life returned to their eyes. The silhouette's were emerald green. The brute's were silvery-blue. The black ooze was receded and the red veins were nowhere to be seen. Other than their eyes, they had no defining features. Their bodies were forms of colour. The silhouette was fuscia. The brute was graphite.
Ruby's companions slowly began to appear in their undefined, colourful forms.
"Who are you?" she wanted to ask.
Not a sound crossed her lips. Her clouded and weak voice resounded only in her weary, blurred mind. Instead a stream of orange wafted through the air. The taste of vanilla ran over her tongue.
"You need not speak, child. Your mother will attend to every need."
The one who called itself 'mother' began to sing. Ruby could hear the coarse voice that the drone recorded. She could hear the scratching tones and the rough melody. But it was strange. When she first heard the song, she was washed in a haze of violet. Here, in this strange world, every sense was drowned in a sea of euphoria.
BANG! BANG!
The sound made a flash of brown. Black streaked across their vision and crashed into the ground in a small burst of red. Another pair streaked, then another, then another. The bullets were wild and uncontrolled, landing near and far or soaring far overhead.
"The beasts still breathe," said the mother, the song still humming behind her words, "Children, we must go and slay these monsters. My true children cannot stand against them and they shall know no peace until they are gone. Go forth, my children."
Ruby could not refuse. Her body moved without her command, the movements fluid and smooth. She was acting almost on pure instinct. She followed the currents of colour left in the wake of the hunters. Her comrades followed beside her and together they left a rainbow behind them. Their mother soared into the air, shimmering like the stars.
The outpost was a massive blob of stone grey and nothing more. Ruby peered up at the parapets. Two shadows loomed over them. They were black as the starless light. Gazing upon their empty forms sent a deathly chill down Ruby's back and gave her a horrid taste. As they drew closer, a high pitched hum rang in their ears. Above she saw colours swirling above one of the shadow's heads, following the movements of its hands. The second shadow's hands flashed when the sound of thunder escaped his palms. The black streaks crashed around them.
A heavy wind, in a beautiful sweeping brush, swept them off their feet and carried them to the top of the outpost. The party was greeted by a furious charge and a flurry of fire.
The charging shadow, which Ruby felt in her bones must have been Olivia, crashed into the middle of Ruby and her teams. Her singing blades shimmered as they mercilessly attacked everyone in her path. Jaune and Phyrra raised their shields. Olivia cut through the metal with ease. The bronze and steel halves fell to the ground. Olivia quickly drove her hilts into the jaws of the warriors. Phyrra and Jaune flew back and fell over the side of the outpost. Blake's shite shadow, and Yang's golden body took their turn. They slashed over and around and covered Olivia in fire. Every attack they made was preceded with a slight change in colour in their bodies and a contrasting current flowing to their limbs. Olivia dodged many of the strikes, but when Weiss, Nora and Ren joined she began to parry and lose ground.
Nora smashed her hammer into the ground. The brute crashed his maces. The combined force swept Olivia off her feet and put her into a desperate situation. Swords and bullets rained around her as she frantically rolled to avoid the fatal blow.
Black streaks pierced through Nora and Blake's legs, and burst in blue shrapnel and a plume of red. Another pair of streaks broke Yang and Ren's arms. A fifth ripped through Weiss' stomach. The pain didn't seem to bother them, but they were rendered defenseless. Olivia got to her feet and followed up by slashing the tendons and hamstrings. A gust of wind swept Olivia away and pushed the bullet storm into the sky.
"Children," sang mother, "Press onward."
Their mother soared up the outpost with Phyrra and Jaune beneath her wings. The two were battered from the fall but still capable of fighting. When the mother spoke Olivia and Amadeus fell to the ground and covered their ears. Before they could recover the brute and silhouette engaged the hunters. The brute's mace smashed the metal roof, spewing shrapnel around them. Most of the shrapnel flew directly at their chest. They were lucky. Their breastplates and armour protected them from the worst. The silhouette released her icy storm and made frost seize their limbs. The hunters withdrew step by step against the song. They flailed and fired without thought.
The four figures clashed as they had a hundred times before. With unbridled rage, supreme skill, and unrelenting determination. Though they agonized under the sweet sound of mother, the hunters still possessed their skill. Neither side could truly strike the other with a powerful blow, but the hunters were more rigid.
"It is your time, red child," said mother, "Reap."