In one move, in just one moment, soldier morale was destroyed. The specialists from Atlas, those that arrived here knowing the risks and believing them to be worth it, all began at once to start losing morale. All in one moment, when Colonel Winter Schnee's head was parted from her body.
As her body crumpled to the ground, Ruby gave it no further mind and turned her attention toward the one on the ground. Slowly, she lifted her sword, reversing her grip on the alabaster blade. As she prepared to plunge the blade down into her once friend, a light coming from the side caught her attention. Looking over, panic set in as she quickly jumped back. Where she stood, the ground was gouged out and smoking. Ruby glanced toward the source, though she'd already recognized that sort of attack.
"Get away from the Colonel's sister!" Standing at the other end, her arms out surrounded by several circling blades, was Penny. Her face, instead of showing the same despair the other soldiers had, showed only determination and some anger.
Ruby had once seen that very attack cleave a Bullhead in half, and it could likely do far worse to her considering Penny was stronger than back then. Cutting her loses, she instead opted to look back toward Pyrrha who was now just starting to sit up. In one fluid and swift move, Ruby hurled her sword like a spear through the air, toward the unprepared and surprised Pyrrha. Before she could react, the blade pierced her chest and embedded itself through her and into the ground. As Pyrrha lay there still somewhat alive, her eyes vacantly looked at Ruby, fear and terror obvious in them.
"I. . . I don't. . . P-ple-" As her eyes began to well up with tears, and blood still steadily poured from the wound in her chest and dribbled from the corners of her mouth, Pyrrha slowly and quietly expired. Going out with a simple and pathetic whimper. With little fanfare, she went limp.
This, however, left Ruby in a very bad position. She had thrown her weapon away to get a kill on one of her targets. While this made her feel great, she also knew that unless she used her speed at it's fullest, she likely wouldn't make it to that weapon before either Penny blasted her, or her Uncle found a second to get a shot or two off at her. Or one of the other hunters or soldiers took the moment to gang up on the now weaponless Red Queen. As such, Ruby grabbed out one of the daggers held at her belt, and armed with just this she darted for her sword. She couldn't go full blast, especially as she had to try and get away now. As such, she simply sprinted with as much speed as her legs would allow.
"Oh no you don't!" Penny took several of the many swords floating around her and launched them all towards Ruby, perfectly in line to intercept her and strike her. Noticing this, Ruby stopped herself and took a stance, dagger up to intercept the blades. As she prepared to knock down the incoming weapons, something flew from the side and flew past each of the blades, causing them to fall right before Ruby. Looking down, she saw three small throwing knives embedded in the ground. And over from the direction they were thrown, was a sight that managed to confuse Ruby herself.
Walking over to Ruby was a man in a long coat, half of it red and the other half black. It wore a fine pair of black slacks, dress shoes, and upon its face wore a mask reminiscent of a clown or a jester. Two upside down crescents representing eyes on an alabaster mask, a single blood red tear under the right eye, and a mouth spread in a large grin. Ruby couldn't help but grip the dagger in her hand a little more tightly, not too sure what to make of this new person. As the man came but a few feet before her, he did something unexpected and went down onto bended knee before her. Even with her title as The Red Queen, this threw her for a second.
"Good day, your majesty." He said, his voice filled with reverence and respect. "We are here to help."
"We?" Ruby unintentionally said this out loud.
"Yes, your majesty." Still kneeling before her, the man raised one hand and gave a loud snap. All at once numerous people in red coats, bearing white masks and hoods came out from the various entrances and exits of the stadium. It was an almost surreal sight. Several dozen of these people entered the arena, all staring in Ruby's direction. And all at once, they all took to bended knee. "We are here to aide you."
"Wait, who are you?"
"We are people who have heard of the deeds of the Red Queen, and some of us have even been helped, or have family and loved ones helped, by your actions. As for who I am, well..." the man said, going into thought for a second. "You can simply call me Knave, your majesty. With the Colonel dead, we are here to help you escape." And standing up now, the man, Knave, pulled two large daggers from his sleeves and turned toward Penny. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth Ruby sheathed her own dagger and went for her sword once more. And all at once, the red clothed followers stood up and went after the soldiers and hunters.
Getting over to Pyrrha, Ruby gripped the handle of her sword, planted her boot into Pyrrha's face, and yanked her blade out from the body with a slight splash of blood. After having the blade removed, the body lifelessly slumped to the ground. After flinging the blood off of her blade, she removed a small object from her pockets and put it up to her lips. Giving the whistle a strong blow, Ruby again called for her transport. As she waited, she turned toward the carnage and took a quick note. Weiss was being dragged away by a group of soldiers, Penny was making her way toward Ruby now with Knave on a direct collision course with her, and the red clothed people were engaged with the hunters and giving a fairly good fight in the process.
If she'd brought her rifle, she could take Weiss out now. As it were, she couldn't afford to. But she would get another chance. Of course she would. Justice and karma were on her side here, and she wouldn't quit. As it were, she left Weiss with a dead sister. That should suffice for now to make her suffer. And she did manage to get Pyrrha, which was definitely an unexpected and yet very welcome treat.
Looking over to the Knave and Penny fight, Ruby was impressed. She'd seen Penny fight before, and her usage of multiple weapons at once made it hard for her opponents to fight her off, and yet Knave was surprisingly holding his own well. Every blade parried and knocked away carefully and accurately, and ever counter attack aimed for a spot that would be vital should they hit. His moves were precise and practiced, something that impressed Ruby as she watched him take his opponent on with seemingly relative ease.
On his end, Qrow was still holding his own against the monster that is Dinah. Well, holding his own is a nice way of putting it. He was completely on the defensive during this fight. Evading, blocking, and deflecting whatever he could. Any attempt to counter attack was met with the thick hide and plate covering over Dinah's body, rendering her nearly invulnerable here. Even by Ruby's guesstimate, it'd require a ridiculous amount of Dust to be able to put Dinah down, or at least weaken her to the point that a bunch of regular hunters could potentially beat her. Regardless, there wasn't much Qrow could do at the time, and it left her unconcerned.
Looking up, Ruby scanned the skies for any sign of her transport, and she saw a few black specks descending. She looked back to Weiss, thinking about how much she hated to leave her alive. But she got her older sister, and Ruby knew that would leave an impact on Weiss herself. If it was to let her suffer just a bit more, she could afford to leave the ice queen alone for just a little longer. Still though, she felt herself compelled to simply hold up a finger gun in her direction and pantomime a shot. Next time she'd get her.
As the first of her murder of Nevermores began to descend, she directed them to go and grab Dinah. From behind, two of them swooped in and grabbed Dinah by it's massive, rippling arms and took off. Taking a quick glance, Ruby could almost see a glint of relief in her uncle's eyes. Not that she could blame him. Once Dinah was out, and she saw a couple of more Nevermore coming down, she turned to Knave.
"We're pulling back. Make sure to get yourself out too!" Even if she didn't know exactly who he was, she still felt compelled to warn this man who'd come with people who held faith in her.
"Yes, your majesty." Disengaging from Penny, he put some space between the two of them and gave a loud whistle. At this, the rest of the red cloaked people began to disengage their own opponents and retreat swiftly from the battlefield. The enemy hunters and soldiers, all weary from the situation, and still engaged with the remnants of the Red Queen's Grimm, couldn't afford to give chase. And giving a quick glance around, Ruby even noted that none of them had been slain or captured. "Before I take my leave, please accept this my Queen." As he said this, Knave tossed something at Ruby.
"A Scroll?" She mumbled. It seemed to be a Scroll of sorts, likely done to be untraceable and for communication. It seemed that they wished to have a more cooperative relationship with the Red Queen. And it's not like Ruby was against it, especially considering how they handled themselves. She looked over to Knave, gave him a small nod, and pocketed the Scroll for later. Once the nod was received, he masterfully cut himself out of the battle and made his way out of the arena. In the end, Ruby was all that was left, aside from the remaining Grimm. "And now it's time for me to make my exit."
As a medium sized Nevermore swooped down to grab her, a burst of crimson erupted from the side of it's head, and it fell to the ground, dissipating already. Ruby already knew exactly where that'd come from, and looking over her shoulder, her fear was confirmed. Uncle Qrow. In hindsight, sending Dinah back first was a bad idea.
"No way you're escaping now." His weapon, in it's gun form, was pointed directly at Ruby. Without hesitation, she took the small whistle from her pocket and pulled it to her lips. Qrow immediately fired at her, missing only because she began to move before he could. Once. Twice. Three times she blew into it. But the bullets kept coming, and Ruby was already tired from her previous fights. Looking around, she ran toward the nearest corpse and pulled it up in time to act as protection against the latest volley of rounds. She just had to last for a bit.
As this thought came to her mind, the sound of many wings flapping caught her attention, and a smile crept onto her face. Taking a more relaxed posture, Ruby snuck a glance upward to confirm her feelings. A large murder of Nevermores were descending on the stadium. With a quick snap of her fingers, each began to hurl dozens upon dozens of feathers, each as hard as steel, down toward the stadium, indiscriminately hitting anything: hunter, soldier, and Grimm. As the feathers rained all around her, and the enemy was forced to be on the defensive once more, another Nevermore swooped down to grab her.
As she hopped up onto it's back, a loud crack met her ears, and she felt a pain flicker across her head as something crashed into her and broke part of her mask. The portion covering one of her eyes broke, and ended up slicing up her forehead a bit. Looking back once more, her Uncle Qrow had taken the chance to get a shot off despite the rain of feathers.
"Hey girly! Shoot that Nevermore down!" Qrow barked a quick order to Penny. Making his way over, he continued. "I'll stop the feathers. Shoot her down!"
Giving a quick nod, Penny switched from using her numerous blade for defense, to immediately charging up the same blast from before that nearly hit Ruby. As she readied herself to fire, Ruby flashed a look back to the two. Despite the blood threatening to get into her eye, she shot a clear glare in their direction. And her eyes, normally a beautiful and gentle silver, were of hard steel right now.
When Penny's eyes met her eye, a flash of something ran across them. The attack slowed down it's charge just long enough, her hesitation showing. It was an eye she hadn't seen in so long, one belonging to someone she once called a friend. And that hesitation almost cost her the chance to end the Red Queen as the Nevermore took off. She regained her composure quick enough tog et a shot off, engulfing the Red Queen's Nevermore mount. But unfortunately for her, Ruby used her speed and mobility to it's absolute quickest, and as Penny's attack cut through several of her murder, Ruby jumped from Nevermore to Nevermore, and once Penny stopped ordered the one she was on to leave.
"Fuck!" Following her escape, the anger she had repressed before surfaced all at once. One of her targets, Weiss, lived. Even if she could kill Pyrrha, and Weiss' sister, it wasn't enough for her. Even if those Grimm were all weak, it was still a decent number of them she brought. And from all of that effort, she only managed to get one of her actual targets. It was laughable. It was was complete bull! In a fit of rage, she slashed down with her blade, severing her current ride's head. As it's body began to gently glide down, she roared in anger to the heavens before hoping over to another Nevermore that was flying near her. "Damnit! Damnit, damnit, DAMN IT!" To Ruby, it was her loss today.
And yet, as the murder of Nevermores stopped, having mostly been destroyed from Penny and some other's return fire, it was too late. The Red Queen had already left. The Grimm were stopped, but at the cost of so many dead soldiers and hunters. On top of it all, they lost several veteran hunters and a Colonel to the Red Queen. To call it a defeat would be an understatement. Today, the Red Queen had descended onto the grounds in the middle of her enemies, took her prize, and left with impunity. Today, in the eyes of everyone who had borne witness to the situation, it was the Red Queen's complete and utter victory.
While both sides held different views and perspectives, the situation had thrown everything into disarray. The Red Queen's forces, her red cloaked followers, the hunters, and the Atlesian military. All of these had come together for a truly chaotic moment, and everything afterwards was left in ruin. And among those that left the arena alive were many who truly questioned what had happened, and why.
The Uncle who couldn't stand the twist of fate that put him against his precious niece.
The young android girl who saw a vestige of her fallen first friend in the enemy she had been told to end.
The blond huntress who was again so close to her lost sister, and yet unable to again get through to her.
The blonde hunter who again had to watch a good friend do such despicable things.
And the the white haired heiress who would wake up from her wounds only to find that one of the people she cherished most in this world was cut down for the actions she herself had performed.
Truly today, the Red Queen had won.
Author's Note
Sorry for the short-ish chapter. Don't ask how I managed this. It's an incredibly long story, and I have no time to fully tell it. I'll try to keep this quick and succinct.
Q: When is the next chapter?
A: Right here.
Q: Will Salem make an appearance?
A: To be determined.
Q: Why didn't she remake her scythe?
A: She never gathered all the pieces, and she didn't want to remake a new one. Symbolism and crap.
Anyhow, this took longer to do than expected. I generally try for 3,500 words per chapter, but this one was only 2,800. Go figure. I'll see when the next can be done, but don't expect much. Turbulent times. I'll be back when I can. The next chapter to be released will be for Re: RWBY, meaning I have no solid idea on when The Red Queen will update next. My apologies.
You know the deal. Comments, criticisms, and questions all welcome. Love you guys!
Dravyn out!