Departing Home

Beacon Courtyard:

Well this turned out to be one big mess, thought Exo as he strolled around the Beacon courtyard, slicing through a random Grimm every now and then. The giant flying dragon Grimm perched on the school is awesome and all, but all of our soldiers have retreated, the androids have shutdown, and Drake isn't answering his scroll, not that I care what happens to that panther prick.

Exo continued making his way around the destroyed academy as he thought on what to do next. Personally, thought Exo, I should probably be retreating right now too, but the only other guy I can call to confirm that is Adam Taurus, and that guy has been in a mood all day. Oh well, guess there's not a whole lot of point in putting it off though. As Exo was about to switch his scroll on, he noticed a red figure and a white figure heading towards the school. Hey, he thought as realization struck him, those two are friends with those ##holes the Ursarios, and if they're here then that may mean.

Exo looked back at the path from which they'd come, his Faunus eyes seeing just fine despite the fact that it was night time. Well I'll be, Exo thought with a sinister grin, if it isn't the two half-breeds and they look completely exhausted. Exo checked the store of knives he carried and found that they were low.

No matter, he thought, considering how exhausted they look from this distance I think I can afford to give them a handicap, but first what to do about those two teachers, Mustachio and Caffeine Green. As he thought, more black liquid fell from the dragon Grimm, which in turn became a mix of beowolves and Ursas once the liquid made contact with the ground. That'll work, he thought as he drew his blade and formulated his plan of attack.

Beacon Air Platforms:

Slowly but surely, thought Wayne as he sat and tested his injured limbs while Aegis, having recovered for a bit, was pacing around the platform in front of the airships. "Aegis could you stop pacing for a moment," said Wayne, who had managed to finally stand without feeling like he was about to collapse.

"Sorry I just hate sitting around and waiting," replied Aegis. "I know, but we're going to need at least a full day's recovery before we can even fight normally right now, and that's after our Aura's have fully recharged." "Yeah Fox already ran the numbers for me before he went to the safe zone escorting civilians," said Aegis, "One day to feel normal again, maybe two to three days at least to heal any minor injuries."

"Yep, so for right now we have to try and-oh crap," said Wayne, his eyes widening as he suddenly noticed a large mass of Grimm heading their way. "Uh Professor Port, Professor Uubleck we got a problem!" exclaimed Sun as he also noticed the oncoming swarm of Grimm.

"You kids get to the airships now!" exclaimed Port as he and Uubleck moved to intercept the Grimm, "We'll handle the Grimm." "On it," said Wayne as he picked up Nora bridal style, while Aegis did the same with Yang and Sun did the same with Blake. Velvet, who'd remained behind to help look after the injured put Ren's arm over her shoulder and helped him walk towards the airship.

Aegis was in the lead and got to the airship first with Wayne right behind him. Just as Velvet was getting to the airship, a black blade sailed through the air and landed right behind Sun. "What the," asked a startled Sun as the mercenary Exo suddenly appeared and kicked Sun in the back, causing him to fall forward. Sun managed to spin around and land on his back, breaking Blake's fall as well.

"Oh bear ##, it's Exo, you remember me right," said the mercenary mockingly as he picked up his sword. "You're here too?" Questioned Aegis as he pulled out his weapon and stepped off the airship, trying his best not to look unsteady. "Yes but only me right now," said Exo with some disappointment in his voice as Sun got up off the ground, "Drake was here but I can't seem to get ahold of him, oh well more fun for me."

"I don't think so!" yelled Sun as he swung his staff at Exo, who stepped back once, then twice to avoid the first couple of strikes then blocked the third attack, holding Sun off as he tried to force him back.

"Get Blake on the ship," Sun yelled back as he broke his lock with Exo and swung a few more strikes at Exo, who simply dodged or blocked the incoming blows. "You're a bit too injured to be putting up a serious fight," said Exo as he easily deflected Sun's attacks, "I just came here to beat down the Ursarios, not you."

"I won't let you lay a hand on any of my friends!" declared Sun as he aimed a kick at Exo's head, who blocked it with his fist. "Alright then, tell you what," said Exo as he blocked another couple of attacks, "Since you're all injured I'll give you a handicap, I won't use my semblance," Exo spun around and kicked Sun in the midsection, knocking him over, "It won't be much fun otherwise."

Suddenly Velvet leaped into the fray with a roundhouse kick aimed at Exo's head. "Why are you doing this?" demanded Velvet as she tried a sweeping kick followed up by a few punches, "This is hardly the time for petty revenge."

"For a White Fang employed mercenary," said Exo as he swung his sword at Velvet, who barely dodged it, "This is the perfect time for petty revenge." "So you and Drake are with the White Fang," exclaimed Aegis as he charged at Exo with a horizontal strike with his weapon, which was little more than a steel pole without his semblance.

"That's right," replied Exo as he blocked Aegis's attack with one hand on his sword handle and the other on the flat of his blade, "But I'm not in it for the great Faunus cause like Drake, I just like the cash!" Exo kicked Aegis back as Sun and Velvet both came charging in attacking both high and low. Exo was able to dodge Velvet and block Sun before punching Sun in the face and blocking another one of Velvet's attacks as Aegis came charging back in.

This isn't good, thought Wayne as he picked Blake up bridal style and carried her over to the airship, Blake winced in pain as Wayne set her down. Need to think of something, anything. Wayne pulled out one of his Crescent Fangs but couldn't get a clear shot at Exo with his weapon while three of his friends were trying to take him on, and even if he could, Velvet had just used her box to create holograms of Ren's weapons, Stormflower, but Exo was still in good enough condition to block bullets.

As Wayne watched, Sun was knocked down and would've lost a limb if Velvet hadn't made a blue hologram of Pyrrha's shield and sword to block Exo's blade while Aegis swung at him to drive him back. We're too tired to take him on directly so we need to hit him by surprise, and hard, thought Wayne. That's when Wayne's eyes fell on Nora's weapon.

"Nora," said Wayne, trying to sound apologetic, "I'm gonna need to borrow Magnihild for a moment." "I can take him," Nora said weakly as she tried to stand, but was quickly stopped by Wayne. "I'm sure you could, but right now you need to rest, sorry," replied Wayne as he pulled Nora's grenade launcher off her back. "It's only got three shots in it right now," said Nora groggily.

"More than enough," said Wayne as he looked back and yelled at his friends fighting Exo. "Guys knock him back as far as you can!" yelled Wayne. "We can do that," Aegis yelled back, "Guys big hits." "If you're sure," said Sun as he came in with a wide horizontal strike, which Exo blocked. "Got it," said Velvet as she created a hologram of Yatsuhashi's sword.

"Oh bringin' out the big weapons, now it's a party!" Exo yelled excitedly. Sun swung one more time at Exo, who sidestepped him. But it turned out to be a distraction as he was met by a combined strike from both Velvet and Aegis. Exo just barely managed to block as he was sent flying back. Hope this works, thought Wayne as Exo flipped in midair.

Wayne waited just before Exo was about to hit the ground before firing all three canisters from Magnihild in quick succession. Exo, caught by surprise, only had time to raise his sword up as he was struck by the first, second, then third canister, with each explosion knocking him further back until he was sent to the ground, rolling several feet away.

"Nice shootin' Wayne," said Aegis over his shoulder as he and the others backed towards the airship. "I just can't believe it worked," replied Wayne as he handed Nora's weapon back to her. "Okay," said Exo suddenly as he slowly stood back up, "Now I'm both impressed and incredibly pissed."

"Uh here," said Nora as she quickly reloaded her weapon, "You still need this." "Yeaaaah," said Wayne as he accepted the weapon without looking down at Nora. "It's been fun," said Exo as he advanced towards them, "But the Grimm I led over here are about finished off so I need to wrap this up." As everyone stood ready, a roar suddenly drew their attention as the dragon Grimm left the tower, flew back around and charged at the tower, crushing the middle section and knocking the whole top section down. Rubble rained down in all directions, some of it coming close to the air platforms.

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Exo as he dove to avoid a few large pieces of rubble landing around him. Everyone else quickly moved backwards towards the ship as a large amount of dust was kicked up. "Do you think the rubble got 'em," asked Sun. "My day was going so well up to this point," said Exo as he cut some of the rubble in front of him into pieces.

"That'd be a no Sun," said Aegis. "Now where were we," asked Exo, frustration in his voice now. Wayne looked around as Exo approached again, noting that Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck had just finished off the Grimm. If we can hold him off long enough for them to get over here, thought Wayne as he pointed Nora's weapon at the White Fang mercenary.

With a bone chilling howl, Exo charged towards them, his sword creating sparks as it was drug across the ground. He's moving too fast, thought Wayne as he tried aiming at the quickly advancing mercenary, Port and Oobleck won't get here in time. Just as Exo came into firing range, a massive tower of light erupted from the remains of Beacon tower and grew brighter and brighter until it was impossible to keep their eyes open. "Oh # ## this," said Exo in frustration. What's going on thought Wayne as he was forced to shut his eyes, what's happening?

A few hours later, Vale airspace:

Wayne sat on the airship, quickly checking his messages before returning his scroll to his coat pocket, or rather what was left of his coat. Between the Grimm, the androids, and Emerald Wayne's coat had sustained a couple of large holes, and several few small tears. Aegis's armor was in a similar condition with several scratches and a few holes in his under suit.

Both brothers remained relatively quiet with Aegis seething in silence while Wayne continued to go over in his head what happened after the light from the tower faded. Whatever that light was, it had frozen the dragon Grimm and scared Exo off, who'd used his semblance to teleport away, thinking the light might be an explosion of some sort. Shortly after that, Qrow arrived and helped them find Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby had been found unconscious and still hadn't woken up, Weiss was simply exhausted but otherwise okay, or at least she was until they discovered Pyrrha, or rather what was left of Pyrrha, her crown. Wayne and Aegis had sniffed the area over and over again, but always came up with the same thing. Pyrrha's scent stopped there, at a pile of ash. No one wanted to believe it, but the truth was undeniable, Pyrrha was gone. As for the ones responsible: Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Adam, all of them had escaped. If he hadn't been so angry he would've been shedding tears, more tears than he'd ever shed in his life, heck, he'd definitely be shedding tears later.

After finding Pyrrha's remains, they took a shuttle to the safe zone which had been established in Vale where they met their parents who'd been called to fight in the city. As soon as they arrived, Blake ran, to where no one knew, but Sun saw her go, but they didn't have time enough to worry because shortly after Blake left, Weiss's father showed up on his airship to take Weiss back.

Everyone wanted to protest, but most everyone was too tired or too injured to really do anything about it, save for Aegis, the last person one would expect to not want Weiss to go. In fact if it hadn't been for their Mom and Dad, Aegis would've broken even more androids in his attempt to keep Weiss from leaving. But in the end, their mother and father managed to hold Aegis back and convince him that he would see his friend again soon.

Finally, Aegis relented, though not without some choice words under his breath, as they watched Weiss step on her father's ship and fly away towards Atlas. After that, the only thing they could do was bid farewell to their friends as they all went their separate ways, to their separate homes.

Aboard the airship to their home, Wayne sighed with a mix of anger and sadness as he pulled out his scroll one more time, this time accessing the picture section. It's all gone, thought Wayne, the place where we met our best friends. Wayne scrolled through the numerous pictures he'd taken throughout the year, finally landing on a large group photo they had taken after the Breach incident, looking at everyone's smiling faces. This isn't over, thought Wayne as he switched his scroll off, if there's a way to stop you Cinder Fall we will find it, one way or another.

A few Days Later, Wayne and Aegis's home, the town of Blue Forge:

Wayne stood at the training area, breathing hard as he surveyed the results of the latest form of his semblance. "Not a bad start," said an Old man behind Wayne with short grey hair, dressed in brown combat boots, faded blue pants and an old brown coat with a faded wolf symbol and a pair of shoulder pauldrons. A modified crossbow hung from his back.

"You managed to melt a fair-sized hole in the iron, but you're gonna need to focus the energy even more," said the old man. "Any other advice," asked Wayne as he tried to gather more energy for his semblance, but discovered he didn't have enough to use the new form.

"Well like I've been saying the past few days, don't push yourself too hard, it won't help you much if you collapse and have to recover every day," the man replied. "Sure thing Grandpa," said Wayne as he sat down for a break. Wayne and Aegis's Grandfather had been helping oversee the next stage of their training whenever their parents had to be away from home, which had been happening a lot recently thanks to numerous requests for skilled huntsmen and huntresses, both active and retired, to help fend off Grimm from nearby villages and towns.

"Aegis," said their Grandfather, "Now's as good a time as any for lunch so why not take a break for now." "If you insist," said Aegis as he allowed the black glass he'd formed to dissipate before heading in.

"Grandfather before we go in there's something I'd like to ask," Said Wayne. "If you're calling me Grandfather then it must be serious," he replied. "The technique you tried teaching me once," said Wayne, "I was able to sustain it for a short time during the attack on Beacon." "You mean you actually used it?" Asked his Grandfather, clearly surprised.

"Yes and now I'm asking for your help to master it," said Wayne, a serious tone in his voice. "You remember why you stopped wanting to learn it before," said his Grandfather, "And you know your father will not be happy about it." "I know," replied Wayne, "But I can't be afraid of my own power anymore, if we're going to stop Cinder I need to become as strong as possible."

"So even despite the risks," said his Grandfather, "You'd be willing to learn the rest of the technique?" "You know me," said Wayne, "If it's to protect family and friends, I'm more than willing to risk my sanity and my life, so I'm asking you once more, teach me the final steps to the Aura Shadow." His Grandfather remained silent for a moment before giving Wayne his answer.

A few months later:

Wayne had hardly believed it when he got the message a couple months ago, Ruby was awake and was doing well. But what Wayne found more unbelievable was what he was doing now, as he finished packing his bags before stepping out to where the family kept their motorcycles in his full combat gear.

"You know if Mom and Dad catch up to us, they're gonna kick our # # # ?" said Aegis as he stepped out with his own bag of essentials on his back. "If you're so worried about that, stay here," Replied Wayne as he swung his leg over his bike and put the kick stand up.

"Heh, and miss this," said Aegis with a smirk on his face as he seated himself on his own motorcycle. "Just remember what Ruby said in the messages she sent us, we're heading to Haven but if we can meet up with them before then that's good too," Said Wayne.

"It'll be good to see them again either way," said Aegis as the two brothers started their bikes. "Alright," said Wayne, "Let's go hunt down some monsters." With that final statement, the two brothers gunned their engines and raced off towards Haven and whatever challenges awaited them.

End of Volume 3

At last we have arrived at the end of the volume, it took a lot of time but here we are. For those of you who have stuck with me this far, I'd like to say thanks, it's because of you all that I've posted so much of this story. For those of you wondering, I am working on a volume four for this story, so don't count it out just yet. Once again, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. 'Til next time.