Colonel Arvaken strode purposefully into his briefing room to address what he considered his ace up his sleeve. He had already addressed his standard troops and had released them to their stations. The assault would fall upon his city in just over an hour, so he wanted to speak to this small band of highly capable fighters that he would throw into the vital engagements.
As soon has he walked in, Winter Schnee and the commander of the special artillery battery snapped to attention. Weiss Schnee rose respectfully to her feet while Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, Ghira Belladona and Kira Belladonna remained seated. The colonel hid a smile; it was good to confirm the exact relationship he had with all those under his command. He managed to quell a smirk when the bald rat emerged from Weiss' pocket, scrambled to her shoulder and also stood at attention.
"Be seated," he addressed the group, offering a scowl to those who did not rise. "Captain Tabanca, what is your status?" The colonel already knew, but he was also aware that making the review a public forum would hearten everyone in this room.
"The guns are up and ready," the burly young man told his new commander. "We have not registered them, as ordered."
"Camouflage?"
"They are covered and mounted on the disappearing mounts," the captain reported. "When extended, the guns cover the entire perimeter."
"Transport?"
"Each gun has three alternate sites with multiple routes scouted and cleared to each point. The prime movers are all operational, fueled and ready."
"And the crews?" Colonel Arvaken prompted.
"Rested, fed and standing by."
"Ladies and gentlemen, these guns are the key to our victory," Arvaken told his audience. "The enemy still has several goliaths and the fact that they are closing on this city tells me that she believes she has countered our rodent's ability to frighten them away. Only these siege canon can reliably eliminate such powerful grimm while keeping our own losses to a minimum. That's why I have assigned a team of soldiers to each, to protect them from all harm."
"Next," he now turned towards Kali and Ghira. "Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, I am placing you and your company as the reserves. I will send you to whichever point is in danger of crumbling under the attack. With any luck, we won't need your services."
"I don't understand," Ghira protested. "Adam is still out there and has probably been trying to rally his faction and the additional recruits that we know were heading into the area. If you place my company on the wall, the chances are very good that the White Fang will refuse to attack fellow faunus."
"It could very well play into his hands," Arvaken countered. "He could be trying to make everyone think that you are puppets of Mistral, willing to fight your own. I won't have a faunus civil war, that may spread to all of Remnant, start under my command."
"We came here to defend Mistral against the more radical branch of the White Fang," Ghira rumbled. "We intend to do so! You say that you have no intention of being the commander that starts a faunus civil war, but you're wrong in how you see the situation! If faunus are to die today, and I have no doubt that both human and faunus will, I would rather see my brothers fall by my hand, with me begging them to stop." He fixed the colonel with a hard eye. "A faunus civil war could very well start today, or an all out war between human and faunus could start today. There are no good choices, only bad and worse choices."
"Very well," the colonel growled back. "I'll give you the task of guarding the cannon."
"That's still keeping us out of the fighting!" Ghira protested. "I'm hoping that we can convince our brothers to not attack in the first place!"
"You don't grasp the situation!" Arvaken snapped in reply. "What is the enemy's most capable asset?"
"I don't understand," Ghira admitted.
"It isn't the grimm," Arvaken told him. "Cinder seems to be able to keep the grimm from attacking her allies, but she doesn't have fine control over them. When they attack, they attack the nearest human...or faunus."
"I don't see what this has to do with the situation."
"Cinder is no fool," Arvaken continued. "So if and when she learns that we have siege cannon available, who...or what...is she going to throw at them?"
Ghira and Kali simply stared at him.
"She isn't going to send flying grimm," the colonel informed the faunus leaders. "Sure, they can fly right over the walls, but will they be able to focus on the inanimate weapons when there are so many terrified people in the area? She isn't going to send her goliaths...that's what the cannon are here to defeat. She's going to send the White Fang; thinking assets that understand the importance of eliminating the cannon as opposed to getting easy kills."
"Once those cannon fire their first rounds, whomever is guarding them is going to be in the White Fang's cross-hairs. At that point it will be your responsibility to defeat the White Fang attack...either through negotiation or combat."
"Thank you, colonel," Ghira inclined his head, respectfully.
"You may change your mind," the colonel offered a grim smile. "Putting you at the most dangerous point in the city is seldom an act prompting gratitude."
"The next issue is the reserve force," he continued, now poking at his scroll. "I am assigning this to such hunters that are present...with the exception of Winter and Weiss Schnee, Raven Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long.
The four in question just looked at him, puzzled.
"Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna," the colonel declared. "Captain Tabanca. I am sure that you will need to get to your commands. You are dismissed to do so."
The three stood, the captain snapping to attention, before leaving the room.
"As for you four," Arvaken addressed the remaining people, once the other three had left. "While I suspect that Cinder has found a way of countering the goliaths' fear of the rat..."
"Rufus!" An indignant squeak, followed shortly by the rodent in question, emerged from Weiss' pocket.
"Very well, Rufus," the colonel managed to keep from appearing to be confused by being corrected by a talking rat. "While I suspect that...Rufus...will not be able to frighten the goliaths again, I will still make the attempt." A quick work of his scroll projected a map of the surrounding area in the air. "The last visual confirmation I had, Cinder and the goliaths were here."
A flashing red dot appeared, and a red line showed the path she had taken to reach this point.
"I had one of my airships drop low enough for a detailed examination," he continued. "Here is the video that the crew filmed before lancers overwhelmed them."
The image changed. Now, it showed an aerial view of Cinder, riding the lead of four goliaths. Each goliath had another grimm resting on its head. These smaller grimm looked like jellyfish, with tentacles spread across the elephantine grimms' heads, and even into their ears.
"Seekers," a new voice drawled from the doorway. "They're Salem's means of communicating. If anything can control a big grimm like a goliath, that's the way Salem is going to do it."
Colonel Arvaken and the others looked up to see...
"Qrow," Taiyang growled. Before the teacher could get to his feet, Raven's hand was on his shoulder.
"I don't recall requesting your presence," the colonel glowered at the newcomer.
"Hey, since I sent the hunters heading this way, at Headmaster Lionheart's request, I thought I'd be welcome," Qrow shrugged his shoulders and held up his own scroll. He walked into the room, Zwei at his heels. "I've got Leo's recommendation that I'm a pretty strong asset for this upcoming struggle, so I thought I'd give my sister and my brother-in-law a hand."
The other three hunters gave Colonel Arvaken a reluctant nod.
"So you were saying something about these smaller grimm," Arvaken prompted him.
"Yeah," Qrow produced a flask and took a small pull. "Your enemy here, Cinder, is working for Salem. Those seekers only show up when she wants to keep an eye on things, personally. I don't know if it's hard to create them or what, but you don't find them just everywhere. They're only where something big is taking place."
"Just how much have you overheard?" The colonel demanded of him.
"Enough," Qrow shrugged. "I know that you're gonna try to scatter the goliaths again, even though you suspect that it won't work. That's not very smart."
"So we shouldn't try it?"
"No," Qrow flopped into a chair while Zwei rushed over to nuzzle at Taiyang's hand. "Not trying would be stupid. But you've already lost an airship to them, what more are you willing to throw away?"
"I'm not understanding your reasoning," Arvaken confessed. "You say that it's foolish to try to turn them, yet more foolish to not."
"It's simple enough," Qrow crossed his feet on the highly-polished table. "Go ahead and try, but make sure you can get the little ice princess out of there if it fails."
"I was intending on sending these three hunters with her," the colonel snapped, glaring at the muddy boots on the table.
"Not bad," Qrow took a smaller pull. "But not very good, either. Your airship was overwhelmed by lancers, so what was your idea for getting them there and, more importantly, getting them back out?"
"I am going to have the drop from high altitude," Arvaken told him. "And I have several hidden points where they can go to wait out the battle, afterwards."
"But you already know that there are lancers in the area," Qrow pointed out. "But you just got another asset in place...me."
To his side, Raven was now glaring at her brother, but kept her silence.
"Now, I don't know what kind of landing strategy the ice queen uses, but I bet it's the same one that her little sister does; they form their glyphs to slow down their fall, landing as gently and as a snowflake. That's fine when you don't have a swarm of flying grimm all over you. As for getting back out, you know that even if the goliaths scatter again, you're gonna have grimm or White Fang all over whoever went out to meet them. They're not going to be able to get back to the city and they're not going to be able to hide. Now, not only are you throwing them away on the chance of delaying the goliaths for a short time, you're throwing away strong assets. Care to hear an alternative?"
"I'll always hear an alternative," Arvaken grated out.
"Send the folks you planed," Qrow drawled. "But don't drop them all. My brother-in-law here has a very blunt landing strategy; he just jumps and unleashes a strike on the ground when he's close. It isn't very subtle, but it gets him out of the air fast. After that, my dear sister can form a portal to Taiyang for the other three to pass through."
Rufus growled at the huntsman.
"Okay, four," Qrow corrected himself, pointedly ignoring the glares from Taiyang and Raven. "Now, I stay here. After the rat tries to scare the goliaths away again, succeed or fail, my sister can form a portal to me. That gets your team back here safe, rather than trying to fight their way out of a horde of grimm."
"I don't like strangers knowing the limits of my semblance," Raven spat at her brother.
"But it's necessary for me to know," Colonel Arvaken told her. "This sounds reasonable, and my last airship will be landing outside, shortly. We execute it. Are their any questions or comments?"
"Not at the moment," Taiyang grated out, glaring at Qrow.
"Then there's nothing more to say," Arvaken rose to his feet, which prompted Winter to snap to attention. "Qrow, you will be with me."
The others rose to their feet more leisurely than Winter had. Qrow ambled after the colonel while the others made their way to another exit. Nobody missed that when Taiyang and Qrow passed each other, the blonde man slammed his shoulder into the dark-haired man.
"This isn't the time," Raven hissed at Tai, while Winter placed herself in between the former teammates.
The major could only shake her head; this wasn't going to be an easy mission and if they got back, things were only going to get harder.
It wasn't home; in fact it wasn't even on the same continent as home, but right now Ruby didn't care. Mistral City was just visible on the horizon and she had just picked up a signal from the Haven Tower. Giving a somewhat guilty look at Jaune, who's motion sickness was acting up on the airship, she slipped away so that she could make her call with some privacy. As she dialed Yang's number, she felt an excitement that she hadn't since she had gotten her first scroll.
"Ruby?" The answer wasn't Yang's voice, it was Nora's.
"Nora! What are you doing with Yang's scroll."
"She's in the hospital...wait a minute!" The orange-haired girl suddenly realized what she said. "She's fine...but she's in the hospital."
"Those two statements don't really go together."
"Look, her robotic arm has some sort of doohickey that lets her brain control it." Nora explained. "And the doctors here need that doohickey to save General Ironwood's life. She's in the hospital so they can take out the doohickey and put it in Ironwood!"
"Okay, it's good to see Nora still has the same grip on technical matters," Jaune managed to mumble.
"Hey, I heard that!" Nora snapped. "Just get here and we can talk about it then!"
Jaune flinched.
"But...how much danger is Yang in?" Ruby asked.
"None, from listening to the doctors," Nora told her. "But the hospital has procedures that they have to follow. No outside electronics are allowed in the operating room, so Ren is in there with her while I'm in a waiting room with everyone's scroll."
Nora paused, and Ruby could hear her talking to someone nearby.
"Hey Ruby, I've got to let you go," Nora announced. "There's a boy here who says Qrow dropped him off here on the way to Kuchinashi and does he ever have an interesting story. See you soon!"
"Did it do any good?" Yang felt more than a little foolish sitting in a hospital gown.
There was no medical process required to remove her arm; she could have just activated the release and handed it to the doctor, but he insisted on following procedures. He had insisted that she gown up, then instruct him on how to release the arm from her stump. After that, he handed it to a technician to be taken to a lab and carefully sterilized before removing the transducer and installing it in the general's body cavity.
Okay, she could understand that, but the rest of the whole thing made no sense to her at all.
First, they wouldn't just give her the arm back; they insisted on completely sanitizing it before having a senior staff member release it from their possession...as if it were a real appendage. They even went so far to seal it in a container for biological waste. While Yang could understand the need for discretion in such a situation, she wondered why the hospital couldn't understand that her arm was a thing, more akin to one of her gauntlets than real flesh.
It was also depressing, as she realized that she had no idea what had become of her real arm after the fall of Beacon.
"He has stabilized," the doctor assured her, prompting the blonde to sigh with relief. Nearby, Ren and Nora had similar reactions.
"However, we don't know just how much motor function he will regain. Could you come with me please?"
He led the way out of the operating suite where she had been waiting. Once in the hall, Ren joined the two.
"Where's Nora?" She asked her quiet friend.
"Getting a surprise for you," the young man allowed the ghost of a smile to flicker on his face.
"I'm not really a patient!" Yang growled at the two men with her. "I don't understand all of this! That arm had a release...I've put it on and taken it off dozens of times! Why are we going through this canine and equestrian show?"
"Hospital procedures," the doctor reminded her.
"I thought Mistral was supposed to be the kingdom of artistic expression; thinking outside of the box," Yang complained. "Why do you have to be stuck in this mindless routine?"
"Perhaps you're right," the doctor showed a bit of irritation in his voice and on his face. "When you came in here with an injured leg, maybe we shouldn't have followed the time-proven procedures for rehabilitating you as quickly as possible. Maybe we should have just tried something new and hoped that you wound up walking again."
"I..." Yang found herself at a loss for words.
"Free expression is all well and good on the stage, the screen, or the gallery," the doctor fixed her with a hard look. "But when it comes to medicine and engineering, we're as stubborn and conservative as Atlas. Now, the time may come when robotic limbs are common, and we will adjust our procedures to take them into account. In the meantime, I will gladly put everyone through a great deal of inconvenience to assure that no infections are introduced into the general's body cavity...or your arm."
"I should have kept my mouth shut, shouldn't I?"
"Not at all," the doctor's expression softened a great deal. "Questions are how the young learn. However, phrasing your inquiry as a polite questions, rather than a compliant, would have been appreciated."
"So I came across as a whining little girl," she concluded.
"Or a nervous huntress who just sacrificed her dominant arm for a good cause," he shrugged. "Now, let's see how the general is doing."
"A question, if I could," Ren interrupted.
"Of course, young man."
"Why did you prohibit our scrolls from being in the operating room when you extracted the transducer?"
"I don't know how sensitive the electronics are," the doctor shrugged. "Or how much of a shielding effect the human body has for that particular piece of equipment. That's why I had it placed in a shielded container immediately upon extracting it."
"Of course," Ren nodded.
"That's how to ask a question," Yang nodded, then looked at Ren. "The next time I get grouchy, give me a nudge."
"You tend to respond to unexpected physical contact violently," he informed her. "So perhaps an alternative method would be better."
"We'll work something out," she grumbled.
By now, they had reached the intensive care unit, and were able to observe the general from through a window. The doctor examined a readout on a screen beneath the viewing portal.
"He appears to be resting at this time," the doctor announced. "His heart rhythm and respiration appear solid, functioning within nominal guidelines. His primary doctor intends to give him a couple of hours of normal rest before waking him...if he doesn't wake up on his own."
"When will..." Yang began to ask, only to be interrupted.
"Yang!" A familiar voice shouted from the hall, despite the overwhelming quiet of a hospital.
Yang didn't care, she spun and saw a familiar and welcome sight, her sister rushing down the hall. The younger girl wasn't using her semblance, but she was still moving at a high rate of speed.
"Ruby!" She shouted, showing no more concern about a hospital's propriety that the girl she had just named.
"Nora!" The orange-haired girl, who had accompanied Ruby, shouted, pumping her arm in triumph. Yang had just a moment to realize that Jaune was with Nora, then Ruby threw herself into Yang's embrace and wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck.
Yang wanted to chide her for running off like she had. She wanted to tell her little sister how proud she was that she had the courage to go off and look for answers. She wanted to tell the girl that she was so happy so see her, alive and well, once again. Instead, she just found herself squeezing her sister, unable to speak. Finally, she managed to set her down and hold her at arm's length.
Yang swore that Ruby had grown another inch, and that she had put on a few more pounds. The smaller girl looked weathered, the skin on her face and hands had clearly been subject to rain and wind, dirt and dust. Her clothing also looked weathered, and repaired by a huntress' hasty stitching. However, she also had a confidence about her, the air of someone who had faced real hardships, not just the ones to be found in a classroom or close at home, and had come out stronger.
"I'msosorrythatIranofflikeIdid," she blurted. "Ididn'tthinkabouthowmuchyouwouldworryaboutme..."
"Ruby, slow down," Yang interrupted. "We can..."
"Stop this altogether," the doctor interrupted Yang. "I understand that this is a reunion of sorts, but I suggest you take it away from patients that are trying to rest. I'll inform you of any changes to the general's status."
Both sisters suddenly looked timid, realizing that they had let their emotions get the best of them.
"The doctor makes and excellent point," Ren suggested. "If we leave the institution, the two of you will be free to be as enthusiastic in your reunion as you wish."
"Just the two?" Nora protested. "We've missed you guys as well!"
"Out!" The doctor insisted, prompting the five to hustle off down the hallway and to the nearest exit. Once outside, the sisters were back to their intense reunion.
"Uh...guys?" Nora requested the two sisters. "Could we do this over food? It's a little early for lunch, but we have some things that need to be done this afternoon."
"Like what?" Yang asked.
"Jaune managed to look up Pyrrha's parents," Ruby told her older sister. "He...we...are going to visit them this evening and Jaune wants to make himself presentable before we do."
For the first time since the fall of Beacon, Yang really looked at the boy. Much as Ruby, he had changed. While he hadn't gotten any taller, he had put on some weight. His hair was a little messier, so he was due a visit to a barber. His clothing had also been ripped, torn and hastily mended and patched. His armor had several nicks and scrapes, so some time with a paint can and a polishing rag was also in order.
"Could you put it off until tomorrow?" She suggested. "A full night of maintenance and rest might make a better impression."
"The last time we were here, we got distracted after the first day," Jaune told her. "These are still troubled times, so I don't want to take that chance."
"They deserve it," Ruby insisted. "We've learned that you can't put these things off. Jaune, Nora and Ren were her teammates and I was there when...when..."
Yang realized that Ruby was on the verge of breaking into tears. She immediately reached to her sister, but found that Jaune already had a comforting hand on her shoulder. Strangely, she felt no jealousy or irritation at this; she realized that for the near year that she hadn't seen her sister, Ruby must have gone through some very rough times with these three.
"So let's get some food and get to work," Nora declared, making the mood lighten a bit. "We can tell you some wild stories about our trip here if you wanna hear 'em."
"You bet I do!" Yang assured the four. "But first, I need to do something."
Before any of them could react, Yang gave Nora a quick hug, then Ren and Jaune a peck on the cheek.
"You're right," she told the confused trio. "You don't put people off. I never properly thanked the three of you for sticking with Ruby when she left, and when I wasn't up to going with her. Because of you three, I'm talking to my sister again." She draped her arm over Ruby's shoulders as emphasis.
"Hey, I'm not helpless," Ruby protested. Despite her complaint, she wrapped her arm around Yang's waist.
"So you're saying you would have been fine by yourself?" Yang challenged her.
"Well...no," Ruby admitted. "But I wasn't helpless."
"We all got each other through the journey," Ren noted. "And we all grew while traveling. However, I thought that you wanted to hear some amusing stories."
"I sure do," Yang assured him, as the five young people set a course for a noodle stand they all knew about.
"Well, let's start with a geist we fought," Ruby began. "It was in the last village we stayed in before reaching Higanbana. It had possessed a bunch of rocks. You'd think that knocking one of its arms off would have been a good move, but it wasn't."
"It was a very good move," Ren countered her.
"Not when it used that dead tree, instead," Ruby pointed out.
"Actually, that wasn't all that bad," Jaune remembered. "Until you lit it on fire." He now addressed Yang. "Fighting a geist that's using a burning tree as an arm isn't a lot of fun."
"Especially when your weapon is at the local blacksmiths, getting an upgrade," Nora added.
Yang just looked from one to another, beginning to believe that she had missed out on the adventure of a lifetime.
The wind rushed through Taiyang's hair, whistling in his ears as the ground rushed up to meet him. He would have to time this perfectly; if he didn't strike at the right moment, even a powerful aura like his could be overwhelmed by the high fall.
For a moment, just a moment, he debated not making the attempt.
The moment passed. He was still Taiyang Xiao Long, a huntsman on a mission, although he didn't know for how much longer the mission would need him. He had been doing this for a long time; he struck downward as he reached the ground, generating a shock wave that rocked him head to toe...but slowed him enough so that his landing was just jarring and not damaging. A few seconds later, a glowing portal appeared in mid air. First, Weiss Schnee stepped out, looking confused and disoriented. Next came her older sister; every bit as disoriented as the younger Schnee but not showing it. Finally, Raven stepped out of the doorway, as nonchalantly as if she had just walked into an inn to order a meal.
Or maybe to rob the place.
Winter Schnee took a moment to orient herself with her surroundings before offering the others a tight nod and stalking off on a course to intercept Cinder's last known route, drawing her saber as she walked. Her sister quickly followed suit. Raven offered him a slight shrug and he followed the two Schnees while Raven brought up the rear, sheathing her weapon.
As much as Tai wanted to disdain the two silver-haired women ahead of him, he couldn't. While they clearly preferred to wear immaculately tailored and pressed clothing, they didn't hesitate to crawl through dirt, mud and dense thickets. Winter's uniform and Weiss' combat skirt may have appeared delicate, but they were clearly made with rough handling in mind. He didn't understand why Weiss wore heels that looked like they belonged on a ballroom, but the girl could clearly move gracefully in them. Come to think of it, both Winter and Raven wore heeled boots, so Taiyang forced his mind away from the oddities of women's footwear choices and back to the mission at hand.
It wasn't going to be easy, despite what the colonel had told them. Sure, Cinder and the goliaths seemed to be alone but Tai, Raven and probably Winter knew better; only and idiot would put prime assets, like goliaths, into play without some sort of support. As much as Tai hated Cinder and, by extension, Salem, he knew that they weren't idiots. There would be smaller grimm, trusted White Fang, or maybe even humans in the area. Hence, the small raiding party was slipping through dense underbrush in an effort to get the drop on Cinder. Winter frequently updated the situation from the scroll, which was linked from the airship far above. Finally, she called a halt.
"Over this ridge," she whispered. "We'll strike the center of the goliath column."
Tai offered a tight nod of approval, mirrored by Raven. While Winter sought to frighten the goliaths, she hoped to scatter them, as well. The older of the Schnee siblings led the way up the slope, keeping low and in cover. The party maintained their formation, with Weiss following Winter, Tai following Weiss and Raven covering their rear. Winter's attention was set onto their path, selecting the best route. Her sister showed her inexperience when she failed to watch for an attack from above, and didn't see the beowolf drop from the tree above her sister.
Fortunately, Tai spotted it. The more experienced huntsman vaulted completely over the surprised girl and intercepted the grimm in the air, above Winter. He struck under its chin with a forearm, forcing the jaws shut and stifling the howl. He twisted in the air, landing on top of the creature and driving a knee into its belly. He rolled off of it just as Winter's saber split its head.
"You have to look up, as well as around," Taiyang chided her, gently and quietly. Winter appeared ready to deliver a more stinging rebuke, but clearly changed her mind due to the circumstances. Around them, low growls sounded.
"No use trying for subtlety now," Raven pointed out, with as much excitement as somebody discussing their favorite sandwich.
"Agreed," Winter stated. "Move!"
Winter sprinted up the slope. Tai gave Weiss a shove, when the girl hesitated. To her credit, she didn't stay confused for very long, running as fast as her short stature allowed. Raven and Taiyang took up positions to either side and slightly behind the younger girl. The rush drew the attention of more grimm, but the party was more than ready. Winter was a whirlwind of steel, cutting through those creatures that tried to head them off. Raven and Taiyang dispatched those that approached for the side and the party was moving too fast for the grimm to close from behind them. Then, they were over the ridge-line and facing their foe.
Cinder was no fool, greeting the party with a gout of flame. Winter was also no fool, forming a wall of ice. Backed by the Fall Maiden's powers, the flame quickly melted through the wall, but it gave the party precious time to close the distance. The goliaths turned to face the threat while more lesser grimm converged on the area.
"Weiss...Rufus...go!" Winter snapped.
The rat needed no further prompting; scampering out of Weiss' pocket and scrambling up her blouse to stand on her shoulder and blow a raspberry at the giant grimm. He then executed a series of cartwheels, from her right shoulder, across the back of her neck and onto her left shoulder, finishing by taking a knee and raising his arms to the air, as if he were a stage performer mugging for an audience.
Cinder formed her bow and launched three arrows at either Weiss or Rufus...Taiyang couldn't be sure of her target. Weiss formed a glyph in the air in their path and executed a series of back flips. Between the acrobatics and the glyphs, the girl managed to avoid the arrows. More impressively, Rufus executed a series of jumps, first bouncing off of the girl's feet, then her head, and managed to stay with her as she retreated. However, most of Tai's attention was on the goliaths. While they all initially flinched away, the seeker on each one's head pulsed with a yellowish light, which flowed down their tentacles to the where the appendages vanished into the goliaths' ears. The giant grimm turned and continued their advance.
"Cinder countered Rufus!" Taiyang bellowed. Now it was his turn to dodge arrows. He sidestepped one, ducked the second and seized the third. Spinning around, the hurled it back with the same force it had come. Cinder swatted it aside with a contemptuous expression.
"We have to leave!" Winter shouted. Another beowolf pounced on her; and was bisected for its efforts. "We can't accomplish anything here!"
Raven eliminated an Ursa with two powerful slashes, sheathed her blade, then re-drew, slashing at the air. Weiss formed an ice wall between the bandit and the goliaths...just in time. Cinder threw fire again, but the barrier held for a few, precious seconds. The other three broke for the portal that was forming. Above them, screams of fury sounded.
Tai noted griffons swooping in to the attack, but he judged he would reach the portal before they reached him. Weiss didn't have the sprinting speed that he did but Winter was ready for this. The older Schnee grabbed her sister and threw herself into a front roll, kicking out and launching Weiss towards the portal. Her aim was a little off, or perhaps Weiss' shocked reaction knocked her off course. She flew wide of the opening but Raven kicked the girl back on course. The younger Schnee would experience a great deal of pain, but she would survive to experience it.
The delay cost Winter. A griffon swept down on her but Taiyang delivered a spinning kick, knocking it off its mark and causing it to bury its beak in the ground. He managed to keep moving after his strike, lurching towards the sanctuary offered by the portal. To the side, Cinder melted through Weiss' ice wall and pulled her bow again. Tai was too far away to intervene; one arrow stuck into Winter's shoulder and another buried itself in her thigh. Although the officer was unable to keep from shrieking in pain and shock, she somehow kept moving, tumbling into the portal with Raven giving her a solid shove to get her through. Taiyang dove for it and felt the wind of another arrow hiss past his butt while another glanced off of his dust-enhanced calf. Raven grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him along, even as another griffon dove at them.
Then...they were in Kuchinashi.
Qrow was hardly the carefree fool that he portrayed to the general public; that was a persona that he deliberately showed so that most people would underestimate him. Those who had learned under him, or had crossed swords with him, knew better, but he still kept up the effort; he thrived on being dismissed lightly.
That, and it enhanced his admittedly sarcastic sense of humor.
However, when he had a mission to perform, he put in a level of work and forethought that would shock a casual acquaintance. He was fully aware that Taiyang's party...he refused to consider it Winter's party, even though she was technically in command...would likely run into extreme opposition. He knew that even though Tai was showing some eroding of his morals, there would be no way his old teammate would leave someone behind. He also knew that Raven was aware that her level of pay would be influenced by how many of this band returned, and was pretty sure that Winter wasn't about to cut, run, and leave the others to fend for themselves. He also knew that Raven's portals didn't only work for friends; a pursuer right on her heels could come through as well.
For a few moments, he let his mind wander back to what now seemed to be the carefree days at Beacon, when Team STRQ had become first the preeminent team of its year, then a legend. It had seemed so simple back then, they had been formed into a powerful team and had worked out how to combine themselves into a powerful force. Professor Ozpin had shown him a way different from murder and robbery, and he thought that Raven had realized it to. When Tai and Raven started their affair, he had thought only good could come of it, another sign that Raven was turning her back on their old life.
He shook his head and forced his thoughts back to the here and now. He had set himself up in an open plaza, conveniently close to where Colonel Arvaken had stationed his reserves. This close to the military infrastructure (Qrow flinched to use the term, even in his thoughts) it was easy to arrange for sharpshooters and medics to be on alert, close by. The roads leading into the plaza had been blocked off and soldiers were in the surrounding buildings, with open fields of fire. Preparations made, Qrow found a parasol and a comfortable chair and settled in for a nap. It was mid-morning when a familiar feeling of his hair standing up on the back of his neck woke him.
Sure enough, a red cut had appeared in the air. He kicked the chair and parasol out of the way and backed up just enough to put the perfect distance between himself and the widening hole. He heard the excited shouts of soldiers and medics in the surrounding buildings. He grimaced at that; seasoned huntsmen didn't waste time and breath by shouting, everyone should be rolling without the noise.
Moments later, Weiss flew through the portal and hit the ground hard. While he gave her credit for keeping her grip on her weapon and scrambled to her feet, he noted that she hadn't kept moving. She wasn't an idiot, she just needed time and experience to become a true huntress...assuming that the experience didn't get her killed.
The next through the portal was Winter; the older Schnee managed to keep her feet and stumble forward, despite sporting an arrow in a shoulder and another in a thigh.
"Medic!" Qrow roared, grabbing the huntress and pulling her out of the line of travel from the portal. For a moment, he flinched, chastising himself for shouting for assistance, when he had just mentally chided the soldiers in the area for not being silent. He consoled himself by telling himself that he was only compensating for the non-professionals around him. He set her on the ground as gently as he could while keeping an eye on the portal.
Next came Taiyang, hitting the ground and rolling hard to his left, shouting that they had griffons coming through. Raven was right on his heels, diving and rolling to her left, just like the old days of Team STRQ.
No semblance is perfect; in a perfect world, Raven's semblance would allow her to create a portal to anywhere she had seen, or to anyone she had known. At the very least, she would have more say in whom she could portal to. Another problem with her semblance was that the portals didn't shut down immediately when she willed them. They always remained open for several seconds and Qrow admitted that he wasn't enough of a scholar or philosopher to determine why. All he knew was the practical aspects, which was a hot extraction, like this was, often let the closest pursuers follow. Sure enough, a flying grimm burst through the portal and seemed completely confused with its new surroundings.
Qrow was in no mood to watch the thing; while he didn't much care for Winter Schnee, she was on his side and was wounded. He activated the lever on his sword and rushed forward, Harbinger's familiar rattles as it shifted into scythe form reassured the man. Before any of the soldiers could react, Qrow jumped and slashed, splitting the creature in two. Not waiting to see it dissipate, he turned to note that a medic had already reached Winter. He turned again and kept his eyes on the portal for the endless seconds it took to vanish. With the doorway to danger gone, he sauntered towards Weiss while he allowed his scythe to return to its sword form.
"Winter..." she gasped, sheathing her blade and rushing towards her sister. Qrow caught her by the arm.
"Medical professionals are seeing to her, right now," he told her, when she struggled and was ready to protest. "Unless you're a better medic than them, you'll only be in their way. Wait until they call for you."
For a moment or two, she looked like she was ready to draw her weapon and fight her way to her sister, but she calmed before doing so. She was young and inexperienced, not stupid. She nodded, so Qrow released her. After noting that she stood a couple of steps back from where the medics were at work, showing as much patience as an eighteen year old could (and admittedly more than he would have at that age) he turned to the more difficult task.
While his sister regarded him with the same, slightly antagonistic expression she had favored him with for nearly two decades, Taiyang glared daggers in his direction. Heaving a large sigh, he braced himself for a very unpleasant experience, knowing that he very well could have stepped over the line that the blonde man was willing to forgive, and walked forward to face the music. Colonel Arvaken showed up and interrupted it.
"What happened?" He asked the two hunters who had just arrived.
"The goliaths are no longer frightened by the rodent," Tai told him, after glancing at Raven and receiving a shrug, indicating that she'd rather have him talk. "When Rufus tried to frighten them, they flinched, but the seekers started glowing and they didn't flee. Cinder didn't take our attempt very kindly."
"How is the team?"
"You can see that Winter is wounded, badly," Tai snarled. "The rest of us only have some scrapes and bruises."
"Very well, I need the two of you to join with the faunus company."
"Was it worth it?" Taiyang snapped at him. "You nearly got us all killed, on the off chance that it would delay the goliaths! Was it worth it?"
"Yes!" The colonel snapped at the huntsman. "Had this mission succeeded, the goliaths would have been delayed, maybe several hours! If you haven't noticed, we get stronger with every hour that passes! Now, if you want to pocket you lien and leave, do so! If you want to continue your employment, go to the faunus company and prepare for action! This isn't finished yet!"
"Very well," Taiyang sighed. "I've pledged to this mission, I'll finish it. I'll earn my lien."
For a moment, the colonel looked like he was ready to say something. In the end, he merely nodded.
"I'll come along," Qrow announced. "You don't have to pay me for it. I'll collect the ice princess once she's sure her sister will recover."
"You're good at that," Tai grumbled at him. "Another child put into the firing line."
"Maybe we should get this aired out right here," Qrow snapped back, arms crossed and looking his old teammate up and down. "You got a problem with me telling Ruby that the answers might be found here. Okay, I'll give you that beef."
"Telling her that the answers might be found here," Taiyang mimicked him, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Try manipulating her into taking a long, dangerous trip across two continents! Try telling her about the out-of-the way routes, where nobody asks questions, but making sure that a party of students would be alone and vulnerable."
"Maybe this isn't the place to discuss this," Qrow grumbled.
"Why not?" Tai spat. "You said we should get it out in the open!"
"Because she did what she did, I was able to send one of the enemy's top agents running for home!" Qrow countered him. "And you were able to track him to her. We know where Salem is at, thanks to your daughter."
"Thanks to you manipulating her into it," Tai countered him. "Tell me, did you tell her about Tyrian and Salem before she left? Did you tell her that she could have caught a ship directly to Wind Path, but you needed her out between the kingdoms and vulnerable? Did you tell her the only reason she was making the trip was to be bait?"
Qrow couldn't answer; couldn't bring himself to meet the other man's eyes.
"Didn't think so," Tai snarled. Turning to Raven, he said, "let's go earn our lien and get out of here."
"Now wait a minute," Qrow charged forward, catching Taiyang's arm. "I did what I had to do! I did what I did because I care for the world, not just for a young girl that I love as much as if she were my own daughter!"
"And giving her a choice in the matter might have meant that she wouldn't play her part. It might have meant that she wasn't a little puppet on your strings!" Taiyang roared back, pointedly removing the hand from his arm.
"It was the right thing to do!"
"Did I ever sound like that?" Taiyang demanded of Raven.
"All the time," she confirmed.
"Dust! I'm beginning to see what you went through!"
"But what about your other daughter?" Qrow growled. "Why did you try to keep me from telling Yang where to find her mother? Who was keeping the truth away in that case?"
"It's a different case and you know it!" Tai protested. "Raven's dangerous, you admitted it yourself."
"I'm right here, you know." Raven pointed out, with a roll of her eyes.
"I wanted to make sure that Yang was ready before she left to search for her," Tai continued, as if Raven had never spoken. "I didn't trick a sixteen year old girl, with three companions who weren't much older than her, into being bait!"
"I went with them myself!" Qrow roared. "I put myself at risk to protect those kids!"
"Just like you protected the Fall Maiden," Taiyang snarled.
That was it. Qrow was never known for keeping his temper and that one hurt more than he cared to admit. The memory of Amber, barely breathing, in his arms after those three had fled made his vision turn red. His fist was on its way to Taiyang's jaw before he thought about it.
He connected; sort of. Taiyang may have dedicated most of the last two decades to teaching, but he still spent enough time in the field that he wasn't about to get caught flat-footed. He rolled his head with the punch and his left fist came up in a blur. It was all that Qrow could do to parry the strike away and dodge the follow-up knee. Then...it was on.
For just a split second, his right palm itched to grab Harbinger's hilt, but he rejected the notion even as it appeared. He might be angry enough to beat Taiyang into a pulp, but it would take more than heated words to make him draw a blade on the other man. Qrow was the better huntsman; the years spent on missions for Ozpin had hardened him well beyond the typical huntsman. If he drew his weapon, he could beat the angry blonde man...but it wouldn't be easy or without cost. There would be no defeating Tai...he would have to inflict serious injuries to stop him. Unwilling to do so, he found himself facing the man hand-to-hand and against Taiyang Xiao Long, that was a losing proposition for anyone.
Still, he was determined to get his shots in.
Qrow lashed out with a kick, which Tia blocked to one side so Qrow used the momentum to spin and throw a back-fist. Tai parried that one up and stepped in close. Qrow's reaction time meant that he only took a glancing shot to his kidney, but it reminded him just how dangerous an unarmed man could be. His return punch glanced off of Tai's shoulder, but the time and effort the blonde had to put into making sure it didn't catch him on the chin gave Qrow the time he needed to set himself.
He had a chance to come out on top; the first shot he had thrown had caught Tai on the right eye and it would soon start to swell. If he could keep to Tai's right, where his vision would start to go cloudy, he had a chance. Idly wondering why the bystanders weren't breaking up the fight, he launched a blistering series of punches and kicks.
Of course, Tai was ready for them. The teacher seldom blocked strikes; he parried them slightly away from his body and launched rapid counter-punches. Qrow was skilled enough that nobody could avoid all of the strikes; but Tai was more than capable of getting his own in. While Qrow was up to facing the man's punches and kicks, he had somehow forgotten how Tai had woven grappling into his style. He remembered it when Tai accepted a punch to the stomach, stepped in close, clenched him up and drove two knee strikes into his gut before Qrow could break free. The aging huntsman was winded, but not so winded that he couldn't force himself to keep up the punches and kicks, preventing Tai from closing in and finishing him off. He forced himself to smirk at his opponent, trying to fool him into thinking that he wasn't hurt.
He didn't know if Tai was fooled or not...probably not...but the blonde man took the offensive, slipping in to deliver a combination then backing off quickly, only to advance again. Qrow was kept off balance despite his superior reach, unable to rest enough to catch his breath. His opponent accepted a shot to the gut in return for landing two, hard elbows in return. Qrow got one in to the side of Tia's head but got tied up again, catching a knee in the gut and another to his chin. Seeing sparks, Qrow tried his last trick, feinting at Tai's left side before dashing to the man's right.
Of course, the bastard was waiting for just that move.
Taiyang didn't just bock the punch; he caught the wrist and pulled Qrow in very close. Before the huntsman grasped what was about to happen, his ankles had been swept out from under him, he was face-down on the ground and Taiyang was on top of him. Tia's arm went around his throat and the teacher's legs hooked Qrow's. This was no sophisticated, carotid artery choke, Tai was too angry for that. This was a brutal, crude, rear-naked choke. As his breathing was cut off, Qrow remembered that while aura protected against cuts, stabs and impacts, it didn't protect against the slow pressure that closed off the windpipe.
"You arrogant bastard!" Taiyang hissed in his ear. "You couldn't protect the Spring Maiden, with all her powers, from that bunch but you decided you would be enough to protect Ruby!"
Qrow had to admit that the man had a point, but the undeniable logic of the argument wasn't as compelling as the fact that he couldn't breath, couldn't dislodge the very angry father and his vision was already getting hazy.
"Enough!" A familiar, and usually unwelcome, voice snapped.
Tai absorbed an impact that Qrow felt, then his grip loosened. Something...or someone...struggled to pull the man off of him and Qrow helped, rolling over, getting his feet between himself and his assailant and kicking the man away. Gasping for breath, he lurched to his feet but suddenly gravity decided to act sideways, sending him stumbling backwards to find himself leaning against a wall. He looked at the structure and sure enough, saw a black glyph, that pulled at him, on the surface. Looking forward, he saw Weiss standing directly in front of him, rapier drawn. Farther away, Taiyang was climbing to his feet with Raven, hand on her hilt, keeping in between the two antagonists.
"Are the two of you about finished here?" Raven's voice was pure ice.
Qrow's temper was up; he was tempted to continue the altercation but he was too much the professional for that. Taiyang wasn't his enemy; his enemies were currently swarming towards this city. Continuing the fight would only erode two blue-chips in the defense.
Besides that, at the moment he would put even lien on the ice princess being able to take him.
"I've had enough," Tai grumbled, although the look he gave Qrow told the huntsman that the altercation would have a verbal phase before too much longer.
"I'd rather fight grimm than a teammate," Qrow told his sister.
"Just as well," she scowled between the two men. "Scouts have spotted grimm closing in at this time. It looks like Cinder's going to wear us down with common grimm before throwing in White Fang or the goliaths. If we're going to earn our lien, Mistral is going to have to win this fight."
"It's very unusual for Kim to want to talk to all of us, at the same time, in person," Wade told his hosts. "Of course, she should be in any minute."
"Did something happen during her mission?" James Possible asked the young man. The rocket scientist was trying to act casual, leaned back on his sofa with a newspaper, but it was clear he wasn't reading.
"If anything dire happened, she would have told me when she requested the meeting," Wade told him. "Besides, I have her chipped, just like Ron. If she had been seriously injured, I would have known."
"So she must have learned something," Anne Possible concluded. "Something that requires the three of us to take some action."
The brain surgeon's musings were cut short when the front door opened, admitting the subject of the conversation into the house.
"Mom, Dad, Wade, you're all here," she noted. "Good."
"We're always here to help out," James told his daughter. "You know that, so how was the mission?"
"Rough," Kim answered, flopping onto a chair. "But that's not the reason I needed to talk to all of you."
Kim took a few moments to either catch her breath, or maybe to gather her thoughts. Anne noted that her daughter looked like she had just gone through a rough day; the young woman sported minor bruising and scrapes on her face and arms, and several tears in her mission gear. However, she waited patiently, knowing that Kim would tell them what was on her mind as soon as she was ready.
"I saw Ron again," the heroine told the three and pulled a small object out of a pouch. "He gave me this." She tossed the device to Wade. "As near as I can figure, that is what passes for a smart phone where Ron is at, this Remnant place."
"Then it should be turned over to either Global Justice or the NSA," James pointed out. "They'll want to examine it."
"They'll get their chance," Kim told them. "Ron...recorded a couple of messages for me." She took a few deep breaths, clearly regaining her composure. "He also recorded messages for his family and other friends. Wade, I want you to make recordings of these messages so that the people they were intended for will get them. I don't trust a government agency to take care of that."
"I can do that," Wade nodded. "Even if I can't make a data link, I can set this thing up with a camera pointed at it. It's not elegant, but I'll make sure people hear what he wanted to tell them."
"Then return it to me," Kim smiled at him. "I'll give it to Dr. Director and tell her that I kept it for awhile. No sense in both of us getting in trouble."
She then looked at her parents, once again composing her thoughts.
"One of the things that he told me was that he can't come back to Earth," she finally told them. "I'll go into greater details later, but he can only survive hear for a sort time and it causes him a great deal of pain."
"Oh dear." While James wasn't eloquent, it was clear that he felt a great deal of sympathy for the young man's plight.
"He also told me that he had intended on popping the question before he got sucked away," Kim told them, her voice was very controlled as she spoke. "He had even bought the ring, and he passed it on to me with the device...which is called a scroll, by the way."
"Kimmie," Anne got up and put a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It must be very hard on you to hear this."
"It is," Kim admitted, showing more determination than sorrow. "That's why I needed to talk to the two of you, and why I'm going to be concentrating on rebuilding Drakken's mechanism, starting tomorrow."
The two doctors could only look at her, puzzled.
"It's only logical," she told them. "Ron was going to ask me the question, and I would have said yes. I still intend on hearing the question and I still intend on answering him. Since he can't return to Earth, I'll just have to go to Remnant."
A/N: As always, bit thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta reading.