Chapter 47 – Remember Me?


Nora


Nora's cyan eyes look right into the burning orange eyes of the Lord of the Wood. The bark creaks as it stands there with no emotion in its face. The sharp fingers scrape against one another as it stares directly at them all. "Wh-What is that thing?" Yang asks with fear when she sees that thing. They have all been reunited after the Cannon was disabled, so close to where Ruby is now. Ren grits his teeth with anger, and they notice his hatred towards the demon that follows the girl he loves with all his heart.

"The Lord of the Wood." Nora answers fearfully, and the Leshen has not moves yet, just remains motionless with the two eyes looking through her exterior and into her soul. "The monster that has been following me all my life." She answers, and they all stare at it. Coco smirks and she aims her Chaingun at the being.

"Let's blow it to bits!" Coco cheers, the barrels begin to spin round as she aims at the monster, but Nora knows that destroying the body will not free her of that thing.

"It won't go." She tells her.

"We can still get it out of our way." Port tells her with a smile, loading a fresh shell into his Blunderbuss and aiming it at the beast. Coco unleashes her fury from her Chaingun, firing thousands of bullets towards the Leshen, but all the Leshen does is hold its hand upwards. Roots extend from the fingers of the creature and they form together into a shield of some kind that deflects the bullets away from it or catches them in the roots. Coco keeps on firing and stops after a couple seconds when she realises that it is a worthless act of aggression when it does that. The barrels have heated up to a golden glow with smoke trailing from them, her eyes widen behind her glasses and then it lowers its hand.

"I don't have enough ammo for that thing." Coco scoffs, after noticing how it just ignored all those bullets. The Leshen lowers its arm and then stares back at Nora, who holds onto her Hammer tight.

The Crows begin to congregate behind it and it slowly lifts its finger up and points at them all. The Crows form from the black smoke and their caw endlessly as they fly towards them. "Look out!" Weiss yells as she holds Myrtenaster high to form a barrier in front of Nora who has become frozen with fear. All she can see is the monster that murdered her parents and the three boys that picked on her when she first arrived at Kuroyuri. It's eyes...gods the eyes...The Crows collide into the barrier but there seems to be an infinite swarm of them, forming from the shadows that emerge from the body of the Demonic Being. Blake spots that it is focused on Nora still, she could use that time to get a hit on it when it is not looking. She darts to the side to flank it, moving slyly and fast like a cat, she holds Gambol Shroud in her hand and she aims her Magnum at the Leshen, firing a bullet towards it. The bullet grazes across the side of the skull that is atop the wooden body. The Lord of the Wood only grunts, stumbling a little bit from the bullet that hit its vulnerable bone skull.

Blake charges towards the Leshen, Weiss and Yang in tow as they attack the massive Leshen. The Lord of the Wood slashes downwards at Blake as she forms a shadow, narrowly missing her and she swings her sheathe across the shoulder of the creature. Splinters of bark fracture from its arm, Weiss yells as she forms a Glyph and shoots towards the Leshen and plunges her blade into its chest, holding on as it walks around. Yang pounds her Cybernetic fist into its chest and it staggers as well. Yang looks at the others. "Get to Ruby!" She yells, until she can barely speak from being choked by the bark hand of the Leshen. The Lord of the Wood lifts her up in the air and then throws her into the soil with force. It then slashes Blake across the face and she cries out with pain, hitting the floor and it summons the swarm of Crows to attack Weiss at once.

Weiss screams as they slash and peck at her, pulling her from the Leshen's chest. The Lord of the Wood grabs Myrtenaster and stares at it in its hand and releases it, letting it fall to the floor. The burning orange eyes focus onto Nora, and the black smoke forms around its wooden body. The Leshen transforms into the swarm and it moves towards her. The cloud of darkness bursts open and the Leshen lunges forward to grab her. The hand just misses when Ren kicks the Leshen in the head to make it stagger. The Leshen immediately returns with a back-hand strike that knocks Ren onto the ground.

For something so slow, it can move very fast when it needs to. Jaune grits his teeth with anger and he runs towards the Leshen, shield held high and he uses it to protect himself from the swarm of Crows that have been unleashed upon him. Their crystal beaks scrape across the metal shield of Jaune's sparks bursting from the impacts of their small feathered bodies. Jaune pushes against them, straining as he pushes on against the swarm, their feathers floating around him as he continues to push on. He yells as they push him across the floor. The Lord of the Wood stands tall with its finger extended forward at the boy.

Coco opens fire again, her teeth gritted at the beast, however the Lord of the Wood forms another shield of roots and leaves that protects its body from the firepower of her Chaingun. Coco groans out of disgust and she runs with Yatsuhashi at the monster, she strikes it with her handbag but the Leshen catches her wrist and holds her high in the air. Yatsuhashi yells as he jumps at the Leshen to cut its wooden arm from its elbow to free her. The blade slices across its arm and it releases her with a snarl with anger in its voice.

Oobleck lunges forward with Port for another attack; they all begin to attack it at the same time, slashing over and over again at its wooden body. Until it snarls with anger, the arms stretch out with long vines and roots growing out from the heart of shadows and it spins round, knocking them all onto the ground. They cannot attack it with their own methods.

It may be slow, but it is smart.

And very powerful.

It can take a hit better than they can, so no matter what they all try to do. Whether they attempt to take it in turns or in once overwhelming attack, it will be able to counter them. The Leshen's arms return back to their normal length, much like how the Nuckelavee could stretch its arms, however the Lord of the Wood only did so with its arms for a moment.

Ren groans with pain, hand against his head and he looks at Nora who is still frozen from fear of that thing.

Raven swings her sword at the Leshen but it grabs her by the neck and forces her down into the ground with force. It has learned their tactics, how they all fight in one moment.

There is only one way that they can destroy its body.

Have someone that it is not here right now challenge it.

It takes a couple steps back. It is powerful, but also outnumbered by the amount of Warriors who stand before him. Yang, Weiss and Blake get back up with their weapons at the ready, staring at the being. The Lord of the Wood growls, the leaves begin to rattle across the moss covered bark body, and it clenches its hands into fists. It howls unbelievably loudly to the sky, roots growing from different places of its body, and it slams its hands down into the soil. The roots pass into the ground, the soil rumbles and quakes, chunks of dirt being overturned as something very big begins to rise out. Huge roots burst from the soil and they look at the Warriors, attacking down at them with hate and force, the sharp tips of the roots pushing down at the ground where they are. Some of them feel the roots crawling from under the soil and cocooning around their bodies, their legs first so them they cannot move. Velvet feels the roots picking her up and holding her up in the air with her limbs held out in display, the same happens to the rest of them. They all begin to feel restrained by the Lord of the Wood's abilities.

The Leshen glares at them, some of them however managed to escape the grasp of the roots. Coco tries to break free with anger, the rest of Team R.W.B.Y are stuck as well, trying to break free with little success. "Nora!" Yang screams, seeing he is the only one that the Lord of the Wood did not try and restrain. It slowly walks towards her, the burning hot eyes staring into those Cyan ones. Ren stands beside her and he glares at the monster that slowly approaches them.

Yatsuhashi roars and he forces his arm against the roots and his strength shatters the roots, freeing him and he falls from the roots that stand tall from the soil that holds them all in place. He stands beside Ren to protect Nora from the Leshen. The Lord of the Wood stops in its tracks, staring at the two who stand there. It turns its head when it realises that one of them has not been contained in the roots.

Oscar is not there.

It turns back to the others, and now Oscar stands with Ren, his fists clenched as he glares at the Lord of the Wood. Yang and Kassius look at each other and they both use their cybernetic arms, straining as they push against the strong roots as hard as they can. The roots crack and powder falls from them as they shatter. They rip the other roots from their body and fall from the restraints, landing on the soil. They too get their weapons ready. Ren turns to the two. "Get the others free...we'll keep him occupied." Ren tells them both, Yang smiles and she nods, running over to Blake and ripping the roots loose from her body. Kassius goes to Jaune and starts to do the same, and whilst they try and get them free, Ren stares at the Leshen who still stands there.

It does not fight dirty; it waits until they are ready. Ren stands in front of Nora with his fists clenched. "I know you can understand me, Lord." Ren begins and the Leshen just stares into his soul menacingly. The Lord of the Wood's orange eyes stare into the pale pink irises of Lie Ren. The Leshen scrapes its claws against one another slowly as it stands there. "Know this – you can hurt me, beat me down, even kill me...but I will never let you touch her!" Ren roars and he sprints first towards the Lord of the Wood.

The Lord of the Wood crosses its long arms over each other to block Ren's strike with both Stormflowers. The blades scrape across the arms of the beast and it takes a step back and then returns with a fast and hard slash at Ren. Ren ducks down and just misses the sharp wooden claws of the monster as it attacks him. Yatsuhashi roars as he jumps and swings his sword towards the Lord of the Wood. The Leshen dodges the blade by walking backwards, but Yatsuhashi returns with a second swing upwards that slices across the bark chest of the creature, a roar of pain erupting from the Buck's Skull. The Leshen slashes with its clawed fingers across Yatsuhashi's chest plate, chipping off the paint and sparks burst from the impact.

Oscar sprints through paused time towards the Leshen and he strikes the Leshen in the back of the leg, making the Leshen grunt and fall to one knee. Ren grabs onto the Antler of the Leshen and he pushes down into the ground and shoots at its head. The bullets hit the skull, cracking the white structure but that only seems to infuriate the beast. The Lord of the Wood grabs Ren by the ankle and throws him back and forth into the soil and then into a rock. Ren groans with pain from the impact, feeling his bones vibrate from that impact. Nora grits her teeth angrily when she sees Ren being hurt by the Lord of the Wood, and she goes in for an attack, yelling as she runs.

The Leshen's eyes glow bright orange as it stares straight at her, and her scarred print on her collarbone glows red again, burning her and she cries out with pain. She presses her hand to her chest where the mark is placed. She falls to one knee, and a freed Weiss Schnee pulls her back. Yatsuhashi roars, holding his sword with both hands as he goes to split the head of the Leshen in half, but the Lord catches the blade with its hand and then kicks him in the chest, stealing the blade and throwing it at him. Yatsuhashi rolls out of the way just as the blade sinks into the soil where he was once laid.

Kassius grabs the main root that holds Winter there and tears them all done in one swift movement. She falls from the roots and lands on her knee. She glares at the Lord of the Wood and then with the help of a Glyph she zooms towards the Lord of the Wood at great speeds. The Lord of the Wood turns its head when it senses another attacker coming in for an attack of their own. The Leshen swings its arm towards Winter but she forms a barrier similar to how Weiss deflected the Crow Swarm and then slides under the legs of the Leshen and then stabs it in the back, using her dust to freeze its shoulder.

The Lord of the Wood staggers and then she swings both blades across the chest and back of the Lord. Bark splinters shatter from the body as she hits it and it snarls with anger. Each of them start to return to the bout against the Tree Spirit to kick its butt.

The Leshen swings its arms round, attempting to knock them all down again, but they remember and they all avoid it in their own ways. Glynda, Kragen, Fox and the Architect walk over the hill and they see the Lord of the Wood as he fights them all at once. The Architect looks at Glynda with a chuckle in his computerised voice. "Think they need help?" He asks her, and she gives him a rather stern look as she always does.

"What do you think?" She scoffs.

"As Nora said – let's kick some ass!" The Architect remarks as he charges forward. Glynda looks at Kragen with a confused expression at how he is acting.

"Is he – always like that?" She asks,

"Not at all, I think the kids changed something in him." Kragen chuckles, running forward to catch up with the Architect. Glynda smiles.

"Of course they did." She agrees.

Oscar darts back and forth as he punches the Leshen in the head doing some damage to it. He rolls and then throws a Time Bubble onto the Leshen, freezing it in place. Kassius frees Coco and she transforms her Handbag back into Chaingun form as she aims it at the Leshen, unleashing the fury of her thousands of bullets into the bubble. She laughs with happiness as she does it as well. All the bullets collect together in one sudden impact of hundreds of rounds in a second. The bubble bursts and the impact launches the Lord of the Wood backwards into a rock with force. Ren gets back up and he grits his teeth at the Leshen as it continues fight back.

It has surface damage but it does not look like their efforts have done any serious damage it.

They need to find a way to kill it.

The Lord of the Wood towers above them as it stands tall, and then it holds its arms out and it roars to the skies with power. The howls echo for miles, and the Grimm on the island look up, their eyes glowing with the same ferocity as the Leshen as they are summoned by the spirit. They all turn and make their charge towards them.

Ren senses their approach and then sees the Lord stomping towards them. "We've got incoming, guys." Ren realises with fear when he sees the Beowulves charging towards them, roaring and howling.


Cinder


She slices her blades across the chest of a soldier, killing him instantly and he screams with pain. Blood sprays from his wounds as she does it. She then throws her sword into the chest of a Valerian Knight, created by Merlot Industries. The blade lodges into its power core, sparks burst from the core and it staggers backwards before exploding into little pieces. Cinder smirks as she does it, but not villainously anymore, she is now on their side. Whether they like it or not, Ruby darts past Cinder in her Petal Dash form, slashing Crescent Rose through three soldiers and taking them all out in the process. They all scream as they are thrown into the air from the fast attack. Cinder ignites the flames in her hand and she unleashes the fireball upon a soldier who was stood there.

Ilia has been facing up against Tyrian with Adam for a while now. She cracks her golden electrical whip at the mad Scorpion Faunus and he jumps over it to avoid it and he lunges forward with his barb, just missing her. He jumps and strikes at her with his Pincers, slashing over and over at her, but Adam steps in front and blocks them with Wilt and Blush. Every time the blades impact his red one, it flashes red and his hair faintly begins to glow. He laughs through gritted teeth, throwing himself over Adam and kicking him down the back of his head. He then roundhouse kicks Ilia in the head, sending her flying.

He keeps on searching for Ruby, trying to figure out where she is. He snarls with anger and he rushes forward to find her. But then the golden whip wraps round his neck and Ilia pulls him back with force and she punches him in the head extremely hard. Cinder smiles when she sees Ilia defending Ruby from the madman. Adam slashes Wilt and Blush hard at Tyrian, the red light trailing behind every movement of his sword and Tyrian keeps on jumping backwards. He wraps his tail around the wrist of the blind man and then pulls the sword from his fingers, sending it flying. The blade misses Cinder by an inch and wedges an Acolyte of Lien into the wall, blood leaking from his lips as he is pinned there. Tyrian does not even notice that he just killed one of his men; he does not even care about it. He then slashes towards Adam, but the warrior uses his hearing and special awareness to avoid the sharp blades.

He pushes one out the way and punches Tyrian in the face. Tyrian roars with pain as he staggers back from the punch. Ilia then gets him in a choke hold with her whip and then throws him into the wall with it, sending cracks up the wall.

Cinder cannot keep watching them fight however, when she realises that Ruby is being pinned by a Seeker. The Seeker sprints with her when she uses her Petal Dash and he manages to tackle her out of her dash and into the ground. He pins her down to the ground with his sword and Ruby gasps for air as the Seeker is about to kill her brutally by slitting her throat. Until storms begin to form above him and lightning strikes down and through his head, electrocuting him to death. The man screams in agony as his backpack detonates and Ruby rolls aside. Cinder stops manipulating the weather, for she still has not got the best grasp over how to use her powers without being exhausted so quickly from using the powers as strong as that.

Ruby pats her shoulder and then fires a round into the head of a sniper on a Watchtower nearby, killing him before he could shoot any of them. Adam looks at where he can hear Ruby and Cinder, deflecting Tyrian's blade and kicking him away from both he and Ilia. "Go! Find the others! We'll hold Tyrian and the others off!" He orders. Ruby and Cinder nod and they start to fall back. Cinder stops and she looks back at him with a message.

"Adam! Stay safe!" She tells him, Adam nods and he spins round with his sword and blocks both the attacks from Tyrian as he laughs maniacally.

Cinder jumps towards a Juggernaut and she charges her attack up, sending an unbelievably powerful fireball into his huge Exo-Suit, reducing him to ashes in the blast.

Tyrian slashes his blades across Adam's chest and then kicks him in the chest, Adam grunts with pain as he crashes into the rock. Ruby and Cinder keep moving towards their friends as the White Fang hold the area. However they did not notice that Tyrian was starting to win the fight between him, Ilia and Adam. He strikes Adam across the head with his tail and stares at Ilia.

Ilia lashes the whip round his waist and then she changes colour, blending in with the bushes as she moves around. She swings around him and then returns back to her humanoid colour as she kicks him in the chest with both feet. Tyrian grunts, falling backwards with force on the pavement. He snarls with rage as he turns and then sees Adam running towards him and swinging Wilt and Blush towards him, the red blade cuts through the air with ease as he goes to behead Tyrian, but he ducks down and spins round with his leg stretched outwards, kicking Adam across the side of his head. Cracks spread across his mask that hides his blinded eyes and Adam touches it, feeling the damage.

Tyrian sprints straight for Adam with a massive smirk on his face and he jumps towards him with his blades extended. Suddenly the golden whip wraps round his neck and Ilia pulls with all her might, spinning round on her heel and launching him into the building with force. Tyrian grunts with pain from the impact, the whip collapses back into her weapon and she paces back and forth, her large eyes focused on the insane Faunus as he gets back up. Adam pushes his sword down in the floor to get back up, listening carefully for where Tyrian is, and he can hear the panting in his voice as he springs back up to his feet.

Tyrian glares at the two of them as he walks around them with his blades ready, and the guns attached to them are ready as well. "You picked the wrong side, White Fang." Tyrian snarls with hatred in his eyes, like a feral animal that watches its prey. Ilia stands tall, her long tail of hair hanging down behind her.

"Depends on where you're standing." Ilia states.

A long smile grows on his face as he stares at her, his Scorpion Tail rises over his shoulder and by the side of his head as he aims it at her. "Indeed it does." He agrees, and he suddenly dashes towards her and he slashes across her aura field with his blades and she yelps from the sudden attack. She staggers back from where he attacked and then he lunges for her again with both blades, but Wilt and Blush stops him from getting closer. He smirks and laughs as the two barrels attached to his pincers unlock and extend outwards, opening fire. One of the bullets hits his mask and the side of it fragments like glass. Adam yells out with pain, staggering back when it hit him. Tyrian rushes for him and he jumps in the air and slashes down the side of his head, knocking him onto the ground.

He then spins round and swipes his tail into Adam's chest, sending him flying through a concrete wall that explodes upon contact. Adam groans with pain where he lies on the floor, his aura waning from this battle against Tyrian Callows.

The mad eyes of the Scorpion Faunus turn and he stares at Ilia, his next target and he rushes for her the same way. As he did when he fought Team R.N.J.R, his attacks are aggressive and fast that he can afford to make a mistake because he would have already made a second attack afterwards. And that is what makes him such a lethal opponent, he jumps at her and he slashes downwards, and she rolls aside. Her aura is not as strong as the other Huntresses and Huntsmen; she needs to remember that against him.

Tyrian lashes out at her, spinning round and hammering the blades down at her, slicing across her aura over and over again with force and hatred. Ilia yelps with distress, seeing her aura is being cut down chunk at a time. Ilia roundhouse kicks Tyrian in the side of the head with her heel and Tyrian rolls away from her. She activates her Whip and shoots it towards him, but he avoids it by rolling out of its way.

She grunts with fear as he gets closer and closer to her. Her aura is nearly depleted.

She cracks her Whip towards him but he catches it with his bare hand. He then starts to wrap the whip around his forearm to pull her closer. He then yanks it forward so hard it takes her off her feet and pulls her straight towards him. His blades extend on his other arm and he laughs maniacally when he plunges the blade through her stomach. Blood squirts, her eyes widen with agony from the feeling of a cold steel blade puncturing through her stomach. "Ilia!" Adam yells with horror, reaching out for her from where he heard the sound of her pained gasp. Adam rushes back to help her, but Tyrian knew where he was. Tyrian wraps his tail around his neck and he chokes him as he holds him there. He lifts Ilia up and then throws Adam down the steps for Tyrian to enjoy what he does next to her.

He extends the other blade and then he horrifically begins to stab her over and over again in the chest, blood spraying out from every wound. The terrible sound of skin and muscle flesh being torn as he stabs her over and over again in the belly, chest and even neck at one point. She gasps for air from the agonising fate that Tyrian has placed upon her, stabbing her over and over again, creating a pool of blood around her body as he slowly and brutally kills her. Blood splatters against the side of Tyrian's face as he stabs her, but then he stops, after around ten stabs into her body. He stands up, blood covering his hands and he staggers back, smirking at the claret that covers his body and her own. He giggles to himself at first, but the chortle grows and grows into a cackle as his arms bend back and he bellows to the sky with the same insane laugh he had when he slaughtered the Beowulf in front of Cinder in the exact same way.

He sprints away from her to get Ruby, leaving her to bleed out on the ground. The other White Fang have continued to attack the enemy, whilst she slowly dies on the floor.


Jaune


Jaune lifts his shield up to stop the attack of a Beowulf that lunges at him, its eyes burning bright with the possession of the Lord of the Wood that approaches him from behind. They have become swarmed with Grimm. Coco bashes a Creep across the head with her Handbag and the creature roars with pain. Glynda uses her crop, tearing the rocks from the ground and forming a spear that she throws straight towards the Lord of the Wood. The Lord turns and holds its massive hand out, roots and vines spread from the fingertips of the beast, pulling the spear apart rock by rock and then letting it fall around it. The Leshen stares at her and the crows congregate around it as it flies straight towards her.

The smoke in the Crow Swarm bursts open and the Leshen forms from the darkness, slashing the claws towards Glynda. The skilled Huntress ducks down and slides back on her toes, just avoiding the claws of the Lord and then she cracks her Crop across its head, making the skull recoil slightly but it does not stop there. The Lord points towards her and the crows all swarm towards her with aggression and she swings the crop forwards to shatter their forms. The Architect sprints towards the Leshen and he jumps at it, kicking it up the jaw with his metal foot and the impact actually makes it stagger back. He punches the Lord of the Wood in the chest over and over again with his metal fists, cracking the wooden chest over and over with the force of his titanium body. The Leshen catches his fist and then pulls him closer as the Lord of the Wood goes to plunge its claws into his chest to tear his power core out.

But the Architect jumps up and kicks the Lord of the Wood in the chest. The Architect tumbles away from the Lord of the Wood and the huge Leshen keeps on coming, it does not give up easy and it slashes harder and faster to kill him. Kragen and Glynda now strike together; Kragen blocks the blow of the Leshen with his Isomacium Staff, the sharp claws scrape across the staff like the teeth of a dog against a beach ball, unable to get any grip. Sparks burst from the action.

Yang slams her fist into the side of a small Deathstalker's skull, crushing its head into the ground so bad that it has instantly killed the creature. Fox sprints in and he slams his fist into the chest of a Beowulf, spinning round and slashing his Tonfas across its belly and head, killing it quickly and skilfully. Penny jumps into the air and slashes her blades across the legs of a Creep to render it immobile and then she slams all the blades down into its head. She turns her head when she hears the other struggling against the Lord of the Wood not far from them. The Lord of the Wood lifts Kragen up by using the roots in the ground and restrains him. It slams its fist across Glynda's face and the grabs the Architect by the throat. Her eyes narrow angrily when she sees the monster hurting her friends. "Hey!" She shouts, the Leshen turns and stares straight at her. Penny spins her blades round and aims at the Leshen, charging her energy blast up to full strength as she prepares to fire.

The thick beam of green light erupts from Penny and impacts the Lord of the Wood in the chest, knocking him off his feet and he snarls with anger and pain. The Lord of the Wood scrapes across the ground, using its arm to protect its face from the hot blast of energy that burns the wood to charcoal in places. It then howls and pushes its hands into the ground. And just like before, roots burst from the ground and wrap around all of their bodies. "Oh come on! We just freed everyone!" Kassius yells with annoyance when the Lord of the Wood restrains them all. Oscar tries to avoid it but the Lord of the Wood managed to catch onto his ankle so tight that he is too weak to break free. The Roots pick him up and hold him up in the air.

Nora strains with distress as the Lord of the Wood stares at her, slowly approaching her, its eyes staring into her soul as it approaches sinisterly. Ren reaches out for her but the Leshen manipulates the roots to wrap around his neck, threatening to snap his neck as it did to her family that time when they first met. Nora feels the burning sensation on her heart as the Lord of the Wood gets closer, about to kill her. "No!" Ren pleads.

The Lord of the Wood thrusts towards her, but then it stops, staring at her as it stands there, the claws ever so close to her stomach to end her life and the curse that binds them together. They all look at the Lord of the Wood with confused eyes, but then it slowly turns round and stares at something that is coming straight for it. Jaune's eyes widen with disbelief when he sees who is.

Her long ashen black hair blows in the wind behind her as she flies straight for the Lord of the Wood with flames behind her. Her amber eye narrowed in on the massive Leshen as it turns to face her. Cinder slams herself into its side, fire bursting out across its body and the Lord of the Wood growls with anger as it staggers away from Nora. "Sapphire?" Kassius calls out with shock, and whilst she fights the Lord of the Wood, she looks at Kassius with a smile.

"Hey bro!" She responds as she draws her swords from ash and slashes them across the chest of the Lord of the Wood. The Lord's bark body cracks from the impact and his eyes begin to burn hotter and with more anger, if she can get the Lord of the Wood to go berserk, it will make him weak enough to destroy.

However it will also make his attacks far more dangerous. The Lord of the Wood slashes straight down at her but she rolls out of the way and unleashes fire from her palm onto the body of the Leshen. She then with her other arm swings up and slashes across his face with the powers of the Fall Maiden. They are all trying to break free from the hold of the roots to try and assist her, but the Lord of the Wood remembered how easily the stronger ones got free, so he has doubled the amount of roots that has wrapped around them. Their only hope now is for Cinder to be able to beat the Lord of the Wood.

How things change.

The Leshen goes to grab her but Cinder jumps and kicks the Lord of the Wood across the skull, making the monster stagger backwards. It continues to attack and attack, swipe after swipe to cut her down. The Leshen stands tall and then points at her, the eyes of the Tree Spirit stare into her soul, glowing brighter as it summons the Grimm around them to attack her. As the Grimm all charge towards her, she ignites the flames in her hands and condenses it between her palms, charging up to let out one extremely powerful pulse of fire to kill them all in one swift attack. The fire grows hotter and hotter, growling more and more as she holds the power in her hands.

She yells as she releases it, throwing her arms out and a ball of fire erupts from her body and engulfs the Grimm, just missing the others who are still held up by the roots. Jaune does not know how to approach this situation, the murderer of the girl he loved is now helping them and the girl he loves is actually alive. Why can't anything be simple? The Beowulves roar as they are reduced to smoke that blows away in the pulse, and the Leshen is pushed back by the flames.

The Lord of the Wood stand stall again, and it points at her once more, summoning the Crows to attack her once more. The crows all caw at once as they form from the darkness that surrounds the Demonic Being, the swarm come for her, their crystal skulls gleaming in the light of the sun. Cinder smirks as she sees the demonic birds flying towards her and she ignites the flames in her hand and she blasts the fire straight at them all, reducing them all to ashes apart from their diamond skulls that land on the soil around her. She lowers her hand, still smirking at the Lord of the Wood, which is clearly becoming angry from how its attacks are having little effect against the Fall Maiden.

Cinder's eye gazes down at the leaves that have fallen on the floor and she points her hand towards it as the leaves rise and freeze in the air, thrusting her arm downwards so then the frozen leaves would impact the body of the Leshen, carving chunks of the bark from its body as each hits it. The Lord of the Wood snarls in pain, trying to shield itself from the frozen leaves that are launched towards it. The Lord of the Wood stares straight at her, its hands clenching into fists.

The eyes burst brighter with fire and the Lord of the Wood howls to the skies with rage, its arms held out as the fire erupts from its skull and engulfs its wooden body. The bark cracks and becomes more like charcoal that wood, embers trailing from its infernal body. Cinder launches towards it again and the Lord of the Wood has finally gone berserk, slashing faster and harder at her, so fast that Cinder cannot even avoid some of the Leshen's attacks. The claws slice across her tough aura and then she rolls aside when the Lord slams its claws down towards her.

Cinder slashes across its belly but when she does, the Lord of the Wood brings its fist down extremely hard into the back of her head, nearly knocking her out from how hard it hit her. The sound of the punch echoes across the field, and then with its other arm it grabs her by the throat, holding her there as it stares down at her. She gasps for air as the Lord of the Wood chokes her in that position, lifting its over hand above its head, razor sharp claws ready to kill her, snarling with anger.

But then Cinder smiles when she sees something behind the Lord of the Wood.

Red Petals...

Cinder even starts to laugh as well, confusing the Lord of the Wood as it stares at her. "Did you really...think I was alone?" She laughs.

The Lord of the Wood slowly turns round when it sees her. Yang's eyes widen with happiness, a tear shed in her eye when she sees her. "Ruby..." She gasps.


Ruby


Ruby rolls across the field and then bursts into her Petal Dash form to move faster, before transforming back into her human form. She slams Crescent Rose downwards and rides the scythe as she gets closer and closer to the Leshen, her petals trail from her as she zooms towards it. She jumps off, sliding past the Leshen and she swipes Crescent Rose across the Leshen's bark legs, cutting them clean off and the Lord of the Wood roars in pain, falling over in pain as the legs come off in one movement.

The Lord of the Wood releases Cinder and uses that hand to try and stay upright as Ruby comes back for a second attack. She leaps at the Leshen and stabs Crescent Rose into its back and swings into the air over it and then rips the curved blade from his spine. She spins round and slices his other arm clean off and the Lord of the Wood howls in agony from the amputation. She then stabs the blade of Crescent Rose into the back of the Leshen's skull, splitting the Buck's Skull in half. She pushes her legs against the back of the Leshen, flipping through the air and bringing Crescent Rose up its spine.

The Lord of the Wood erupts into a cloud of smoke and becomes the Six Beowulves that land and tumble across the soil. The Beowulves stand tall as they stare at her, snarling at her as they see her land before them, in front of her family. She holds Crescent Rose tight, staring straight at them.

"Remember me?" Ruby questions with a smirk.

The Six Beowulves roar and they charge towards her and leap straight for her. Ruby spins round and with one arm she holds Crescent Rose, bringing the scythe round and slicing all six heads of the Beowulves from their shoulders, red energy bursting from their interiors and black smoke erupting from their corpses. Ruby stops spinning round and she looks at where the Lord of the Wood once was stood, resting her weapon on her shoulder with a smile. "Tell your Queen and her buddies, that Ruby Rose is back." Ruby snarls with anger, her eye narrowing.

The roots that held them all up crumble into dust, blown away in the wind. She deactivates Crescent Rose and attaches her to her belt in her deactivated form. She turns and sees them as they fall from where they were held. Yang's large eyes focused on her baby sister who just saved them instead of the other way around. But Yang is not about to complain about anything, and she runs towards her sister and wraps her arms around her so tight.

Yang cries into her little sister's shoulder and Ruby holds onto her, also with tears in her eye as she holds onto her sister that she has missed so dearly. Cinder has her hand close to her throat where the Lord of the Wood had her to its mercy with; some bruising formed there, nothing she can't handle however. Kassius walks over to her and he hugs her, surprising Cinder as well, since how their last meeting went. Giving Kassius scars across the side of his face.

Reunited at last.

Yang holds the back of Ruby's head, able to feel her hair again, to hear her voice again. It has felt like years since they last saw each other. Yang releases her sister after a few minutes, eyes soaked with tears and Weiss and Blake approach. They both hug her as well, tearful with happiness to see her alive as well. When Yang stands there, her eyes look over to Cinder as Kassius releases her from his own hug to have his own sister back again. She walks towards the woman who was once their enemy and then she looks at Ruby. She pieces it together and can barely speak from all the emotion in her right now. "Di-Did you get her out?" She stammers, and even Cinder has a tearful eye as she looks at Yang. She smiles and just nods her head as an answer. Yang wraps her arms around Cinder, which amazes Cinder even more than when Kassius hugged her, she never expected someone who was her enemy to hug her like that. "Thank you..." Yang whispers into her ear.

They all essentially take turns in hugging each other there, and as they do, Kragen, Architect and Glynda stand nearby, watching the heart-warming moment of reunification of family. Tears of happiness...for once.

Cinder smiles and she looks down at the floor shyly at the moment.

Oscar stands there and Ruby looks at him, a big smile appears on her face and she wraps her arms around him extremely tight. He slowly puts his own arms around her as she holds him so close and kindly, her head buried into his shoulder. Jaune smiles when he looks at Ruby there and he puts his hand on her shoulder. "Missed you Crater-Face." Jaune kindly says to her with a smile, making Ruby giggle shyly. For the first time in a few months.

Ruby has been able to smile.

Ruby notices that team C.F.V.Y, Glynda, Port, Oobleck...Taiyang...all of them are here. Qrow for whatever reason has been the one who has not said anything yet, he is speechless to see his daughter is okay. But Ruby does not know about that truth yet, about who her real dad is, and she runs to Taiyang's open arms and he holds her tight. She is still a daughter to him as well, and he won't ever stop loving her. Taiyang kisses the top of her head and smiles gently.

Ruby takes a few steps back and he looks at them, seeing Raven holding Taiyang's hand as well. "You all came...for me?" Ruby asks with a frail voice, tears streaming from her eyes. Glynda smiles when Ruby notices her and she smiles back.

"Could never leave such a good person behind." Coco says to her. Kassius pats her head with his hand when he walks over to her.

"Good to have you back, Knucklehead." He says to her with a smile. Ruby smiles and hugs him as well, she has hugged everyone, but when she stops hugging him, she turns and sees her real father – Qrow. She looks at her with a smile and her eye widens, she sprints to him and jumps into his open arms as he holds her close. She keeps her arms around him as she holds onto him tight.

Perhaps...she already knows?

"Don't ever leave us again." He begs, his voice breaking.

"I'll try." She sniffles.

Whilst this touching moment happens, Kassius and Blake hear something coming through their earpieces. Something that catches their attention to something less heart-warming. It comes from a Bullhead that a White Fang is piloting. "Amitola is down, I repeat, Amitola is down." The pilot reports, Kassius' eyes widen and he looks at Blake who shares the same concern. Kassius looks at Yang, and she must have heard it as well.

"Go." She allows with a smile. He and Blake sprint up the hill to where they came from.


Kassius


Kassius sprints across the war torn landscape and he sees Adam crouched down beside the bleeding body of Ilia Amitola in the floor; she has been bleeding out for a long time now. From her neck, her body...everywhere.

It is a horrific tragedy.

"Ilia!" Kassius calls out, he drops down and slides down beside her and Blake stops next to Adam who is just looking down at her body. Part of his mast fractured from is bout with Tyrian when she was still fighting. She is still alive with raspy breath, Kassius rests her head on his knee and he holds her hand with his Cybernetic Hand. Kassius looks up at Adam who just looks mournful for what has happened. "What are you waiting for? Get a medic!" He orders, but Adam knows that no medic will be able to treat her for what Tyrian did to her. But Kassius hears Ilia trying to say something to him.

"I – I'm sorry." She tells him tearfully, still sad for what happened to his team. Kassius shakes his head as he looks down at her.

"Forget about that, that means nothing. Just hold on." He pleads, holding her hand tight, the blood still pouring from her wounds. Ilia looks at Blake with sad eyes and she smiles at her kindly.

"You were right...I should've gone with you." She weakly says to her. "We can't do things on our own anymore." Ilia smiles as she looks at Blake with her body still bleeding out. Blake smiles back to her old best friend.

"Never could." Blake says with a smile to make her feel happy as she has her final moments. Ilia then looks up at Kassius who holds her, trying to keep her alive, and then she says something.

"I – I had it, Kassius..." She says to him weakly. "I had my moment...now...it's alright to go." Ilia tells him with a smile, holding onto his hand gently with a smile on her face. Kassius sighs as he looks down at the floor.

"You did – Ilia..." He agrees with a smile. "Why am I cursed with this? Watching my friends die?" Kassius questions to himself, almost self-hatred in him as he holds her, a tear falling from his eye.

"Friend?" She asks with disbelief, even after what happened. Kassius smiles when he looks at her.

"Yeah...friends." He assures her, giving her that before her end. She smiles when she looks at him.

"Thank you Kassius..." She weakly says. Kassius feels her hand becoming looser on his hand and then he watches as she gives her last breath, eyes becoming weak and her head turning slightly on his knee. Her eyes close and her heart stops beating, the wounds she suffered from Tyrian were too much for her to handle.

And now she has passed on.

Kassius looks down at her and he closes his eyes. Blake wipes a tear from her eye and walks away for a moment. When Kassius opens his eyes, they have turned red, and Hyde speaks through him. But with no anger whatsoever. "Of all the gods that watch over us...I hope you find the kindest." Hyde says kindly to the body of Ilia as her soul leaves her body. A bright flash of light bursts from her body and floats gently into the sky, her aura leaving her body and returning to the Infinite and the Unbound.

Ilia is at peace.


Fury


The huge metal doors burst down and Fury is the first to storm inside with his Axes in his hands. Salem looks around with the other Knights walking with her. Along with them are Hazel, Neo and Watts. Tyrian however is running to return to his Queen's Side, although he has failed her in killing Ruby as well. Death walks into the room, it does not look like the same room of which the Relic is being held, it is a different Chamber. But when Fury enters, his orange eyes widen with amazement.

He releases his burning Axes when he sees the ocean of golden coins and treasures before him.

His Trove that he has been longing to find has finally been discovered again. They all let him have this moment of reunification with the only thing he ever had left. He collapses to his knees when he looks at the shiny golden coins that lay before him. Coins that predate the current currency, one worth trillions of Lien in comparison. "My...My trove." Fury stammers with happiness when he looks at it.

Fury approaches the coins and extinguishes the flames in his hands so then they are but pumice and magma, pushing his hands and scooping the coins into his hands. A smile of happiness is on his face...

...until...

The coins evaporate to ashes that are blown away in the wind inside the Chamber. His eyes widen with shock as he watches the golden coins completely disintegrating away in his palms. Fury tries to pick up more of them desperately, but whenever he actually touches the coins they all turn to ash in the exact same way. "No...No!" He wails with horror, the only thing he ever had in his life to keep him going.

Has been taken from him.

Every coin in the chamber begins to turn to ash inside, some sort of curse binds them so then he could never pick them up ever again. Death, Fear and Loss look at him and they are actually sad for his situation that he is in.

But then...

They see the flames reigniting across his body, burning hotter than ever before.

Fury now has nothing.

And that means he has nothing to lose.

Fury looks up slowly with the most rage-induced expression ever seen on him before as the fire burns hotter and hotter and he grits his jagged molten teeth together, forming his burning axes in his hands as he stares at his empire of dirt.

Death, Fear and Loss ready their weapons.

Because this rage is one that even he cannot control.

One that he will see anything as an enemy.

Fury bellows with indescribable rage, his eyes igniting with flames, his wings folding out from his back and lava leaks from his bones.


Author Note - Finally! Reunited! What did you think of Ruby's reunification with her family and team? Was it everything you were hoping it would have been? What did you think of the Lord of the Wood's battle?

Poor Ilia, did you think that was a good send-off for her character?

And Fury...wait until the next Chapter to see what his uncontrollable Rage form is like!

Please review this chapter and let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Stay tuned for the next chapter - Axzura's Rage

Enjoy the series!

- Onyx Phantom