A/N: I'm glad that folks seemed to enjoy Raven's entrance! Her involvement in this arc is one of the major bits I'd hoped people wouldn't see coming. She is the main reason that I'm finding Yang's storyline the most fun to write.
We're approaching the climax now. I hope you're all enjoying the ride! On the topic of whether Raven could have saved Summer with her portals, my headcanon has always been that she was simply drunk or asleep when it happened. I like to think that she felt like shit when she woke up and realized that their connection was gone. It would be difficult for me to accept that Raven knowingly and deliberately allowed Summer to die.
Beta: N/A
Raven turned her attention to the cabin, with its destroyed façade and shattered windows. Yang could hear her scoff under her breath.
"This place has gone to the dogs."
Zwei stirred and gave a weak bark.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Not you."
The exchange only accentuated the absolute surrealness of the situation. Yang felt like she must be dreaming. Only the very real pain of her injuries convinced her that this was happening. Her mother was here. Raven Branwen. The woman who had haunted her imagination and her most private thoughts ever since Summer had died.
As the initial shock faded a cauldron of emotions began to churn beneath the surface. Anger was the strongest. Struggling to make sense of the situation, Yang latched onto that like a life preserver. For years she had dreamed of this moment, spent hours imagining what she would say. All of that was forgotten now, replaced by one overriding question.
"Where the fuck have you been?!"
Raven looked at her out of the corner of one eye, and Yang felt her gut twist at the lack of warmth there.
Before Raven could respond, if she even intended to respond, the Grimm lunged with its limbs bristling. What happened next was too fast for Yang to follow. The next thing she knew, Raven had her sword out and the Grimm was flying backwards. Raven looked surprised, her red eyes wide, an expression that somehow seemed out of place on her face. Meanwhile the Grimm stabbed its tentacles into the ground, arresting its momentum. It showed no sign of damage.
"That's new," Raven muttered.
Raven narrowed her eyes and lunged forward to engage the Grimm again. Yang felt her anger freeze over and turn to icy fear as she remembered how easily the monster had broken her own aura. Like a waking nightmare, she imagined losing a second mother mere moments after finally meeting her. The very thought of it was agonizing. And Raven had come to save Yang, hadn't she? It was because of Yang's weakness that Raven was in danger at all.
"Mom, don't let it touch you! It goes right through aura!"
Raven offered no response but appeared to take the warning to heart as she dodged the Grimm's counterattack. The Grimm was darting from side to side now, as if looking for a way around Raven. Apparently deciding that there was none, it shifted to attack her head on. Raven leaped over one sinuous black limb and moved to parry another with her sword. She grunted in surprise as the tentacle abruptly split into four. Her body and blade blurred as each of the four ends were knocked aside by a sword stroke. Taking advantage of the opening, she landed and thrust her sword into the Grimm's face so hard that the blade shattered.
To both Yang and Raven's surprise the attack had still failed to penetrate. The strength behind the blow was enough to knock the Grimm back a bit, but Raven was forced to disengage as the Grimm retaliated with a splitting rain of black tendrils. Yang stared in disbelief. It was obvious even to her eyes that Raven, her mother, was an exceptionally skilled huntress. The hits she was dishing out sent shockwaves through the air and ground. Every blow landed like a thunderclap. What kind of Grimm was this, that it could take all of that and simply shrug it off?
Belatedly, Yang realized that the Grimm was eyeing her again. The fight was getting all too close.
"Get back!" Raven snapped.
Yang scrambled to comply but stopped at the tree line. She could see a bead of sweat trickle down Raven's brow, the woman's breathing a little labored. The fear had never left Yang, and it spiked now, keeping her from fleeing any further; Yang found that she didn't have it in her to leave her mother to face this alone. No matter that Raven had abandoned her. No matter that this might as well have been their first meeting. If Raven died here Yang would never get any answers, and more importantly she wasn't sure she would be able to live with herself.
Sensing that its opponent was on the backfoot, the Grimm charged with renewed ferocity. Raven clicked her hilt back into its sheath and drew a fresh blade, this one blue instead of red. Dust? A swing of her sword froze the ground, causing the Grimm to skid momentarily out of control. Raven roared as she lunged to meet it, this time driving her pommel into its face.
There was a deafening crack as the Grimm was knocked backwards again. This time, however, it lashed out with a tentacle that wrapped around Raven's ankle, pulling her along with it. Yang let out a strangled cry of dismay. Quick as lightning, Raven swung her sword, carving a portal into the air before her. A moment later she tumbled out the other end, right next to Yang. Before the tentacle could pull her back through it, the portal closed shut, severing the black limb. Raven clambered back to her feet as the tentacle dissipated.
"Mom!"
Driven by instinct, Yang ran to Raven to see if she was alright, to see if there was some way that she could help. Without a word Raven roughly shoved Yang behind her, hard enough to send her flying. Yang was stunned as she hit the ground and rolled across the grass. Tears sprung to her eyes against her will. She knew it was stupid. There was no way she could've done anything except get in the way, even if she'd had her aura, but the rejection still felt like a knife in her heart.
Raven kept her attention on the Grimm, and for the first time Yang thought she saw something like fear flicker in those red eyes. Yang shivered. She'd known that her mother was strong, her father and Uncle Qrow had agreed on that much. Seeing the truth with her own eyes was more than impressive. Whatever else could be said of her, in combat Raven was the type of huntress that Yang only hoped she could someday become.
And yet the Grimm was still overpowering her. It showed no signs of slowing down. What hope did they have against an enemy like this?
Raven tensed up. Then, of all things, she rolled her eyes and huffed. The Grimm lunged forward once again. A yellow streak shot out from the trees, knocking it away with a tremendous kick. Yang, who had been close to despair, felt her heart sing with delight.
"Dad!"
Raven examined her fingernails. "Tch. Took you long enough. You call this parenting?"
"I don't want to hear that from you." Taiyang Xiao Long sighed and touched a hand to his forehead. "It's good to see you again, Ray."
Blake drove Wilt into the Ursa, then ripped the blade free through its torso. The heavy Grimm collapsed onto the shadow clone she'd left behind. The real Blake was already leaping through the air, where she bounced off of a white glyph and towards a Boarbatusk. As she somersaulted over the Grimm she fired Blush with her left hand, sending two bullets through a red eye each. The Boarbatusk was dissolving by the time her feet touched the next glyph.
Moments later she alighted atop a modest two story building to take a breather. As if reading her mind, the glyphs ceased, allowing her the chance to get her bearings. It had been long minutes of nonstop, mobile fighting as Blake worked to establish something resembling a perimeter. From her perch she spotted Weiss organizing the young huntsmen trainees. Their academy was called Signal, apparently. The Schnee head was gesticulating with her free arm, directing the students as they rounded up the civilians and sent them running for the town gates.
Blake smiled faintly at the sight. Weiss seemed to be a natural leader, something that Blake had never been. The stress in the girls' voice gave away that she wasn't yet comfortable in her role, that she was demanding too much of herself too quickly. Somehow, strangely, that reminded Blake of a young Adam when he was entrusted with his first command. Weiss would only get better with time. Blake had no doubt she'd become a woman who could keep the promises she'd made.
The students were scrambling to follow her orders. It was amazing how easily the frightened trainees could accept help from a White Fang member as soon as an angry Schnee yelled at them with Grimm at their heels. They were used to following instructions, and with Weiss being the closest thing to an authority figure around, they had fallen back on their training. Blake watched as a pair of girls teamed up to hold off a pack of Beowolves trying to storm the street. They weren't bad. They must've had good teachers.
On the other hand, it turned out that civilians were not nearly so blasé about being rescued by a faunus in a White Fang mask. It had been quickly and mutually decided that Blake would focus on intercepting any Grimm trying to sneak in though the backstreets and alleys.
Shouts rang out in the distance. Blake spun around to see the Sea Feilong slithering its way out of the ocean. The area around the harbor was so thoroughly devastated that it might as well have been flat ground. The massive Grimm looked awkward trying to move on land, and for a moment Blake dared to believe that it had made a mistake. Then the crest along its back split in two as a pair of new appendages seemed to claw their way out from its body. Blake watched in horror as the monstrous thing sprouted actual wings.
Lightning was already gathering in its mouth as it took to the air.
Weiss was shouting and pointing at the Sea Feilong with Myrtenaster now. All of the Signal students within earshot began concentrating fire with their ranged weapon modes, and Blake joined them with shots from Blush. The flying Grimm twisted and winded its way out of most of it with contemptuous ease. Blake cursed. Nothing that big should be able to move that fast.
They couldn't so much as scratch it before it unleashed the lightning in their direction. The blast was blinding, so bright that Blake could only hit the deck, shut her eyes, and hope for the best. All of her hairs stood on end. The stench of ozone was thick in the air. A wave of heat washed over her along with screams and sounds of destruction.
When it was over Blake raised her head and looked around desperately. The attack had scourged the street, carving a blackened, smoking scar through the neighborhood. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when she spotted Weiss getting to her feet. As far as she could tell the Signal students had all sought cover, as they'd no doubt been trained to do, and several of them were shielded even now by white glyphs. It looked like they'd gotten lucky.
Blake looked to the skies. The Sea Feilong was circling around, charging up another round of lightning.
Yeah, no, that couldn't happen.
Blake jumped off of the rooftop, firing Blush into the air to draw attention.
"Schnee! Like last time!"
Like magic, a series of glyphs appeared in the air leading up towards the Sea Feilong. Blake hopped from glyph to glyph as she ascended towards the flying Grimm. As they'd done in the fight against Amber, Blake was making leaps of faith, trusting Weiss to know when and where to put the next glyph. The Schnee hadn't let her down yet.
As Blake approached rapidly, the Sea Feilong seemed to take note of her and darted away, apparently hoping to evade her altogether. It didn't stop charging its lightning. The glyphs adjusted their angles to propel her through the air like a missile. The wind whipped at her hair as she ricocheted rapidly in pursuit. The Sea Feilong was more agile in the open air than Amber had been, but Blake and Weiss were better at this now thanks to that prior experience.
Keeping her focus on the target, Blake began to tap the fire dust imbued into Wilt. The blade hissed with heat. She would only get one shot at this and had to make it count. The Sea Feilong banked suddenly, but Weiss reacted in time and the next glyph was positioned so that Blake would have a chance to catch it. Blake seized the opportunity, rocketing straight at the Grimm. She used her Semblance twice to adjust her trajectory in midair.
Holding Wilt before her, Blade let out a yell as the superheated blade sliced right through the joint of one of the wings, cutting it clean off.
"Take that!"
The Sea Feilong roared as it spiraled out of control. A moment later there was a brilliant flash as the lightning blast went wide and fired out over the ocean. Blake felt a surge of adrenaline and triumph. She looked fondly at Wilt. She doubted that Gambol Shroud would've been able to sever the whole wing like that; Wilt clearly had the superior cutting power, even without the dust effect. Blake did miss her old weapon, especially the ribbon, but Wilt and Blush were quickly growing on her. Weiss' glyphs granted her more maneuverability than she'd ever had with the ribbon anyway.
Blake touched down on a rooftop around the same time that the Sea Feilong crashed through some buildings a few blocks away. It wasn't dead, and even grounded Blake didn't think it would be a good idea to push their luck by trying to kill it with the limited firepower on hand. Weiss seemed to agree, directing the students to flee. At least the evacuees would have a chance now.
It took Blake a few moments to get within shouting distance of Weiss. By the time she did, the Schnee was running through the streets as well, bringing up the rear. She'd been the last one to retreat. Blake didn't waste time jumping down to her, instead running along the rooftops in parallel. Weiss greeted her with a smile and a nod.
"What's the plan now?" Blake called.
"Scrolls are still working. The Signal students got a message out, if no one else did," Weiss replied. "Beacon has already sent reinforcements."
"How long until they get here?"
Weiss shrugged helplessly.
"Is that even a good thing?" Blake thought of Rose.
"Has to be better than the alternative. I've been trying to contact Rose but there's still no—"
There was another blinding flash from behind them. That was the only warning they got. Blake's eyes widened as she saw a blast of lightning surging straight at Weiss. Without thinking Blake threw herself at the Schnee, using her Semblance to get there in a blink. She tackled Weiss out of the way as heat seared her back through her aura, her clothes and skin burning, muscles seizing up as electricity wracked her body. She gasped for air, hyperventilating.
It was the first time Blake had ever used her Semblance to dive into danger.
As Weiss pulled her to her feet, Blake spotted the white glyph behind her which had shielded her from the worst of the blast. She'd only caught the edges of it even so. It should have bothered her to have had such a close brush with death, but for some reason Blake felt strangely empty about it. Weiss, however, glared at her with a mix of concern and anger.
"What were you thinking?" Weiss demanded. "That was reckless and stupid! You almost died! I was going to dodge it on my own, and I have the benefit of being able to shield myself. What would you have done if you were just a little bit slower, or if I didn't get my glyph up in time?"
"I couldn't take any chances." Blake shook her head. "You've promised to help the faunus. You're the head of the SDC. I'm not that important."
Weiss' eyes widened. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Do you really need it spelled out?" Blake said in frustration. "Think rationally! Your life is more valuable than mine!"
Weiss slapped her hard enough for both their auras to flare. It didn't hurt, not much, but the shock of it had Blake staring like an idiot. The Schnee head was seething as she glared back, her shoulders shaking with inexplicable anger.
"Have you already forgotten your part of that bargain?" Weiss snapped. "We're supposed to help the faunus together. I agreed to take on a partner, not a martyr. And what of Rose's visions of the future? In case you can't remember, we're both equally important! You're not leaving me to take all of that on by myself. No, you don't get off that easily. You're not allowed to die. I absolutely forbid it!"
Blake lowered her eyes. It wasn't like she had been looking for an easy way out, was it? Then again, she had been taking more risks since the attack on the White Fang camp. The thought of letting everything go might've crossed her mind once or twice. It was nothing serious, or at least she hadn't thought so. Shame and guilt crept over her as she realized how unfair that attitude had been to Weiss.
"I'm sorry," Blake said hoarsely.
Weiss' expression softened. "Just promise me you won't throw your life away."
"I won't. I promise."
The two of them stood there awkwardly with the town in chaos around them. Neither of them was used to showing emotion; they weren't touchy feely people. As the moment stretched on, they averted their gazes, each determinedly not looking at the other. Finally, a red faced Weiss broke the deadlock.
"Oh, let's just go!"
Blake sagged in relief at the cutting of the tension. She followed after Weiss. Together they rushed off to catch up with the other evacuees.
Qrow looked up at Rose. The huntress met his gaze as those silver eyes blinked once, twice. Ruby was clinging to him like a barnacle, as though he might disappear if she released him. Her little body was rigid with fear.
Rose crouched down so that they were at eye level. She took a deep breath, visibly steeling herself.
"No."
What?
Qrow growled. "This is no time for games. Didn't you hear me? You don't have a choice—"
"You're right. I don't," Rose agreed. "If I let you die, Ruby here won't ever forgive me. And I won't either. But it won't come to that, Qrow. Because it's my turn to protect you."
Rose reached out and ruffled Qrow's hair fondly. The gesture was strangely familiar, and despite his best efforts it filled Qrow with a tingly warmth that silenced his protests. He could only stare mutely as Rose straightened up and gave him a radiant smile.
"It's going to be alright," she said.
Rose then gently pried Ruby off of Qrow and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"Hey. Do you remember your first aid lessons?" Ruby nodded in response. "Good. Look after your uncle. He says really silly things sometimes. Don't mind him, okay?"
"Okay."
Rose reached for a red scythe resting nearby, where Ruby had discarded it.
"I need to borrow this." Rose inspected the weapon. "Oh boy have I missed you."
The huntress turned to face the horde of Grimm advancing across the open fields. They were hundreds, maybe thousands of creatures of darkness, born from the power of a spiteful God. Rose reached behind her and drew her own scythe.
With Grimm Reaper in one hand and Crescent Rose in the other, the lone huntress began marching forward. Her eyes glinted with silver light.
"If these guys are gonna get in our way, then I'll just have to destroy them all."
She crossed her scythes before her. Her white cloak billowed behind her.
Then she charged.