A/N: Alright here we go. Shit is getting real now. It all comes to a head in the next chapter, which I presently expect to conclude the arc. I honestly never thought that I would get this far, and I probably would not have done so without your reviews. Thank you for following along. If you've derived pleasure from reading this, I hope that you will recommend it to others.

One of the things I'm proud of is that there's very little fat on my writing. I feel that I've told a lot of story for such a modest word count. I hope it comes across that way to readers as well.

Enjoy this penultimate chapter before the break.

Beta: N/A

"Shut up," Raven said without heat. "We have work to do."

Taiyang looked over at the Grimm. "Yeah. What are we dealing with?"

"Something new. Haven't been able to cut it with anything except a portal. It's strong as hell and apparently aura does nothing to stop it. Don't get hit."

There was no big emotional display. It felt like any conversation they might've had as students at Beacon. Raven appreciated that. It made things simple, allowed her to lean on old habits. Taiyang was smart enough to understand that this was the only way they were going to be able to work together in this fight. Sixteen years of estrangement had to be set aside. Here and now they were huntsmen with a common enemy; anything else could wait until the threat to their daughter was dealt with.

And by at that point, Raven would be gone. It wasn't like anyone could keep her from leaving.

"Blunt force then. Hit and run." Taiyang cracked his knuckles. "I can work with that."

Raven nodded. "Anvil drop?"

"Do it."

Taiyang leaped high into the air, directly over Raven. With a practiced sweep of her sword, she opened a portal above her head. The other end appeared above Taiyang. He fell until he dropped through her end of the portal, only to reappear in the sky, again and again as he gained speed. Soon he was a yellow blur falling endlessly in a loop.

Raven turned to face the Grimm with a predatory smirk. She'd never admit it, but it felt good to use her Semblance in combat again. Almost every Semblance on record had some type of combat application, and Kindred Link was no exception to that rule. It was more than a glorified taxi service. As its name and nature suggested, the true potential of her Semblance could only be realized when she worked in tandem with others.

It required coordination, anticipation, understanding of each other's thinking. It only worked with trust and long practice. It only worked when there was a bond.

"It's coming!" Raven called.

The Grimm charged forward, likely aiming to interrupt whatever they were preparing. Raven danced through a web of black limbs as she moved to meet it. At point blank range she parried a swipe of its humanoid arm, then riposted into its chest. The thrust knocked it back a few inches. It also opened a fresh portal. Taiyang came rocketing through with his leg outstretched, delivering a devastating kick at terminal velocity. The Grimm was sent flying.

No way to dodge, no chance to counterattack. It was an incredibly powerful Semblance when used to its potential. Raven assumed it was some cosmic joke that she, of all the people on Remnant, required a partner for that.

"Nice shot." Taiyang smiled.

Raven harrumphed. "We're out of practice."

"I don't know. Feels just like old times to me."

"Look sharp. It's getting up again."

Raven spared a glance at Yang. The girl was staring at the two of them with stars in her eyes. A flicker of some uncomfortable emotion stirred in Raven, which she quickly and brutally suppressed. She refocused her attention on the Grimm as it lunged.

Qrow watched in solemn wonder as a white cloak bled into red streaks. The huntress danced across the fields in leaps and bounds, pirouetting her body as she went, each arm holding a scythe and each scythe cutting down swathes of Grimm. The Grimm tried to sweep over her with waves of bodies. Each time they gathered the numbers she would vanish in a swirl of petals, only to reappear, tearing into them where they were thickest, like a human blender.

In the cliffside forest there had barely been room to swing their weapons, with Grimm raining from the treetops and Ruby pressed close to them by necessity. Out here Rose seemed unleashed. The sight of it reminded him of the old legend he'd learned from his dearest friend; the words she had burned into his memory through both her narration and her example.

Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior.

As the masses of smaller Grimm failed to get anywhere, the larger specimens in the horde began to make their move. A Death Stalker, a Creep, and a Goliath charged towards Rose at the same time, trampling lesser Grimm underfoot and kicking up dust in their wakes. These were variants that hadn't been seen on Patch in living memory. They were draped with seaweed and other evidence of having recently traveled through the ocean.

Rose ran towards the approaching Death Stalker first, jumping onto its head and pushing off hard enough to drive its eyes into the dirt. The maneuver propelled her to the same height as its stinger, which she promptly severed with a swing of Grimm Reaper. A follow-up strike with Crescent Rose, empowered by recoil, knocked the stinger at the Goliath like a giant baseball. It struck between the Goliath's eyes, penetrating the tough armored mask, killing the enormous Grimm instantly.

Creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind had ever encountered, were afraid of those Silver-Eyed warriors.

The Goliath's momentum carried its massive body forward even as it collapsed into the ground and began to dissipate. Rose sank her scythes into its bulk, using them like ice axes to get on top of the thing in a flash. The alpha Creep was still charging with its horn lowered. Robbed of its stinger, the Death Stalker brandished its claws as it too converged on her.

Rose shifted both of her scythes into sniper rifles. Locking her arms into position, keeping them perfectly parallel, she aimed both guns at the same time. She inhaled. The Creep had almost caught up to the Death Stalker. She exhaled. As the breath left her lungs she fired, and a pair of bullets tore into the Creep's right eyes, blinding it on that side and sending it into its death throes. The Creep collided with the Death Stalker, the great horn cracking its carapace.

The other Grimm, in all their multitudes, seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second.

They were the best of the best.

A swarm of Nevermore and Lancers swooped down on Rose in a thick column. Rose tossed Grimm Reaper up and at them; it shot spinning into the air, cutting through the flock, thinning their numbers. Rose leaped to follow with Crescent Rose in hand, twisting into a corkscrew motion, wiping out whatever flying Grimm remained.

It was said that even a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down.

Retrieving Grimm Reaper at the apex of her jump, Rose hung suspended in the air for an instant, the fields below her still teeming with the Grimm. In that briefest of moments her eyes flashed with silver light as bright and intense as the sun. On these open fields there was no escaping it. Wherever that light fell, Grimm burst into black vapor, dying by the hundreds from a mere glance.

Qrow felt wetness on his cheeks and he realized he was crying. He wasn't even sure why. It wasn't his injuries. The magnificence of what he was witnessing, the memory of Summer, the presence of Ruby at his side as he leaned on her and hobbled forward. All of the above. He'd thought Ruby the last of her kind, but that wasn't true anymore, was it? Ruby could finally have someone to teach her about the legacy her mother had died too soon to pass on.

He wanted to hug Rose. He wanted to shake her violently and demand answers. He wanted to see if Ruby too would achieve feats like this when she grew up and came into her own. He didn't want to die, dammit, and Rose was giving him hope that he would actually survive.

Qrow paused and shut his eyes. He tried once again to call upon the small bit of magic that Ozpin had gifted him. As before it refused to cooperate, only aggravating the pain of his injury. Apparently, his body didn't like changing shapes while his stomach was split open.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked in concern. "What's wrong?"

Qrow grimaced. "Nothing, kiddo. Just trying to make your job a little easier, but it isn't working. Sorry."

Even talking was difficult, and Ruby seemed to catch on to that. She continued to eye him worriedly while stealing glances at Rose. Those glances were filled with hero worship, and why shouldn't they be? Rose was incredible, as powerful and skilled as anyone in Team STRQ had ever been, and Qrow didn't make that evaluation lightly. She used the same type of weapon as Ruby and she was even, apparently, family.

Qrow raised Harbinger with a shaky arm and fired a shotgun blast at a stay Beowolf that thought to prey upon easier pickings. The horde of Grimm was dramatically thinner now, and still shrinking by the second. If the Grimm left corpses the fields would've been carpeted in black. As it was, there would soon be no evidence of what had happened beyond the trampled and ruined ground.

Rose continued to cut through the Grimm like a woman possessed. Twice more she used flashes of silver light to wipe away masses of them at once. Qrow knew from fighting alongside Summer that Rose ought to be able to use her eyes more than she had, but she seemed to be conserving them for something. Most of the work she did the hard way, with her muscles and two scythes, raking through the Grimm like a praying mantis whenever she wasn't spinning and twirling.

And then it was over. Rose stood alone atop a grassy hill, the last remnants of her foes dissolving around her. Her hair was damp with sweat, her face and neck slick with it. Her breath came in sharp gasps. Yet she still stood unbowed, her eyes defiant, fighting through the exhaustion as if to tell the world that she had more fight left in her.

Those silver eyes locked onto his. She nodded at him. Qrow returned the nod.

For a moment they just stared at each other.

Then there came the sound of a scroll call, ringing out across the empty fields. Rose blushed, suddenly looking like any other mildly embarrassed young woman.

"Um. I think that's mine."

Blake watched impatiently as Weiss pressed her scroll tight to her head, shielding her mouth with her hand as if it would prevent the Signal students from overhearing. The students, fortunately, were chattering so loudly among themselves that there was no risk of that. Even straining with four ears Blake couldn't catch a word of whatever was being said.

Finally Weiss ended the call and sidled over to Blake. The two of them were still bringing up the rear of long column of evacuees, behind the others with huntsmen training. They had left the town walls a good distance behind, and mercifully found only a token Grimm presence outside of them. Apparently the Grimm had been content to occupy the local huntsmen and deny them the harbor.

"What did she say?" Blake pressed.

"She's got one of the girls we came here for, but the other might be in trouble," Weiss explained. "She gave me a set of coordinates for a cabin out in the woods. We're to meet her there, but be careful when we approach. The stalker Grimm is still unaccounted for."

Blake frowned. "That's concerning. I hope we're not running into a trap."

"Hence why we must take care."

Blake opened her mouth but never got a chance to speak. A sudden cheer went up from the Signal students, a cheer that soon spread to the other evacuees. Fingers were pointed towards the sky. People whooped with delight. Blake and Weiss spun around and looked up.

A massive Atlesian airship was fast approaching the besieged town. The town was largely wrecked at this point, with the grounded Sea Feilong continuing to fire off destructive blasts of lightning even when there were no more people to target. As they looked on, the airship fired an impressive laser cannon beam at the shrieking Sea Feilong. Then another. And another. It was overkill. The sea monster collapsed and began to dissipate under the bombardment.

"That's General Ironwood's flagship," Weiss muttered. "I suppose he was still in the area."

"Beacon can't be far behind," Blake warned. "I think it's best we regroup with Rose before they get here."

Even beyond Rose's wanted status, Blake was still a member of the White Fang, and still attracting strange looks from the civilians who saw her in her mask. Blake imagined she would be expected to answer a lot of awkward questions if they were picked up by the authorities.

Weiss looked at her thoughtfully and nodded. "No time to waste then. Let's get moving."

Yang's heart raced. It felt like she was on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. From being attacked in her home by some sort of super Grimm, to being saved by a mother she'd never met, to finally watching her mother and father fighting together to protect her. It had been a nightmare. It had been a dream come true. The only constant was that it still didn't feel real.

"Watch out!" Yang cried.

Yang winced as her father was sent flying. Raven opened a portal to catch him, the other end sprouting on the ground in front of her. Taiyang shot out of the portal, back first, and into the air. Gravity pulled him down into an arc, allowing him to twist his body and land on the Grimm's head with his elbow. The Grimm was flattened by the impact. Another portal opened to swallow him up and deposit him safely beside Raven before the Grimm could counterattack.

It was like they had rehearsed it. No, it was like they were reading each other's minds. Yang eagerly drank in every detail she could as she watched her parents interact. Their teamwork was mesmerizing. Was this what it had been like when Team STRQ was together? Was this what it had been like when her parents had been together? They were awesome! It was obvious that they must have been close! What could possibly have broken them up?

A sickening thought made Yang's blood run cold. Raven had left not long after she was born. Had Raven left because of Yang? Was it her fault that their marriage had ended?

The thought dulled her sense of wonder and left her a little dispirited as she watched the fight unfold.

Taiyang was bouncing on the balls of his feet, taunting the Grimm, beckoning it with an outstretched open palm. The Grimm took the bait and swiped at him with its humanoid arm. Taiyang twisted out of the way while Raven opened a portal in the space he had just occupied. The clawed arm dipped into the red and black. Raven shut the portal immediately, taking off everything from the forearm down.

"Heh." Taiyang swiped at his nose with his thumb. "This reminds me of our first date."

Raven snarled. "That wasn't a date!"

"All these years later and you're still in denial."

"When we're done here I'm going to kill you, Tai."

"Heard that before."

Yang watched, almost wistful, as Raven barked out an indignant response. Was this what it would've been like if Raven had never left? Yang wouldn't trade Ruby for anything, nor the years she'd had with Summer, but she couldn't stop herself from wondering what might have been. This felt like a glimpse of a life she'd never had. It really didn't seem so terrible that Raven should've fled to escape it.

The Grimm seemed wary for the first time, having lost one of its primary limbs. It hung back as it circled them, its tentacles pointed forwards and bristling, keeping distance between them. Raven charged as if she was going to actually try to weave her way through the deadly tendrils. At the last moment she jumped over the Grimm, opening a portal above it, the other end on the ground in front of Taiyang. The Grimm spun around to block Raven's attack as she landed and tried to strike it from behind. In that moment Taiyang jumped through the portal and dropped down onto the Grimm from above, pummeling it with his fists. Again it was pounded into the ground hard enough to leave an indent. Again it got up shortly afterwards with no sign of damage.

"You weren't kidding about its toughness," Taiyang muttered as they regrouped. "It's like punching heavy armor. Maybe worse. I don't think this is working."

"We took off its arm."

"Right. Portals work. Guillotine?"

Raven shot him a sidelong glance. "It's risky."

"You got a better idea?"

Raven merely huffed in response. Apparently understanding that to mean he'd won the argument, Taiyang circled around so that he was on the other side of the Grimm, him and Raven taking care to keep the monster between them. The Grimm snapped its attention back and forth. Finally deciding that Raven was the more pressing target, it lunged for her, its gait awkward with three limbs.

At the last moment Raven opened another portal between her and the charging Grimm. This time it drove its tentacles into the ground and came to an immediate halt, its face mere inches from the portal. That wasn't ideal, but it was nothing they hadn't expected. With the other end of the portal swirling near him, Taiyang charged from behind, ready to strike the Grimm in the back of the head to push it through.

The Grimm ducked. The attack missed. Taiyang stepped back as the Grimm's head spun around to look at him. He put his fists up, ready to dodge or parry a counterattack.

Then there were black barbed tentacles sprouting from his chest. His blood dripped from their lengths. He'd been speared from behind. The Grimm had sent its limbs through the portal in front of it, curving them around from the other end to stab him in the back. It all happened in the space of a second.

Raven closed the portal, severing the tentacles, but the damage was already done. Taiyang crumpled to the ground. There was no way those wounds wouldn't be fatal. Yang stared in numb, horrified disbelief. For a moment that same expression was mirrored on Raven's face.

"DAD!"

"TAI!"

Yang ran towards her fallen father, her own safety no longer among her concerns. Raven, on the other hand, let out an animalistic roar as she rounded on the Grimm.

A wave of choking air pressure burst from Raven as her eyes erupted with flames.