Tiger's Tail

Jaune felt his fingers tighten around Crocea Mors, he'd Rau's old weapon left with Sable so she'd have something to shoot with, and he incremented the count when another Griffon let out a piercing scream somewhere nearby. A moment later a dark form briefly blotted out what little sunlight was making it through the thick tree cover, and he shook his head slightly.

"That makes six." He murmured. "Another old one you think?"

Beside him, Neo twitched her head in a single nod, her own weapon held loosely in both hands.

"You see anything on the ground?"

She shook her head once, then froze and jerked her head once. He followed her gaze and sucked in a slow breath as a red-clad woman stepped out from behind a distant tree, her form fading in and out of sight as she slowly strutted through the old forest. There were no Grimm with her, or at least, none on the ground, and if she had any other people with they were staying hidden for now.

"Jaune, Neo." Cinder's voice was as smooth as ever despite both the distance and the situation, "I have to say that I am truly hurt, here I thought we were becoming friends."

Neo gave him a somewhat arch look that made him wince a little as he called back, "Yeah, I thought so too, but it's hard to be friends with someone who sics Grimm on a city!"

"Dear Jaune, so innocent even now." Her voice gained an amused edge, "The only reason I am here is for power. Vale? Beacon? They are nothing to me, that part of the operation is entirely my Queen's doing. A little reminder for an old friend that his possessions are at her sufferance."

He snorted as loudly as he could, shifting his stance a little to keep her moving form directly in front of him. Neo shifted as well, moving until her shoulders were pressed into the small of his back, covering his blind spot. "Is that supposed to make us trust you? Just hand over the Fall Maiden because you're more apathetic than malicious?"

"I am the Fall Maiden." Cinder all but snarled back, and he noted that particular emotional button for whatever it was worth. "By right of conquest I claimed that power, it is mine. If Ozpin was such a sore loser as to not abide by his own rules than that is hardly my problem... though I suppose it is now the little Schnee's. I wonder if he even told her just what he is, just what she was truly getting involved with."

Jaune's eyes flicked up for a moment as another Griffon, or one of the earlier ones, flew overhead once more, then dropped back down to continue to track his enemy. "This is your only chance, Cinder. Abandon Salem, leave Weiss alone, and come with us. We don't have to answer to either of them. We can make our own path."

There was a mocking laugh as she stepped into a small clearing, perhaps twenty or thirty paces away. "Oh Jaune, such a sweet young man. You have drawn Salem's eyes, you are already her servant, just as I am. Allow me to make a counter-offer. Surrender now, and I will take you to her, unharmed, and even speak glowingly of what you've done. I'm sure that she will allow you to end Hazel's life, the fool has failed her enough. Is that not what you desire?"

Once, it had been. It still was something he wanted, and something Neo definitely wanted, but... not for the price of their souls. Not for the price of Weiss' life. Not for the price of joining the Queen of the Grimm, who thought nothing of killing hundreds, thousands.

Revenge had its time and place, but this wasn't either.

This was the time to make their stand.

"Neo?" He murmured. "Ready?"

His partner nudged him with a single elbow in reply, sucked in an audible breath, then spun around and began sprinting forwards, his own legs digging into the dirt as he kicked off after her.

"Disappointing." Cinder spread her arms as they charged, red fire flashing for a split second, fading to reveal a pair of obsidian swords in her hands, "Yet predictable."

Neo reached her first, her parasol's point blade emerging as she turned her weapon into a short spear, a quick lunge forcing Cinder to deflect it and fall back. He shifted his sprint to the left slightly as he moved past his partner, his sword coming down hard at her shoulder. Cinder saw it coming, and rather than try and match strength against him, simply spun backwards and away.

Growling in his throat he shifted to quicker slashes and lunges, Neo doing the same at his side, their blades gleaming as they tried to break through Cinder's defenses.

Cinder never lost her smirk as she parried, deflected, and continued a slow but steady retreat. She threw in the odd counter-attack, a quick beat and slash combination here, a sharp kick to drive Neo back there, but otherwise she seemed utterly content to remain on the defensive. She traded space for time, never letting either of them get a solid hit on her, taking only the lightest of glancing blows that couldn't have done much to her aura.

That made the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he tried to both fight and think of what she could be planning. It didn't take him long to hit on the obvious reasons. She knew that Neo was a teleporter now, and had likely guessed she needed personal contact to move people. That was why she was keeping her distance.

And the reason she was stalling for time, not really fighting seriously yet, was because she didn't know where Charcoal or Weiss were. Her greatest fear had to be that Jaune had simply sent Weiss back to Beacon or Vale, or some random other location she couldn't predict. In that case she needed an edge...

She's stalling until her Grimm find Weiss, or until they and her pilot take down our Bullhead. He grimaced at the thought, Until she has hostages she can use against me. We've got accelerate this...

Gritting his teeth in preparation, he feinted with a quick high cut towards her face, then tucked his shoulder down and simply charged forwards. Cinder didn't buy the fake but was clearly unready for the sudden rush, only barely throwing herself to one side. She collided with a tree, her smirk vanishing as she snarled in surprise.

Neo took advantage of the sudden opening, red sparks flaring as she cut a line across Cinder's side. The taller woman swore, cut aside the parasol, then lashed out with a slash of her own that even Neo wasn't quick enough to dodge; the blow caught her in the shoulder and actually drove her back several steps.

"Charcoal!" His shout startled Cinder slightly, drawing her attention back to him before she could step out of the dark patch she'd dodged into. "Now!"

The assassin emerged from the tree's shadow even as Cinder tried to leap forwards, tattooed arms wrapping around Cinder's neck and chest as she hauled her back, her form already melting into ink once more as she prepared to teleport them both away. Once she got Cinder away she'd break contact and come back, then they could regroup with the students and deal with the Grimm without interruption.

Then they could rest, regroup, and deal with an isolated Cinder as a combined force.

Cinder, unfortunately, didn't cooperate.

There was no warning. One moment it seemed like the first part of the plan was going to work out just fine, just as they'd drawn in up in the few minutes they'd had to scheme. The next, Cinder's eyes abruptly burned with power and her entire body was simply covered in raw fire.

The heat forced he and Neo back, both of them instinctively lifting their arms to protect their heads. Charcoal, practically hugging Cinder as she was, didn't get that chance. Her aura may have been ready to protect anything her captive may have done to try and fight free, but she simply couldn't have been prepared to exchange a human prisoner for a living fire. She screamed in sudden shock and pain, flinging herself away from the heat on pure, panicked reflex, her semblance unraveling as she lost her focus. Cinder wasted no time, whirling around as she was released, her swords blazing with the same fire.

Neo managed to recover first, lunging forwards to deflect one of them, but the second caught Charcoal across her left thigh. Somehow she kept her aura up enough to not lose the limb, but the blow was enough to take the leg out from under her, dropping her to a knee, and leaving her open when Cinder spun about. Her swords clashed with Neo's parasol, driving it away, while one of her own legs came up to slam into Charcoal's head.

She must have done something to enhance the strike because the blow drove the Vacuan woman's skull right into the tree, and she collapsed limply without a word.

Jaune let out a furious cry as he lunged forwards, taking the opening to slam his sword against Cinder's exposed back, forcing her forwards, right into Neo's lunge, while he drew his weapon back into a two handed grip, entirely prepared to bounce the woman between them, bludgeoning their way through her aura.

Cinder escaped the same way she'd dealt with Charcoal; with magic.

One of her swords abruptly vanished as she thrust her hand forwards, taking Neo's attack to her chest in exchange for grasping onto his lover's coat. Neo's eyes widened but Cinder struck before she could try and teleport away. Yellow arcs of lightning snaked their way down her arm in an instant, then leaped across to arc directly into Neo's chest.

Neo let out wordless scream as her body convulsed, Cinder's grip preventing her from even trying to fling herself away, and the shocks stopped any chance she had of using her semblance.

Pure terrified rage took over at that point, his sword rising and falling as he hammered down at his enemy, aiming right at her shoulder. Cinder released Neo, the last bit of lightning flinging her away to smash into another tree, both hands falling to grasp her sword as she backpedaled.

Pure anger and fear drove him to press the attack, her neat retreat becoming a stumble has simply hammered at her guard. There was no technique to it, he might as well have been using a club, but the sheer aggression kept her from counter-attacking. She flinched as he howled at her with each blow, the fifth such strike shattering her glass weapon, shards of it bouncing off of both of their auras.

Jaune managed to get in a good cut at her shoulder as she frantically summoned up a pair of new blades, catching a slash at her head between them. He felt his teeth bare in a wordless snarl as he pushed, using his height and weight to force her back. Cinder began to bend, magic or not she was the smaller, more lithe combatant, and a fight of pure strength was one she would not win.

Her teeth showed as she came to the same conclusion, fire beginning to burn again in her eyes as she prepared some new magic... then a Griffon let out a scream nearby, and her own focused expression shifted into a victorious grin. He pulled back the second before she twisted to one side, stopping her from using his own momentum against him, and tried to lash out at her side.

Cinder leaped back from the blow, wind whipping up and around her... and then she fucking flew upwards, nimbly flitting between tree branches before vanishing.

"Fuck!" He screamed in frustration, anger, and fear. "Neo!?"

His partner had somehow managed to collect herself, but she was shaking even worse than Pyrrha had been earlier. Her hair was standing on end, and her shirt had actually been burned through entirely directly over her heart, revealing scalded flesh over her sternum.

He raced over, kneeling and taking one of her shaking arms in his hands, preparing his semblance... then fell on his ass when Neo found some tiny burst of strength to push him away. She shook her head once, pointing firmly at where Cinder had just flown off to.

They didn't have the time for him to heal her. He had to get back to Weiss.

"But-"

Neo's pale lips pulled back in a snarl and her trembling hands haltingly pushed him away again. He had to go. If this was Cinder at half-power, there was no chance in hell they could survive her at full strength.

Jaune clenched his jaw, his sword shaking with his emotions... then he nodded, rose, and sprinted towards where they'd left the students.

"She's all right!" Pyrrha called as she forced a bleeding and stunned Sable Arc into a seat, fighting her own shaking fingers to get the older woman strapped into place. Her body was coated in the black muck of the Grimm she'd just killed, a Griffon having surprised them by coming up from below and all but climbing into the vehicle.

Sable had managed to get her sword into its head, with some help from Pyrrha, but not before she'd been mauled and bounced against the bulkhead several times. "Her aura is low but she's unconscious! Head-blow!"

"Get her strapped in and take her spot!" The pilot shouted back. "You still have her gun?"

"She dropped it over the side!"

The man cursed, the entire plane banking suddenly as he leaned out of his seat and slid something along the floor before grabbing onto the controls once more. Pyrrha only barely managed to fall onto the rifle he'd sent her way before it could bounce out of the open cabin as well. She managed to get a good grip on it just as another large Nevermore managed to crash into the side of the Bullhead, its beak open as it lunged for her, the old aircraft groaning in protest as yet more talons ripped at its hull.

Her new weapon thundered at full automatic as she pulled the trigger, barely needing to aim to put the rounds into its throat. The fire dust laced bullets burned out the Grimm's mouth and made it flail backwards, screeching in a horrible fashion as it spun away, smoke trailing from its head.

"Get yer ass up girl!" The old man on the other side shouted, his own rifle cracking in a steady sequence as he kept up the fire on the Grimm chasing them on that side. She had no idea how he was doing it beyond a vague notion his semblance was helping, but the old hunter was killing them by the score with ease.

Unfortunately for them, that left several more score left over to still deal with. Stopping to drop everyone off and fight on the ground may have let them avoid getting blown up by the enemy maiden, but it had also let a lot of the slower, smaller Grimm catch up.

"Yes sir!" Pyrrha replied automatically, scooting herself along the floor until she could brace herself in the open hatch.

She didn't lack for targets; Grimm were swirling all around, and the other Bullhead was visible as it continued to linger in the distance. The weapon's stock pressed against her shoulder as she began to fire in bursts, trying to focus on the smaller Grimm, those that could actually be killed at range without her needing to hit vulnerable points.

Levi seemed to have the larger Grimm well in hand in either case, shooting their eyes and open mouths with impossible accuracy even as their plane banked, climbed, dove, and otherwise tumbled through the sky as the pair of them did best to stop any more Grimm from getting a hold of them. Considering how badly the Bullhead was groaning and how its engines had developed odd sounds, she was getting increasingly worried she might have to try using her semblance to hold the whole thing together.

"Bloody fuck!" Levi's shout drew her attention away from her task, the old man staring at something on his side. "They must have found the kids, Elders circling!"

Pyrrha was about to ask what they were going to do about that when she felt her jaw drop open. "L-Left! She's flying!"

"What!?"

She shook her head and shifted her aim, firing a long burst at Cinder Fall as the woman shot through the air as though she had rockets strapped her feet. She didn't think she got a hit as the red-clad form flew by underneath of their plane, clearly heading right towards where Weiss must have been trying to hide.

"Levi!?" Pyrrha called as she lost the target.

"Got her." He replied confidently, his rifle swinging around as he fired a shot, then a second, then he abruptly shouted, "Dive!"

Pyrrha frantically grabbed a hold of the nearest seat, holding on for dear life as the Bullhead abruptly flipped directly onto its side, giving her an excellent view of the ground, then it twisted around and dove straight for the ground as tracer rounds hammered into its tail and chased after it; the enemy aircraft finally engaging them... and proving to be a combat model unlike their own civilian transport.

She managed to keep her grip through that evasive maneuver, but when Vest threw the aircraft onto its other side, banking hard, the old vehicle finally failed them. Something on her side, where the Griffon and Nevermore had torn open the hull to anchor themselves, ripped free amide a shriek of metal and sparking wires. An alarm screamed somewhere, and the Bullhead abruptly dropped like a stone before their pilot managed to get them back upright and sort-of leveled out.

"Bail!" The barked order came just as their enemy found the range again, more bullets tearing into the wings and roof.

Pyrrha tried to get her legs back under her, tried to lunge to where Sable was still strapped in, and then a barrage tore apart the chair that was her only anchor. The swerving motion was more than enough to throw her into the open air, her legs smacking into the torn up flank of the aircraft.

...and then she was simply falling.

"Oh gods." Weiss gasped, watching through a gap in the trees as their airplane abruptly swing away, a form falling from it while one of its engines burst into flames. It vanished behind the trees before she could see anymore, the stolen school Bullhead lazily pursuing its crippled victim.

"Weiss." Ren's iron grip on her wrist stopped her even as she tried to stand up, the pure dread in her belly enough to make him strain for a few moments to keep them hidden. "Calm down or we will burn too much aura staying hidden."

She sucked in a ragged breath as Ren's semblance slowly began to wash over her once more, taking away the horror, worry, and grief and leaving an emotionless pit behind.

The pair of them were clutching the branches of an old pine tree, high off the ground, each with a grasp on the other's wrist as the leader of team RAVN used his semblance to keep them safely concealed from the Grimm.

It had initially worked to keep the pair of them, along with Ilia, safe and secure while the Professors and their assassin friend went after Cinder, but they'd hit an unfortunate snag when various Griffons had landed nearby and begun to prowl around on the ground.

The Grimm couldn't see them, couldn't sense their emotions... but this was stretch of forest had no real undergrowth, only dirt and fallen needles. And unlike most of the dark creatures, these Elder beasts were all old, all experienced, all intelligent. They knew what to look for when they hunted their prey. They knew how to track humans and faunus even when they couldn't see them directly.

And one of them that had managed to land close by had found the footprints they'd left in the soil.

Footprints that led in their direction.

Ilia had realized the problem first, when the Grimm had begun to nuzzle its head into the dirt before starting to chirp furiously, summoning others who began to shriek and converge. Before she or Ren could even try to stop her, Ilia had torn herself free from Ren's grip and flung herself down to the ground. She'd barely made it a dozen paces before the screeching had reached ear-piercing levels, the massive forms of the Elder Grimm pounding after her in pursuit as she led them away.

As she tried to sacrifice herself so that they... so that Weiss could remain safe.

"We have to do something." She insisted, keeping her voice quiet. Ren wasn't sure if the Grimm could hear them or not despite his semblance, and even if they couldn't, Cinder or any other living person definitely could. "They should have been back by down if they managed to teleport her away. Or at least Charcoal should be."

"Professor Arc told me to keep you safe." Ren countered, his voice as toneless and logical as hers had become. He'd warned her about what his semblance felt like, but even so she hadn't really grasped it until she was under its effects.

Strange and unpleasant were barely adequate to describe the feeling... even if she couldn't bring herself to react or really care about what it felt like.

"I will not let him down." He stated. "Ilia will lure them away, and if Cinder is still nearby, will be pursuing her instead. We can remain safely in place."

"If Cinder defeated them before they could teleport her or themselves away, we must act before she can recover and heal." Weiss shook her head once. "Or do you truthfully believe you can hide us for the hours it will take any ally to reach us?"

He pursed his lips, pink eyes shifting as he considered that, doing the same logical math that she had done; weighing her words against his orders.

Ilia would only last so long on her own against so many old Grimm, they had no guarantee she would manage to lead them far enough away before they realized they'd been duped. Additionally, Weiss knew she was entirely correct; Ren's semblance may have been fairly efficient but that did not mean he could hide them for hours on end.

If the initial plan had failed, then they had to take action, or else they would simply be the last ones killed after everyone had else had been defeated.

"What do you propose?" He asked after several quiet moments.

"We pursue the Bullheads, I bring hers down to get her attention. We link up with Pyrrha, Miss Arc, Mister Vest, and Mister Levi, and together we deal with her. If the Professors and their companion are still able to fight, they will converge on that location as the most obvious place to group up at."

Ren considered that, obviously knowing just as well as she did that the likelihood that all four of them were still able to fight, or even alive, was low. But that risk seemed a better, more prudent option than the hope that Cinder and her Grimm would not find them before his aura ran out. Further, even if Cinder had evaded the trap intended to drop her off in the middle of nowhere, at least Miss Neo or the assassin could have evaded her in turn and already be at the crash-site.

Which would dramatically improve their chances.

He let out a slow breath and relaxed his fingers, hers doing the same as they let go of one another, color rushing back into the world. All of her turbulent emotions came back with it, and she felt a sob come out of her lips before she could throttle it back. Ren shook slightly for a second, needing a ragged breath of his own before composing himself, and then he gave her a quick nod before lightly throwing himself from their tree.

Weiss needed a few moments, drawing on her heritage, forcing the fear and tears away, then she too dropped down to the ground.

The first explosion came just her feet touched the dirt.

Ilia sprinted in the direction she'd thought the Bullhead had crashed, or landed, or simply vanished beneath the trees. It seemed as good a direction to run for her life as any.

Behind her, Griffons howled as they bounded after her, the massive creatures often simply smashing the smaller trees out of their way as they pursued. She'd managed to kill one of them, leaving Milo buried in its dissolving body, before an explosion of fire had told her that their plan hadn't worked out, that Cinder had either defeated or evaded Jaune's trap. She'd come after Ilia, probably drawn by the Grimm's shrieking, thinking they must have found Weiss.

Cinder's anger that she wasn't the Maiden had been demonstrated when she'd simply incinerated a wide swath of the forest, cutting down half of Ilia's aura in the process, and sending her fleeing even more desperately than she had been when there had only been giant Grimm around.

Her legs burned as she ran, ducking under low branches, her skin shaded to a dark black as she did her best to make it hard to spot her directly. A normal opponent probably would have had a hard time hitting her, but Cinder had evidently decided that wide-area destruction was just fine to demonstrate her displeasure.

The second magical blast struck a tree a few meters to Ilia's left, exploding in an orange and purple flash, fire and gravity somehow mixed together in a violent combination. The blast ripped away or incinerated the needles on every tree nearby, and sent Ilia bouncing painfully across the ground, her aura leaving sparks in her trail as it did its best to stop her from dying.

The fact that she crashed into a Grimm did her no favors as it screeched and lashed at her with its claws, dragging her aura down even further even as she frantically lashed out with her own weapon. It snapped out to full length as she swung it away, then yanked it back to make it wrap around the Griffon's neck.

Its beak opened as it screeched when she yanked the trigger, lightning dust sending power arcing into its body, making it fling itself away from her with a startled spams of muscles. That was enough of an opening for her to scramble up on to her feet and turn around, just in time to see Cinder thrust a pale hand in her direction.

The magical explosion killed the stunned Griffon and once more sent Ilia flying, but this time she wasn't lucky enough to simply bounce along the ground. Instead her body slammed into a tree, its trunk cracking while her scroll howled an alarm. Her aura was down to its dregs, and her enemy didn't even seem to be trying particularly hard.

This... was such a bad idea...

She groaned weakly as she gathered herself on her hands and knees, looking up as her enemies took their time in approaching.

"Come now, little girl." Cinder Fall shook her head as she summoned up even more power into the cup of her hand, some bizarre mix of fire and electricity bubbling in her grasp. Behind her, several more Elder Griffons, each one larger than a small truck, loomed. All of them were chirping and rustling their wings in excitement, making her swallow as she forcing her exhausted arms to push herself up.

"Tell me where the Schnee is and I'll let you live." The woman offered as Ilia slowly got to her feet, her body painfully adopting a proper at-ready stance. "Otherwise I will simply have to allow my associates here to slowly rip you apart while they eat you."

Ilia couldn't stop the shudder than ran through her at the mental image of those beaks tearing into her. The notion of dying didn't really scare her, it hadn't since she'd joined the White Fang, but there was something about the notion of being eaten that made her spine tighten and her stomach churn.

"Is she really worth it?" Cinder pressed, "A Schnee? Is she worth that kind of death?"

"She's..." She sucked in a breath and shook her head slightly, "She's not her father. And you wouldn't let me live anyway."

The older woman smirked. "Hm, true enough I suppose. Goodbye then, little faunus."

Not about to make it that easy for her, Ilia lunged to her right, diving behind the nearest tree. She expected to feel a rush of heat and pain as the false-maiden hit her with magic again, but instead there was a sudden crackling sound to coincide with a surge of arctic air. Stumbling, she jerked her head around to see a massive wall of ice in between her and the enemy for a split-second before Cinder's power obliterated a small portion of it.

"Ilia!" A hand grabbed her arm and yanked her into motion as shards of ice tumbled everywhere and steam filled the air, letting her see Ren hauling her along as Weiss began racing along with them. "Run!"

She didn't need the urging, finding her second or third wind as she got up to speed. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

"Saving you!" The heiress snapped back. "Obviously!"

"She's after you! You should have run away not-"

Ren abruptly shoved her to one side, a black arrow slamming into his shoulder instead of her back a second later. He staggered, aura crackling from the impact, but kept his legs moving. "Argue later, we have to get to the Bullhead!"

Ilia ground her teeth but obeyed, bobbing and weaving between the trees as Grimm howled their pursuit.

...but strangely, no more arrows or magic came flying after them.

Author's Notes;

So, the rough plan to deal with Cinder directly instead of retreating doesn't quite work out for everyone. Should just be one more chapter of combat to go, then we'll be in the oh-so-delightful aftermath.

Again to re-iterate for those who may have missed it before, I don't currently plan on doing a sequel. I really need to get back to two original works I'm trying to get done, and those are going to take priority for the foreseeable future. If anyone else wants to experiment with continuing the story after it's done, I may be open to providing support, but please wait to say anything until after the story is completed and you know how it ends.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat