Chapter 25
"Ha ha ha, grab your popcorn boys, this is getting interesting," Commander Zachery laughed, as he and his men watched the crazy black haired enter the warehouse, with flame erupting from her eyes!
They had gotten a call a little while ago, telling them that a silver-eyed person had been spotted, after that all they had to do was tap into Vale's security network and find her through the city's cameras. Unfortunately for Zachery, it was the older Silver eyed woman but fortunately for him, it looked like she was searching for her daughter, or as commander Zachery would put it, leading him straight to her.
He and his men had followed Summer to the old Schnee warehouse, stationing themselves a couple of blocks away, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"I'll bet 500 lien that at least one of them dies," one of Zachery's men betted, causing everyone else to start laughing. "I'll take those odds," another man called, pulling out a stack of lien. "Alright," the first man said, as he pulled out a stack of lien.
The rest of Zachery's men also started gambling, all laughing and enjoying the show.
'We'll wait until they wear each other out, then we'll take the girl," Zachery cheered, as he and his men watched Ruby's custody battle.
"Mom!" Ruby cheered, forgetting about the pain in her lungs, as she rushed her mother, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I've missed you too, my little feather," Raven said, bringing a single arm around Ruby, while her other arm held Omen, at the ready.
"I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean it, it was an accident," Ruby cried, burying her head into Raven's skirt.
"What are you talking about?" Raven questioned, looking down at her emotional daughter. "She asked me to, but I c-couldn't bring myself to do it, b-but it happened anyway. They said you would be proud of me but I-I don't want you to be proud of m-me, I'm a t-terrible person n-now," Ruby cried. "What are you talking about honey?" Raven questioned, but Ruby couldn't answer, instead, she continued to cry into Raven's skirt. "What is she talking about?" Raven asked Summer and Qrow accusingly. The two gave Raven a hate-filled gaze, clearly hating the fact that Ruby was seeking comfort in her "mother".
"Your plan, the entire reason you and your people sent her to Beacon, I guess you got what you wanted," Qrow spat. Raven gained a confused expression, "what are you talking about?" Raven asked. "You know what we're talking about, you and your friends sent our baby girl to Beacon, to kill Amber." Qrow snarled, holding Harbinger, in anticipation.
"What!" Raven shouted, looking down at her trembling daughter, "Oh baby," Raven said compassionately, holding her daughter a little tighter.
Raven was absolutely furious, Cinder had promised that Ruby would only be finding Amber's location but Cinder had apparently gone behind her back, and made Ruby do something that she wasn't ready to do...yet. "Get your filthy hand off of her," Summer demanded, raising her spear in preparation for the incoming battle.
"Honey, why isn't your aura recharging?" Raven asked, a clear worry in her voice.
"I don't know," Ruby mumbled. "It's alright, we'll figure it out later, for now, head outside, this won't take long," Raven said, knowing it would be dangerous for Ruby to stay in the warehouse without any aura. Ruby hesitated, looking up at her mother, "Mom what happened to Kachuna?" Ruby asked, a surprised look appearing on Raven's face. "W-what, why?" Raven asked nervously.
"I saw the village...it was completely destroyed," Ruby said, noticing that her mother did not look surprised. "Was that us?" Ruby questioned, stepping away from her mother's arm, to look at her.
"Of course n…" Raven started."Please don't lie to me," Ruby begged, her silver eyes staring into Ravens, "was that us?" Ruby repeated. "Yeah," Raven answered, earning a horrified gasp from Ruby. "W-why?" Ruby asked unconsciously, taking another step away from her mother. "Because that's what we do, we crush those who are weaker than us but honey you got to understand…" Raven said.
"NO!" Ruby shouted, "ALL YOU'VE EVER DONE IS LIE TO ME," Ruby screamed, tears falling from her silver eyes. "Honey I," Raven started."SHUT UP! YOU DON'T LOVE ME," Ruby cried, "I-I HATE YOU!" Ruby screamed, rushing out of the warehouse. "Qrow," Summer called, making Qrow rush after Ruby.
"Wow what a great mother!" Summer said sarcastically, making Raven growl in hatred, the red flames around her eyes only increasing in intensity. "I'll kill you!" Raven snarled, getting in her combat stance. "Bring it," Summer challenged, spinning her spear in a circular motion, she didn't have to beat Raven, she just had to keep Raven busy until Qrow could get Ruby away. Raven knew this as well and planned on ending the fight with her team leader as quickly as possible. If she could just get Ruby and herself out of Vale, then she would be able to explain everything and get Ruby back on her side, at least she hoped she could.
"I hate you," the words repeated over and over again within Raven's mind, it hurt, yeah she knew that Ruby didn't really mean it but that didn't mean they still didn't hurt.
"You know Rae, I'm honestly surprised. When I learned that you were the bi #h that took my daughter, I feared that she would be a mini-you, hateful, uncaring, cowardly, and just overall a terrible person but after the few moments I just got with her, I'm happy to see that she's nothing like you," Summer said, in reality, she actually had an idea as to why Ruby turned out like she did but she wasn't about to let Raven in on it.
"She's my daughter and after I deal with you and Qrow, there won't be anything standing in my way," Raven spat, with venom in her eyes.
Rushing out of the old Schnee warehouse, Qrow frantically looked around, his nerves settling when his eyes found the prone form of his daughter, huddled in a corner, silently hugging herself. Qrow slowly made his way towards Ruby, very careful not to scare her. Qrow slowly placed a hand on her shoulder. Ruby didn't even react, instead keeping her face hidden within her arms. With a sad smile, Qrow sat down next to Ruby. "You doing ok kiddo?" Qrow asked, already knowing what the answer would be. "No," Ruby mumbled, picking her head up to look at Qrow. "I thought we were the good guys but she was lying to me, she always has been," Ruby said sadly.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Qrow said
"What are you apologizing for?" Ruby asked, "You tried to warn me but I didn't want to listen, I couldn't listen, I'm the one who should be apologizing," Ruby said. "No need, you know, when I was your age, I was in a similar situation as you," Qrow said. "Really?" Ruby questioned. "Yeah I was a bandit too, Raven and I were born into the Branwen tribe, we used to go on raids with our father. When we grew up, we went to Beacon for...less than noble reasons, I probably would've ended up just like her but I didn't, do you want to know why?" Qrow asked. "Why?" Ruby asked.
"Your mother," Qrow answered, "Summer changed my life, she was the nicest person that I've ever met, still is, at first I kind of found her annoying, I thought being on a team with her was going to be a nightmare but after I got to know her, I fell in love. I choose her over my tribe and I've never regretted it," Qrow said smiling at Ruby.
"Hmmm," Ruby hummed in thought, "what happens now?" Ruby questioned.
'Well that depends on you kiddo, Ravens going prison, Summer will make sure of that. If you want, you can come back to Beacon, come back with me, Yang, and Summer," Qrow suggested.
"I don't have to go to prison?" Ruby asked, shocking Qrow. "Of course not, why would…" Qrow started. "Because I killed that woman, I didn't mean to, but I still did," Ruby interrupted, fresh tears falling from her eyes. Qrow gently brought Ruby into a hug, letting her cry on his wrinkled white shirt. "Everything will be alright, I won't let anyone take you from us again," Qrow promised, rubbing Ruby's back soothingly.
"You know, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep," a new voice called, making Qrow and Ruby's heads shoot up, to look at the man.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Qrow asked, standing up and resting one hand behind him, on Harbinger's hilt. "Oh, I wouldn't do that," the man said, snapping his fingers. Suddenly dozens of red lights appeared on Qrow, turning back he could see that they were on Ruby, who had not moved yet, as well. "To answer your question, the names Zachery and these are my men," commander Zachery said, motioning to the dozens of armed men, with rifles pointed towards Qrow and Ruby. "As for what we want well, all we require is the girl, so if you could just step out of the way, that would be awesome," commander Zachery requested.
"Not going to happen," Qrow said, as he unsheathed Harbinger.
"I warned you," Zachery mocked as he ordered his men to attack.
Without any warning Summer activated her semblance, teleporting right behind Raven and bringing her spear down on Raven's head. Knowing all of her old team leader's tricks, Raven brought her sword up above her, blocking Summer's attack. After Summer's attack, Raven immediately activated her maiden powers, creating wisps of energy that she launched at Summer. Summer leaped back spinning her spear in a circular motion to deflect the wisps. Once all of Raven's wisps were gone, Summer transformed her spear into its rifle mode and began to fire at Raven. With the spring maiden's power, Raven created a large gust of wind, blowing all of Summer's bullets away.
"Great," Summer muttered, switching her weapon back into it spear form and running towards Raven, once Summer was close enough, she stabbed the tip of her spear into the ground, using the momentum to launch herself forward, once she reached Raven, Summer pulled her feet up both of them landing right on Raven's blade, kicking it out of her grasp. Now that Raven was disarmed, Summer teleported back to her spear, pulling out of the warehoused concrete floor and charging towards Raven. Summer sent a flurry slashes and swipes at Raven, who easily dodged all of Summer's attacks
"You're going to have to try harder than that," Raven mocked, forming a large sword with her magic.
Raven now went on the attack, with a speed that nearly blinded Summer but after attack after attack, Summer noticed Raven's attacks starting to grow slower. Taking this as an opportunity to press her attack, Summer went back on the offensive, sending a flurry of attacks towards her opponent. Raven's eyes went wide, tapping into the spring maiden's powers, she created a wall of ice around her. "Aww come on Rae, getting tired?" Summer asked.
"Shut up!" Raven growled, taking deep breaths, using the maidens power was very taxing on Raven, who had not practiced with the powers enough.
"Why don't you come out here and make me," Summer suggested, pulling out a small bag of fire dust and throwing it against Raven's ice barrier. As soon as most of the ice was melted, Summer leaped into action, kicking through the remaining ice and sending Raven onto her back. Summer quickly moved forward, placing one of her combat boots on Raven's chest, "Tai would be so disappointed in you," Summer scolded.
"You don't deserve to say his name!" Raven shouted angrily. "You and Qrow were supposed to look after him!"
Summer blinked in surprise, "you blame us for what happened to Tai?" Summer questioned, only receiving only a hate-filled glare in response. "You were his partner, it was your job to have his back but no, you left him alone, you honestly disgust me, Raven. Oh well, any last words?" Summer asked, placing the end of her spear against Raven's neck.
"You won't kill me," Raven said confidently.
"Really, and why is that?" Summer asked, adding a little more pressure on her spear, so that any move by Raven would lead to her injuring herself, or worse. "We both know how the maiden's magic works, when a maiden is killed, the last person in her thoughts will be the new maiden and we both know who I would be thinking about last," Raven explained, with a triumphant smirk. "You wouldn't," Summer said in disbelief. "Try me," Raven challenged, happy knowing her bluff had sudden sounds of gunfire and the engine of a bullhead caught both of the women's attention. The same thought dawned on the two simultaneously. "Ruby!" Both women shouted as Summer stepped off of Raven, the two quickly rushing outside.
Qrow's eyes widened when a barrage of dust rounds were fired at him. Quickly transforming Harbinger into its scythe mode, Qrow began to twirl it around, successfully deflecting all of the soldier's rounds. From the sound the rounds made, when bouncing against his weapon, Qrow concluded that they were stopping rounds, commonly used to detain rogue huntsmen and huntresses.
"Run Ruby!" Qrow shouted, looking back to find Ruby unconscious, a long dart sticking out of her neck.
"Enough!" Commander Zachery ordered, making his men stop their assault on Qrow. "I'll take care of this myself," Zachery said confidently, stepping in front of Qrow with a giant combat knife in his hand. This wasn't good for Qrow, his aura was already incredibly low from tanking the lighting shot from Ruby. With a loud shout, Zachery charged towards Qrow, raising his combat knife above his head, to plunge it into Qrow but he quickly sidestepped, easily dodging the heavily telegraphed attack. Qrow swiftly brought his leg in s horizontal kick, knocking commander Zachery to the ground. Going to plunge his scythe into the man's chest, Qrow was surprised when Zachery dropped his combat knife, instead using his hand to catch the scythe's blade.
A commotion behind him caught Qrow's attention, turning to the side Qrow saw a couple of men starting to carry his unconscious daughter away. Qrow jumped off of commander Zachery, running to tackle the man that held his daughter's arms. Just before Qrow reached the man, a strong hand grabbed his shoulder, yanking him to the ground. Qrow could barely hear the sounds of a bullhead's engine, over the ringing in his ears. Moving his head over to the side, Qrow could see commander Zachery standing back up, his extended metal arm being reeled back in. "Like it?" Zachery asked, putting his metal arm in front of him. "Your wife gave it to me in Mistral," Zachery growled, pressing a button on his arm to transform it into a different form. A maniacal laugh came from Zachery, when his arm started spinning, a swarm of bullets erupting from it. Qrow spun his scythe in front of him, sliding back as he blocked the mini guns barrage.
Looking over to the side, Qrow could see Ruby being loaded into a bullhead. "NO!" Qrow yelled, attempting to get away from Zachery. "All right boys, the package is secure, open fire," Zachery ordered, as his men started to shoot at Qrow.
Qrow could only spin his scythe around and watch helplessly as the bullhead carrying his daughter flew away.
Summer and Raven arrived to find Qrow fighting against someone Summer recognized all too well, "Qrow!" Summer shouted, jumping in to help him. Zachery snarled, transforming his hand back to its default mode and pulling a pistol from a holster on his side. He was about to start firing at the woman until his earpiece started buzzing.
"Sir," Zachery greeted.
"Do you have the target?" Jacques asked.
"Yes sir and I'm about to have the second target," Zachery said confidently.
"No need, the child will suffice, return back to base immediately," Jacques ordered.
"But sir.." Zachery started, wanting to get revenge on the older silver-eyed woman. "That's an order, return back to base immediately," Jacques repeated, ending the call before Zachery could say anything else. "All right boys we're leaving!" Zachery shouted with great reluctance. He and his men entered the awaiting bullheads, leaving a few men behind, to distract the girl's parents.
It didn't take Summer and Qrow long to defeat the rest of Zachery's men, Raven joining in halfway through the battle. "Where's Ruby?" Raven questioned, making Qrow glare at her angrily. Without any warning, Qrow socked Raven in the face, making Raven reel back in pain.
"Where is she, honey?" Summer asked, walking up to Qrow's side.
"They took her," Qrow answered, making Raven and Summer gasp in shock and horror.
End of chapter 25
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