A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers

Pt. II

People were running everywhere. The Grimm were closing in, and their hungry screams were filling the air. Above them, a guiding light came crashing down and turned a Grimm into smoke as she landed. The ground shook with her purpose; the weight of her fire forced the last visages of the nightmare to scatter in fear as her fist sent explosives out and bright her flames down onto the creatures around her.

From the ground, a child looked up and saw an angel, wreathed in divine flames.

Yang only saw people that needed help.

"Get to the park at the end of the street! Some airships will take you to safety!" Yang pointed in the direction she had just come from, and everyone turned and ran at her order. She knew the military would be right behind her, keeping the path clear for any wandering Grimm to be attracted to the survivors.

Looking up, Yang saw aerial Grimm in fierce combat with the fighter ships the Dreadnaught was deploying. She needed to be thankful for those pilots; so many more people would have been killed without them. Another group of terrified people came out of a building, and Yang directed them to the same place she had been sending everyone else before more Grimm came for their fear.

Pressing her finger to her ear, she activated the comms unit she had been given to talk to whoever was in charge of their area. "Specialist Xiao Long to Command," The stretch of silence made her wonder if something had gone wrong, but a voice finally came in through her earpiece.

"We read you, Xiao Long, over,"

"I've cleared this street of survivors; where is the next large concentration of Grimm nearby? Over"

"Standby, over." That was the only response she got. Yang began to head towards an alleyway to get ready to run but stopped by what she found. The whole alleyway was covered in blood and bits of what used to be a person. Further inspection showed that whoever this was probably lived behind the dumpster. They were one of the first ones to die when everything went down. Nowhere to hide and the fear of it all making any Grimm hone in on them.

"There is a large concentration of Grimm outside of an apartment building not too far from you, Specialist" The man in her ear pulled her attention back to the matter at hand. "Local Militia are keeping them at bay, but there is another wave coming from the north; some of those Grimm look pretty big, over,"

"Thanks, Xiao long out," Yang switched her channel to the squad she had been feeding with people and told them the plan. Pushing past the horror scene in the alleyway, she ran down the streets and quickly found the apartment building that he mentioned.

The front was completely blocked with Grimm. Some were scaling the walls, trying to get in from the windows, and she could hear a steady stream of rifle fire coming from the inside, keeping them safe for the moment. Yang knew their ammunition would end quickly, so she charged into the fray.

Launching herself into the air, Yang slammed down onto the ground, knocking back the Grimm and give her space to start swinging. The shells in her gauntlets rang out as she tore through their ranks, using the smoky decay of Grimm as cover. She was surprised at how easily the dark creatures' flesh fell apart under her attack; they must have been relatively new for their hide and armour to be so thin.

From behind, Yang was reminded that even newborn Grimm claws are still as sharp as razors. She cried out in pain as something leapt onto her back and began to scratch at her Aura. Manic shrieking in her ear was deafening; Yang struggled to get ahold of the little shit that latched onto her while a Beowolf charged at her. Yang was tackled and pinned against the wall with her attention divided as something began to slide around her neck, cutting off her air.

The heat of her Semblance was reaching a boiling point. Digging her fingers between what was choking her and her skin, she yanked hard and pulled the small monkey-like Grimm from her shoulder and slammed it onto the ground, where she heard its bones break and began to fade away. The Beowolf pinning her swung its head around and bit down on her metal arm, trying to rip it off.

Yang could feel the connections holding it in place, but it was not going to last long. Inside its mouth, Yang flicked her wrist and shot two explosive shells down its throat. "How's that taste?" She shouted as the Grimm was torn from the inside out, freeing her from its pin. "How else wants a bite?" she challenged as her Semblance flooded through her veins and eviscerated Grimm left and right. Her hair flowed like flames as she was lost in the storm of Dissipate. Her own screams of war are lost in the chorus of Grimm around her.

In the air above her, flying Grimm were beginning to take notice of her. Their cries were the only warning Yang had that they were coming. Dodging out of the way of the first few, she then began to unload all of her shells into the air and those who were climbing the walls, making quick work of the flyer's thin wings and hollow bones and dropping the climbing creatures to the ground until Ember Celica clicked empty.

Spinning around, she watched a Boarbatusk sprint towards her. Holding her ground, Yang gripped the elongated tusks of the Grimm and stopped it in its tracks before stomping down on its head and pulling as hard as she could. She ignored its screams of pain as she ripped the bone from its home and used her new makeshift weapons to impale two more creatures coming towards her.

With one more stomp, she ended the Boarbatusk and threw the tusks at a pair of flying Griffon that came too close to the ground. When she spun around one more time, Yang was expecting another Grimm trying to get at her, but she saw that the street was finally cleared, and she finally took a breath. Clicking her weapons open, the spent shells ejected onto the ground as Yang wrapped fresh shell belts into their homes while making her way to the entrance.

Looking through the large, broken windows into the lobby, she saw maybe fifty people being protected by only a few soldiers with weapons. All things considered, they did a great job with what they had to work with. Before she could speak, one of the soldiers fired a round at her but wildly missing.

"Hey! I'm on your side, Asshole!" Yang yelled out at him.

"But you're Atlesian!"

"I just saved your ass! The war is over; we're here to save you!" Yang hurdled over the large windowsill and walked towards them. Before the idiot could say anything else, the guy Yang assumed was in charge slapped the idiot's rifle down and stood up straight to talk to her.

"Sorry, it's been a long day," He began. "Thank you, Miss. You said the war is over?"

"Yeah, General Ironwood came here to give his surrender, but we need to evacuate the city now. There's an evac point in the main park, but I can't cover all of you," Yang reached into her pouch and pulled out a grenade. Pulling the pin and give it a few shakes before throwing it out onto the street, where it began to plume green smoke. "A ship will be here soon to get you all out and onto the Dreadnaught where it's safe,"

The look of relief on their faces was something that made everything worth it. With all the killing and the bloodshed, helping people, actually being a Huntress, giving hope to the hopeless, gave Yang something she had been missing for a long while.

It only took a few minutes for a Bullhead to land on the street, and Yang made sure everyone got onboard. As she watched a young girl and their mother get loaded on, she overheard what they were saying.

"But what about the nice man? He isn't here…"

"I know, honey, but we can't wait and find him,"

"Someone missing?" Yang walked up to them. "There's still someone inside?"

"The nice man!" The girl said again. "He gives me pretty flowers on the roof!" Yang could not find whoever that was based on that alone. Luckily, her mother understood what she needed.

"He lives on floor twelve, room twelve-o-six, I think," With a nod, Yang told the pilot to take off once everyone was on board and not to wait for her.

Walking back into the apartment building, Yang pressed the call button on the elevator and sighed when she did not see the button light up. Yang sighed, knowing it would be too good to be true, as she made her way to the stairs and began to take them two at a time. At least the trip down would be easier than up.

Finally, she reached the twelfth floor and took a moment to catch her breath before opening the door and walking down the hallway. The emergency lights were on, bathing everything in a grimy, orange glow. Yang passed the open doors and arrived at the only closed door on the floor. She hit the door with her fist and called out, waiting for whoever was inside to open it, but it did not. "Oh, come on, dude…" Yang sighed as she slammed her fist against the door harder, only to give up on patience and kicked it open. Even if it was empty, it was better to make sure than to miss someone to save.

The short hallway that leads into the apartment proper was barren of coats or shoes, but as soon as she walked past it, she had to quickly jump back as bullets whizzed past her again. "For fucks sake! I'm here to help!" Yang shouted. She was getting really tired of being shot at.

"Yang?" A voice said after a beat. Yang knew that voice; it pulled back memories of a much better time. Turning the corner again, she was met with a man she had not seen since the Fall of Beacon.

Lie Ren sat in a wheelchair, Storm Flower aimed right at her before it was lowered from her. Yang just stared at her friend; It had been so long, he almost looked like a different person. A green silk gown covered his legs with his hair out of the long ponytail she last saw him in. Rushing forward, Yang fell to her knees so she could embrace her friend properly for the first time in so long. Her eyes burned as she tucked his head into her shoulder. His weapon clattered to the floor as he did the same to her.

Knowing they had to leave as soon as possible, Yang was the first to pull away and take a better look at him. "What the hell happened to you?" She asked, wiping tears from her eyes. His smile turned down for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's a long story; where's Nora? Did she send you?" he asked, looking back at the door.

"Nora? No, I haven't seen either of you since the Fall." Yang said as she stood up. "I'm sure she's somewhere, though; she's a tough one. We can find her later, though. I need to get you somewhere safe."

"Right," It broke Yang's heart to see him so downcast, but she needed to get him out first.

"Come on, let's go," Yang said as she picked up his weapon and gave it back to him. "But the elevator is down, so we need to take the stairs," He nodded, and they managed to get him onto her back. With a sash he had, they tied his legs around her waist, and Yang could feel just how far his legs had atrophied, nothing but skin stretched over bone. Getting him into a comfortable position on her back, the two went back down the stair and down twelve stories back to the ground floor.

Kicking open the door, Yang began to jog back to the central park to her checkpoint when the ground started to shake around them. Looking up, Yang watched as an entire building was uprooted, falling right on top of her route to the checkpoint. The ground under the building erupted, and a giant BlindWorm came out of the land, screaming as it surfaced.

From the opening, more Gimm began to pour out onto the city streets and Yang could do nothing but prepare for another battle. She heard Ren call her name, and she turned around to see the large Grimm that Command had warned her about coming straight toward her. Large Goliaths and a swarm of spider-like Grimm filling the street like a sea of death. Yang chambered a shell with no escape and got ready to fight as hard as she could when Ren touched her shoulder and told her to wait.

She felt her anger and anxiety melt as Ren activated his Semblance and hid them from the Grimm. Yang watched as the swarm of Spider Grimm caught up to them and scuttled past them like they were not there. If she could be scared, she would be terrified. "Just be quiet and walk quickly," Ren said, and Yang nodded. It was harder than she thought to dodge the Grimm as they charged back and forth around her.

Making her down an alley, she calmly moved past the smaller scavenger Grimm that took on the form of rats the size of small dogs, all sniffing out for anyone who was missed. Carefully, she stepped around anything that would make a noise as she moved down the narrow alley. Yang held her breath as the pack of rats scurried around the dirty floor, squeaking at each other and fighting over scraps of flesh. "We're almost there, Yang," Ren whispered to her. She could hear the strain on his voice as he focused on his Semblance.

Closer and closer, they made it to the opening of the alleyway. Step by step, Yang kept a careful eye on where her feet were going. A trash can was knocked over with a loud crash in front of her, and every rat came over to investigate. Standing still, she watched the rats stream past her legs and tore open every bag and inside the can itself, trying to find anything before scattering again. She watched in horror as they all tore apart a raccoon that was hiding inside in seconds, then sniffed the air and resumed their search.

A thud echoed next to her, and she spun and saw the pack leader landing on the bin next to her. It stood on his back legs and stared at her in the eye while sniffing the air. It was twice as large as any of the other pack of rats around her, and it stared past Yang, searching for their next meal. Slowly, Yang backed up a step at a time to get as much space between the pack leader and her without taking her eyes off it, until she felt something squish under her boot as a rat screeched in pain.

"Shit!" Yang shouted as she turned and sprinted as fast as she could as the swarm all converged on her. Ren's emotional suppression did nothing to stop them from giving chase with all the noise she was making. "Ren! I need help!" She shouted as she kept the pace. She felt her emotions come rushing back as Ren dropped his Semblance and open fire behind her, shooting at the pack rats behind them.

Her legs lungs burned as her legs continued to push them as fast as she could go towards the checkpoint. The ground around her began to erupt with smaller centipede Grimm, Centinels, crawling out of the road. The main Grimm horde was closing around them, buildings crumbled around them as Grimm came out of their tunnels, and the Dreadnaught started using heavier ordnance to exterminate them.

Turning a corner, she finally saw the park checkpoint with the last Bullhead waiting for them. Standing at the open door, Coco was unloading her minigun at everything that even thought about getting close to them. She could hear the other woman shouting at them to hurry up as the Bullhead began to get ready to lift off. Digging deep, Yang managed to speed up just enough to stay out of reach of Grimm as she trusted Coco not to hit them with her hail of bullets.

At the last moment, Yang leapt into the Bullhead and slammed her fist on the ground as hard as she could, hoping the pilot would get the message. Through the open door across from her, she saw the ground quickly disappear under them, and the sky became the only thing she saw. Taking a moment to just lay on the floor with Ren on her back, she caught her breath and felt her muscles scream at her to just lay there. "You okay, Yang?" Ren asked behind her.

"Yep, just let me catch my breath…" Yang said as she slowly rolled onto her side and untie the sash that kept Ren attached to her. With Coco's help, she and Yang managed to sit him against the wall and secure him in place.

"You sure cut it close, Xiao Long," Coco said with a smirk.

"Well, you know me, gotta make an entrance," Yang said, catching her breath. Making her way to the open door, Yang held onto the railing and looked over at the city she was leaving behind, her hair blowing past her as the refreshing blast of air chilled the sweat on the back of her neck. In the sky, she saw other Bullheads all heading for the Mantle of Responsibility, all filled with their precious cargo, as well as Weiss just flying on her own Glyph with a few people around her feet.

The city below them was enveloped in Grimm and cannon fire as everyone was pulling out. Yang was not sure how many they saved, but she did know that many more were still dead on the streets below.

The sound of glass shattering sounded behind her, and she felt arms wrap around her waist and hold her close. With a small smile, she placed her hand on Neo's and tapped her, hoping to reassure her that she was okay. However, before she could say anything, Yang heard General Ironwood's voice boom over the Bullhead speakers.

"People of Vale, Mistral and Vacuo. I am General James Ironwood. I came here on a mission of peace, to offer the surrender of Atlas to you. The war is over; we are at peace now."

"So this is what peace looks like, huh?" Yang heard Coco said as she pulled a cigarette from a pack and slipped it between her lips. The two of them looked down at the burning city below them. Large explosions levelled entire blocks to eradicate large patches of Grimm that were still spreading as the flame from Coco's lighter shone in her sunglasses, highlighting her scars. Her voice coming out with grey smoke. "Funny. Looks just like war,"

A/N: Happy holidays! Here's another chapter that took me way too long to get out to you.

I hope everyone is doing good and is staying safe in this terrible terrible world right now. As for me, I'm loving the new season so far. War, the promise of Death, dubious character actions with the general feeling of "What the fuck is happening" I live for it.

If you enjoyed, leave a Favorite! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on AO3 under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!

And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!