Chapter 30
The early morning rain had begun to ease off, leaving a light mist for the group to traverse through. Dark clouds hid the sun from all and covered the world in a sheen of shadow.
Ruby led the way as the party traipsed through the mud. Hours had passed and while the rain had let up and the clouds lightened, the mist stayed, keeping the ground muddy. They travelled mostly in silence, tired and bored. Eventually, however, Ruby saw something ahead of them.
"Jaune, when we're we supposed to reach the next town?"
"Uhhh, in a couple days, why?" He asked, confused. Ruby drew her scythe.
"There's a wrecked town ahead of us." At her words, the group was alert and had drawn their weapons. "Let's look for survivors."
The group headed into the walled-off town. Curiously, it wasn't so much destroyed as unfinished. Scaffolding remained up and many buildings had only their frames built. The whole place was… eerie.
"We won't find any survivors here." Ren said, wiping the dust from a bannister attached to one of the few properly built buildings.
"Why?" Jaune asked.
"This town has been dead for years. It was called Oniyuri. It was supposed to be the capital of a new Kingdom. So many people fed up with the old regime in Mistral believed this could be something great. My parents certainly did. Instead…" He motioned around them. "Grimm."
There was a beat of silence as they all deflated a little. After Shion, they had been hoping to do some good, not find more destruction.
"Let's move on." Ruby broke the silence. The rest followed.
They passed through a few cordoned-off sectors of the town. They came across a residential district and what looked to be recreation areas before they arrived at what probably would have been the town centre. There was a large fountain, broken and long since dry, as well as a large building for a town hall and a few other administrational centres nearby.
As they passed the fountain, Ren suddenly stopped and held up a hand. After a moment of silence, they heard the soft sound of boots impacting stone. As they turned a whirlwind of kicks and blades fell upon them.
Ruby burst apart into petals and reformed on the other side of the fountain, watching as Jaune and Pyrrha were thrown to the side by the new combatant. A human foe.
As the new figure slashed at Ren, Nora charged herself up with her recent upgrade, came in from his flank and sent him flying into a nearby building. They regrouped while he was indisposed.
They heard his giggle first. A low creepy thing that sent shivers down Ruby's spine. "Oh by the Goddess! This is going to be fun!" The man cried out as he leapt out of the rubble and landed near them. His movement was unnatural, it was a combination of controlled fluidity and sudden jerky movements and it served to put the whole group on edge.
"Who are you, why are you attacking us!?" Jaune yelled.
The man giggled again. "My name, kiddies, is Tyrian Callows! I am here because our Goddess requests your presence." He pointed at Ruby.
"Our... Goddess? Do you mean Cinder." Ruby said.
"Oh, no, no, no little Rose, our dear friend Cinder is nothing before the glory of our Goddess." He waved his hand dismissively. "She has asked me to retrieve you, dear girl. I have no interest in you, or you. Or… well you do interest me." He pointed from Ren to Nora and then paused on Jaune. "But the only other one I'm here for would be you." He pointed to Pyrrha.
"Well, you'll be returning empty-handed." Ruby said, hefting her scythe.
Tyrian giggled. "We'll see about that!" Then without further fanfare, he charged with a speed much greater than any foe they'd faced before. In a moment he went from the other end of the square to jumping onto Jaune's shield and leering at him. The man managed to move just before Pyrrha stabbed him, resulting in her blade slamming against Jaune's shield.
Ruby and Ren opened fire, trying to restrict his movements and give their allies some room to move. He simply dodged at round them, flowing like a liquid around everything they threw at him.
And then Pyrrha jumped in.
She unleashed a flurry of attacks, she subtly used her Semblance to keep his wrist-mounted blades from hitting her. The look on his face was one of frustration as he tried to land an attack. Pyrrha was pushing him.
Ruby knelt down and took stock. I should change ammo and assist from afar. But which Dust do I use? As she considered her options, Nora charged at Tyrian from behind. She raised her hammer high and slammed down.
Debris filled the air and the battlefield was quiet for a moment as Pyrrha jumped back for some breathing room.
Then they heard the giggling.
The dust cleared revealing a large scorpion tail that had wrapped around the hilt of Magnihild, stopping it as it hit the thick carapace.
"Surprise!" He giggled and used his tail to pick up and flick the girl away by her hammer. She slammed into Ren and the pair rolled across the ground.
Tyrian charged at Pyrrha with a cackle. She took a defensive posture, blocking and parrying his wrist blades and dodging the tail as it attempted to either spear her or grab one of her limbs.
Ruby locked Shock rounds into her sniper and took aim.
Ruby fired but the scorpion Faunus barely parried it at the last second, causing the bullet to ricochet into a building. She fired again, and he dodged. When it happened for the third time Ruby growled. He's so fast and it's like he can sense it coming. He's purposely waiting that long to act. He's messing with us!
Jaune entered the fray, wielding his new sword. He attacked with an overhead slash that Tyrian deflected with his blades, causing Crocea Mors to slide off the side and take a chunk out of the ground. The boy backed off before Tyrian could take advantage of the opening. Just as it looked like the man was about to pursue Jaune, his partner interrupted with a stab from her spear, forcing their foe to focus on her. Jaune then came in for another attack.
The partners kept it up, Jaune switched back to his shield and started dancing in and out of the man's range to block attacks and give his partner room to act, meanwhile Pyrrha kept Tyrian focused on her, using her Semblance to stop his blades when strikes got through Jaune's defence.
What was most surprising was how well Tyrian kept up. It was like he had limitless energy, dodging and attacking and laughing all at the same time. Ruby, Ren and Nora weren't sure how to join the fight.
Until Pyrrha tripped on a broken flagstone.
Tyrian capitalised immediately, stabbing down with his tail while Jaune was on his way out, trying to redirect the attack. The sound of metal scraping filled the air.
Pyrrha grunted as she hit the floor. Tyrian giggled as he pulled his tail back. "Now this is a surprise!" He said, ducking around Jaune's next swing. "I didn't expect to see you today, Branwen."
Qrow hummed and drew his sword from the flagstone, where it had blocked the incoming stinger. "You kids take a step back, I've got this one." He then launched into a blisteringly fast attack on Tyrian, forcing the crazed man back and away from the group. Ruby rushed over to Jaune and Pyrrha's side in a burst of petals, quickly followed by Ren and Nora.
"You okay Pyrrha?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, I just tripped." She responded as she got back on her feet. "Should we do something?"
Ruby shook her head "We should run support. Uncle Qrow's got this." Ruby replied.
Qrow and Tyrian continued to trade attacks, neither managing to hit with their blades. The battle was slowly drifting and closer to one of the partially built buildings, it seemed to be missing a roof. Ruby bit her lower lip.
I want to help! He's after me, this is my fight! She swapped ammo once again. She locked Burn Dust into Crescent Rose and pressed another button, spinning the rotary of Dust and locked it into Ice. Bluish-white Dust began to coat the blade of her scythe.
Jaune took point with his shield while everyone else prepared their guns. Tyrian began to push Qrow back, forcing their battle towards the fountain. Qrow's sword was a blur of silver as it lashed out at the insane foe. Tyrian was a whirlwind of blades, bullets and stinger.
Ruby turned to her friends. "I have an idea."
Tough bastard. Qrow thought as the duel took them further from the building. It would be useful if my Semblance could activate. Metal scraped against metal as he parried another strike, wincing as Tyrian unleashed a volley of bullets into him.
Qrow continued to backpedal until the back of his foot hit the base of the fountain. Tyrian's eyes glinted with glee as he stabbed his tail down. Shi-
A wall of ice appeared, separating the two combatants before Qrow was speared right through. He could see Tyrian on the other side of the ice, though he was more of a vague shape, as the wind around them picked up. Qrow looked to the side.
Ruby was drawing her scythe out of the ground while Pyrrha had her arms out, focusing as she whipped the wind up around them. Qrow turned back to see Tyrian's indistinct blob rising off the ground.
Ren and Ruby began to open fire, unleashing a hail of bullets into Tyrian, who tried to parry them with his tail and weapons. He managed to get most of them, but many still impacted his chest. Some exploded into flame.
Pyrrha grunted and then used the wind to throw Tyrian, launching him into a nearby building. Qrow followed instantly. "Good job, kids! Stay back now!"
The ruined building was dark, there was very little light filtering in from the holes in the ceiling. Harbinger glinted in the low light.
A giggle echoed from around him, heralding the attack but a second before he struck. Harbinger screeched as the wrist blades scraped against it. Qrow let out an unmanly yelp as Tyrian's tail wrapped around his leg and pulled him off of his feet. He grunted as he was thrown into a pillar, the wood, snapping from the impact.
Tyrian pounced on top of Qrow and started unleashing strikes on the prone man. The pair of wrist-mounted blades cut into Qrow's Aura about a half-dozen times before Qrow got his foot out from under Tyrian and kicked up into the madman's chest.
Tyrian let out a whoop as he flew back, smashing into the wall. Qrow jumped to his feet, cursing as his Aura flickered. Those blades are dangerous. Tyrian cackled as he launched himself at Qrow once more.
Qrow narrowly dodged him and his blades. However, the tail wrapped around his waist and pulled him along. Tyrian giggled as he landed on the ground and used his tail to slam Qrow up against a wall. He brought his blade up just in time to block as Tyrian drop kicked him.
Qrow grunted as the force pushed him through the fragile wall. He rolled with the momentum, throwing his blade ahead to pierce the ground. He pushed against the flagstones, launching himself up so he would land on Harbinger.
Qrow panted slightly as his Aura flared.
Tyrian walked out of the building, his own Aura crackling. Qrow hopped off and grabbed his blade. A quick glance to the side saw Pyrrha kneeling down with her team surrounding her. Must have taken a lot out of her. Wait, where's Ruby?
Tyrian once again cackled and launched himself towards Qrow, only for Ruby to make her entrance. A high-powered sniper round slammed into his back and sent the crazed Faunus crashing into the stone before he had gotten very far from the building. Another shot sounded as Ruby launched herself down. Tyrian rolled, avoiding the scythe turned spear as it penetrated the ground, and popped back up onto his feet.
"Hahahaha! Looks like your a little stuck!" Tyrian laughed. Qrow's blood went cold as he rushed forward.
Tyrian's tail lanced out at Ruby.
And struck nothing but petals as Ruby deformed around the stinger then reformed just beneath it. One hand grasped the tail while the other pulled back. Ruby decked Tyrian in the face and a gun sounded. Tyrian went flying backwards from the force.
Ruby drew Crescent Rose from the earth and spun it around above her, shifting it back to a scythe. Qrow ran and stood in front of her. "Ruby get back with the others."
"No! He's mine!" She yelled and charged around him. "He knows where Cinder is!"
"No Ruby, you don't understand!" Qrow yelled back. He then cursed and followed.
Ruby dashed in and cut at Tyrian, her scythe's blade practically bleeding fire. He ducked and weaved around the weapon, stepping back towards the building.
Qrow roared and slashed down at the madman as his niece attacked from the other side. Tyrian blocked with his paired blades and laughed before pulling back, causing Niece and Uncle to pull their attacks or risk hitting each other.
And then with a loud cracking sound, the wall next to them began to tip and fall. Qrow slashed upwards, cutting it apart and saving them from being crushed. But he felt a searing pain across his chest as Tyrian's stinger cut through his weak Aura and penetrated skin.
Tyrian then screamed as Ruby, in a flash, severed his tail in two. Before the severed end hit the floor she turned and fired Ember Emortus at Tyrian.
The round shattered his Aura and tore into his face.
"Argh! You bitch!" He screamed, clutching at his bleeding face. He turned and ran. Before Ruby could give chase Qrow grabbed her arm as he sank to the floor.
"Ruby wait!"
"I can get him!" She yelled back.
"What if he has backup?"
"Then I'll… damn it!" She growled for a moment then took a deep breath. "Ren! We need medical aid!" She knelt down next to him as the others rushed over.
Ren opened his bag and handed over their first aid box. Ruby opened it and the pair got to work cleaning and bandaging his wound. Qrow coughed and smiled.
"So…"
"Who was that?" Jaune asked.
"And who was this Goddess?" Pyrrha followed.
"Well uhhh…" Qrow began. "What's your favourite fairy tale?"
"We know about the Maidens, Uncle. Skip to the important stuff." Ruby growled as she finished bandaging.
"Right right." Qrow coughed again. "Let's get out of town first, shall we?"
"Fine." Ruby said then she turned and looked to Jaune.
"Yeah. Ren, you support Qrow. Nora and Ruby you two take the back. Pyrrha, you and I will take point." Jaune responded, quickly getting them into position.
Qrow chuckled as he was helped up by the raven-haired boy. "You've got it all worked out…"
They left Oniyuri behind.
A/N: And so we reach the tipping point. The battle of RNNJR and Qrow Vs Tyrian was a tough one. Though Tyrian is fun to write. Honestly, this fight made me realise just how much of an absolute beast Pyrrha is and why, for tension, she needed to die in canon. Tyrian, Watts, Emerald and Mercury just can't hit her. Half of Salem's forces are ineffectual against her. But yes, it still ends with Qrow poisoned. That's bad luck for you. Of course Tyrian suffers more as well with a wrist-mounted gun going off in his face. RIP Tyrian's beautiful features, they will totally be missed.
I hope you all enjoyed and are enjoying V8 as much as I am! I'll see you next time!