Chapter 33

The rain of the sprinkler system bounced off of Cinder, the tiny droplets of water attempting to extinguish her flames but Cinder's flames refused to extinguish, her rage and hatred keeping them aflame.

"What are you doing here?" Issac asked nervously.

"I'm going to kill both of you," Cinder answered coldly, making both men gulp in fear. A scream of terror and agony caught the room's attention, all eyes going to the tied up girl, who was screaming her lungs out. "Cinder's flames started to burn even brighter, seeing the girl that she saw as a sister, tied to a chair and screaming in agony made Cinder's blood boil. "Now let's just calm down here, there's no need for violence," Zachery said, subtly pulling a pistol out from his back pocket. Before Zachery could fully get his pistol out and shoot Cinder, a fireball hit him in the chest, flinging him into the back wall. Before Issac could even react Cinder sent a blast of fire towards him, engulfing the man in flames. The screams of the burning man were like music to Cinder's ears, moving over Cinder cut off the ropes that held Ruby, also taking the aura suppressing collar off. Cinder moved to crouch down in front of Ruby, a deep frown adorning her face when she noticed the girl's eyes. Ruby's eyes were teary and unfocused, having no visible reaction to Cinder's presence. "What did you do to her?!" Cinder questioned with venom, turning around and approaching a downed Zachery.

Cinder stabbed the heel of her shoe into Zachery's chest, making the man grunt in pain. "What did you do to her?" Cinder repeated.

"Gargoyle venom, we injected her with gargoyle venom, but he made me do it," Zachery said, pointing to the burning man. It was easy for Cinder to tell that he was lying, stabbing the man with her heel again. Cinder let out an irritated sigh, walking back to the trembling girl, she personally knew what Ruby was going through, Salem having used it on her under the guise of training. Cinder slowly lifted Ruby out of the chair, only now could Cinder see the extent of her injuries. Ruby's body was malnourished, being much smaller and skinnier than it used to be, Ruby had multiple cuts and bruises on her face, Cinder guessing that there were more under the rags that used to be her clothes, and worst of all being the girl's eyes, filled with confusion and terror. With Ruby cradled in her arms Cinder left the room, not giving the two injured men another thought, they wouldn't live long, if their injuries didn't kill them then the fire surely would. Cinder strode out of the facility, setting fire to everything as she went, being careful not to hurt Ruby. Once the two were outside the building, Cinder gently placed Ruby down, pulling out her scroll and sending a message to Raven.

I got her, she's safe but there are complications, heading to the meetup point.

With that Cinder tucked her scroll away, walking over to pick Ruby back up, with that Cinder started walking to the meetup point, leaving nothing but a burning building.


Anthony had an angry scowl on his face, he had just heard what had happened to the girl and was now riding up to Ozpin's office.

"How are we gonna play this, Ozpin?" Anthony asked, adopting an annoyed and aggravated expression. "Play what?" Ozpin asked, giving the head councilman a curious look. "Don't play dumb with me Ozpin, you know exactly what I'm talking about, where's the girl?" Anthony asked in an accusing tone, getting even more annoyed with Ozpin's cool demeanor. "May I presume that you are talking about Miss Branwen?" Ozpin asked, earning a nod from Anthony. Well I regret to inform you that she is not here, there was a break-in at our detention center, unfortunately, she was able to escape. We did however capture the assailants that broke her out and orchestrated the entire thing," Ozpin answered. "I want this girl found, Amber's murder can not go unpunished, and I will make sure that Miss Branwen spends the rest of her life in prison," Anthony said. "May I suggest something?" Ozpin asked motioning for Antony to take a seat, which he did. "What do you suggest?" Anthony asked, his curiosity at its peak. "Why hunt this girl down when we can go after the people who put her up to it? I propose that we hunt down the people responsible, like Raven Branwen and Cinder Fall, instead of chasing a girl, who in my opinion, is a victim," Ozpin said. "VICTIM!?" Anthony shouted with rage. "You know what Amber meant to me, and you see her killer as a victim? No, I will see this girl hanged for her crimes, burned at the stake, I will make her regret ever being born, do you understand?" Anthony asked.

"I understand, is there anything else?" Ozpin asked.

"You better not be keeping any information from me Ozpin, if you are I'll make sure that you regret it," Anthony threatened. "Alright, have a pleasant day," Ozpin said, his cheery demeanor never leaving. Anthony left without another word, clearly angry about not being able to punish Ruby, and while Ozpin would admit that he had a reason to be angry, due to his relationship with Amber, he would not allow Anthony to kill Summer's child for an accident.


"Give it up, Raven, come quietly and I won't have to kill you," Qrow said threateningly, Harbinger held at his sister's throat. "Let's all calm down for a moment, we can come to an agreement, can't we baby brother?" Raven asked, attempting to get up but being stopped by Qrow. "No, you're going to prison for the rest of your life, but don't worry Summer and I will make sure that you get a comfy cell, we'll also make sure that our daughter has a good life, instead of whatever you would have put her through," Qrow said. "Whatever, I gave her a good life, and even if she might be angry with me, I'll always be her mother," Raven smirked. Weiss had been watching the brother and sister interact, reminding her of her own relationship with her brother, Whitley, but a lot less stressed. "Shut up and put these on," Qrow demanded, pulling out a pair of aura suppressing handcuffs, causing Raven to scoff. "Come on Qrow, we both know that I'm not going to put those on," Raven stated, pushing Harbinger away from her, with the weapon no longer at her throat Raven jumped up, wiping Omen in front of her to block a strike from Myrtenaster. With lightning speed, Raven leaped at Weiss, attacking the girl at a speed, which she had never seen before. Raven landed multiple hits along Weiss's aura, causing the teenage girl to cry out in pain. Raven was about to finish the younger girl until she whipped around to block a swipe from Harbinger, "Qrow, you never could tell when you're already beaten," Raven growled, backing up to send a barrage of ice crystals towards Qrow.

Transforming his weapon into its scythe form, Qrow spun it around rapidly, successfully blocking all of Raven's ice. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that," Qrow smirked, charging forward with his scythe at the ready. Raven easily dodged Qrow's slashes, using her wind powers to throw Qrow's swings off. Seeing that Qrow was going for an overhead swing, Raven stopped using both hands to wield Omen, using only her right hand she deflected the attack, her right arm screaming from the force of the attack, but it was worth it, using her left hand Raven created a small ice dagger, luckily for Raven, Qrow's aura was already incredible low, allowing the small dagger to stab right below his ribs. Qrow gained a shocked expression, looking down to see the small dagger embedded into his chest. Qrow's hand immediately went to his wound, his body falling to the floor.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Raven asked mockingly, preparing to deal the final blow. Until she suddenly stopped, for seemingly no reason, a huge smile appearing on her face.

Qrow looked at his sister with a confused expression, why had she stopped? Qrow knew that it wasn't because they were family, so why? Qrow was answered almost immediately, as Raven whispered a word, "Ruby." Qrow tried to get up, he knew what Raven was about to do and needed to stop it, but he couldn't move, his body simply would not let him, Qrow started to slip into unconsciousness, trying to fight against it, Qrow eventually sucame to the darkness. At this point Raven completely forgot about her injured brother, focusing her semblance to lock onto Ruby's location. After a moment she found a faint trace of Ruby's aura, a spark of joy running through Raven, without a moment of hesitation Raven cut a portal to her daughter, having no idea what was awaiting her on the other side.


Cinder had spent the last 30 minutes carrying Ruby to the meetup point, dodging cameras and being careful not to arouse any suspicion.

Unfortunately for Cinder, it seemed like she did attract some attention, catching sight of a pair of shadows following her. Cinder rounded a corner, winding up at what most people would assume was a dead end. "You can step out now, I already know you're there," Cinder said loudly, seeing two figures jump down from the rooftops. Cinder instantly recognized the two figures as Ruby's family, Yang the blonde brawler she had seen around Beacon, and Summer Rose, the woman that looked exactly like her youngest daughter. Cinder turned around, allowing Summer and Yang to see a shaking Ruby, Cinder swore that she could feel the temperature rise a few degrees, even in Mantel she was starting to feel hot. "What did you do to her?" Summer asked, noticing her daughter's fearful expression. "Let go of her," Summer snarled, pulling out her spear as Yang unfolded Ember Cecilla. Letting out a deep sigh, Cinder gently laid Ruby down, looking back, she found Summer and Yang slowly approaching her. "I didn't do this to her but I did kill the people who did," Cinder answered, "Now step aside, Cinder ordered. "Cinder?" Yang asked, finally recognizing the girl, "Yang, do you know her?" Summer asked, looking between the two.

"Yeah she's a Beacon student, what are you doing here and why do you have my baby sister?" Yang questioned.

"I saved her, and now I'm bringing her back to her mother," Cinder answered, "now step aside," Cinder repeated. "I am her mother," Summer said, stepping closer to Ruby. "I'm sorry, but we both know that I'm not talking about you," Cinder said, stepping between Summer and Ruby. "If you think that you'll be able to stop us, you have another thing coming," Summer said, about to launch herself at Cinder, until a loud shriek broke Summer from her thoughts, a bright light shooting out from Ruby's eyes. "Ruby!" Summer shouted, rushing past Cinder, who was just staring at Ruby with worry. Eventually, the light from Ruby's eyes began to fade, the girl slipping back into unconsciousness. "Mom, what's going on?" Yang asked, rushing to her baby sister's side. Summer didn't answer, check Ruby's pulse to make sure that she was still alive, letting out a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse.

"What did they do to her?" Summer asked, in a tone that Cinder could only describe as devastated. "They injected her with gargoyle venom," Cinder answered, regaining her composure after a moment. While everyone was focused on Ruby, no one noticed the dark red portal appear behind them. Summer heard a small gasp behind her, standing up Summer was surprised to find Raven standing at the opposite side of Ruby. Summer's eyes went wide, "Raven," Summer growled, "where's Qrow?"

"Probably dead," Raven shrugged, earning a gasp from Yang. "She's lying," Summer said immediately, never trusting a word that comes out of Raven's mouth.

"Whatever, he's bleeding out in the Schnee manor, not that I really care," Raven commented, crouching down, to brush her daughter's hair. "Are you ready?" Cinder asked, coming to stand right next to Raven. "I am," Raven confirmed, slowly reaching down to pick Ruby up, seeing this Summer swung her spear at Raven, her swing suddenly being stopped by a blade made of fire. Summer's head snapped to the left, finding Cinder with a blade blocking her spear. Using her maiden powers, Cinder blasted Summer back, the woman landing on the ground with a grunt, after she did the same to Yang, Cinder blasted the concrete wall behind her, revealing an airfield with the plane Cinder had used to get to Atlas, sat nearby. Cinder created a wall of fire between her and Summer, following Raven as she started walking towards the plane. Screaming in rage, Summer rushed towards the wall of fire, Yang yelled for her mother to stop, but Summer didn't listen, using her semblance to teleport to the other side of the wall of fire. Once on the other side, Summer started running after Raven, dodging blasts of fire from Cinder.

Raven and Cinder reached the plane, it taking off immediately after the three boarded. Summer's eyes widened, tapping into her semblance Summer teleported to the wing of the plane, stabbing her spear into the side of the plane to stay on. Summer started moving up, repeatedly stabbing her spear into the wing to move forward. "Hey, Sum!" Summer barely heard Raven shout, "I'll take good care of her." Raven said, using the spring maiden's powers to freeze Summer's spear. With a loud crack, Summer's spear snapped, her eyes going wide as she was sucked off of the plane. Summer plummeted to Remnant, using her semblance to save herself at the last moment, teleporting back into the alleyway. "Mom!" Yang shouted, rushing forward to catch a collapsing Summer, "what happened mom, where's Ruby?" Yang asked.

"She's gone," Summer answered, staring forward with a blank expression on her face.

End of Chapter 33

Hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think and any questions you may have. Next chapter will be the epilogue and the end of this story, I want to thank everyone who gave my story a chance. I will also be revealing my next story soon.

Thank you for reading. (=