Roy stood on the walls of Akichi, his eyes trained on the shadowy woods. It was currently midnight and the forest appeared pitch black beyond the range of the torches that dotted the wall. He'd asked Peri to station several of the faunus guards along the walls to keep eyes out. With their keen night vision and heightened senses, faunus were once again the best option for keeping watch.

He'd had kept watch with them, feeling the hours tick by as the tension mounted. Roy's keen ears caught the sudden sound of twigs snapping in the distance and his hand quickly moved to grip Μόνος' handle, his blue eye flicking down toward the road that led to Akichi. The barricades had been built and now sat at strategic intervals along the dirt path.

Dahlia suddenly appeared next to him, causing him to jump slightly. She was straightening her weapons belt, grumbling quietly to herself. Roy grinned and shot her a sidelong glance, "What's up?"

The girl shot him a small glare, "I can barely see anything!"

Roy raised an eyebrow, "And that's my fault?"

Dahlia pouted slightly, crossing her arms with huff, "Noooo but you can see in the dark."

Roy chuckled and ruffled the girl's dirty blonde hair, "oh. So you're jealous."

Dahlia playfully smacked his hand away, a grin fighting its way through her pouting, "Yeah...maybe."

Roy's ear suddenly twitched as he heard the sound of twigs snapping again, this time much nearer than before. He whipped his head around to peer into the woods and felt his blood run cold at what he saw. A large pack of grimm; beowolves, ursa, creepers and boarbatusks, moved toward the village. Their eyes and markings glowing brightly, piercing the darkness like lasers.

"Grimm in the woods!" he shouted, causing Dahlia to jump.

They were quickly joined by Peri, leading a small group of guards. "Ready!" the dark skinned woman barked, signaling the guards to level their dust rifles.

"Wait until they're closer," Roy shouted, chambering a fresh round into Μόνος' chamber.

The first grimm suddenly broke the tree line and raised its head, letting out a thunderous roar that echoed through the trees.

"Just a little longer!" Roy yelled as the grimm began to run, their feet pounding against the forest floor. Roy gave a quick nod to Peri who slashed her arm down and roared "FIRE!"

A hail of dust bullets slammed the oncoming wave of grimm, sending a decent number of the beasts to the ground. Regardless, the wave continued forward.

"Again!" Peri shouted.

A second salvo was launched, and a third and a fourth. No matter how many grimm they killed, they never seemed to put a dent in the horde. Soon the front most grimm, the beowolves, were clawing their way up the walls. Roy had to smash a particularly fast alpha in the face with Μόνος' pommel, sending it tumbling back to earth. As he chambered the next round, Roy heard the sheath's bolt snap back; a sign that his magazine was empty. He hurried to swap in a fresh clip, the red metal almost slipping through his hands.

"I'm almost out!" he shouted to Dahlia.

The smaller girl flicked Tragodia open and slammed two more cartridges into the chamber, "So am I! This is gonna get messy!"

Peri suddenly pointed down the main path, "Look!"

A large cloud of dust appeared, moving toward the village at a frightening pace. The object inside of the cloud suddenly bounced upward off of a rut in the road, revealing it to the defenders. A large boarbatusk, over 5 feet tall, barreled toward the gate. Roy could feel the wall tremble as the ground shook under the thunderous revolutions of the grimm.

"Dahlia! With me!" he roared, dashing down the wall steps to the gate. "Ice here!" he shouted pointing to just behind the barricade, "As much as you can give me!"

Dahlia twirled her weapons with an almost manic grin on her face, "Right!"

Round after round of ice dust slammed into the barricade, shoring it up with a layer of ice almost a foot thick. The two teammates backed away from the gate, warily eyeing the barricade.

"You think it'll hold?" Dahlia asked as the rumbling grew stronger and stronger.

Roy braced himself, placing himself between Dahlia and the barricade, "Gods, I hope so."

A commotion broke out on top of the wall; guards running to and fro as Peri yelled, "Incoming!"

Roy only had a few seconds to grab Dahlia, shielding his teammate with his body before the barricade exploded. The force of the boarbatusk smashing through sent wood and ice shards whistling through the air like shrapnel. Roy activated his semblance just in time as a large ice shard collided with his back. He felt the energy buzzing through him and turned to face the massive grimm as it continued onward toward the heart of the town. Roy planted his foot and poured all of the energy into his sword arm as he waited for the beast to draw closer

"Roy! MOVE!" Dahlia yelled.

He ignored her, shutting out her voice and concentrating on the oncoming grimm. The monster boar was practically on top of him when he let out a yell, unleashing a massive diagonal slash. The boarbatusk was cleaved in two, exploding into a cloud of dust that flew into Roy's eye and mouth. He coughed and wretched, tears streaming from his eyes. His scroll was beeping furiously, alerting him that his aura was in the danger zone.

"Roy!" Dahlia ran to him and grabbed his hand, "We need to…!"

The ragged hole in the barricade was suddenly full of grimm, the monsters fighting tooth and nail to get inside. Dahlia released Roy's hand and they struck their fighting stances. Roy's heart fell as he watched the horde slowly pushing its way into the town. With the barricade breached, it was only a matter of time before they were overrun. He twirled Μόνος deftly, feeling the sword almost dance in his hands.

"Nice night for it." he quipped to the smaller girl. Dahlia had also realized how dire the situation had become and was doing her best to stay stoic. Try as she might, she couldn't stop a few tears from sliding down her cheeks,

"Ever the pessimist." she said with a watery grin.

Peri and her group of guards joined them, "Oh don't be so dramatic you two! This fight's not over until it's over! CHAARGE!"

The two sides crashed together, fang against blade and claw against armor. Roy tore through the first grimm that dared challenge him, scything through its neck with a single stroke. He spun Μόνος in his grip and stabbed an Ursa through the eye, feeling the sudden give as the blade sank deep into the brain cavity. Freeing his blade, he backpedaled furiously and blocked several strikes from an oncoming beowolf. Dodging under a particularly nasty blow, Roy lunged forward with a cry. His sword caught the beast in the chest, igniting a familiar spark of satisfaction as the beast melted away with a gurgle. He sliced through more grimm, the spark growing into a roaring flame. He had to fight; he had to make sure these grimm never saw dawn.

He was just skewering a small deathstalker on his blade, when he heard a panicked cry from behind. He turned to see a creeper sink its teeth into the leg of a short, squirrel-tailed guard. She fell down and the creeper started to drag her away. Roy ran a few steps forward, but stopped as he felt the flame start to die inside him. He wanted to get back to the fight, but he knew she would die if he did nothing. The girl let out another scream of terror and Roy made up his mind.

Charging forward, he beheaded the creeper and watched as the head released the leg. The wound it left was a ragged bloody mess, one of the grimm's teeth having nicked an artery. Roy quickly grabbed the faunus under her arms and dragged her into a nearby alley. The wound left bloody drag marks on the cobblestones and the faunus cried out as the movement jarred her leg.

"I'm sorry!" Roy exclaimed, "We're almost there!" He finally managed to get her in the alley and leaned her against the wall. "I need to cauterize your wound before you bleed out." He said quietly, drawing his plasma bayonet and pressing the chorded handle to her lips, "Bite this, you'll thank me later."

The guard did as she was told and Roy offered her a sympathetic smile before channeling fire dust into Μόνος' blade. Once the metal was glowing red, he quickly pressed the blade onto the nicked artery. A horrible sizzling sound, accompanied by the smell of burning flesh filled the air as the girl let out a muffled scream and went limp. Roy swiftly tore off a piece of the girl's uniform, wrapping it tightly around the wound. He quickly checked her pulse, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt the steady pulsing beneath his fingertips. Shrugging his coat off, he draped it over the girl's still form and slid his bayonet back into its sheath. Praying to the Gods that the grimm wouldn't find her, he turned his attention back to the fight.

The battle raged on, but the defenders were slowly giving ground as the onslaught of grimm continued. Roy beheaded what felt like his 50th beowolf and found himself back to back with Dahlia.

"How are you doing?!" he shouted over the din.

The smaller girl looked a little worse for wear. Her hair had come free of her hair clip, the blond strands whipping around her as she fought. She was bleeding from a wound just above her eye and she quickly wiped the blood out of her eye. "I've never been better!" she replied with a grin.

They fought on for what seemed like hours. Truth be told, the only reason they weren't being completely overwhelmed was because the hole in the barricade wasn't any bigger. The grimm were pressing in on each other in a frenzy to get through, the crush of bodies only allowing a few through at a time.

Suddenly a piercing shriek cut through the early morning air. The sound turned the blood in Roy's veins to ice, and he turned his attention to the gate just in time to see a massive deathstalker smash through the remains of the barricade. It's tail was glowing wickedly in the light of the torches, its ten eyes shining maliciously from its bone-like carapace. Grimm flooded into the town around it, heading straight for the defenders.

I guess this is it, Roy thought, leveling his blade at the oncoming horde. His hands shook and his heart beat furiously against his ribs. His brain was screaming at him to run, to hide. But he stood his ground.

I accept my fate, he thought, his muscles tensing as he prepared to throw himself into wall of claws and teeth. A strange sound reached Roy's ears. It was a distant rumble, that was slowly growing closer. Odd, those sound like...Dust engines!"

Roy turned in the direction of the sound, just in time to see the Dusty Daydream soar into view. The engines were leaking black smoke and she backfired several times, but she was flying. A hail of bullets erupted from the airships defenses, cutting wide swaths in the horde. The airship sank as low as it dared, hovering behind the defenders as the guns kept up their steady barrage.

Aster appeared on the upper deck, a dust bazooka slung over her shoulder, "Eat this, you overgrown insect!" She roared, sending a rocket whistling towards the deathstalker. The missile connected with a deafening boom, reducing the grimm to a smoking husk.

he other grimm were in disarray, trying desperately to escape the bullet rain, when a large group of people smashed into their flank. Roy caught a glimpse of Argent Viess leading the group of bandits, his eyes shining bright with bloodlust he smashed a beowolf to pulp.

"Charge now!" the faunus yelled to Peri, "While they're distracted!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" the guard commander yelled, "on me! Charge!"

Roy was just about to follow, when Dahlia grabbed his arm, "Roy! Several beowolves got past us and ran off toward the town hall!"

Roy's heart dropped; the town hall was where they'd hidden the townsfolk who couldn't fight. If the grimm get inside…

"Come on!" he yelled, sprinting off towards the main square. Roy could feel his strength flagging; his breath was coming in gasps and his arms ached from fighting. Nevertheless, he pushed himself to go faster and reached the square in a matter of seconds. He caught sight of the five beowolves, just as they crashed through the door of the town hall.

"Lia!" He yelled, extending his arm.

"On it!" she growled, grabbing his hand.

Roy planted his feet and swung his teammate forward. Dahlia fired her weapon at the apex of her sideways curve, becoming a blur as the force sent her flying toward the building. She readied her two weapons and sailed through the broken doors with a loud whoop. Roy charged after her, covering the distance in an instant. He arrived just in time to see Dahlia block a heavy blow from one of the beowolves.

"Roy!" she shouted, her voice hitching as she strained against the grimm, "one of them ran toward the infirmary!"

At that moment, a second beowolf leapt at her with a howl. Roy took a step forward, his mouth opening to yell a warning. Before he could even get the words out, a massive hammer head on a chain sailed toward the grimm. The beast let out a startled growl just before the hammer snuffed its life out. Roy's eye followed the chain back to the wielder and blinked in surprise. There, holding the other end of the hammer, was Jade Der Riese.

Dahlia twirled Comodia and killed the beowolf she was dealing with. "Holy shit ma'am!" she exclaimed.

Jade recoiled the hammer's chain until the head was fastened to the haft, "Watch your language, young lady!"

Roy, still trying to fully grasp what happened, sprinted toward the infirmary door. Gods, help me not be too late. He prayed silently as he climbed the stairs two at a time, arriving at the end of the infirmary hall in a matter of moments. He spotted his quarry as the grimm pounded toward the door.

"Oh no you don't!" Roy roared and leapt backwards, planting his foot on the wall. He pushed off, the force cracking the wall as he fired a round behind himself to catapult himself down the hall. Right before he reached it, the beowolf smashed the door into matchsticks and tore into the room.

Roy heard Ebony's panicked scream and fired another round, increasing his velocity. I won't be too late! I will not let her get hurt because of me again!

He smashed bodily into the grimm, his head colliding with its bone mask in a massive head-butt. The two combatants were thrown backwards, tumbling over each other in a flurry of fabric and fur. Roy's back colliding with the wall with a thud that made the windows rattle. He slid to the ground, stars dancing across his vision. His back was on fire and he struggled to regain the wind that had been driven from his lungs. The faunus staggered to his feet, quickly moving to place himself between the grimm and Ebony's bed. The beowolf leapt up, shaking its head as if to clear it.

Roy's eye darted around the room, making note of all the delicate medical equipment. I can't fight it in here, He thought, this stuff will be needed for the aftermath.

He glanced over his shoulder at Ebony's bed and noticed that she wasn't alone. A small brunette nurse was huddling next to Ebony's bedside, her golden eyes wide with fear. That's a problem, he thought as the grimm faced him with a roar.

"Hey Eb," Roy murmed, speaking softly as to not agitate the grimm.

"Roy," Ebony replied, her voice shaking slightly, "What's happening outside?"

Roy shot a quick glance behind him, "just a few grimm, nothing to worry about."

Ebony smiled sadly, "you're a terrible liar, Dahlia's aura is down and yours is in the red. A few grimm wouldn't be able to touch you."

Roy's mind was racing for a way to get both women clear of the fight. He knew if the nurse panicked and ran for the door, the beowolf would follow. "Ebony what's your nurse's name?"

Ebony gently clasped the girl's hand, "Coral." she murmured back.

Roy smiled softly, "Coral, I need you to listen very closely." The beowolf's head cocked as if trying to understand the faunus' words. "Whatever you do, don't run."

He began to slowly circle towards the window, silently praying the beowolf would take the bait. A small spark of triumph flashed inside him as the beast warily circled with him. Roy shot a sidelong look at Ebony, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." He clenched his hand, trying to contain the bubble of panic growing inside him.

The faunus's back was now to a window, a large, plate glass affair that provided a decent view of the town. Taking a deep breath, Roy let out a short "hey!" The grimm gave a roar and charged at him with jaws open wide. Roy caught the bite on his bracer, the force of the pounce knocking the faunus off of his feet and sending both combatants through the window.

They seemed to hang in midair for a split second before gravity asserted itself and they hurtled toward the ground. Roy tried to twist in midair to place the grimm beneath him and felt pain erupt in his back. His flight through the window had caused several glass shards to pierce his flesh. The pain, coupled with the squirming of the beast on top of him quickly rendered his efforts useless.

Roy, with the beowolf still on top of him, struck the ground full force.

The impact drove the shards farther into his back and he tried to scream, but all of the air in his lungs had been driven from him. The only sound that came out was a strangled whimper. He felt his leg pop as his knee bent at an odd angle. His aura had saved his back from breaking on impact, but his body and lungs were still on fire. The cold horrible feeling of his aura breaking rippled over him as he felt the beowolf stir on top of him and quickly grabbed for his bayonet. His fingers wrapped around the handle just as the beowolf came to.

It roared in his face, the beast's rancid breath making Roy's eye water. He fought desperately to get his blade free, but the weapon was trapped under him. The beowolf stamped its paw down on his throat, a spark of malicious glee flashing in its glowing eyes. Roy struggled to breathe, squirming furiously under the weight of the grimm. He swung his fist into the grimm's throat and felt the beast flinch. It growled, a low menacing rumble and pressed down harder. Roy weakly beat at the beowolf's paw, the strength ebbing from his limbs as his throat began to burn. Panic flooded into him as his vision started fading to black,

No...Not yet! he screamed silently, There's still so much I need to fix!

The bayonet suddenly came free of the sheath. As quick as his oxygen starved body would allow, Roy swung the weapon up into the grimm's throat. The beast gave a strangled bark as its life was snuffed out. Roy struggled to push the corpse off, coughing and choking as fresh air flooded into his lungs. The glass shards cut deeper into his back, causing rivulets of hot blood to stream down his back. He let out a frustrated growl as his exhausted body proved incapable of removing the grimm's corpse from his body.

"Need a hand?"

The beowolf's body tipped off of him and Aster was suddenly kneeling beside him, smiling wearily. He sat up, wincing as the glass in his back irritated his nerves. He tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness quickly sent him back to the ground.

"C-could you give me a hand?" he rasped, "I don't think I can walk on my own yet."

The pilot nodded and gently scooped him up, her arm miraculously missing all of the glass shards in his back. "You're really light, you know that right?" she quipped, looking down at him with a slight twinkle in her eye.

Roy said nothing and simply allowed his head to rest on Aster's shoulder. The pilot carried him to the front of the town hall, where Peri and the remaining guards stood. The bandits, combined with the air support of the Daydream, had turned the tide of the battle. The remaining grimm had been killed or chased off and now it was time to tend to the wounded. Dahlia was sitting on the town hall's front step, her hand staunching a nasty cut on her arm. Aster set Roy down next to her, making sure not to set him on his back.

Dahlia shot him a sideways glance, "You look like hell."

Roy coughed roughly, "feel like it too. How's my neck?"

The smaller girl grimaced, "well, besides the fact it's turning several different colors, it looks fine." She pointed to his back, "Your back on the other hand...are those shards of glass?"

Roy nodded and reached a hand back to grab at one of the jagged pieces. A firm, yet gentle hand stopped him and he looked up to see Jade standing behind him,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." she said quietly, "You'll damage the muscles in your back if you just go yanking them out. Come up to the infirmary."

Roy shook his head, "I'll go up when the last of the wounded have been taken care of."

Jade regarded him with a stern glance, "You're one of those wounded, stupid boy. If you leave those glass shards in your back, the wounds will get infected. Now, you can either follow me, or I can have Aster carry you."

Roy stood shakily and limped after her, wincing as each step jarred the wounds in his back.

"How many casualties did we suffer?" he asked, his voice still raspy.

Jade sighed, sweeping a loose lock of hair behind her ear, "We lost two guards and 3 bandits...including Morado Veiss."

Roy stopped in his tracks, his mind spinning at what Ebony's mother had just said, "Morado's...dead?"

Jade looked sadly back at him, "I'm afraid so."

Roy hung his head in shame; all of those deaths; especially Morado's, were on his head. His legs suddenly gave out and he almost collapsed. Jade caught him, gently guiding him to a nearby bench. Roy curled in on himself, ignoring the pain in his back as he felt tears gathering in his eye. Jade regarded him for a moment, then sat next to him with a sigh.

"This is my fault." Roy said miserably, "How do I live with myself?"

The Der Riese matriarch sighed, "you continue you on. Never forgetting the lives lost due to your mistakes. You move on; never forgetting, but never letting them hold you back."

Roy wiped his eye with the back of his hand, "How do I do that?"

Jade's eyes seemed to lose focus, as if seeing something he couldn't, "You strive to change, dedicating that change to the ones you've lost. I've lost many friends during the course of my life and being a physician has put me in the front row of many losses. If I let each loss drag me down, I'd be curled up in my room; no use to anyone." The elder faunus gently turned Roy's face to look her in the eyes, "We must keep moving forward, for those we've lost and for those we can still save."

More tears flooded into Roy's eyes, "How am I going to face the Viesses now?" he said, his voice breaking from the emotion.

Jade gently helped him to his feet, leading him toward the main infirmary doors, "I can't tell you that, but you can cross that bridge when you come to it."

They reached the infirmary, which was currently full of people bustling to and fro. Roy's ears twisted backward as a patient near the broken window whimpered as their broken leg was reset. Ebony's bed was vacant, the former occupant sitting in a chair beside it. Roy was directed to lay down on a cot beside the chair, his back facing the infirmary door. As his head hit the pillow, his eye met Ebony's. The two of them said nothing, content to simply regard one another in silence.

A second later, his view of her was obstructed as Coral knelt down beside him, "Th-thank you for saving me," she stammered, "I need to cut your shirt away to get at your wounds."

Roy nodded softly and the nurse stood, moving behind him. He heard the sound of scissors and then felt cold air on his skin. He heard Coral gasp quietly, no doubt shocked at the amount of scars on his back.

"I...This is going to hurt," she said.

Roy flicked his ear and nodded, "I'm ready."

Ebony stayed silent as the glass shards were removed from Roy's back. Each one came out relatively clean, apart from the stabbing pain as the glass rubbed against his nerves. Once she'd removed the glass, Coral stitched the wounds closed and applied several feet of bandages.

"I'd stay off your back for a while, give the wounds time to heal," the nurse instructed, standing up from her position behind him, "If you have any questions, you can grab me or any of the other staff."

Roy sat up, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, "Thank you, I need to go inspect…"

The nurse tried to push him back, "no! You need to rest!"

Roy gave her a reassuring smile, "I don't have time, Coral." He turned to Ebony, "Dahlia and Aster are both safe, I'm going to go talk to them now."

The female faunus nodded, settling back in her chair. Roy turned away and was about to leave the room, when the squirrel-tailed guard he'd saved appeared before him. Her leg was heavily bandaged and she was leaning on a crutch, but looked better than she had.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me," she began sheepishly, "Jade-I mean the doctor said I would've bled out if you hadn't cauterized the wound."

She held out his coat, neatly folded and looking a little worse for wear. Roy accepted the garment back and nodded to her before continuing out of the room, Jade's words ringing through his mind once more.

"We must keep moving forward, for those we've lost and for those we can still save."

Whoops, that was a bit of a break. I didn't intend to go this long without posting a chapter, but my editor got busy and didn't have any chapters ready. Don't worry, with the new year on its way, we both have a bit more time to get things ready. I've been slowly chugging away on the volume 7 chunk of my story and as much as I'd love to start writing Volume 8, there are a few too many unknown variables for me to have an accurate plan. CURSE YOU TWO MONTH HIATUS! Anyway, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story and I hope you have a blessed new year!

Until Next we meet!

-Ar3mRising