Chapter 105 – Raven's Law


Jaune


He watched the sky as the sun gleamed over these once dark horizons. This was the first time in an exceedingly long time that the sun had actually risen across this part of Arkhonex. The Curse of Salem spread with her constant presence here, corrupting the landscape, and with the huge numbers of Grimm that were always patrolling and spawning here… the skies were always tainted… and for some mysterious reason… the Shattered Moon was always in the same place.

Clearly an illusion – or maybe a window to the Charred Forest?

These questions were constantly rattling around in his mind as he sat there. He turned as he saw Pyrrha walking over to him, and he could not help but smile as he saw her. "Hey…" He softly said to her.

"Hey… how are you?" She asked.

"Eh you know… still healing." He said with a groan, he touched his shoulder but then his face again. With everything that happened… he had hardly even remembered what Salem did to his face. He touched the slash marks that were carved across the side of his face, his aura had helped them heal up, but the scars were there. "Well… I guess I was gonna get this nice face of mine messed up at some point, right?" He joked.

"Oh don't worry about it, makes you look cuter to me." Pyrrha admitted as she caressed his cheek. "And… well… it's an old belief that scars give you good luck. Showing that you survived bad things before, and that you can do it again."

"I guess so… wish there were less… I dunno, permanent ways, of remembering something like that." He said. "At least my shoulder is hidden in my hoodie… although… I may need to get some new stuff. These old clothes… well they were old anyway, but they're a bit ruined now." He said with a sigh.

"I think we're all due for a good upgrade." Pyrrha said with a smile. "Especially me… still wearing these old things." She laughed as she touched her armoured plates, which were also damaged. She looked at Jaune and gently rested her head on his shoulder, holding his hand.

"How's Oscar? He got hit pretty hard during that fight." Jaune inquired.

"He's recovering. Waiting like the rest of us for the Airships to take us up to the Drift of Wandering Star so we can get patched up on the flight back to Vale." Pyrrha explained. They looked at him laid on the gurney, resting his eyes. Covered in bandages, new scars of his own.

"We've had one hell of a ride, haven't we?" Jaune said to her with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it… if you had told me half of the things that we have been through lately… I would have never believed you. I would have probably laughed in your face." Pyrrha giggled.

"Which is the weirdest part? The dying and resurrecting part? The being related to Salem part? Or having sex with that weird blonde kid who couldn't talk to women in school?" Jaune asked her with a laugh in his voice, Pyrrha looked at him and giggled.

"Oh… you. It's definitely you." She jested, making them both laugh. They gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments and then shared a touching kiss, Jaune gently caressed her cheek as he pulled her towards him. They pressed their heads together after their broke their kiss. "I still think about that night… a lot." Pyrrha teased as she looked at him.

"Well… I think any chance of us being just friends after all this is officially over… so… I guess we could always just come back here after Umbra is dead. See if we can beat our record." Jaune wagered, Pyrrha smiled at him.

"I'll hold you to that." She whispered sensually into his ear. She then gently rested her head against his shoulder again whilst holding his hand. "You're right… it's been a long ride."

"Yeah… now we just have to see it through." Jaune said to her.


Qrow


Penny was sat down with her swords rested on her lap, sharpening them with a whetstone that Blake leant her. She scraped the edges of her blade ever so carefully, she turned when she saw Qrow walking over to her. He rolled his shoulder as he sat down next to her. "Hello, Qrow." Penny sweetly greeted with a bright smile on her face.

"Hey, Penny. How're you doing? You know… with all this?" He asked as he gestured to her new body.

"You just gestured to all of me." Penny responded innocently.

"I mean with the new body. Having a Human Body now? How does it rate in comparison to having the old one?" He asked her, and Penny took a couple of moments as she set her sword down on the floor. She looked at her hands and she lacked any scars, she seemed to be like a new-born baby, no calluses or scars or anything.

"It's hard to explain. I always felt real before… Ruby helped me understand that. But I didn't really feel pain and… well… anything… the way I do now. Before it was more of a reaction to my vital systems malfunctioning. More like a panic than actual pain… but I accidentally cut my finger whilst sharpening the sword. It hurt… but not for long, my aura saw to that problem." Penny explained. "But not just that… Ruby hugged me, and I actually could feel her body warmth… and it felt… better than before. It was nice whenever Ruby hugged me, and I always felt calmed and at ease… but actually feeling one? That was completely different. And food? Tasting all these new things? I hadn't realised how much I was missing out on." Penny giggled, which made Qrow laugh.

"Oh just wait until we're back in Vale. We'll take you to a restaurant and you'll get to taste some real, tasty food. Way better than any of those Military Rations." Qrow assured with a smile.

"Yeah… Ruby's taken me to a restaurant before, but I couldn't really eat anything. I didn't mind though; it was nice to be with my friends. It will be such an interesting experience to try so many new things. Yang even suggested we could go to the beach some day and I could get something called a tan." Penny explained.

"Of course she did." Qrow chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced at Yang. She just grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we're glad you're still with us, Penny. When we heard what Kelham did to you… we were all so scared."

Penny smiled. "It was scary… I didn't want it to happen again. After what happened at Beacon… I never wanted to experience that sort of helplessness again. But my dad… and Merlot… they gave me this chance."

"He managed to do the impossible. I guess that was always part of his pitch, wasn't it?" He said as he looked down at his feet. Penny glanced at Qrow and she gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit worried." Penny noticed, tilting her head curiously.

"I guess I am… I dunno… nervous. It doesn't feel like this fight is over yet… it may be just jitters after a big fight… this one felt like it was never gonna end. I spent so many years watching and spying on Salem. Helping Ozpin as we tried to figure out her next move. And sure… we learned Salem wasn't the mastermind of what's coming… but seeing her dead body and burying her? After all this? It just seems surreal to know that she's finally dead." Qrow explained as he sat there.

He watched all the dead being carried to the airships. "So many lives lost… to defeat a pawn. How the hell are we supposed to defeat Umbra when it took all this to stop her?"

All the destruction… the decimated vehicles… the landscape itself…

When he said it like that, it really did put things into perspective. But Penny looked at Qrow and gently held his hand supportively. "But look at what we managed to accomplish united? We actually defeated Salem… imagine what we could do against Vir Nominis Umbra? The world knowing that we killed Salem? They'd know that the enemy is flawed… and we know that there is something that Umbra does not want us to know about in the Embered Grove. It's not as hopeless as you think, Qrow. We can do this… I know it." Penny assured with a smile.

Her optimism was astounding to everyone because it was not blind optimism. Penny looked at all the bad and weighed everything up. And despite how dark things seemed… there was still an exceptionally good chance that they could succeed.

"Thanks for the pep talk… you're good at it, y'know?" He laughed, which made Penny smile.

"I just like seeing everyone happy." Penny beamed.

Screams erupted in the nearby camp; Yang stood up swiftly with wide eyes. Both Qrow and Penny did the same as they saw someone running from the camp the Medic was taking Ruby to. "Someone has murdered Judy and kidnapped Ruby!" The woman screamed; everyone turned their eyes with horror. Qrow, Penny and Yang sprinted towards the camp, passing by everyone. Qrow slid to the body of the Medic named Judy, her throat cut open so bad it was ear to ear, nearly taking her head off. There was no way to save that poor woman, but Qrow stared at the wound and he knew exactly who it was.

"The killer… did anyone see them?" He asked… he needed to know to be certain.

"Yeah, one of the wounded. He described her as a middle-aged woman, long black hair and a big red sword." The woman told Qrow. His eye twitched with anger, Yang clenched her hands into fists and even Penny looked angry.

"Raven…" Qrow growled furiously.

"Where did she take Ruby?" Yang questioned.

"We don't know, she vanished." The woman answered.

"Damn she used her portal… she could be anywhere on Remnant by now!" Yang yelled with terror, but Penny stayed calm and her eyes started to glow green. She knew that Merlot had things cybernetically implanted inside her body so then she could still use everything she could when she was a machine, and the same was in her eyes. She used her optical enhancements and scanned the land for Ruby's Scroll Signal, and she found it in the Tar Fields beyond the Castle.

"There. She didn't go far; Ruby's scroll is there but it appears to be damaged… and her aura is draining fast. We don't have much time." Penny explained.

"I'm going." Qrow said.

"I'm coming to." Yang said.

"Yang…" Qrow tried to interrupt.

"SHE'S MY BABY SISTER! I AM NOT LETTING MY MOTHER HURT HER!" Yang snapped, her eyes flared red.

"I can carry her… I am coming too." Penny assured, nodding at Yang.

"Well come on, we have to be fast!" Qrow said, transforming into his Corvid Form immediately and flying off towards the Tar Pits. Penny wrapped her arms around Yang's body and her thrusters blasted her up into the air, and she followed Qrow in that direction.

Kassius, Weiss and Blake ran up to where they flew away, and their eyes were wide.

Blake looked down at the body on the floor. "Who could have done this?" Weiss gasped, and Blake glared at the blade.

"Only a Crimson Dawn Sword could do this… and since Adam is dead and his sword is destroyed… that means only Omen did this. Raven did this." Blake pieced it together.

"I hope they can get there in time." Kassius hoped, for none of them were in any shape to fight and could never catch up to them on foot.

It was up to Qrow, Yang and Penny to save Ruby from Raven.

And right now… Ruby was up against Raven alone… with nearly no aura left.


Ruby


She held her gut in pain, still feeling the throbbing aches from her still healing wounds from the battle before. She gripped her Combat Knife tight, the only form of defence that she had against Raven. But she was not blind to the truth, she had nearly no aura left to begin with, and was physically still in a bad way – and had a knife against Omen.

What the hell do I do? I can't beat Raven like this… hell I doubt I could beat her one to one even if I were at my best.

Raven glared at Ruby, then suddenly shot forward, slashing Omen hard and fast towards her. Ruby rolled out of the way and sliced her knife across the back of Raven's leg, but the attack was hardly even noticed, her red aura kept the traitor safe from any attacks made by Ruby. Raven grinned sadistically as she spun Omen through her fingers, before she walked towards Ruby once more. Ruby backed up, and gasped as she looked over her shoulder, seeing the many Tar Pits that surrounded her. The thick black tar swirled beneath her, still alive and she knew what would happen if she fell into it.

The Grimm Tar would slowly consume her, ending in a terribly agonising death. That was not how Ruby wanted to die, she glared back at Raven and held her Knife up, ready to fight her. She moved away from the tar pit, watching Raven's feet as she drew closer and closer. Raven lunged towards Ruby and slashed Omen swiftly at her, Ruby bounced back on her feet, dodging her incoming strikes, until Raven swung the long blade upwards, cutting across what little remained of Ruby's aura. The red aura cracked and burst across her body, crumbling away into red embers.

Ruby crashed down onto the ground and Raven pushed her boot down against her throat. "How many more people are gonna die because of you? So many are dead because of your stupidity!" Raven yelled as she went to drive the sword down into Ruby's chest, but Ruby caught the blade in her hands. The blade cut against her palms, and Ruby screamed with immense pain as the skin tore and blood started to ooze from her wounds. But despite how hard Ruby pushed the blade back up, Raven continuously forced the blade down more and more, using both her hands.

Ruby swung her boot into Raven's leg, Raven yelled in anger as she slipped, and the sword dug down into the ground right by Ruby's head, narrowly missing. She crawled back and looked at her hands, staring at the deep cuts that Omen inflicted on her. Blood dripped off her fingers, Ruby glared at Raven and picked up her knife, and rushed the traitor. Raven reached to Omen, but Ruby tackled her down to the ground, punching and stabbing her with the knife, but her aura was still protecting her from any real damage.

"How many are dead because of me? LOOK IN THE FUCKING MIRROR!" Ruby roared furiously as she continuously damaged Raven's aura with the knife, trying to break it so then she could kill her. But Raven grabbed Ruby by the face, jamming her thumb under the eyepatch and directly into the scarred eye. Ruby screamed with pain as Raven dug her nail into the scar, lifting her off the floor and forcing it down into the old wound. Ruby screamed in agony as blood started to leak from where Raven's nail cut into the skin.

"I am not gonna die because of your suicidal dream!" Raven yelled as she repeatedly clawed Ruby's eye. Ruby swung her fist into Raven's face, and she stumbled back up onto her feet, and her eyepatch fell from her head. She touched her eye where Raven clawed her savagely, wincing at the pain, before glaring back at Raven who kept her fists clenched. She then rushed Ruby once more, but Ruby ducked under her fist, and slashed her knife across Raven's stomach. Strike after strike, Ruby was slowly breaking Raven's aura down. Ruby then wrapped her arm around Raven's neck and body slammed her down against the hard ground.

Ruby grabbed Raven by the throat and squeezed as hard as she could, trying to strangle her for what she did to Winter. "You killed Winter! You betrayed us all! You betrayed both my fathers! You betrayed everything my mother saw in you!"

"Your mother was a fool just like you! Nothing more than just another suicidal pawn being thrown to the slaughter. And you will die the same way! But not me! I will not die like they did!" Raven yelled, she grabbed Ruby by her long hair and swung her down into the floor, before headbutting Ruby multiple times. She then punched Ruby across the face and grabbed her arm that held the knife.

She twisted her arm and suddenly there was a loud crack, and immense pain shot through Ruby's body. She screamed with agony, feeling her arm dislocate and the knife fell from her grasp. Raven kicked the knife up into the air and swung it at Ruby hard and fast, only for Ruby to swing her leg around and kick Raven across the jaw.

Raven stumbled across the floor, before she twisted around and suddenly drove the knife down Ruby's leg. Ruby shrieked from the immense pain as Raven dragged the knife down her shin, opening up her boot and leg, blood sprayed from the massive wound, and then the knife remained lodged in Ruby's leg. Ruby collapsed to the ground, grabbing her leg, staring at how much thick red blood was pouring from it. She gasped and winced from how much it seared with pain.

Raven stood back up and picked up Omen, pulling it from the ground. "It was a pretty dream you painted, Ruby. But that was all it was and will ever be. A dream – one that will never see the light of day. The Shivering Dominion is coming, and I will survive it." Raven explained as she walked towards Ruby.

"You… are an… idiot. Umbra will turn on you just as he did to Ezekiel Arc." Ruby promised.

Raven smirked. "It's like you said – he never lies."

Raven pushed Ruby down against the floor and pointed Omen at her face. "It's a shame… you really are such a beautiful thing… a shame you couldn't see the truth. But what's about to happen? Just know… that it's your fault. Not mine… your blood is on your own hands." Raven snarled as she went to behead Ruby, swinging the sword towards her neck.

Until suddenly Penny flew directly into Raven's side, tackling her and smashing the side of her face against the ground. She dug her feet into the rocks beneath her, and pummelled Raven hard and brutally against the rocks. "LEAVE! HER! ALONE!" Penny roared, showing a level of anger none of them had ever seen before. Raven then was thrown by Penny, crashing against the ground, but Raven drove Omen down into the ground to slow herself down.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out, running to her sister's side. "By the gods… your leg." She gasped, looking at the knife wound.

"Don't… worry about me… stop her…" Ruby winced as she held her leg.

"B-But…" Yang stammered, worried about her sister.

"Yang! She's not gonna stop… she's too far gone… you have to stop her." Ruby winced again, hissing at the immense pain she was suffering from. "I'll be fine… just… stop her…" Ruby begged her. She nodded her head and Yang's eyes flared red with anger as she turned to her mother.

There was not a shard of remorse left in Yang for her mother, she wanted to see her die after everything she had done.

The Whisperer may have laid the seeds for her betrayal, but she was still the one that turned on them for her own attempt for survival.

The Whisperer merely helped plant the reasons in her head.

"Oh what a surprise… I come here searching for the dog but instead I find her leash." Raven snarled as she stared down her own daughter. Qrow landed beside her and pointed Harbinger at Raven with gritted teeth and Penny pointed Floating Array at Raven.

"It's over, Raven. We're not letting you escape this time." Qrow growled.

"You're blindness to how hopeless this situation is never ceases to astound me." Raven scoffed. "There is no beating Vir Nominis Umbra, all of this carnage? All the sacrifices made here will be for nothing when the Oncoming Shadow arrive. Every death here, has been on Ruby's hands. Not one more drop of blood shall be spilt because of her."

"And if we do nothing? Just stand by and let Umbra win? How much blood will spill then? A hell of a lot more than if we fought against him and killed the bastard." Yang questioned.

"You betrayed everything we stood for and killed Winter. That is never gonna go unpunished." Qrow growled.

"Aww… are you sad you lost that stuck up bitch? You of all people should understand how the world works…" Raven growled.

"Yeah, I understand that we have to fight. Fight to the end… not roll over and give into fear like you have. I can't believe I ever actually fell for your crap, can't believe I seriously thought that you changed. You never did… not really. The only person you were ever looking out for was yourself." Qrow growled, and she stared at Omen and spun the sword through her fingers.

"It's the law of nature… and I will not be dragged down by the weak. I will survive." Raven assured.

"That remains to be seen." Penny growled.

The three of them all blasted towards Raven, but she suddenly slashed Omen fast, blocking Floating Array's swords with the huge sword, and she jumped and swung her leg into the side of Yang's head. The Blonde Brawler tumbled across the black sand, then Qrow slammed Harbinger down onto Omen, so hard that the impact forced Raven down onto one knee. Qrow gritted his teeth with fury as he pushed the huge sword downwards against hers, but Raven suddenly opened a portal beneath her, which opened up the second in the sky. They both fell together, colliding swords together and swinging fists into each other's faces. Qrow grabbed her by the throat as he threw his ringed fist into her face over and over again.

Raven kicked him in the chest and transformed into her Corvid Form, something Qrow did as well, and they both landed smoothly. Raven launched towards Qrow with a furious roar, and they both slammed their swords together. Qrow scraped Harbinger down hers and then fired the shotgun barrels into her chest to push her back. The cogs rotated faster and faster inside the sword, the long sword extended and curved into scythe form, he rushed forward, hacking and slashing at her, rolling it over his shoulders, but Raven backed up, blocking each and every strike. She sheathed Omen's Crimson Blade into the Scabbard, and the revolving chamber switched to the Fire Blade.

She slashed the sword forward, throwing an arc of fire towards her brother, but Qrow spiralled Harbinger swiftly, the arc of flames impacted the blade, coursing across it and around his body. Qrow glared through the amber glow, and he rushed towards her, and threw Harbinger forward, Raven dropped to her knees and slid across the floor, dodging the huge Scythe. Qrow then jumped at her, thrusting his knee into her jaw. Raven grunted and staggered backwards, she lunged Omen forward but Qrow caught onto her arm and punched her in the face, before twisting her forearm so hard that her hand unclasped. The sword dropped from her grasp, and Qrow caught it in his hand, then grabbed the hilt of Harbinger in the ground.

The Scythe collapsed back down into its sword form and he charged towards Raven once more. Her red eyes widened as Qrow jumped and slashed the two swords at her. He cut across her aura with Omen's Fire Sword, burning her skin for a few seconds and then thrashing Harbinger's huge blade up her chest. He then rested the sword of Harbinger over his shoulders and fired his shotgun at her. She grunted in pain and tumbled backwards.

She looked around with wide eyes as she scanned for Qrow, hearing the sound of his Corvid Form cawing around her. He burst from her rear and slammed both swords down at her, he repeatedly cut and slashed her with both blades, but Raven then dodged the two swords and tackled Qrow down against the ground, pushing his head down towards the Tar Pit. "Argh!" Qrow yelled out as he punched Raven in the face, releasing the two weapons.

Unnerving, blackened hands with white claws emerged from the tar pit, like Apathy Hands, and they grabbed onto Qrow's face, digging their nails into his aura. "Yeah? You like that, you bastard?" Raven roared as she continuously forced him down, grabbing Omen with her free hand. Qrow screamed with pain as the hands tried to drag him into the tar to devour him, feeling his body slipping towards it.

Yang yelled with fury, blasting towards Raven's side, knocking her over, and they both rolled across the sand. Raven screamed as the tar pits started to reach out for her leg, dragging her towards it. She slashed Omen across the Apathy hands, severing them and causing them to retreat back into the thick tar. She grabbed her leg in pain, the tightness of their sharp hands digging into their aura was doing a lot of consistent damage to them. Yang got back up and tightened her fists.

"To think I was actually happy to have you in my life… and it was all a lie. You never did change at all." Yang growled, launching multiple screeching missiles towards Raven. The Traitor switched to her Wind Blade, and slashed it fast, creating a powerful gust of wind that sent Yang's missiles flying off in multiple directions.

"Stay out of this Yang. You can still join me; we can survive this together." Raven begged her.

"Oh and I just let you kill my baby sister? Never… not by a long shot." Yang snarled. Raven sighed, sheathing the Wind Blade and switching back to her Crimson one. Her red eyes glared at Yang's.

"Then you've chosen death." Raven retorted.

"One of us has." Yang threw back, and then she sprinted towards her mother. Raven swung Omen downwards towards Yang, but she slid across the sand and fired Ember Celica repeatedly up at her. She dug her cybernetic hand into the ground, twisting herself around and firing the other backwards. The recoil launched Yang towards Raven, and she threw her fist into Raven's face. They both fell and rolled across the ground, then Yang grabbed Raven by the back of her head with her metal hand and smashed her face into one of the rocks repeatedly. The rock cracked and shattered against her face, and then Raven pushed her hands against the surface of the ground to stop Yang from pushing her into the Tar.

The hands started to reach from the darkness towards her, and Raven whimpered as they grew closer and closer. She then swung her head backwards into Yang, knocking her back, and Raven then fired her sword from the Scabbard into Yang, the impact knocked her backwards and the sword exploded upon contact with her aura protected body. Raven switched to Ice, slicing through the floor in one swing, throwing sharp icicles towards Yang and freezing the ground in huge spines of frozen water. The icicles cut across Yang's aura, shattering against her, but then Raven launched herself forward and grabbed Yang by the throat and pinned her against the wall.

"Of all your skills, Yang, you're still nothing more than a child with so much left to learn." Raven snarled, pressing the Crimson Sword against her throat. Yang suddenly grabbed Raven by the hair with her metal hand, and yanked her downwards, and then smashed her other fist directly into Raven's, ripping clumps of hair from her scalp. Raven roared from the pain, blood leaked from her head until her aura healed the damage, she smudged the blood across her cheek and charged towards Yang.

She slammed the sword down onto Yang's metal arm, but Yang held the sword back, and punched Raven in the gut, then up her jaw. The punch flipped Raven up in the air, then Yang blasted up towards her, striking her multiple times, every clap of her fist against Raven's face sounded thunderous. She then grabbed Raven by her arm and threw her downwards over her shoulder. Raven impacted the ground so hard that the Geysers erupted around her, causing the Tar Pits to bubble and start creating dark howling roars.

Raven's red aura flickered, meaning she had drifted into the amber, meaning there were now two more flickers left before her aura broke completely. Raven got back up and turned as she saw Yang keeping her gauntlets raised. "You are willing to die for her? To give up everything you have for that little brat?"

"The people I love? My sister? Kassius? Qrow? My friends? They are the most important things to me, more than my life could ever mean. Without them I am nothing… and I will not let you take my little sister from me." Yang snarled, and Raven shook her head.

"Then you will die a fool, just as Summer and so many others have." Raven stated.

"And yet here I stand… and there you are. Running away… like always." Yang scoffed. "You never did change, did you?"

Raven gritted her teeth. "He would be so ashamed of you." She burned, and Raven roared with anger and flew towards Yang and slashed Omen across her throat, if not for her aura that would have killed her. Yang grabbed her throat instinctively, relieved that there was no blood, but Raven then grabbed Yang by the hair and pummelled her against the ground with immense force. She kicked Yang in the head and then stabbed Omen downwards over and over again, only missing Yang because of her moving aside ever time.

Raven dropped one knee onto Yang's breast and forced the blade of her sword down against her throat, choking her. Yang gasped for air as she threw her fist into Raven's face, but then she pushed her closer and closer towards the Tar Pits. If she could not kill them then the Grimm would, and the hands started to reach out towards Yang. "I didn't want to kill you, Yang… I didn't want it go this way." Raven stated as the Grimm hands started to clasp around Yang's face.

Her eyes widened with fear as they dragged her towards the pit. "But you made me do this… you and that stupid brat." Raven snarled; Yang screamed with fear as they dragged her towards the pit. Raven released her and stepped back as the hands grabbed onto her body and she tried to crawl away.

"No! Let go! Let Go!" Yang shrieked with terror as they grabbed her legs, pulling her closer and closer towards the pit. Her feet got closer to it and she gasped, then started to scream in immense agony as she felt her body sink into the dark. The hands wrapped around her as she held onto the rocks desperately. She couldn't even muster words from how much it hurt as they bit, stabbed and clawed her, millions of unknown monsters in the tar attacking her endlessly. They started to grab onto her face as they pulled her deeper. Her aura flickered again and again, and then it dragged her head down into the tar.

Raven looked away, until Penny flew to Yang's hands and grabbed her before the tar could completely drag her inside. She then directed everything into her thrusters and yelled as she pulled as hard as she could, pulling Yang out from the tar. The black liquid stained her face, hair and body. She gasped the air, and her clothes had been shredded by claws and teeth, and Penny dropped her onto the ground near it, but kept the hands away from her.

Penny checked on her, and she weakly opened her eyes. "Yang? Yang are you okay?" Penny asked worryingly. Yang shakily raised her thumb, terrified from what nearly happened to her. Penny turned to Raven who immediately switched to her Fire Sword, pointing it at Penny.

"Come on, tin can. You wanna try it like they did?" Raven challenged, Qrow's aura was still up unlike Yang, however he was dazed from the Grimm Hands that grappled onto him. Penny then smirked at the challenge as she stood her ground, and her thrusters ignited, lifting her off the floor.

"You should have stuck around, Raven… I've had a couple upgrades since you betrayed us." Penny assured, channelling the Gravity Dust through the augmentations in her body, causing her veins to glow dark purple. She lifted her hands to the rocks and ripping them from the ground. Raven's eyes widened as Penny lifted them and Floating Array folded out from her back. She launched the boulders towards Raven, but she swung her Superheated Fire Sword downwards, cutting the rock clean in two, but the second smashed into her, sending her tumbling across the ground.

The Apathy Hands reached out and slashed at her as she tumbled, but she stuck the landing and fired her Burning Sword towards Penny. She flew towards Raven and slammed all the swords of Floating Array against the fragile molten sword, fragmenting it into multiple shards, before she smashed her shoulder into Raven's chest. Raven dug her heels into the ground to stop herself, but Penny rolled over her shoulders and grabbed her by the arm and thew her into the ground.

Penny stabbed the sword down towards Raven, but she rolled aside and swiftly drew her Electrical Sword, sending a powerful lightning bolt towards Penny, but she rolled aside, and blasted up into the air. She flew past Raven multiple times, firing the green lasers from her swords and slashing the others across her body, moving too fast for Raven to counter. She staggered back from every single strike, feeling the creeping hands of the Apathy reaching up to drag her down into the tar pits.

Raven's aura flickered after multiple hits, meaning they only had to finish her aura off so they could kill her.

Yang sat upright, luckily not in any real pain thanks to Penny, but still in shock. But she saw Penny repeatedly damaging Raven, then saw Qrow picking up Harbinger, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack Raven by surprise. Yang then turned to one of the fragments of her fire sword that shattered on the floor. She then nodded at Qrow, knowing that they could beat her.

Penny circled around Raven, blasting a powerful beam of green energy towards Raven and she drew her Crimson Sword, refracting the beam away. Penny continued to circle her, and the laser burned across the ground and across the sky as Raven tried to redirect it towards Penny. Raven strained as she was pushed closer and closer towards the Tar Pit.

Qrow suddenly dropped down and slashed Harbinger's Scythe downwards across Raven's chest, the sudden and hard impact shattered her aura, causing it to burst and crumble off her body. Qrow transformed Harbinger into its sword form and swung around to behead Raven, only for her to stop Harbinger with Omen. Qrow pushed her backwards but Raven gritted her teeth and fought back, pushing against her brother.

Raven smashed her head into Qrow's face and forced him down against the ground, and she pushed Omen towards his throat. Raven then forced the blade down with all her might, and the blade stabbed into his shoulder, dealing the last amount of damage needed against Qrow. He yelled in pain as blood erupted. He swung his face into Raven's, which threw her off him, and he pulled the sword from his arm, letting it clatter against the ground.

He clambered onto Raven and punched her in the face over and over with rage. "YOU FUCKING MURDEROUS BITCH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?" Qrow roared with heartbroken rage.

In a split second, their plan which could have gone so smoothly changed when Raven broke his aura with one brutal strike.

"YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS!" Raven yelled, she grabbed Qrow by the back of his head and bit down onto his neck, sinking her teeth in. He staggered back and held his neck, seeing the blood leak from the wound.

"Gods…" He winced, feeling the teeth marks. Penny flew towards Raven to attack, launching her swords towards her, only for Raven to suddenly grab Omen and slash it across Penny, knocking her out of the air. She crashed down and suddenly the Apathy Hands grappled onto her, pulling her towards the pit. She desperately began to panic as she tried to pull away, but Ruby limped towards Penny to help her, holding onto her hands.

"We were family once…" Qrow growled at her, sounding so disappointed and betrayed.

"Were we? You and I were always at each other's throats." Raven scoffed.

"No… I thought you actually cared about us… about the family who accepted you." Qrow growled.

"I did… but none of that matters anymore." Raven stated. "Only survival."

"Well… after what you've done… you won't survive this." Qrow growled.

Raven swung her fist at Qrow, but he grabbed her and threw her across the floor, but Raven slashed Omen across Qrow's gut. Blood spilled and he yelled in pain, holding the deep laceration. The wound was not serious enough to disembowel him, but it was bad enough. He limped and held his chest as he approached her. She rushed forward to drive Omen through his chest, but Qrow stepped aside and close lined her.

He then got onto her and grabbed her by the throat with both hands, choking her out, kicking Omen away. Raven reached up to his face and dug her nails into his face, causing Qrow to scream with immense agony.

Yang ran towards Raven with the searing hot blade fragment in her metal hand and she went to drive it down Raven's back, but Raven saw her in the reflection, and swung around and punched her out of the air. Raven left Qrow on the floor and grabbed the blade in her hand, snarling at the hot pain. She then drove it into Yang's shoulder, blood leaked from her shoulder and Yang roared from the pain.

"Stupid, ungrateful little bitch!" Raven barked, only for Qrow to smash Raven down against the floor. He grabbed her head and smashed her over and over again against the rock, but Raven still got the upper hand. She swung her elbow into Qrow's face, knocking him off her. She climbed onto him and punched him over and over again in the face. Yang groaned in pain, and her eyes slowly moved towards Omen on the ground. Qrow spat out blood as Raven punched him over and over again.

Yang reached out for Omen, and started to crawl across the ground towards it, and picked it up in both hands, since one arm was incredibly weak due to the blade fragment lodged into her shoulder. She limped towards Raven as she choked Qrow out, maniacally glaring down at him as he gasped for air.

This was you… not me…

That was all that seemed to rattle around Yang's mind.

You did this to us… not me… not Ruby… not Qrow… this was all you.

Qrow gasped for air… but he felt his consciousness begin to drift, then suddenly blood splattered across his cheek. His eyes opened as Raven gasped, and felt her hands loosen around his neck. She looked down at her chest, to see the Crimson Blade of Omen driven through her stomach. She gasped and then Yang swung around and punched Raven in the face with her metal arm.

The impact threw her directly into the pool of tar behind Qrow. Raven gasped and felt the agonizing claws and teeth that started to stab, slash and bite into her. "AHH! HELP! PLEASE! NO NOT LIKE THIS! PLEASE! HELP ME!" Raven screamed with agony, the Apathy Hands wrapped around her, digging their claws into her skin as they slowly dragged her into the black tar. Her screams grew louder and louder in pain, as they grabbed her face, and her screams drowned into silence as she sank completely into the tar.

Leaving nothing behind…

The tar bubbled, and then calmed as she was slowly devoured by the tar.

Yang shook as she stood there, tears streamed from her eyes as she realised what she had just done, and she collapsed to her knees. He cried out with anguish, she hated her for what she did… but she just killed the woman she spent so many years looking for. Qrow sat upright, bleeding from many injuries, but he gently wrapped his arms around her. Ruby screamed and yanked Penny free from the Apathy Hands, and she held Penny close, wincing at the pain in her leg.

Ruby turned as she saw a truck roar across the fields towards them, and it opened. Kassius, Blake, Weiss and Ozpin emerged. Oscar was far too injured to go with them and needed immediate medical attention alongside Jaune, and now Ruby was going to have to join them for her leg.

"Yang!" Kassius gasped as he and Blake both ran to her. He immediately hugged her, kissing her gently on the cheek. "Are you okay?" He sounded terrified as he saw the state of her clothes, covered in the black tar.

Blake also hugged her best friend. "What happened?" Blake asked with concern.

"She's… I killed her…" Yang stammered, looking at the Tar Pit that Raven had been consumed by. They both looked at it and Kassius caressed her cheek.

"It's over… okay? It's over." He promised, gently holding his head to hers as she sniffled.

Ozpin and Weiss crouched down beside Ruby, seeing the wound and the knife in her leg. "Gods… we need to get you up to the Drift of Wandering Star… that needs serious medical attention." Weiss explained, seeing how much blood was pouring from the limb.

"Come on…" Ozpin said, he picked her up and carried her, and walked over to Yang, Blake, Kassius and Qrow. He looked at the old crow as he stood back up. "Raven?"

"Gone…" Qrow assured as he stared at the tar pit.

"Well… I guess she was wrong." Ozpin stated.

"Yeah… she was." Qrow agreed, Weiss helped Qrow walk back with the others, leaving behind the Tar Pit where Raven was claimed.

And now… they could finally leave Salem's Sanctum for good.


Author Note - I think that bitch got what she deserved, didn't she?

Really tense fight, what I really enjoyed about it was how they would start kicking ass but then suddenly Raven would get the upper hand. And having all the tar pits around them made that fight just a bit scarier. That also might be the closest to death Yang has been so far, that was hard to write let alone read. But thank god for Penny, she saved her ass. And poor Ruby! Her bloody leg, one hell of an injury, she is gonna need some real medical attention to get that fixed.

One more scar to add to her collection XD

Poor Yang, too. Raven definitely deserved it but Yang deserved so much better :(

Although for the cuter side, Arkos Flirtiness was cute to write XD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter

- Matt