"This has to be a joke!"
"If it is, I want to hear the end of it. Immediate!" Her statement was punctuated by her whipping Myrtenstar down, as it dragged through the Sealing Tome.
It brought out a wall of ice, over five times her height and far longer in width. It was alright colored a pale yellow, chilling the skin just being near it. Cold as it was, it wasn't the most noticeable feature about it. Not by a long shot, especially to those who knew her.
No, that would be the electricity crackling over it.
"RAGH!" "AGHAG!" That, and the several dozen Grimm pounding at it as they were running down the streets with the scent of blood to them. Their bodies dissipated as they crashed upon it. For all the weight the body of a Grimm had, it was nothing to the amperes and watts that were practically billowing off of her construction.
It would have been something worth admiring, if it wasn't the dozenth one she made in the past hour, and for as much effort as else.
"They won't stop coming!"
"Your observation is entirely unnecessary!" Weiss shouted back, slashing downward with the arc of her rapier. It crackled with lightning like her ice construction. This time, it acted more as a want, zapping a pair of Beowolves that were clambering towards her. They convulsed before steaming with black smoke, bodies dissipating in the fog of their remains. "Focus more on the civilians!"
"I can only focus on one thing at a time with this thing on!" Weiss clicked her tongue. Of course Yang would make a good point now of all times. "What about Blake!?" Weiss didn't answer.
The cracking of gun shots around them, louder than the screams of the Grimm, was fine enough. And if not that, then the Grimm falling from the sky certainly helped. Weiss didn't need to look for the shooter. Her thanks were better off being offered once this was settled.
"She's handling what she can! Be more concerned for those already overwhelmed!"
"I'm feeling pretty stuffed right now!" Yang felt the necessity to punctuate her statement with a blow to a rather large Ursa. The beast withstood the blow as well as a pile of snow against a fifty caliber round. It, and the dozen or so monsters behind it. "So what does that say for the rest of the city!?"
Nothing good. Weiss held her comment, breath better off regulating her motions as she struck out at the rest of the Grimm. They were falling around them like flies, but while they acted like proper Hunters against them, they were amongst a swarm worthy of being called a blizzard. Never ending, constantly falling, and absolutely blinding. Nothing good at all.
"We have to get them out of here!"
"We can't! The rest of the ships are stuck at sea and there are too many Grimm to draw them off of the populace!"
"There isn't a chance in hell we can keep all of them safe!"
"I know that!" Oh boy did she know it. It was the first thing on her mind. Prioritizing of the civilians. It was a greater fear in her now than anything else. While that may have been a strength at another time, it meant nothing when there were enough Grimm to feast on even the fear of needles. "So far all I can think of is how to destroy them faster!"
"I'll listen to that!" Yang's words suddenly dropped. Weiss twisted in concern. It was unwarranted.
Her teammate's words dropped because she had suddenly jumped. High into the air and enough so that the Grimm tried to grab at her. It showed not only the lack of age to the Grimm, but also their utter ground floor intelligence. Trying to grab at a ball of fire falling from the sky. At least Weiss was smart enough to put up a wall of ice.
BOOM! It protected her from the small meteor that was Yang Xiao Long plummeting into the ground. The street was torn up by the blow, and the harbor anchors around them as well. That wasn't even to mention the buildings and property damage, one of the greatest reasons for a Huntress to reduce her strength in a populate area. No one was about to have a word of complaint, however.
All as well if it gave even a few seconds of leniency in the swarm of Grimm.
An unseen hand on Weiss's shoulder told her there was agreement. The civilians, still trying to board the ships, picked themselves up.
"They could have been killed Yang."
"I did it far enough away. Also punched away from them."
"You punched the ground."
"At an angle." Weiss didn't waste the breath. "So plan. Fast. Now." At least she was focused, too.
"There is a giant Grimm Whale in the sky, something so rare that I don't even know if there is a classified name for it. Add to that the communication lines being flooded with requests for assistance and maydays, I can only assume that every available Hunter and Atlesian Military officer is defending civilians somewhere else."
"So we're nothing special here?"
"I'd be afraid to say it any other time, but I fear that we are less than that. We have, after all, not confronted any Grimm that has given even one of us particular trouble. With that beast in the sky, I refuse to believe there are not stronger Grimm present."
"Or allies." Blake's words were an omen. "If Saria is dead, then there have to be others here. The others."
"Yes, of course... I just don't know who they would target in particular. Ruby aside, but I have less fear for her." She glared at Yang before the fire could reach her. "Do not take that to mean I don't care!"
"How else should I take it?" Even with the Bunny Hood on, the red eyes of Yang's fury were hard to ignore. It was a boon then, even if for the moment, that it meant she wasn't about to be swallowed by her rage. "Cause it sounds to me like Ruby wasn't high on the list."
"Just the opposite. Ruby is just next to the one force on our side so strong I'm sure she'll be alright. Unless you forgot exactly who is there?"
"I haven't forgotten. Just don't have as much credit to him if he's not destroying all of this!" The shouting was partially necessary. Yang pointed at the reason why.
The Grimm were beginning to swarm again. The lull in fear was coming back, and because no doubt of the civilians swarming into the ships behind them. There were few left, thankfully, but Weiss knew that until they were leagues out, they'd be nothing short of a magnet for all the monsters here. Then they'd just be a honey pot for all the other monsters out there.
A truly horrendous situation. It made Yang's point all the more poignant.
"If he acts, then we lose."
That made Blake the voice of reason.
"The hell kind of logic is that!?"
"It's one of the oldest war tactics. Draw the attention of the enemy, strike where they leave. Weiss may be the smartest one here, but I saw how the Grimm were moving." She was the Shadow of the group. "They are swarming in some areas more than others, but they are avoiding a few areas as well."
"Those are? And speak fast," Weiss warned as she flipped through the pages of her Tome. She'd have to test her theory on the charge of the book now, even if it turned out to only be a sort of placebo on her part. Anything was helpful now. "The Grimm will be here soon."
"Near the Academy, the Amity Colosseum, and a district or two downtown."
"You saw all of that!?"
"I have other tools with me but the cape, and I knew I'd be more use than pot-shotting the Grimm." Something clicked underneath that invisible cloak of hers. "Though I'm going to need to start shooting again!" She wasn't wrong.
BANG! The sound rang in Weiss's ear, but she ignored it, opting to swipe down with her Myrtenstar instead. The swathe of electricity that came out of it, condensed into a whip, tore through the tiny Nevermores with ease. It was a pity she didn't have the time or energy to handle them all in such a way. No different than how Yang was back to boxing through the Grimm that tore down the ruined street.
Her fists were so much like the rabbit whose ears she wore. Any mockery on the part was left when she was able to weave through the attacks of the Grimm, delivering blows to their fragile black hides. From a woman who could bench press trucks and be competition for even some of Link's friends, striking at weak points was a boon that Lana was nothing short of the Witch she was heralded to be. White, that of benevolence an luck.
And her dark sister was somewhere up above. Weiss had no direct proof of it, but there was no where else she could be.
This was all happening too fast, and she didn't have the mind to even think of all the events and variables at once, let alone plan for them. She could only act on what she could, and that meant more than even the Grimm right now.
That meant getting the people to safety first.
"Blake! Tap when the civilians are on the ship!" She'd have to stall until then.
She did so by whipping down Myrtenstar, at the same moment she flipped through the pages of the Sealing Tome. Lightning crackled about her as glyphs were popping in. Nevermores and small Hornets hit the glass like emblems, all to her design. A twist and fire of her fabled weapon, and they erupted into shards of glass. So much like daggers, and far more than even an experienced Hunter could throw. The Tome settled on a single page, and the energy within it blew outwards.
All the small shards of glass she had summoned began to connect, trails of lightning pulling them together. The Grimm had no escape from them, catching them and burning their dark fur with such a speed that they didn't have the time to offer bellowing death cries. They were dissipated into smoke, and the net carried through them. Weiss let out a long breath when it began to drift away from her.
Blake, still an unseen Shadow, took care of the few Grimm that skimmed under or through her impromptu attack. Her gun was far more accurate than her AoE barrage. She could hear the blows of Yang against other Grimm as well. She didn't fear for either of her teammates. One could avoid any blow she saw coming, and the other was literally invisible to the naked eye.
In truth, she was the most vulnerable. It was a darkly humorous thought. All the Schnee heiress cared for at the moment was the preparation of the ship.
Tap-Tap. Faster than she thought, but all the better.
"Yang! Punch it!" She drew back her Tome in preparation.
"Literally!?"
"NOW!" Thankfully, that was the end of the arguments.
An almost literal trail of fire skimmed through the Grimm as Yang darted for the ship. Weiss put up more of her icy walls to hold back interference, and Blake was quick to do the same for the air. The focus was on the stern of the ship, and she knew that Yang's blow would be anything but forgiving. She traced her teammate, as she jumped into the air.
Flicking Myrtenstar through the Sealing Tome, Weiss put up a sheet of ice around the edges of the ship. Smooth, friction-less, and non-interfering with the buoyancy of the craft. It was dangerous, a bit reckless, but it was necessary, especially as Yang delivered her decisive blow.
BAM! The sound of it was like a bell gong. And with it, the ship rocketed forward.
"How did-"
"A serious risk. Reduction of water resistance, increase in surface area, and providing Yang's blow was directed, with enough propulsion that they'll be able to escape most of the non-aquatic Grimm." She stared at the ship for a moment, risking attack from the Grimm.
There were no smoke trails, and the Grimm were cackling and roaring around her, so she couldn't be sure if she heard the engines roar to life or not. But she did see the ship continue forward, Through the thinning blanket of Grimm.
Now, all she could do was pray it was enough.
"That's the last one!" Yang yelled as she came back. Just before pounding in the skull of another Ursa. It's collapsing body took out less Beowulves, all it was worth. "How many was that?!"
"We got thirty ships off shore, five since this started." Since the Grimm attacked, basically. Good, but not perfect. "I have no idea how many others were able to get off.""
"I'm more concerned how many boats sank." That was more horrifying imagery. The idea of hundreds of people piling onto a single aquatic craft, heading out to the 'safety' of the waters, and then sinking, not even having the roads to run on. Trapped at sea, monsters around them…
Weiss grit her teeth at the idea.
"Don't be."
"Wha-Wiess!"
"I'm not being cruel, Yang! We just don't have the ability to fix anyone who failed to escape or the time to regret it! Do not forget that there are still others likely in the city!" She whipped out Myrtenstar again. It impaled a stupid mutt trying to attack her from the side. "We finished our task here, yes, but now we have to contend with what else is going on!"
"What else is going on? The end of the world aside?"
"Hopefully enough for us to stop that!" Weiss huffed. "We need to find others, regroup or join up where we can help. We'll be doing minimal good like this!" She slammed the Tome onto the ground, closed and preventing its opening.
A ball of electricity swooped up above her, sending out cracks of energy around her. The Nevermores above her fell, and they started twitching on the ground, convulsing. She spun on her heel, creating a dozen or so more glyphs, clicking through her available Dust. Each one of the vermin were lit aflame from the effort, and it surrounded the trio in a ring of fire. More macabre than she'd like, but any lull was appreciated now.
"I like the sound of regrouping, but where and with who?"
"Blake? Those locations?"
"Sending them now." Weiss pulled out her Scroll, assuming what the unseen teammate meant. "They're only rough guesses, and I haven't had a chance to double check in the past few minutes."
"I doubt that any fight has moved that far away so quickly." It was a hope, but a glance above them showed how little hope mattered without action. "We have no idea who is where?"
"Only guesses, from where Ozpin and… he sent us off to."
"No doubt that the lull around Beacon is because of him then."
"Or Ozpin."
"Either way, I'm not thinking they need help." Weiss had no argument for Yang. A literal God of the Beginning didn't need the assistance of a few young Huntresses. "Any idea where Rubes would be?"
"I'd hope with The Fierce Deity still, but with her Semblance, I haven't any idea." It gave her a slight headache. "I can't pretend she'd sit idle while this is going on."
"How about the others then? She might have gone to help them?" She would, as she loved her family foremost. But that only struck an idea in Weiss's mind.
"No… she said nothing about Saria." The statement hung with the howls of Grimm and Crackling fire. Weiss gripped Myrtenstar, letting the Dust and her glyphs make the fire bloom. Blake and Yang shot up with guns and fists, taking down a few choice Hornets trying to fly over the fires. "I would not be surprised if she went up to the stadium."
"Amity? She went back there?!" Yang's anger was understandable. That did not make it appreciated.
"Maybe! It would make sense for her."
"Then we have to go find her! She'll be in trouble, she-"
"She has not only a literal God on her side, but also Link's mask and his weapons! Yang, she's the least in danger here!" She could see her teammates fist tremble. "Think about it! She may be reckless, but Ruby has more on her side than anyone else!"
"And we're trying to help everyone." Blake's words came with a jerk of Yang's head. She had probably put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "There are a lot of other people we have to look to help, Yang. If not more civilians, then team JNPR, CRDP, your mother-"
"My mom has not only my dad siding with her, but all that Maidenhood stuff going on. I'm more worried about Weiss's sister than her." Mockery unappreciated once more, the sentiment was there. "But… we have to help Ruby!"
"We are not ignoring her, Yang. We are only prioritizing those who need help!" She double checked her Scroll. "There is some vacancy outside the landing strips, a few miles away. There's nothing out there."
"The Bullheads were flying over there."
"Then there could be one of Salem's allies planning something." Weiss felt a twist in her gut for what came next. "That could be Impa."
"Impa?"
"Yes, her. She's been rather against striking amongst a group or in crowded areas. Where else would she attack but there!" She didn't look up at Yang. "There's also something near the actual launching station for the Bullheads."
"That's where Raven is. I know because there were trees as well."
"So forget that spot." Yang growled as she turned around. The flames were dying and the Grimm were getting ready to jump over the embers. "Just tell me how to-"
"There are a few pockets spread out around the city as well." Weiss interrupted Yang. "And we've no way to tell which are wore?"
"I don't know how to judge a lack of Grimm as better or worse. I just know that a lack of Grimm is going to likely be because there are either no people there, or someone very important there."
"We figured that. Just want to figure out where we can go to find Ruby and finish this up."
"Again, Yang, our best option is to find Ruby after we've helped everyone else! If not, then we could lose someone. You know how bad that would be!?"
"I get it'll be bad, but I don't want Ruby to be that one!"
"Then trust that she trained hard enough, long enough, and with enough people on her side that she won't be! In case you forgot, she was running around the city handing out Link's weapons to help before! In terms of danger, she's the least likely to stay in it! Can you say the same for everyone else? For Jaune, for Penny, for your father!?"
Now the ire was on her, but Weiss stood up to the Warrior of their group. She was the mage.
"Of all the times to think before you act, now is it. If we help someone who doesn't need it, we may spite someone who does. And if anyone dies, anyone, that very well be the end of everything."
"I'm not… saying we can't help others. I just can't let Ruby get hurt. Not after my dad, not after Uncle Qrow, not after Link. So just…" Yang jerked forward. Jerked, eyes rolled, and knees started to give out.
For a terrifying moment, Weiss thought she was shot.
"Yang? Yang!?" The unseen hand of Blake held her up, as her voice screamed. The Grimm howled around them. "YANG! What is-"
The air around them erupted, again. It was by no combustion of Dust, Glyph, or tool of Link.
It was from something flooding into Yang.
Weiss let out an empty gasp as she was shoved backwards, the force of what was happening to Yang stronger than her footing. Glyphs formed ice for her to stand on, and even then she had to raise her hands to keep her eyes protected. She squinted into the maelstrom around her teammate. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the Twili skin of Blake, holding onto her Magic Cloak as she clung to the ground. Her grip was weakening. A short burst of ice from Weiss fixed it, but that didn't solve the bigger issue.
Not when she witnessed the ground separate from Yang, her bunny eared teammate rising slightly into the air, still refusing to hail their calls, as she became a brighter and brighter force. Even the Grimm refused to approach, and the fires were blown out. Weiss didn't know what was happening. She just knew she didn't like it.
And with a pop of her eardrums, she wind stopped. She nearly fell forward before catching herself. No one caught Yang as she slumped to the ground.
"Yang! Yang!" Weiss shouted, sliding up to her. "Yang! Answer me! What's wrong!?" She didn't get an immediate response. Only a weak gurgle. "Blake! Keep the Grimm off! We have to-"She didn't finish.
Not before the ground shook and cracked. Her balance deteriorated like the concrete, and her hand barely kept Yang's head up as she was about thrown to the ground. She made a sound between annoyance and anger, not even sure who she was directing it at.
"What's happening now!?"
"I think… Saria?" Blake's question made no sense. Not until she looked over at her. Of all the reasons for the ground to shake and crack, only one would result in a tree sprouting.
Watching dozens of them pop out was something else.
"What… how?" Her eyes darted about the growing greenery, blooming from the ashes of her own fire. "Saria's here? Where?"
"No… she's not." The quiet comment from Yang was something else. "That wasn't her."
"Yang! You're alright, what-"
"It was me… I did this." She pushed herself up, out of Weiss's arms as if she wasn't even there. "I just… I just felt something clawing and I… I told it to come up."
"You told it to… alright, okay. You told them to… You… you have powers like Saria." Weiss's mind was more frantic now than it was amongst the Grimm just minutes ago. And they were still outside the small patch of 'forest' that Yang had apparently grown. "You told the trees to grow."
"I think… I guess… my head is… it's just heavy." She let out a long breath to punctuate it, hand grabbing at her head. She dragged the bunny hood off of it, letting out a soft sigh with the action. "What happened?"
"You started floating, after you had what amounted to an explosion of air rush into you." Blake's summary was swift. Her hand was on Yang's shoulder, helping her stand. Weiss wasn't sure she needed it. "Just relax. Any other time, I'd think you're Aura was cracked." That gave Weiss an idea.
"No it's… it's not." Yang held up her hand. "It feels… heavy though." She flexed her digits. The Grimm were still growling around them.
"More than heavy," Weiss spoke, fingers dashing over the Scroll. "Your Aura… it's massive."
"What?"
"Like Saria, like Impa. Your Aura is heavy Yang." Weiss twisted the Scroll to show them. Lavender and glowing amber stared back in surprise. "Yang… I've never seen it before, but I can only guess one thing that could cause this. The only thing that we've been told for months now."
"When a Maiden dies, the last girl in her thoughts inherits her powers." Blake breathed the question slowly. "It… It could have taken time, but maybe Saria thought of…" She caught herself. "Maybe Saria did something to have you inherit her-"
"Saria… wouldn't think of me." Yang let out slowly. "She wouldn't. She… she was closer to Ruby, and Link… she wouldn't think of me." Red eyes looked up at Weiss. They were cracked and wet. "I-I need to go! I need to go!"
"Yang! Wait!" Blake vainly reached out for her partner's hand.
The ground erupted beneath her in the next moment, and the blonde boxer of their team was off faster than a gunshot. The trees survived as well as they could. Not at all.
The sound of them being destroyed was as deafening of the explosion of power from before. The timber was shredded and strewn like shrapnel from a Dust Bomb, beating against Weiss's skin and licking through her Aura. It pained her, and it was only the debris of Yang's retreat. Weiss fell down, Blake not far from her. They stumbled into the few trees remaining following the new clearing amongst the ring.
"What… What…" Weiss let out weakly, hands on the cracked ground and feeling the shavings of wood. Her head throbbed, and she winced as she forced herself to her feet. The Sealing Tome was picked up like a brick, feeling far heavier now. "What happened? Blake?" She scanned for her remaining teammate. The ashen blue skin of the former Faunus wasn't hard to find, clinging to the Magic Cloak tightly. Her breathing was heavy, and eyes wide. "Blake?"
"I'm okay… I'm… okay…" She pushed herself up. "Just… I don't know."
"I don't either." Her hand was out, pulling her partner up. They looked far worse than wear, and even then the area around them far worse. "I don't… what's happening?"
Weiss looked out for an answer.
All she saw was the hole of Yang's retreat, destroying no less than a dozen of the trees she had grown, leaving a sizable hole in the Grimm that swarmed at the outskirts beyond, and the trail that tore into the concrete beneath. All of it, assumingly, from just running.
"Too much… and we don't have enough to act on it."
"Maybe not, but we have to try." Glowing eyes turned to Weiss. "We have to." There was nothing to argue with.
"Then wherever Yang is going… lets go somewhere else." The look of shock on Blake's face was only more poignant from the glowing ethereal features she now bore.
"What?"
"She has the powers of a Spring Maiden, or Forest Sage, or something else enhanced by magic. She's far stronger than she was before and her Aura is far greater." There was no denying the proof around them. "Ruby is going to be okay with what she has. Yang has something else, and I'm willing to bet she'll be looking for someone else to fight with. We won't be much help to her now, or at the very least, likely arrive too late."
Blake said nothing in response, at least not immediately. She looked towards the hole in the Grimm slowly healing as well as a wall made up of monsters could do.
"Then what are we going to do?"
"Find someone else who needs our help, and keep fighting." Her fingers gripped the spine of the Sealing Tome. "We can't do anything else."
"There's no way. There's no way. There's no way." The words fell out of her mouth as she ran down the street. She tore it up beneath her. Something was screaming off of her boots as she slammed them against the ground, but she didn't care what. "There's no freaking way."
She didn't care what was coming off of her Aura, hot as her Semblance and with twice the kick. She didn't care how fast she was running or the destruction she caused beneath her trampling feet. She didn't care about the few undamaged buildings she was now putting fresh mares into with her harsh run forward. None of that mattered at all.
"There's just no way." All that mattered was what she felt.
And it felt horrible. Horrible enough that a sky scraper in front of her didn't even register.
"There's no way!" She jumped forward and through it.
The building's steel columns, concrete walls, and thousands of tons of weight did nothing to slow her down. She all but burned through it. The glass that didn't shatter was disintegrated, and the steel that didn't buckle was smoldered to mush. Yang didn't care at all for it.
Her feet hit the ground on the opposite side of the building, a hole of her own making through it, and she kept running. The ground couldn't withstand her and neither could the buildings. She ran on without blinking.
"There's no way this is happening!" She had somewhere she had to be.
There was someone she had to find.
"You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be. You have to be." The words continued to spill out as she dashed through the street. "Just gotta find it. Just gotta find it." She wasn't even a hundred percent sure what it was. All she had was Blake's word.
A couple of spots on her Scroll of where the Grimm were acting weird. She had no idea if it was going to be enough or not.
"Have to be there, somewhere." She looked frantically for signs of life all throughout the ruined streets of Vale. The Grimm didn't count. No matter how many of them there were. They were too thick, too numerous, and too loud. She couldn't think, could hardly see much further where she was going, and getting lost down the streets.
They continued to howl around her. Laughing, mocking her, trying to hold her back. Trying to get in her way. Just like the giant behemoth of an Ursa hogging the street in front of her. It sat on its haunches and roared, shaking the glass and making the others bow before it. Yang growled back up, legs never stopping.
"Get out of my WAY!" The blonde reeled back her fist with the blow. She delivered it as she jumped forward.
Ordinarily, Ursa were knocked over and away with her full strength. That didn't happen now.
Now, the Grimm that was large enough to take up three lanes of traffic, and doubtlessly tall enough to reach the fourth story of a building, was reduced to ash.
Yang blew through it with such a speed that she didn't have time to feel resistance. It was the contact with its skull plate, then it was through the beast like air. Her Aura crackled and fumed around her, and her voice cried out as her momentum carried her forward. She could have blown through dozens, hundreds more of the Grimm, but she wouldn't have noticed. It wasn't even on her list.
There was only one thing she had to find now, and a giant monster wasn't it.
"Dad... where are you." Yang had to find him.
Her eyes were back to her scroll, staring down at it and trying to make sense of where she was now. Eyes flicked from street corner to ruined road, trying to find where it was that the pockets of activity were. That was where she had to be. Because if there were no Grimm, there was probably less fighting, and if her Raven was dead, then-
"No!" Yang shot her fist out.
A pair of hornets, human sized, were blow away by the strike. Lightning crackled off of their wiping forms. She didn't even give them a second glance.
"He's not gone! Not him! H-He's too strong! Not even losing an arm and a leg could stop him!" She just had to find him. She knew that if she did that, then everything would be okay. "He's going to be okay! He's-"
BOOOOOM! Yang looked up. She let out a gasp.
A bullhead was spinning down towards her. It's tail end blown off, the fire already billowing from its engine, and Grimm swarming after it like a treat on a string. Yang jumped.
Roots blew up from under her, rocketing her upwards. Her hand realed back, flying past the falling Bullhead, and she barreling into the trail of Grimm. The worst of them bounced off of her Aura, stabbing at her with the Hornets and scratching at her between the Nevermore. She didn't pay attention to any of them.
Not before she punched forward with a scream, sending out as much of her new found powers as she could. An explosion ripped out around her. The Grimm, and all that remained of them, were gone just as quick. For that second, she was left hovering in the air, waiting for the force of gravity to grab her again. In that time, she was able to look down, seeing the Bullhead.
Too late did she realize that there was no one to catch it. Too late did she realize there had to be people in there.
But just in time, some did catch it. Just not her, though the Aura around it made it obvious.
"Ms. Goodwitch?" Yang looked around, trying to spot the blonde of her former teacher. It wasn't obvious where she was, not when everything was clouded in darkness or swarming with Grimm. She looked around the Bullhead, trying to find her, even as gravity claimed her again and started to pull her back to the ground. She didn't prepare for a landing, she was too busy looking.
It paid off. With the blonde boxer spotting the blonde holding up her riding crop. She just didn't expect it to be where she found the woman.
Inside the falling Bullhead, a hand clutching the edge of it, and grimacing as she lifting the object.
Yang had a hundred questions, and twice as many concerns, but she put them aside as she jumped forward, clearing the rooftops like cracks in the street. Her Aura crackled around her as she slid to a stop underneath the Bullhead. Her hands lifted upwards, reading herself.
"I've got it!" She yelled out as loud as she could. Grimm howled around her, so it was hit or miss if her teacher could even hear her.
Given that the force surrounding the Bullhead vanished a moment later, she settled that quandary. Even when the full weight of the Bullhead hit her. Several hundred tons of steel and Dust, enough to crush most buildings and force specialty platforms to be built for it. Yang knew enough about them from when she watched them taking off and landing around Patch.
And here she was holding one up with two hands, light as a beach ball. She put the metaphor aside as she lowered it down. The weight of the structure caused her to tear at the metal, unable to handle the unorthodox position it was being lifted from, but Yang did her best to settle it easily.
Even if easy was still a boom that cleared a fine layer of dust and debris from the street. She heard a few cries from within, and took that as a benefit. Her feet were practically on fire as she rounded to the other side, trying to get a look at who was there. Ms. Goodwitch met her with a harsh breath of relief. Yang didn't stop to think about how haggard she looked.
There were a bunch of people on the inside. Not a massive number, but enough to make it a wonder they were still in the city. They were civilians too. No armor, no weapons, nothing but terror written across them as they huddled in groups and looked for a means for safety. Yang didn't blame them. She wanted that, too.
Especially when she saw team SSSN sitting on onside, all of them gripping the webbing of the walls with pale grips and grit teeth.
"Ms. Xiao Long... excellent timing." Her attention was drawn back to Ms. Goodwitch, the huntress stepping off of the ruined edge of the bullhead's interior. "I thought ourselves done for when that rock was hurled at us."
"Rock?" Yang didn't see anything like that. "Not the Grimm?" She looked up, expecting more of them to be coming down at them. They were there, like trying to miss the stars at night, but they were like that in just as many ways. Block dots with red spots, flying under the dark cloud of the MASSIVE Whale Grimm.
"No, I was well aware" She shook her head. "A worry for another time. Team SSSN." Glynda all but snapped her fingers. The boys pushed themselves off of the edge of their seats. "We have been grounded within the city once more. Priority one is the civilians."
"Understood, ma'am!" Sun replied, pulling out his bow staff Yang had to remember to tell Blake later he was okay. Blake... she was okay, too. Her mom... and dad... "Where's the rendezvous?"
"Excellent question. Ms. Xiao Long?"
"Huh?"
"You have been assisting with the evacuation. Do you know of any ports that may offer an exit strategy still?" Yang shook her head, blinking.
"I-I don't know. We just kicked off the last ship, a-and I'm trying to find my dad." She flexed her fists, the idea of it. Aura billowed off of her. Ms. Goodwitch, Team SSSN, and everyone behind her, let out a scream, a gasp, or a whimper. That made Yang grit her teeth. "Sorry... not used to it."
"No... I imagine not. And I... understand." That made one of them. "The shipyard and the Bullhead station are down, and last road updates showed heavy Grimm activity."
"What's that mean!?"
"It means were are likely trapped in the city." Ms. Goodwitch spoke over her shoulder. Throwing gas onto a fire. "But you are better off than you think."
"How's that?"
"You have not just the aide of a huntress, but also a team of highly qualified students, and a young woman who has just unlocked her Semblance." The pointed look, deathly stare, and emphasis of the word, all directed at Yang, spoke volumes for what she meant. Yang was panicked, but she got it.
"Y-Yeah... just super strong." She looked around herself, really taking stock for the first time.
The ting of white that surrounded her normally golden Aura, the feeling of the earth beneath the concrete, actually feeling it there like air in her lungs... the weight that was settled on her shoulders, lighter than feathers but thicker than most armor. It was a weird sensation to have, and to look at. She could only imagine what everyone else looking at her was thinking.
She had a good guess, going off what she thought of her mom... her mom and her dad.
"SSSN, you are in charge of the civilians," Ms. Glynda's voice took Yang's attention. "They are priority one, again, and you must ensure their survival. Have I made myself clear."
"Twice over, ma'am!" Sun's look fell almost immediately. "I-I mean yes! Got it the first time! I-I mean... that was the first time, and-"
"Watch them, guard them, and move between buildings. Find a safe location, bunkered on ground floor."
"Ground floor?"
"Seeking refuge in any basements risks the building collapsing in on you and trapping you." A good number of the women behind Neptune flinched at the idea, sobbing. "Any higher and it's unlikely the civilians will be able to escape without jumping out of windows, and risking injury."
"Ground floor, got it."
"Ms. Xiao Long and I will scout and take care of the Grimm." That wasn't what Yang was planning on.
"We are?"
"We are. Just because the world is crashing in around us doesn't mean we forgo what we swore our lives to." Her look was the same as when she gave a lecture after a duel. Sterner than Saria, but with just as much Wisdom. "Come now! Hurry! We don't have the day!"
"Right!" Sun jumped at the command. "Neptune, Sage, you help the ladies in the back. Scarlet, you have the kid?"
"Got her."
"Good! Ma'am, I have you. Stay on my back and I'll keep you safe." The woman he talked to let out a whimper, but also a hand. The rest of the crowd started to gather around them. "Trust us, half of the team here is all about covering fire. We'll keep you safe."
"And we will guard them." It took Yang a second to realize that Ms. Goodwitch was talking to her. "There is a nearby apartment building. It has narrow halls, making it well supported and easy to barricade in. Against numbers, that will allow for the creation of choke points."
"With these kind of numbers?" Yang looked up.
"Nothing is a solid plan against these numbers, but that is why we are choosing the best option." The teacher walked by her, slowing next to her shoulder. "That does not mean it is a good one." She walked on before speaking up. "Have you received word from Team JNPR?"
"Jaune's team? No, weren't they... weren't they helping you?"
"They were, but the appearance of Roman Torchwick's partner made the trip more hazardous than even the Grimm could." Yang's Aura flared again. The people behind her made a sound of discomfort. "Calm down! Jaune Arc and his team were able to arrest the woman out of the Bullhead."
"Out of it, and that's okay?!"
"It is far preferable to having the whole of the Bullhead go down in the middle of a confrontation. And all members of that team possess a landing strategy." Of course they did. "But it was the loss of my Pad that made the trip more hazardous." Yang didn't even realize it until the teacher mentioned it.
"Huh... I thought something was missing." A glance up and down at her teacher showed her what she meant. "So that's why you don't know what's going on?"
"I am aware of the larger events, but I have no contact with James nor Ozpin. So if there are any more critical developments with the Fierce Deity, Salem, or the other threats, I will be uniformed. That does not mean I have excuse to laze about." Her riding crop came with the words. Entire columns of ruined stone rose behind Yang. "I trust that the others are well. So now we have to work to make sure we are the same. Sun?"
"Right! Okay guys, we got this! Diamond formation, Sage with eyes up. Neptune, keep your gaze on the windows. Red is dead." His team nodded at the words. "And Yang... Blake would kill me if I tried to order you around."
"Smart boy," she nodded. "Just... hurry up. I got somewhere I need to get to." HE didn't ask questions.
The civilians came out from the ruined Bullhead behind Sun, each of his team members taking up a flank around them. Diamond formation became obvious, as well as what Glynda was doing. Her Semblance was lifting and throwing around rubble, clearing a straight path for an obvious building. Obvious in that it was the least ruined, and from what Yang could see, not too many Grimm.
Bang! Bang! Fewer Grimm, as Neptune's rifle took out a couple more that were in the high lofts. The kids next to him whimpered. Yang grit her teeth. The Aura that pulsed outwards made them gasp.
"Careful now, it's a short trip, but those are hazardous in hell." Ms. Goodwitch spoke without a lick of irony. "Best you wait in the back, Ms. Xiao Long. I'll be joining you in a moment." Yang looked around.
"You just go in, I'm gonna-"
"Make sure the Grimm do not follow us in. As the young men need to ensure they are barricaded in before any other action is taken." Yang tightened her hand's grip. "You can wait a minute. Of that I'm sure." Yang wasn't.
But with Aura pulsing around her, she did just that, watching steps behind as Team SSSN led the civilians into the designating building. They were methodical about it, which was to be expected for a team like them. For all the clowning around that Sun was able to get into, Yang knew he was a team leader for a reason. Jaune and Ruby were both proof positive that personal actions didn't reflect a team's capabilities. Weiss would have never heard the end of it if that was the case.
"Secure the interior. Ms. Xiao Long and I will maintain the perimeter." The command was given with a snap of her riding crop. The boys nodded as they vanished inside, the door turning behind them.
"That door won't hold."
"No, but I know that Sage has recorded a superior defensive ability with a combination of his Aura and teamwork of Sun. They will do excellent. You would not be suitable in there with them." The unasked question was answered. "I need to talk to you privately as well, about your new powers." Yang didn't try to hide it.
"I just got them. They flew into me while Weiss, Blake and I were sending off the last ship." She flexed her hands. She could feel the earth beneath her churn. From the way Ms. Goodwitch took a step back, so did she. "I got them... so that means something must have happened to Raven."
"That is a possibility, though I would caution against making any assumptions." She wasn't looking at Yang.
"Not... Are you kidding?! The first thing you told us about these powers is that they only get transferred when someone who has them dies!" Yang put her hands out and let the power flow. The street beneath her hardly stood a chance. Ms. Goodwitch, for her effort, braced herself against a ruined column of stone. "Are you about to tell me there's some other way?!"
"Lower your voice. Tense as the situation is, it is not the time to loose control of yourself." She was avoiding eye contact, again. "The Grimm are here."
"They always were!"
"Yes, but I fear now they have a target." She lifted her riding crop. Several chunks of concrete rose with them. She flicked her hand to the side, speeding them like cannon fire. The flying Grimm diving down were blown away without a chance. Puffs of smoke all that remained. Yang got the message.
She pivoted on her heel, twisting her arm back and letting the powers flare in her hand. She came face to face with an Ursa, barreling towards her with its maw drooling for a meal. She took a step forward towards it, and delivered a savage straight. Her Aura blew up to match.
The Grimm, and the dozen or so behind it, were delivered with such the same fate.
"Remarkable," the comment came from Ms. Goodwitch. "You truly do have the Maiden's powers." Yang twisted her fingers.
"I do. I do." The ground churned as she worked her fingers. She could imagine what she could do with them now. "But that means I have to go."
"No!" The scream from Ms. Goodwitch caught her. Just as fast as the woman whipped her riding crop, sending rebar through the air like blades. An approaching Creeper was trisected by the attack, and a dozen or so smaller Beowolves behind it. "If you leave no, Ms. Xiao Long, then Team SSSN, the civilians, and I will be in peril! Now is not the time to embark on a personal journey!"
"I have to! I think it's the perfect time when my dad could be in danger!"
"We all have someone we care about in danger! You were apart of the previous conversation regarding Saria, were you not?!" The question came as a cry from a Grimm roared from above. Yang didn't hesitate.
She jumped into the air, spinning to deliver a hard kick with the heel of her boot. The beast, Gryphon or Nevermore, she did not stop to judge, had its neck ruptured by the blow. Her gauntlets fired just after, jettisoning her back to the ground with haste. The blow back of her approach disintegrated the few remains of the Grimm, and slew perhaps a few more.
"Your situation and wants are no different from CRDP and JNPR's. Do not make yourself believe that running after Tai and Raven is the intelligent move now."
"But if I have these powers, then Raven-"
"Your mother or the person she was fighting against are likely dead!" Ms. Goodwitch's voice made Yang stop. "She, among with thousands of others! A number that is growing rapidly the further we argue on this!"
"I-I'm not arguing! I have to find my dad! I bet he's-"
"He's a smarter man than anyone may give him credit for, Ms. Xiao Long!" She whipped her riding crop forward. A large slab of concrete sailed past Yang's head. She didn't so much as blink, even as the death cries of a Grimm reached her. "If anything happened to your mother, be sure that your father would not jump to her aide uselessly."
"He did before!"
"When she was alive! If she's gone, then you are his highest concern." Yang stared at her. "And he will not risk his life unless its to make sure you are well."
"Then if... he could already be hurt!"
"If he was hurt before Raven was killed, then he is already gone." Yang's eyes sparked.
"Don't say that!"
"Would you prefer I lie to you! Is that what you want to hear!?" Glynda roared her answer. An unassuming Ursa, towering behind Yang, did the same. To Yang, they sounded identical. "Be it hours, days, or years, this is what war is, Ms. Xiao Long! A pair of literal gods from what I understand are standing at the edge of this battle, and watching us struggle to keep ourselves alive! We are treading water and a monsoon is about to wipe over us! That force has already destroyed far more than most any person is willing to live with!"
Yang stood still as Glynda took action. Her riding crop lifting an unnameable amount of boulders into the air, spinning them around like a mace of deadly intent. It slammed into the Ursa and Beowolves lunging at them, slamming through skulls and embedding themselves into the sides of their chests. The few nimble Grimm able to avoid them were crushed by her telekinesis in the next moment, those same boulders slamming down like a guillotine. Yang only stared, her Aura crackling.
"What am I supposed to do?" She could barely hear her own question.
"Don't ask foolish questions, Ms. Xiao Long. You are far beyond that now!" Her answer came with a cry, her arm whipping over her head. Yang tilted her head, letting a sharp spire of some metal material fly past her, deadlier than a fifty caliber bullet. The skull of the Gryphon behind her, slumping down with half of its skull missing, was a testament. "You have shown yourself to be far beyond that naive intelligence you had at the year's beginning. You do not need me to explain the purpose of your power, nor what you are required to do."
"I need to save my father!"
"No, you wish to save your father!"
"And I can!"
"Not at the risk of what you've sworn to do!" Ms. Goodwitch put her boot down. A column of stone she was lifting behind her fell, tearing up half the round and laying to ruin the Grimm trying to mount an ambush on her. "Your new power carries a great weight, and you, someone who listened to Saria and saw what Link was capable of, should know what that means!"
Yang kept her mouth tight. Her fists balled to match. A Creeper burst through the street beside her, mouth agape and ready to swallow her. Yang lifted her hands to her head, crushing her own skull with her digits.
The Aura she let out crackled about the Grimm, turning its dark body to an ashen mess before the wind and screams took it away.
"I... I can't just abandon him!" Ms. Goodwitch stared at her now.
For a full second, surrounded by Grimm that hungered for the civilians team SSSN was defending, she did as Yang did. Nothing. She stared at her as the Grimm howled around them. Her words were like thunder when they came out.
"You are not your mother, Yang Xiao Long. You are far better than Raven ever attempted to be." Now Yang couldn't breath. "And here you have an opportunity to show it."
Her eyes turned back towards the building. Grimm were swooping around it, and the boys inside were knocking them down. She could see clones of Sun jumping from higher windows, exploding as they made contact with the rising Grimm, the slicing sickle of Scarlet taking them out, and even a net from Sage pinning them before Neptune's lance cut through them.
"You help us fight these monsters. You save more lives. And when that is done, we will help others." Yang bit her tongue. She tasted copper. Her Aura felt like a stack of bricks on her head. The ground cracked underneath her to match. Glynda didn't so much as pause. "For now, that is what you and I have to do."
"For how long?"
"Until the war is won."
Yang's eyes burned. Then she screamed.
"Rae... Raven!" Tai's voice echoed around him.
He didn't know how it could have. He'd been around enough caves and on enough adventures to know that there was no echoing in rubble. Open sky, plenty of space, and nothing to reflect easily off of.
Torn concrete, roots and trees sticking out of the ground, and the block around them looking more like a horror movie future scene than anything out of Vale. He couldn't kid himself it was just one block though. More like five dozen. And he couldn't think it was a horror movie.
Even movies weren't so blunt as to hang their monsters in the air. The dread in his gut was just as bad.
"Raven! Answer me!" He continued to scream as he climbed over the rubble. His Magic Armor scrapped at it, and his few muscles left screaming. His Aura may not have been hit bad with the armor he as wearing, but being tossed around like a rag doll between two Maidens didn't do his mind any good. "You better answer me this time!"
Not being able to find Raven was even worse.
"Rae!" He pushed concrete out of the way, root systems, dried from fire and smoke, cracking as they fell upon them. "C'mon! You didn't just give up and run away again! I know you didn't!" He pushed himself up, spinning on his heel to find her. All he saw was ruin, smoke, and fire. "You didn't attack like that to run away!"
He saw a clearing ahead of him. No Grimm. He jumped forward, sliding down the rubble before jumping over the concrete. His legs screamed. He screamed back louder.
"I saw you tackle her out of the sky. You knew it was dangerous and you did it anyway!" He pushed a falling pillar of steel out of the way. Rage was a hell of a steroid. "You screamed as you tackled her, you yelled as those trees blew up around you!" He pushed one out of the way.
A tree that was as thick as he was tall, and one of maybe a hundred around them. It was one of the few left standing, and even then charred through with fire and embers. It fell apart like termites were in it, nearly turning to ash as it crumbled against the rubble.
"You're supposed to run away from the mouth of hell, not jump into it! That's my job!" He grit his teeth. "And I know you're not going to just lie down after that! Oh no. I know how much you demanded I treat you after you had Yang! You couldn't take the pain for more than a second!"
Something groaned above him, a pillar of steel that couldn't hold up the cracked granite. Street or building, he couldn't tell where it came from. It didn't matter. The empty arm of his armor worked up and caught it. With a grunt of effort, he tossed it behind him. He snarled at the dust it picked up.
"You don't do anything without a plan, Rae! You wouldn't even have a kid with me unless you knew I'd be able to raise her alone! You didn't want to be on a team, have friends, let alone be a mother, because you thought it'd all just get in the way of what you wanted outta life! So where was your big plan when you jumped at another more powerful Raven!? What was your big goal then!?"
He jumped over another pillar that had fallen in front of him. It made him grunt in annoyance, feeling the fatigue run up his muscles and nearly cause a cramp. His leg that didn't have a leg was doing better, and the idea of walking on ghost limb pissed him off more than he thought it would. It was a good thing he had the silence of his wife to keep his anger focused.
"Is this your big plan now!? Create enough ruins that I literally lose you in them!? It's not gonna work! Doesn't matter if the world's ending now, I already thought it did when you left me the first time!" Something cracked and exploded behind him. Tai didn't even duck his head as fire blew out over him. A glance showed him it was a pocket of gas erupting, the sparks of steel getting the better of it. He didn't look twice at it. "I'm not going to let you just hide away now!"
He took a step over another piece of granite. The chasm on the other side almost got him. Years of training as a huntsman and a father caught him, and he flipped to land on his feet. The dirt and ash coated his armor, but he only looked around himself in a fury.
"So answer me Raven, where are you!?"
"Tai..shut up..." He barely heard it.
A gasp left him as he followed the voice, running before he even twisted his head around. His eyes settled on a familiar outfit of black and red, and coated in more of the red than he was used to. He legs dug into the ruin faster.
"Rae! Raven!" He slid as he got closer. "Oh geez! Oh God, Raven, baby, you're there? Right? You're okay? C'mon, don't be quiet on me now." His hands hovered over her, looking at her for where it was okay to touch. Nothing looked safe. Everything looked painful.
Her outfit was beyond ruined, and it was perhaps by some other-created God of Modesty that it even still clung to her skin. Where it was opened up revealed patches of blotched red skin, mars from burns and cuts, and enough dried blood cracking over her to look as if she had taken a Carmilla Bath. Tai swallowed to dry his throat.
"Okay... you're okay, right? I didn't just imagine your voice? I don't need to hear those kinds of voices."
"You're dumb... not crazy.," the insult had him letting out a deep sigh of relief. "Roll me over... now." The relief fled like his madness.
"Whoa! No! No way!" He hovered over her again. "You're covered in wounds like a pincushion! You remember what happened to Qrow when he squeezed that ball from Summer's room."
"Pulling pins out... for hours." Good her memory was there. "Not covered in needles. Just in wounds."
"Then why would-"
"Because of all the people I've lied down with... I don't... want to be on top with... her."
It took Tai a full second to even begin to understand what she was saying. When he came back to, he put his hands on either of her shoulders. A long hiss left her, and he could tell why. Even through the Armor, she was shivering. Blood coated his only hand. His eyes looked elsewhere as he did so. The epiphany of what was missing not leaving.
"Rae, where'd Cinder go?" He slowly began to roll her over. Her didn't get an answer out of her.
The groan of pain kept any words from coming out, and he got to see the expression on her face as he did it. Much as he may have wished some harm on her before, this one changed it. There was no fantasy of her regretting running away from him that had her looking like this. Even the thought of it made him feel disgust. And it wasn't just because she was missing an ear.
The lack of skin from her cheek to eye, the blood that pooled over it, and the hastily cauterized surface about her ruined much of the mystique she once had. Her jaw was shivering with burned strands of her dark hair clinging to her, as if smelted through the fire and flames. He stared at her for a moment longer than he wanted, eyes shaking himself. It took all his will power to not clutch his hand, for fear of harming her. He finally managed to look away.
And his eyes fell on Cinder. He nearly jumped.
"Told you... not gonna lie... with her." Raven's weak voice barely dragged his attention away. That was an accomplishment on her part.
For all the injuries that Tai had seen or inflicted, a punctured head was a new one to him.
No, that wasn't enough to describe it. If he was going to have to tell the psych after all of this, he'd have to talk about how her face was caved in, like a hole stretching from ear to hear, her hair being strewn across the ground, likely burning with everything else, and the rest of her attire wrapped in chunks of wood. Tai didn't know exactly what happened, but he could take a hard guess.
"You wrapped her up like a sushi dish."
"She was jumping around... too much."
"She tried to burn it off."
"Did it... to everything else."
"And that's when you jumped in... when she was turning herself into a new sun?"
"She doesn't know... her powers. She didn't have... her Aura up." Raven's eyes shook as she looked at him. Tai stared at them like they were the gates to Heaven. "Only chance... and it worked... so stop... worrying. Dumb ass."
Well... it did work. Tai let out a gruff of a laugh.
"Any last words? Usually you get people to talk after you tie them down."
"Just told her... she was a brat." That was obvious. "And my kid burned hotter." That was not.
"Wha-Yang?" Tai had to shake his head. "Why'd you bring her up?"
"Because that brat... caught everything on fire. She was... a menace. Cinder... was that... but stupid. Reminded me of her, too much." Her head slumped over. Tai took the time to finally roll her over and off the corpse of Cinder. "Had to keep her on my mind... somehow."
Just in case. Tai didn't say it. She had Yang on her mind just in case it didn't work, so the Maiden powers wouldn't go to Cinder. She really had thought it through. Even if it was a plan that he or Yang would come up with first, Raven still had it, and it worked.
Tai fell flat on his ass, sitting next to Raven. The grin pulled at his lips like fingers were hooked in his mouth.
"That was probably the dumbest thing you've ever done."
"After... marrying you." His teeth were showing.
"Yeah, hard to beat that, isn't it?" He let out another dry chuckle. "Still... good job, Rae. You really blew her mind." He rolled back, laughing. Something wet and limp slapped him across the face.
"Shut up, you idiot." He laughed harder. It hurt, but the armor made it possible. "I'm serious. Shut up. The Grimm are coming."
"Too happy here to draw their attention. They've got a lot else to sniff for." He continued to let out the rumbles of humor. "Think maybe we can use them ta find the others?"
"What are you even talking about?"
"The other bad guys. You know, Everyone else who's ganging up on us."
"Other than Impa... the one person I am sure wouldn't be around these monsters... who else is there?" Tai pushed himself up on his elbows to answer, grinning as he looked down at his wife. Bloodstained, missing a portion of her face, and without a shred of Aura left to her, she was at her easily most broken state he'd ever witness her in. And good Lord was she still beautiful.
So it was no issue for him to grab her by the shoulders and throw her sideways.
"Wha-" It was all she could muster out.
BAM! Just before a hammer nailed down on Tai's Magic Armor.
It hit him hard enough to bounce him off of the cracked concrete, flopping over like a maimed deer. His head rocked with the impact, catching himself as she came back down. The expectation of coughing was what he was waiting for, but the armor thankfully took most of the blow. All of it actually. Too bad it didn't take the momentum, too. Then maybe he wouldn't still be on the ground.
On the ground, staring up at the damingly familiar face of a man he thought dead.
"Thought that would have killed you. Shame." The man's gruff voice came out. "Still, couldn't have brushed it off that easily. Broken rib? Maybe two? Don't breathe too hard or you could puncture a lung. Don't want you dying like that."
The man's gargantuan figure took heavy steps forward, rolling his shoulders as he adjusted the hammer in his grip. Larger than most others that Tai had seen, colored an unfamiliar shade of orange, but looking as it he'd have more luck lifting an unpowered Bullhead than it. Yet this man was holding it by the handle with one hand. Tai knew it wasn't just for show.
How many other people could hit him hard enough to make him bounce, on concrete?
"I am serious about that breathing. Make sure you take your time getting up. Gotta be careful about it." He motioned with his hand.
"Gonna let me die on my feet?" Tai forced the question out, playing around. He grinned, even as he managed to push himself up and drag his feet back. He could stand, but he remained crouched. Lower gravity always won out in the end. "Or are you gonna try and go for my toes?"
"No reason to try and hit you like that again. I was going for a single blow to the head. Dead as her Aura was, no chance she'd survive it. Wouldn't feel a thing." Tai kept his grin up, even as he imagined his fists around the man's neck. HE doubted he could even reach half way around. "Didn't expect you to see me and act that fast. My fault for underestimating you. Bad mistake on my part."
"As long as you learn your lesson, that's all that matters." Tai let out. "You have any others you need my help with? Raised two girls and a hell of a lot of students. I can spare some tutoring time."
"No, I just need her." His muscled hand thumbed at Raven. "But I'm not desperate enough to think you'd let me."
"Guess you were smart not to turn around."
"You didn't pass out from the blow, you threw her far enough away that if I took another swing, you'd be on my back faster." The man's eyes looked heavy even as they surveyed Tai. "I'm sure I'm stronger than you, but I know what a dedicated man can do."
"Glad I don't need to man up in front of you then, even know better than to dress me down." Tai's eyes flicked between him and Raven. She barely pushing herself up. Blood loss. Aura damage. Fatigue. It was a miracle she was conscious at all. Or a curse. "This mean I can convince you take this somewhere else? Behind the school shed maybe? I've broken up a lot of fights there before."
"My goal here is to take her life, because she took Cinders." So much for banter. "She was supposed to take the life of the current Spring Maiden. But there was a good chance she'd underestimate the woman. Too little experience with too much power." The man titled his head. Tai knew what he was looking at.
It wasn't like the macabre display of Cinder's body, missing parts and all, was something you could just look past. He'd have an easier time ignoring his daughters throwing their clothes off in public. Maybe... No, that was worse.
"Figured she'd at least bring the woman down to the point where I can handle her. And Salem was right, I can. Just didn't figure you'd be able to fight as well with a missing arm and leg. That must be another gift of Link you're wearing."
"Yup, one of a kind. Does an old man proud to be appreciated."
"I understand, but I hope you do as well." Tai did his best to keep his grin up. "With Cinder died, we can't have Raven keeping the power of the Maidens, especially not now."
"How about an hour from now? You know you're supposed to return things you borrow in a better condition than you received them in." The man's lips twisted.
"Maybe I was wrong. It wasn't your chest I should have been worried about. Did I give you a concussion. If I did, sorry about that. Don't want you passing out like that."
"Don't worry, not gonna pass out. I'm used to all nighters and playing referee for a couple of rough housing Huntresses-To-Be." Tai slowly stood up, rolling his ankle and adjusting his shoulder. The Magic Armor perfectly supported his missing half. "And considering the fight that just finished up here, this is just the after party."
"You have a strange sense of enjoyment then. I apologize if that is from the blow I gave. Though I can't say if Cinder could have been responsible as well."
"She did like to get a little rough, but have you seen my girls? It's nothing I can't handle." He laughed. "After raising those girls and babysitting others, makes me sure I can handle someone like you."
"Maybe, if you weren't without limbs or a bit less fatigue." The brute didn't even crack a grin. "It's not your fault. You put your body on the line to protect what you care about. That is more than most would do."
"Think most would do that, actually."
"They wouldn't, and I know that." He began to walk forward again. "The same way how I now no matter how vulnerable Raven is right now, I'm not going to have a chance of killing her until you're out of the way."
"Hard to call you a liar when you say it like that. Though I can tell you have one hell of a weight on your shoulders. Think it'd be easier to let it go?" He kept his grin up, even as the man jerked his shoulder. The hammer fell forward with the action.
BAM! The ground shattered like a firecracker was embedded in it. Tai bounced, again. This time because the ground rolled underneath him. Great.
"See? Doesn't that feel better? Like a load off of your chest?"
"I have too much weight on my back to feel relief." The return was dryer than any thing Goodwitch had even returned to him. "Duty his a hard burden to bear."
"Well unburden yourself then! Throw that duty away, with the hammer, walk down the street, and we'll act like this never happened." He did his best to smile. The man across from him did not even blink.
"You are more foolish than I remember, Tai."
"It was worth a try."
"Hardly."
"Hey. Dad here. Anything that resolves conflict is worth a try. There was a time when you agreed with me, Hazel."
"There was, but that time is long past." He stared up at the Grimm Whale above them. Tai didn't even bother to imagine that it was an opening. Not against him. "I'm glad you were able to have a family. It's a shame you put yourself and them in front of me."
"Can't say I regret that."
"You don't? You have no regrets for putting your family in the way of danger?"
"They're my girls, and two others were my wives. Considering the occupation, danger was the fifth name on the wedding invites. Right after we made the strangers weren't coming. Get it?" He was the only one laughing.
"You truly are the mad one."
"No, just making up for a friend." Tai licked his lips. "I wasn't lying before either. Don't regret my family and I being in your way. Rather us being standing together than lying down apart." He cracked the knuckles in his only hand. The armor rumbled in his other. He had to make a decision now.
"Then you're mad and foolish. Better you just take protect the ones close to you and avoid trouble."
"Can't do that. Trouble always seems to find me."
Tai didn't give Hazel a moment to act. He jumped.
Author's Note:
Well I messed up. Not in the chapters, not majorly, but more in time planning. I moved recently and that took up a good majority of my time, as well as getting ready for a wedding, my fiance passing her exam for work (CoVid killed the scheduling), and now work finally picking back up again. So my time for writing was cut short. I don't want to make this another delay however, and I want to stick to a more thorough schedule of updating, so I figure that I'd update with a shorter chapter on schedule than a proper one 'randomly' through the week.
If I were getting paid for this, that would be different. But the Day of Rest is when I will indulge in my fantasies of writing, and you deserve it as well. Sunday is when this goes up, and Sunday is when I must do the most writing. And even then I'm likely to be doing it LATE into the day. Think of it like a Evenidng special.
So thank you for indulging with me and hopefully the shorter length doesn't irk you too greatly. Just need to make sure things are outlined well.
At least I got everyone to finally show up now... Right? I'm not missing any major characters in this battle.
…. Right?