Mama Yang-32
~Xiao Long-Blacksteel-Rose Household~
The day was bright and sunny and the calm quiet air was nice, but the quiet serenity was interrupted as Gajeel and Yang were sparring out in the clearing right behind the house, with Summer and Zwei sitting off to the side, ready to bring refreshments when the fight ends, or to put a stop to the fight if needed.
Gajeel and Yang continued brawling, with the blonde wielding both her elements, and Gajeel doing the same. Gajeel flipped through the air, and landed a kick on Yang, as she blocked with her arms, and knocked him off, before Yang charged at Gajeel, and punched him, sending him sliding back, as he held his ribs.
"Wow, your dual elemental wielding packs a punch." Gajeel quipped. "Damn it now I'm starting to make puns like Tai."
"We've been at this for weeks." Yang said, keeping her battle stance. "I get it, you wanna make sure I can still fight, and control both my elements at the same time without letting them go haywire." She exclaimed before punching her fists together, generating sparks of electricity and fire. "I think I'm doing just fine."
"You're close." Gajeel said, as he stood his ground, and began circling her.
"Oh really?"
"You're still off balance." Summer pointed out.
"What? No I'm not." Yang declared. "Honestly, I'm kinda surprised. I thought this second element would just be this uncontrollable burden when I used it, but it feels natural. Natsu sure was a master at this element." She said, igniting one element in each hand.
Yang was brought out of her examination of her new element, as she sensed an attack from Gajeel, and bent back to avoid getting hit in the face, as she blocked, and countered with her own attack. Yang and Gajeel's brawl was continuing on until Gajeel grabbed her right arm, and Yang blocked his elbow from hitting her in the face.
"She wasn't talking about your actual balance." Gajeel said before knocking Yang to the ground. "Although, I think that could use some work to."
With that Summer and Zwei got up, and went towards them, giving Tai a towel, while Zwei brought one for Yang.
"Meaning?" Yang questioned, sitting back up.
"I think you can take it from here Sum." Gajeel said.
"We both saw your tournament fights, during the Vytal Festival." Summer said, kneeling next to Yang. "Gajeel's a given since he was in the commentator's booth."
"Let me guess, I was sloppy." Yang said in a mocking tone.
"No, no you weren't sloppy, you were predictable, stubborn, maybe a little bone headed. Though that bit at the end with your Dragonforce was pretty impressive, and unexpected." Summer said. "Do you realize, you used your Semblance and Magic to win every fight, after the qualifiers?"
"So what? How is me using my Semblance, any different from someone else using theirs?" Yang inquired turning around.
"Because not everyone else's, is basically a temper tantrum." Gajeel exclaimed, sitting on the stool Summer had been on.
"We're serious Yang." Summer said. "Once you take damage, you can dish it back twice as hard, but that doesn't make you invincible."
"Your Semblance is great when you're in a bind, but what happens when you miss?" Gajeel questioned. "Your magic has its limits to, and you've experienced firsthand, how draining using the dual elements can be in a fight."
"What happens if your opponent is stronger, what then?" Summer inquired. "Now you're just weak and tired." She exclaimed. "You've always been on, to burn brighter than anyone else. Whether it was with your smile or… well, I remember your first haircut." She flipped Yang hair over her head making Yang push her away. "But you gotta keep you emotions in check."
"That's a lesson Salamander had to learn the hard way as well." Gajeel added. "Keep a level head, and think before you act."
"Your Semblance and magic are great fallbacks, but don't become reliant on them. If you need to use magic to fight, then do so in a way that will burn up the least amount of magic energy, and maybe even keep some Dust crystals of your elements on hand to replenish your magic." Summer said. "But they won't always save you. You definitely have Raven's stubbornness, and Tai's sense of humor, or lack thereof."
"Oh, so now we can talk about Raven?" Yang questioned.
"Well, you've already been face to face with her, as I recall from the train incident, and she's already kidnapped Athena, so I figure it's about time you knew the truth." Summer said.
"Well, sorry I remind you of her." Yang said.
"Don't be Yang." Summer said. "Raven was great in so many ways. Her strength, her ambition, and her dedication to whatever cause she thought was worth fighting for, helped to inspire me to do my best as leader of Team STRQ. I'm proud of how much of my best friend, I see in you Yang. But, I'm glad I don't see all of her in you."
"Why?" Yang questioned.
"Raven was… a complicated woman." Summer sighed. "Like everybody, she has her faults, but those faults, are what tore Team STRQ apart, and they did a real number on our family apart."
"So, what are you getting at?" Yang inquired.
"You both act, like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it." Summer said. "Even Gajeel knows this about Raven, he's been around the team when it was still together."
"You both believe that strength is all that matters in a fight." Gajeel said, getting up and walking towards them, in a B-Line with Zwei. "But if you just take a second look, then maybe you'll see…" Gajeel paused as he moved around Zwei to stand in front of Yang and Summer. "There's a way around the obstacle as well. I was honestly the same as Raven in some ways back in Fiore. But as I learned, as I grew with my Fairy Tail Family, I saw that there was more to life, than just strength."
"Given the stories you've told me, I don't doubt it." Yang chuckled.
"Yang, you're wanting to do Natsu's title proud right?" Summer asked, looking to the petrified Dragonslayer, with his scarf around his neck, blowing in the wind. "You put that scarf around him, because you swore you'd take it, when you felt like you've earned it. Well you are doing him proud. He'd be so impressed with the progress you've made."
"C'mon kiddo." Gajeel said, holding out his hand. "One more round before dinner."
"I'm making your favorite." Summer smiled.
Yang smiled and took Gajeel's hand, as he helped her up.
Yang and Gajeel took their battle stances and began circling each other, before Gajeel made the first move, and went to punch at Yang, activating his Iron/Shadow Dragonslayer Dual Elemental abilities, as Yang did the same, and blocked his attack, before ducking down as Gajeel kicked at her, and continued to perform different kicks, eventually flipping backwards to evade the attacks, before standing her ground against Gajeel, and colliding her fist with his, before ducking down as he tried to hit her with a roundhouse kick.
The two went charging at each other, catching the other's elbows in the opposite hands, creating a small shockwave from the double impact.
"Heh, see? Alright, now you're using your head instead of your fists." Gajeel smiled. "But…" He moved his legs back as Yang tried to trip him up, and failed, before he stepped forward, and did the same, sending her to the ground again. "You're still not anywhere close enough to beating me."
~Menagerie~
Blake and Gin were jumping through the trees with Sun close behind them, as they were chasing after the spy that had been watching them from the shadows.
"Gin, we've managed to find two more White Fang soldiers, hauling a crate of some kind, to the docks." Aqua said over the intercom.
"Ebony, can you see what the cargo inside the crate is?" Gin questioned.
"Already on it. It's Athena, I'd recognize that aura signature anywhere." Ebony said. "She's unconscious, but alive."
"Get that crate, and bring her home." Gin said as he, Blake, and Sun began following the spy along the rooftops.
"Wait up." Sun called out after his failed attempt at catching her.
"Don't let her out of your sight." Blake called back.
Running along the rooftops in the village, the spy kept trying to lose her, but was unable to, so after sliding under some pipes, she undid her camouflage and pulled out her weapon, pointing it at Blake. The Princess of Menagerie paused for a moment, before continuing forward.
The spy tsked, and used her weapon like a whip, and damaged the pipe, letting out scalding hot steam, but to her surprise Blake was gone, that's when she noticed something looking like a splotch of ink, moving along the rooftop, before Blake came jumping out of it, and landed an uppercut on the spy's jaw, knocking her back.
"Nice hit." Gin said.
"Thanks." Blake said. "Think we can get her to tell us where Athena is?"
"No need." Gin exclaimed, as Sun joined them. "Redd, Ebony, and Aqua found them, and the White Fang grunts who had taken her. They should be bringing Athena back to the manor as we speak."
"Glad to hear she's safe now." Blake said.
"Let's focus on the task at hand, before we get to the sentimentalities." Sun exclaimed, jumping off the ledge of the building.
"Right." Blake nodded, stepping up to the spy. "Why are you watching me and my daughter?"
"Give it up. I'm not above hitting a girl you know… WHOA." Sun cried out, after appearing on the same roof behind the spy, before he had to bend back and evade the strike from the electrifying weapon the spy was wielding.
The spy had pulled out her Scroll to call for backup, but was unable to as Blake kicked it out of her hand, and toward Gin where he had positioned himself. Blake tried punching the spy, but was stopped when she bent back, and kicked Blake in the stomach.
Gin came in and used his wrist mounted blades to deflect the weapon and managed to land several hits on the woman, before he had to jump back, to avoid the electrifying strike that the spy had tried to hit him with.
"I don't think so." Gin said, dipping under a swing from the side by the assailant and spun around, elbowing her in the face, breaking half the mask off, before the pieces fell to the ground, and the assailant reeled back from the strike.
With her face revealed, Blake couldn't help but gasp at who she saw was under that mask, as the camouflage was undone. But in all honesty, she wasn't surprised, just disappointed.
"Ilia." Blake questioned.
"Wait you know her?" Sun questioned. "But she doesn't even look like a Faunus…" Sun's question was answered when Ilia's skin changed to neon colors, and she attacked him, stabbing him in the shoulder with her weapon, sending a large jolt of electricity though his system, and rendering him unconscious.
"SUN." Blake cried out.
"Give it to me." Ilia said, pointing her weapon at Blake.
"No." Blake said firmly.
"That's enough of this." Gin declared, slamming a double punch on Ilia's chest, and kicking her in the stomach, knocking her back.
Stopping as she went over a pipe, Ilia sliced it open, letting out a cloud of steam, blocking their view of her, as she used to cover to get away. When the steam passed, Blake ran over to where Sun was, lying on the ground, bleeding.
"Sun, Sun." She called to him, kneeling beside the unconscious blonde monkey, and putting pressure on the wound.
"Blake, we have to get him back to the house. The rest of my team is already on the way back with Athena, we must hurry." Gin said.
"Hold on Sun, just hold on." Blake said, as Gin picked him up.
~Team RNJR~
The land was dark and desolate as Team RNJR were making their way down the trail, with Qrow on a makeshift stretcher.
"Just, hold on Uncle Qrow." Ruby said panting as she took the front of the stretcher, and Jaune took the back as he began to cough while suffering from delirium.
"He's getting worse." Jaune said.
"How much farther?" Ruby questioned.
"We've gotta be close." Nora exclaimed.
"Without the map, there's no way of knowing." Ren said. "But I feel like, we're close to something." He stated, before stopping as they came to a fork in the road.
"What is it?" Ruby questioned as Ren put his weapons away, before running up to the signs.
"Hey, hey! Mistral." Nora said, seeing one of the signs on the post. "We're on the right path." Nora took a second look at the signs and saw what the bottom one said. "Oh…"
"Does it say how close?" Ruby questioned as she and Jaune marched up to them with Qrow.
"No. An' it looks like the path takes us up through the mountains." Ren said.
"Guys." Jaune said as he and Ruby put Qrow down. "I don't know if all of us can make that climb."
"If only Athena were here, she'd be able to get rid of the poison." Nora whined.
"No she wouldn't have." Ruby sighed. "As far as I'm aware, Ruby hasn't unlocked her poison element yet." She said coming up to the two who ran up ahead. "What about this place?" She questioned, pointing to the crossed out sign. "Kuro-Kuroyuri." She said, reading it aloud. "Can we get help there?"
"That village was destroyed, years ago." Ren stated.
"But, if it takes us around the mountains, it's the best bet we've got." Jaune said.
"It will take too long."
"The town would have had a doctor right? Well, maybe we could scavenge for medicine." Ruby theorized.
"Right." Jaune agreed.
"We're not going to find anything." Ren said firmly. "We just have to press on."
There was a strong moment of silence, before Ruby spoke up.
"Ren, are you afraid to go to Kuroyuri?" Ruby asked. "You suffered something there, didn't you?"
The silence Ren gave off was all the confirmation Ruby needed.
"You're terrified to return to Kuroyuri. It was your home, wasn't it?" She questioned.
"How'd you know I was afraid?" Ren questioned.
"Athena would act the same way whenever Yang or Blake talked about taking her somewhere that would seem familiar to her. Like visiting the village Natsu left her in before his death." Ruby explained. "As it turned out, that was the very place, she unlocked her first element, and was attacked by Grey. An' she refused to go there, because she didn't want to suffer seeing what had happened to the people she came to know."
"Yes, alright. I'm scared to go back into Kuroyuri. I saw my parents die in front of me. I saw my father, slaughtered by a rare, and powerful Grimm." Ren said.
"Ren I get that you're scared, but I am not going to risk my uncle's life going up the mountain, instead of around it, just because you're not ready to face your demons." Ruby stated firmly.
"Let's split up then." Jaune suggested. "Ruby and I will take Qrow through Kuroyuri while you and Nora take the mountain pass to keep an eye out for Grimm. Sound like a plan?"
"What?" Ruby asked. "Jaune, we're supposed to be a team and stick together."
"We don't have time for arguing. Qrow's dying and we need to get him medicine, fast." He stated. "Take care of yourselves all right?" He asked, looking to Ren and Nora.
"We always have." Nora smiled.
Without being able to argue her point, Ruby sighed in frustration, knowing that she couldn't argue once they made up their minds and we in agreement. Once they said their goodbyes, Ruby grabbed the front of the makeshift stretcher, while Jaune grabbed the back, and they went their separate ways. But as they went walking, neither Jaune nor Ruby noticed the giant hoof shaped print in the ground they walked through, as they followed the trail. An' the mark was fresh.
~Menagerie~
Athena sat alone in her room, the doctor that had patched Sun up, had just finished doing a checkup on her after she'd been brought back from her kidnapping, giving her a clean bill of health, and suffice it to say, she was beyond mad. She'd been training with Team GEAR and her family for weeks, honing her skills, and making herself stronger, and for what? All it's accomplished is nothing, as that was proven to be the case, when that Chameleon Faunus snagged and knocked her out, before sending her off with two other White Fang soldiers, before she'd been rescued by three of the four members of Team GEAR.
"Athena, may I come in?" Kali asked, opening the door to Athena's room slightly.
"Come in Grandma." Athena sighed.
"Blake and I just got done talking with the Doctor, and we're happy to hear you haven't sustained any lasting injuries." Kali said sitting next to Athena on her bed.
"Yeah, but Sun got hurt, and tonight just proves I'm nothing but a dreamer who doesn't know when she's in over her head." Athena stated.
"Hey now. Where is this coming from?" Kali asked. "So what if you were caught off guard? It happens to the best of us."
"But I've spent most of my life on the run from the White Fang, and I've been training hard, but I've lost sense of who I am. Of my fighter's instincts." Athena said.
"Now that's enough." Kali exclaimed. "I get that you're upset, but honing your skills takes time. Yes it was upsetting you were taken, but we have you back now. Growing up on the run, is no way for a child to live, it doesn't even begin to name the kinds of trauma that can be inflicted on the child. Athena we're all happy you're safe, and I honestly don't think I could handle almost loosing you, like I'd almost lost my own daughter."
Kali pulled Athena into a hug, and held her close.
"I know what it's like to feel helpless, and devoid of power. But you're not alone. You can lean on me, on your grandfather, on everyone who surrounds and smothers you with love. You're so used to being on your own, you never had the chance to act like a normal child." Kali said.
"But I'm not a normal child. What kind of kid has four biological parents? What kind of kid is able to write a thesis on a fully functioning Dust Powered Arc Reactor? Or design blueprints for one out of crayon? What kind of kid can control Grimm like puppets? What kind of kid, would be the target for the White Fang in their pursuit for power?" Athena questioned, pushing out of the hug. "I can do things that should be impossible and yet they are possible. I'm not normal, and everywhere I go, I bring destruction and misfortune to those around me. I'm just like Uncle Qrow, I'm a Bad Luck Charm."
Athena sat on the floor, with her legs pulled close to her chest, and her head in her crossed arms. Kali could see Athena needed time to process her emotions, and decided it'd be best to leave the room, and give her granddaughter some space.
After Kali left, Athena looked up and to the door, before looking to the window, finding the allure of the moon light beautiful, as it shimmered through the window. With the beauty of the moonlight shining through her window, a thought came to Athena, and she thought, of the one thing she had when she was on her own, freedom.
~Ghira's Office the following morning
The light of the office hurt the eyes of the Monkey Faunus as he began to stir, waking up from his electro induced sleep. As his eyes adjusted, Sun looked around, and saw two familiar people in the room. One of them being Blake, as she just sat in the chair sullenly from witnessing her friend get hurt, and the other being Aqua from Team GEAR, chanting what he could only assume was a prayer from the Temple Priestess of the Water Goddess. Sun gave off a grunt of discomfort from pain shooting through his left shoulder as he tried to sit up, catching Aqua's attention before she tried to steady him.
"Be still. You were hurt pretty badly, if she had used anymore Dust your heart would have stopped." Aqua said.
"Blake?" Sun questioned, looking to the black haired Faunus.
"This is why Sun." Blake said. "This is why I left them all behind, and brought Athena to Menagerie. It might have been part of my plan with Yang if something went wrong, but it's because of reasons like this, as to why I chose to leave."
"What are you... Wait, where am I?" Sun questioned, managing to fully sit up with Aqua's help, before Blake got up and walked towards them.
"I am done, seeing my friends hurt because of me." Blake said.
"Blake..."
"Shut up." Blake stated firmly. "Do you think, I like being alone? That I like having separated my daughter from her other mom? Everyday... everyday I think about them, and about how my little kitten is feeling. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Athena... they were my friends and loved ones. I loved them like I never thought I could love anybody, especially Yang." She said, a light blush coming to her cheeks. "I never thought I could have a family of my own, and I hope they hate me for leaving."
"You don't mean that..." Sun tried to say.
"Yes I do." Blake said. "Everyone thinks they can help me, but they can't. You saw Ilia last night, and she's not even the worst. No, no more. My friends are better off without me, and if Yang wants to see Athena, then that's fine. We can figure out a way to spend time with her. I made my choices, and I'll deal with the consequences, because they belong, to me."
"You think you're being selfless, but you're not." Sun said, causing Blake to look over at him. "Yeah, that chameleon friend of yours got me pretty good. But I'd do it all again, if it meant protecting you. I can promise, Yang and the rest of your friends, would say the same. You can make your own choices, sure, but you don't get to make ours. When your friends, and your family fight for you, it's because we want to. So stop pushing us out, it hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us. But if it makes you feel any better, the next time I go up against lizard girl, it won't be for you, it'll be to get even, and to protect Athena." He said, pointing at himself with his thumb, but flinched in pain as he used his injured side, causing Blake to giggle.
"My hero." Blake smiled, before she jumped a bit as the door to her father's office fell to the floor, with her mother pressed on it like she had been listening in, the same way Sun had made his entrance the night before.
"Oh, oh dear, would you look at that, he's awake, thank goodness." Kali said, trying to play it off, like Sun had, only for Ghira to face palm himself with a sigh, as Team GEAR was with them.
"Kali, please." Ghira groaned.
"Mom!" Blake complained.
"Hey Misses B." Sun said.
"What are you doing?" Blake asked, getting up and walking to the door.
"Well sweetheart, your father and Team GEAR needed to speak with the two of you." Kali said.
"Did you bring Athena?" Blake inquired.
"No, we thought it best she not be here for this." Gin said.
"Good, she was through a lot last night, and the last thing I want is for her to be put through more stress." Blake exclaimed.
Ghira, Kali, and Team GEAR, all came into the office and sat around the coffee table, with Ghira putting down the Scroll Blake and Gin had procured from Ilia, some of the files on it, having been opened.
"I'm afraid you were right to be suspicious." Ghira said.
"Adam Taurus is planning to overthrow the current leader of the White Fang, and stage a full scale attack on Haven Academy." Ghira said. "It will be the fall of Beacon all over again."
"Not if we destroy the White Fang, once and for all." Sun said.
"No." Blake stated.
"What do you mean Blake?" Redd questioned.
"We're not going to destroy the White Fang. We're going to take it back." Blake declared before they heard footsteps rushing towards Ghira's office.
"Your Grace. We have an emergency." One of the guards called out racing into the meeting room.
"What is it soldier?" Ghira asked.
"We were doing as you asked, and brought your granddaughter some food, but when we knocked we didn't get a response, and as guards we got concerned, so after knocking a couple more times, we opened the door, and found she was gone."
"What?"
"Where'd she go?" Blake questioned.
"We don't know, all that we found was this note." The guard said, handing the note to Ghira.
"I am going back to my roots. I do not know when I'll return, but I will be safe. Don't worry or come looking for me." Ghira read aloud.
"Where could she have gone?" Sun questioned.
"There's only one place in Menagerie where Athena could get the kind of survival experience she had before Yang took her in." Blake said. "She's in the desert."
"Send out a search party and search for her." Ghira ordered the guard.
"The search party is already in motion. They're prepared to find her, all they need is the location to search."
"Send them to the desert with any supplies they need." Ghira said. "Find my granddaughter at any cost."
"Sir." The guard saluted before running off.
"What could have caused her to do this?" Blake inquired.
"I think I might know." Kali said. "I went in to see her last night and she was upset, because she thinks that avoiding her kidnappers should have been easy with what she's went through, and that her senses were dulled."
"Athena..." Blake groaned, sitting down and putting her head in her hands. "Please be safe, and come home safe."
~Pines Farm~
Out in the farmland, everything was calm and quiet as Oscar looked around his room, the carpet, the bookshelf, all the books, his bed, and the packed bag that sat atop of it.
Wordlessly, he grabbed his bag, having woken up earlier than he usually does, headed out the door, and left the farmland, walking off quickly, not even bothering to look back.
Though when he was far past the property gates, he stopped and decided to give the farm one last look before continuing on his journey.
"I'm sorry." Ozpin exclaimed.
"Y'know, the weirdest part is how it feels. Leaving home is crazy, going to the city is crazy. Everything you've told me is completely crazy. But it doesn't feel crazy anymore. It feels like I'm doing the right thing."
"Well… I suppose that's good." Ozpin sighed.
"No." Oscar exclaimed. "It's scary."
The sound of thunder cracked overhead, encouraging Oscar to increase his pace to the train station.
Once there, Oscar, took out his lien card, though the machine wouldn't allow him to complete the request due to an insufficient amount of funds.
"Stupid thing." Oscar groaned. "I'm assuming whatever weird magic this is, doesn't come with an infinite supply of money?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to solve this one on your own-" Ozpin exclaimed before stopping suddenly.
"Huh?" Oscar questioned.
"Be on your guard." Ozpin stated.
"What do you mean?" Oscar asked.
There was nothing but silence, until Oscar heard, through the rain, the sound of heavy footsteps squelching in the rain water forming puddles on the ground. He turned to the sound to see a tall, heavily muscled man marching towards him.
"Here." The man exclaimed walking calmly towards the machine.
Hazel stopped by the machine's side, in front of Oscar, before raising his fist, causing Oscar to flinch before he slammed it on the machine, causing damage to the exterior, and forcing it to give him a ticket before Hazel calmly walked off into the rain before he stopped as Oscar picked the ticket up.
"Don't let such a small obstacle block your path." Hazel exclaimed before he went off again without taking the train.
"That man…" Oscar started. "I felt… who is he?"
"Someone from my past." Ozpin exclaimed. "Someone who should not be taken lightly."
~Ren and Nora~
The wind was howling through the mountains, as Ren and Nora made their way through the mountain pass, making his way to the peak of one of the mountains, the young man has been familiar with since childhood, spotting a cave nearby, right next to a dead end.
"We never get the easy path, do we?" Ren questioned as Nora caught up with him.
"Easy's no fun anyway." Nora said playfully putting her hands behind her head. "You okay?"
"Mmm..." He nodded. "An' you?"
"I've got you here, don't I?" Nora smiled. "Come on, there's more than one way up the mountain." Ren smiled as Nora went further along the path before thunder cracked the sky. "Hey." Nora called to Ren. "There's wind blowing out of this cave. Think it might lead to the peak?" She asked as Ren came by her side.
"I suppose there's only one way to find Gah..." Ren stopped when something blowing in the wind, stuck him in the face, giving Nora a reason to laugh. "Yes, yes. Very funny."
After saying that, Ren noticed something about what had hit him in the face, and looked down at it, finding a troubling emblem on the surface.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Nora asked.
"This is the symbol for Shion Village." Ren said.
"Shion? But that's... That's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here." Nora said. Ren was silent before he dropped the flag and went running into the cave without a word. "Ren? Wait." She called out. Nora quickly followed Ren into the cave, stopping next to him as they came across a gruesome sight. "Oh my gosh."
Scattered all over the ground of the cave, were countless remains of both humans and Faunus, and dried pools and streams of blood. Walking through the clear spaces, Ren found an arrow, he was all too familiar with, in design and structure. As Nora walked up to him, they both saw the bloody hoof indentation on the ground, leading to the other opening of the cave, forming a complete tunnel.
When they got to the opening, they saw the trees below shaking as if something was moving between them, and from the path they saw it taking, it was clear, to where the Grimm was heading, as they could clearly see, Kuroyuri from their vantage point.
"No..." Ren exclaimed in anger.
Nora looked to Ren, and out of fear, took his hand in hers, before he closed his hand around her fingers, as a monstrous, blood curdling roar echoed through the air.
~Ruby, Jaune, Qrow~
Ruby, and Jaune, were looking around the abandoned town, as they saw how much of the place was in shambles, as they carried the sick and dying Qrow.
"Oh man." Jaune exclaimed.
"Come on." Ruby exclaimed as she urged them to move forward.
Travelling through the town, looking around for any place that could have some medicine, as they did so, the duo were hoping to at least find someplace where a doctor might be.
"Any of these places look like a pharmacy?" Ruby asked.
"It's… honestly hard to tell." Jaune exclaimed.
"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?" Ruby questioned.
"Uh… didn't seem so." Jaune stated.
"Do you know why?" Ruby asked.
"I think I have a pretty good idea…" Jaune sighed as they approached what they assumed was the town square. "Let's set him down right here. One of us will search for medicine, while the other stays here to keep watch over Qrow." He exclaimed as they put him down under a tree.
"Uncle Qrow should be safe here on his own for a bit. We'll split up and cover more ground." Ruby said.
After a while, Jaune and Ruby regrouped around Qrow, neither of them having any luck in their search.
"Nothing." Jaune exclaimed.
"It's getting worse." Ruby sighed, before an ominous roar echoed from the distance.
Ruby and Jaune their weapons, keeping them at the ready, in case a battle broke out between them and some Grimm.
"It's far off." Ruby exclaimed.
"I know, but Ren, and Nora, are still out there." Jaune stated.
Ruby looked down at Qrow before hanging her head in shame.
"I'm sorry." Ruby stated.
"Huh?" Jaune asked turning to her.
"This is all my fault. I should have never dragged you guys into this." Ruby stated.
"You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come." Jaune sighed realizing why Ruby apologized.
"But, you didn't know about Tyrian, about-"
"Ruby." Jaune exclaimed gaining her attention. "We lost… We almost lost Pyrrha, you almost lost her too. You lost Penny, and your team, your niece." Jaune stated. "But you're still here despite everything you've lost, and everything you could still lose, you CHOSE to come out here, because you felt like you could make a difference. You didn't drag us along, you gave us the courage to follow you." He said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
The sound of footsteps alerted them and the turned with Jaune grabbing his weapon at the ready, only to find Ren, and Nora standing there, both breathing heavily, like they just ran a marathon.
"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked.
"Did you hear that noise? What was that?" Jaune asked.
Before Ren could answer, he spotted what he had been fearing, and fell to his knees.
"No…" Ren stated.
"Ren, what is it?" Ruby asked.
"Wait, you guys hear that?" Jaune questioned.
"No…" Ren repeated as the sound of hooves on the ground began to sound louder and louder.
"Ren?" Nora asked, fear running through her.
The sound of the Grimm's roar echoed through the decimated town, drawing their attention to what had appeared behind them.
Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose as Ren got up to his feet before he released his weapons, and Nora returned her weapon to its war hammer form. Jaune took out his weapon and shield, but stayed behind to guard Qrow.
"Charge." Ruby shouted.