Unknown Legends

by KTWizard

In a land he doesn't know, he is surrounded by things he can't understand. Rules, Government, Weapons, Schooling, even their Goals. They are all unknowns, but so is he to them. Link, and the memories of his friends. But there is one common rule between their world and his. The Unknown has the Advantage. So he will remain just that as long as he can. [Pre-Season 3, Min-Canon Change]

79. War: Part 4

Tai was an idiot. There was no other way to think of it.

He had given up more than anyone else she had ever met, and had so little to show for it. Even next to the 'leaders' of their offense. Ozpin gave up a few of his 'infinite' lives, but he had entire kingdoms at his beck and call. Link had given up his powers, but he had the literal memories and ancient weapons to use.

Tai? Tai had given up his huntsman training, his future, his limbs, and his happiness to raise two of his kids. And here he was getting ready to throw away what was left of his life for her.

What a complete idiot. And that utter complete idiot of a man was fighting for her.

Her, Raven Branwen, the Spring Maiden, trained by a future counterpart to herself, and the one who had taken out a maiden and a half of a fraud, now lying on the concrete so much as dead weight it wasn't even worth a joke. And if that wasn't bad enough, the crackle in the sky from the Grimm filled clouds only reminded her about just how in trouble she was.

If not the terror above and watching her ex-husband fighting Hazel, the brute of Salem's army, then the broken and dilapidated body she was left with. No Aura, the even spark of Maiden power ripping through her so much like high-voltage currents, it made her nearly scream. It was an effort to remain awake.

But she couldn't pass out, not now. Not unless she wanted to die.

And that was the last thing she wanted. Absolute last.

"RAGH!" Her good eye tilted to see Tai delivering savage blows against Hazel, the man holding out against the armor the blonde wore. He was standing, the concrete blocks around them jittery with the impact. "C'mon! Take a hit and fall!" Tai wasn't letting up.

The punch was followed by a opposite direction leg sweep, aiming to trip the man up. The brute lumped hardly a few inches, flexing his legs with the clear effort to shatter Tai's. He missed, her ex twisting his body and threading his leg between Hazel's. Fingers gripping the ground, he pushed up to deliver a savage kick.

It turned into a retreat as Hazel let his hammer drop. Tai escaped the impact by scant millimeters.

BOOM! The ground was not so lucky, blown apart as if she and Cinder had hit it. Tai rolled away from the blow.

"You know, most guys would've jumped away, considering where I was aiming."

"I don't fear pain of injury. You, however, fear more kinds of pain than I."

"Don't know if that means you lack nerves or balls. Could be both." Tai was going to make a pun. "Then again, fighting you, makes me think you had to trade your gonads for something. Guess that's one way to make a woman touch you, huh?"

It wasn't a pun, but somehow worse.

"Says the man missing limbs." The hammer was lifted. "Allow me to relive you of the few you have left." Hazel charged, jumping into Tai.

But the boxer that he was had the blonde jumping into the fray as well, ducking under the swing of the hammer and trying to lay a clothesline to the man's abdomen. Too strong, too vicious, it only had Tai swinging around him like a pole. He adjusted quickly, raising his body up and sending a metallic knee into the man's temple.

Raven watched Aura flare, but the man didn't so much as blink. Instead, Hazel reached up and grabbed the foot dangling next to him. Tai let out a grunt as he was wrenched forwards.

WHAM! The impact into the ground was heavy, hard enough to make him bounce feet up and yards away. The hammer was already raised. But Tai was retreating just as fast. WHAM! The hammer hit concrete, Tai's hands having come up above his head, pushing him away in a reverse somersault. He skidded to a stop on his armored boots.

"And now you lack the sensation of pain. Have you given up parts of your own self?" Hazel's gaze was vicious. "Fealty to a man who would sacrifice a pawn like you to protect a rook like her?" He pointed at Raven, and she could only stare ahead.

Tai was between them, and he had as much patience as she did. Finally.

"I'd give my life for her no matter who I was loyal to." Tai's stance readjusted. "But for the record, if she did get killed, I wouldn't be jumping into the arms of a witch."

No, just a lost girl looking for a family. Summer's face grinned at her. Then Link's. Then that girl's.

Then the God that stood watch over them all.

"Don't speak until you've experienced what I have. Wretch."

"Buddy I've been through so much worse than you, years before and especially these past few weeks." Tai strode forward. "My home was destroyed, my wife was given divine heritage, my little girl almost died twice, and them my teammate, a man who helped me raise my kids, was killed by some bitch of a woman." Something was crackling. Raven didn't know if it was Tai's armor or the stone under him. "I got lose a plenty. You have excuses. It ain't even a Tai."

There it was.

BOOM! The man jumped and lashed with a vicious uppercut. Hazel pushed it back at the forearm, earning a jab from the other hand to his chest. Tai retreated before he could be snagged, kicking and legs and limbs, dancing around Hazel. The hammer swung out in an arc, and he grapevine over it, spinning with another brutal kick to the top of the man's skull.

Hazel didn't blink, even if his Aura suffered the blow. Rage was settling on his lips.

It wasn't a grab this time, but a blow from the back of the hammer. It sent Tai spiraling up, landing unevenly on the ground. It was an opening, and Raven watched the chance unfold against her. Hazel didn't bother to track where he landed.

He was running at her, hammer raised, just looking to get close. Her fists clenched, trying to summon embers of the Maiden's power to strike back, all but screaming as it made her muscles burn. Roots wouldn't grow, trees wouldn't bend, the power wouldn't come.

He was close. He was there! She was going to die! She was going to-!

"NO!" WHAM! She nearly missed it, if not for her wide eyes.

Watching as Tai barreled into the man so much like a freight train. He lifted and dragged the man away, blowing through the debris and tearing through what remained of her fight. They were out of sight quickly, the sounds of her ex screaming all she could hear. That, and the dull thuds of him hitting the beast of a man.

That left her, alone, staring up at the dark clouds, the ruin around her, and the Grimm above-

Grrrrr… And below.

Her eyes flicked to see a bustle of Beowolves stalking closer to her, their claws tearing at the ground as they sniffed the air, red eyes bearing into her. She stiffened, watching as they let saliva drip from their maws, their numbers growing from the ruins of battle so much they were no different from bugs in a rotten corpse.

And they'd just found her.

"Typ… ical…" She breathed out, watching as rows of teeth hovered over her. "No diff… erent… than… her…" She glared up at the beast above her.

GRRRRRA-SHINK! Only to watch a dark blade sweep through its neck. The head falling at her side, dissolving into darkness. She glanced to see the rest of the horde following suit, not so much as a lick of proof as to where the attacks were coming from. The horde was just there, then gone.

Then, with a billowy flutter, something was draped over her. Just what was quickly clear.

"Blake… Bella… donna…" She pushed the girl's name out, seeing glowing eyes staring down at her. "Where… is…"

"Yang ran off to look for her dad." Not her, obviously. "Right after she began a Maiden. She must have thought you died."

"No… other… woman…" she couldn't even point towards the corpse. "Made her… think… a-about…"

"I get it. Don't talk." She lacked compassion in her voice. It went with the chill blue skin. "Yang must have seen something else worth her attention. That, or she saw her dad was fine." She didn't. Raven would have seen that. "I'm guessing that the man fighting her dad is trying to kill you? To get the Maiden's powers?" Or something similar.

Raven was able to force a nod. Her neck screamed in tortured agony. If she noticed, Blake gave no compassion.

"Thought so. Stay still and under the cloak. They can't see you or me under this." Her finger spun with the comment. "Be quiet and you'll be okay." He statement couldn't have been timed any better.

BOOM! The dull boom of something landing nearby earned their attention. Hazel pulled himself up from the dust of a boulder he had crashed, or more likely launched, himself into. His hammer was at his side, and otherwise unharmed. Raven just knew he had run away from Tai. No way that fool of a man would be rendered defeated so quickly. It had to be to find her.

And now he couldn't.

"Damn. Must have had someone to help move her." The low mutter came out. "Won't be able to find her like this." He adjusted himself, turning around slowly

WHAM! And catching Tai's fist with the back of his hammer. He pushed the blonde off, both of them standing apart from one another.

"You ain't getting to her!" He screamed. "You… oh… guess she ain't here." He laughed at nothing. "Maybe she finally ran away. Waiting on her to do that."

Of course he would.

"You seem content to protect a dead woman."

"Yup. And you look chipper about living with a dead one. And I'm not talking about your sis." The commend made Hazel nearly roar.

Any sound he might have made, however, was muted by the bang of impact as the hammer fell. Tai caught it with crossed arms, slipping forward to launch into the man's abdomen. His fist came up for a hard blow to Hazel's jaw, succeeding with the hit, but also letting the bruiser deliver his own savage kick. It sent Tai spiraling into nearby stone, jumped on by the man with another roar of his own.

"He is Yang's father." In spades. "He's better though. More focused, a bit stronger." He was before, but not now. "He'll win, right?" Raven needed a moment to realize she was talking to her.

"Too… foolish… to… die." The words were like acid to her tongue. "He'll live."

"He has to. He's the only parent that Yang has left." Raven offered the burned Faunus none of her ire. She had plenty left for far more deserving people. "And you can't die yet either. Hard as it is to admit, we do need you." Raven wanted to laugh.

"You need… Saria." The name made the girl flinch. "I know… better… stronger… kinder."

"Yes, all those, even a mother." In the loosest sense. "But not Yang's. And not her dad's wife." What? "You may not get it because you're always looking somewhere else, and never at your daughter, but I've seen it. I've been watching Yang since you showed up and her dad when he was around. I watched what you being here did. And do you know what that is?" Was this the time for this. "You reminded them they love you."

She laughed now, despite the pain.

"Don't… lie…"

"I'm not lying. They talk about you non-stop. Everything comes back to you. Yang talking about beating you, how you're a thief, a liar, a coward, and how her dad says that you're all those things but also a huntress underneath it. They've said about every horrible thing I could think you could say about a parent."

"Where's… the… love…"

"I asked them if they hated you. I told Yang to leave you alone, if she hated you that much." There was no hate in those glowing eyes. "But she was shocked I'd said it. Her dad almost laid me out!"

"He… wouldn't…"

"No… I might have exaggerated, but they both said they don't hate you. Her dad… he was gushing about you the second after I suggested Yang leave you, saying that it was like when they first made a team with you and your brother. That apparently you were hard to understand, but loyal and willing to die for them." Raven tried to scoff. "And you know what? Yang agreed with him. Because she said you saved her life."

"One… time…"

"One time more than you'd give someone you hate." She didn't hate them. "But they get it. I know they do. And it's because of it that I'm here." What? "They love you, and I love Yang." What? "Not like that but… but as someone willing to fight for me, I'll always love her. And I'm not going to let someone she loves die, not after I saw how she reacted." Reacted.

Blake's hand was on the ground, scratching at nothing.

"When she got the powers, us surrounded by Grimm, she practically screamed away in flash. It was so sudden that Weiss and I were left scrambling. I know she'd say it was her dad she was afraid for, but she couldn't get it past me. I've seen friends die in battle, I know what a scream of rage looks like against fear. And Yang? She was terrified that you were dead."

Her eyes were over Raven's.

"I can't fight like everyone else, not anymore. But I can keep you alive." Her lips were thin. "Can you stay alive? For them?"

Them. The daughter that Raven just knew Yang was exaggerating about, and the ex who was fighting tooth and nail for her. Beating up what could really only be seen as a brick wall, their impacts shattering the stone around and under them. Dodging blows from a hammer that could likely dent his magic armor, and unable to make the man flinch from his own blows.

Could she stay alive for that fool?

In the current situation… she supposed she had to…

"HURAGH!" Tai threw Hazel over his shoulders, turning to grab the man before he could clear his arm's reach. The reason why was quickly apparent, as the blonde began to thrash Hazel about the ground so much like a mad monkey. It was as foolish a tactic of the man as ever. But it was working, if only that Hazel was not attacking.

GROOOOOOOOO- Not until the sky split at least.

Split, making her body jump and rock under the Magic Cloak, the Twili girl letting out a noise as she ensured the coverage of the cloak. Tai released Hazel with a throw, taken off balance by the sudden jolt of force. No words were asked how or why.

Raven just looked up with stilted eyes, staring at Amity Colosseum.

It, the shattering of the shield covering it, and the giant glow of a blade that etched the clouds above it. She stared at it. The power of a weapon that had an aura about it so great, it eclipsed the diameter of the stadium itself. Rising up to clear the clouds, and raging against the Whale Grimm. The beast roared in defiance of the attack, but the damage was done. For the first time since this blasted raid had started, the best looked to be leaning the air, avoiding the harsh mark of the weapon.

It shined like a beacon. To Raven, it was a reminder of the powers at play.

And she, with her strength gone and suffering under a cloak of magic, was nothing in comparison.

"What… what is tha- Ruby… that has to be RUBY!" She was screaming. Raven didn't follow.

"How…"

"Link! I-I mean his mask! She must have gone to the stadium to look for Saria a-and was caught in that shield!" Saria was dead, and the girl was as idiotic as her father for thinking otherwise. "But now Link is with her, a-and maybe Fi. But who is she fighting? Who else is up there?" Raven could think of precious few who deserved that kind of power.

One of them towered over her in the forest, with a gleam of evil and the strength of the world upon his back. His hand reaching towards her, ready to rip the life away from her.

"I will… do it…"

"What?"

"Live." She spat out the word, even as the light form above carved Amity Colosseum.

The sound was distracting the field of battle, and the Blake girl was holding the cap over them with both arms straining. It put them face to face with one another. Raven didn't blink, even as one of the greatest feats of engineering was ripped in two by some divine blade of light, or destruction.

"I'll live…" Raven stared hard at Blake. "You… the same…"

The Twili's muscles were taught, and it made her nod stiff.

Even as the stadium started to shift in the sky, it was good enough for her.

---

Penny ran her diagnostics program through its fifteenth interval. She was careful to measure all Aura levels, vitals, and stability checks for her team. No member of team CRDP was 100% combat ready. The highest level was 45%, with self-diagnostics, but an average level of 29%, beneath acceptable dueling ranges. Vitals followed within studies of Huntsman during high-activities. Elevated heart rates and pressure, labored breathing, increased body temperature, within ranges, but non-optimal, perhaps 1.2 degrees above optimal temperature.

Stability was judged, and ratings were rated as 'poor'. No one was standing. Team Leader Cardin Winchester was kneeling with support on his mace. Team Member Russel Thrush had palms on the ground. Penny's self assessment noted her position sitting on her posterior end. Her systems did not make motion to correct her posture. Her system was preoccupied with diagnostics and analysis.

They kept returning that Team Member Dove Bronzewing was deceased.

It had to be an error. She concluded it through the perfect reasoning of chances, likelihood, and promises made. It was unlikely he would pass away through an explosion. I twas more likely he would take cover behind Team Leader Cardin, as planned. It followed his promise to show his team, Penny included, his home.

Therefore, Penny reran her diagnostics program. She had to find the error.

Traitor Impa was still holding Team Member Dove Bronzewing. Traitor Impa was showing off his unmoving body. She was staring at them as she held a bloodied body of Team Member Dove Bronzewing. Her subroutines emphasized it was wrong. Too wrong. Her systems reran diagnostics. Conclusion was unchanged.

Team Member was deceased. It was incorrect. She reran her program.

"He was not meant to die." Traitor Impa spoke. Penny overrode the suggested operation of turning off her auditory sensors. Her words had to be recorded as incriminating evidence. "He wasn't the strongest or the brightest, but he was the most willing to learn. He had the greatest distance to improve. He was... not supposed to die like this." Penny was right to record her. She was lying.

"Team Member Dove Bronzewing is not dead." She stated emphatically. Her ocular sensors narrowed their visible range as Traitor Impa looked at her. She could not afford to focus on anything else. "Your statement is false."

"I wish your words were true. I wish it so more than most else I may think of."

"You're wrong! You just are!" Penny had several running functions indicating a high-likelihood of Team Leader Cardin's assertion. "Dove wouldn't... he's not dead!" The chances grew.

She ran through her diagnostics again. The twentieth time returned the same results.

"He is dead. And I am so sorry."

Penny accepted the results and Traitor Impa's words. It was necessary.

"RAAGH!" She otherwise would not have the energy to focus as she charged.

Her blades came up over her head, trying to aim for the joints of Impa's arms. Around where Former Team Member Dove had grabbed her. Traitor Impa looked up at Penny. Her arms rose to block her. Penny compensated by swinging wide, maintaining momentum, and bypassing her guard. She landed, steadied her gait, and pushed up.

Traitor Impa proved she lacked empathy, because her reaction speed had not decreased. She was able to step back and avoid Penny, over where Former Team Member Dove had been blown away from. She glared up at the red eyes of the Traitor Impa. She wanted to see her burn. It wasn't a new feeling. She had it before. She hated it.

So did her Team Members.

"Give her HELL!" Team Leader Cardin yelled, running past Penny with his mace raised. Traitor Impa looked up, holding her hand up towards him. Her gaze twisted away from him, catching a blade thrown by Team Member Russel. She shifted her focus back to Team Leader Cardin. She now lacked the time to catch the mace.

TWANG! But her utter lack of compassion, allowed her to use Team Member Russel's blade to push the attack away. Before Team Leader Cardin could detonate his mace, she kicked at his side, sending him struggling away. He was able to adjust the grip on his mace to defend against attacks. Good.

"I didn't mean for him to die." But the Traitor Impa was talking. Bad.

"That's exactly what you mean to do!" Team Leader Cardin yelled in return. "It's all you've been doing since you turned coat!"

"I was not-"

"Shut up! Just shut up and eat your own words!" Team Leader Cardin reeled back. "Special Delivery, Penny!" She unlatched a blade from its string.

He threw his mace towards Traitor Impa, who discarded Team Member Russel's blade. A naginata flared to life in her hands, twisting up to catch the spinning mace. Penny, however, activated her strings. She caught the end of Cardin's mace, just as they had practiced, innervating it and slightly adjusting its trajectory. It longer swung at Traitor Impa's head. Now it was her knees.

TWANG! With a gout of fire, the Traitor still beat away the redirected attack. Penny ripped on the line, pulling it back and letting the mace fly back into Team Leader Cardin's hands. He was in mid-charge when he did so, jumping into the air. Their attack was done, and her strings reached about one of his legs. She ripped on it before he was finished with his downward swing. Far before Impa could raise her naginata to block it. Team Leader Cardin was not aiming for her.

BOOM! He was aiming for the ground. The dust and the explosion making the Traitor Impa back away. Her eyes saw Team Member Russel on approach. There was no hesitation as he jumped at the Traitor Impa's legs. She noticed him as well, pulling up her lower extremities to avoid confrontation with him. It was within the expected actions of the her. As such, Penny reacted accordingly.

Her blades extended upwards, wrapping about Traitor Impa. With her limbs pulled in, she had no means to extend and alter her projected path. She was able to grab the self-identified Shiekah and pull. It sent the woman careening over her, but this was not her primary objective. It would be insufficient for the actions. Instead, Penny twisted her blades again, optimizing the energy she had left, and pulling the woman in again.

She swung the woman at Team Leader Cardin, who had taken his arms back into another full swing. This time, the Traitor Impa had no means to dodge the blow.

BAM! The impact of the mace against the naginata was expected. As was the resistance Traitor Impa supplied against Team Leader Cardin. But without the ground to push against, it was greatly reduced.

The woman flew across the battlefield again, pulling at the limitations of Penny's cord. Her length was reduced from a slack amount of 14m, 3m, 1m.

Twang! Penny pulled at the limitations. She calculated Traitor Impa's expected respond. With a 23% margin of error, she would slice at the string and burn through it. Team Leader Cardin had given her the parameters to work off of.

"Team Leader Cardin! Suggested Action! Pyrrhic Victory! Confirm!?"

"Of course!" It was an acceptable response. "Russel! You heard her!"

"On it! I'm ON it!" Her statement was accurate. Team Member Russel had jumped onto Team Leader Cardin's Mace. Former Team Member Dove was meant to stand behind Team Leader Cardin and supply additional force. He was no longer present. That made the next action dangerous and highly risky.

He did not hesitate.

"RAGH!" BAM! Team Leader Cardin screamed as he swung and detonated his mace. Penny ran a calculation and found his mace was out of Dust. Team Member Russel was additionally within the last 5% of his Aura, the explosion have reduced his reserves to a visible amount. However, the effects were optimal.

He careened through the air at speeds comparable to Friend Ruby, a dagger out, extended beneath him. Dust fell out of him as he fell, and it littered the ground. He was approximately 2.1m away from Traitor Impa outside of her striking range with the Naginata. He was not in danger. Her and Team Leader Cardin were, especially as the Traitor Impa regained her footing, momentum still carrying her towards them ensuring contact within 3.4 seconds.

Team Member Russel reacted appropriately once he hit the ground. TWANG! His dagger hitting the concrete and the trail of Dust he had left behind.

FWOOSH! The ground fire and Electric Dust erupted in front of him. And, to the desires of the mission objective, beside Traitor Impa. The woman's body looked at the pyre and jumped away. Her reaction speeds normally would have left her alive and unharmed. Her reactions, however, were dulled from Former Team Member Dove's attack.

Therefore, her body was struck by the lightning, traveling up the Naginata, and flowing over her Aura. Her resistance to the voltage was still great, but the fire that was able to follow the trail started to coat her as well.

The Traitor Impa was resistant, but Penny had yet to document any immunity to extreme temperatures.

"AAAAGH!" Her cries were oddly enjoyable. Team Leader Cardin agreed with her.

"Yeah! Burn you bitch! Hurry up and turn to fucking Dust!" He stamped forward, no longer carrying his mace with him. Team Member Russel was cheering on the other side of the fire as well. "Give it up! Just let that stuff snuff out your life! You have a habit of doin' that to everyone else! Just let yourself get swallowed up by it! DO IT!"

"AaAAAAGH!" Traitor Impa yelled back. Yelling and writhing as she was enveloped in the fire. It was akin to many rituals that Penny had observed, with the objective opinion that they were demonstrating a poor understanding of kindling and reason for fires. Now, with new information on hand, Penny realized her earlier assumptions were faulty. There were plenty more reasons to light someone on fire over illumination or feasting.

Revenge seemed a suitable reason.

Her ocular sensors, however, observed how the Traitor Impa was not falling. She was screaming, she was writhing, but she had yet to fall to her knees and give up. It was curious that she had taken no action to defend herself. Not until she saw the woman raise her weapon. A weapon that was not the fire-imbued lance arm.

Penny observed not the Naginata, but the Biggoron's Sword.

"Team Leader Cardin! Dodge left!" He didn't so much as question her. He jumped by her suggestion.

SHINK! The air was cut a moment later. Penny observed an odd shift in the air, documented inconclusively as a separation between space and time. This conclusion was documented only because, for a short moment, she saw a noticeable split in the air.

When the air rejoined itself, and the clouds and air became one again, the fire beside them was blown out. Penny, Team Leader Cardin, and Team Member Russel were then blown over. Their Aura were significantly low.

"That... was... impressive." So was Traitor Impa's.

She lacked her stance of confidence. She lacked her naginata. She lacked many other troubling aspects which made confrontation with her difficult to plan for. But she lacked the most crucial element to a huntress's defense. She lacked a significant amount of her Aura.

It was flashing out of place.

"Your strategy... teamwork... far surpasses my knights."

"You'd be impressed how far a little motivation can take you." Team Leader Cardin was already standing. He was winded. "You kill two of my teammates, you kill people for the fun of it, you make excuses for it? We got nothing better to do then to think of all the fun ways to kill you. And I'll let you know, burning you alive was always top of the list."

"Sadism... revenge... they tie together... well." She was smiling. She was also lacking burns. Penny noted it as well as any other helpful signs. "You all... are still using your wits as you... as you attack. Many others would abandon them... quickly for... convenience."

"If you're about to say what you're going to say, I'll make sure to burn you alive again! Hell, I'll get Penny to tie you down and chop you up for it!"

"Team Leader Cardin, that would be difficult." He looked at her. "We have discussed the difficulty in removing the distal portions of the Traitor Impa without allowing her an opportunity for escape and retreat."

"Ha ha, a real leader... you really are... a real leader." The woman stood to her tallest. Shorter than Team Leader Cardin, far more deadly. Deadlier than herself or General Ironwood. Dangerous. Even now. Her threat level was not exaggerated. "I am so glad... to see that."

"Now this I gotta hear. Why are you glad to see that?" He took steps towards her. "Happy to see someone able to take you down, giving you some kinda hope for the next generation? What is it? What bullshit are you about to spout now?"

"No lies, only truth. Lies are useless... more now than ever." Her red eyes looked at them all. "I detest lies."

"But you love killing."

"I do not."

Penny concluded that was a lie. Just like the death of Former Team Member Dove. Traitor Impa was lying and Team Leader Cardin could see that. So could Team Member Dove. And he was... pointing at her.

"I have always hated the taking of life... always. I always preferred protecting it. A guardian... to my queen. A servant.. to her kingdom."

No, not pointing at her. Her blades. And his other hand. Figure 8, bent hook, gun. A call sign they had developed. She processed the variables and reached a conclusion.

"No matter what became of her, no matter the depths she fell to, I have always been... always will be... her guardian."

"Even when she's out slaughtering us for fun? Even when she has you kill Sky cause it's a whim!?"

Team Member Russel's message was clear. Penny began to energize her posterior energy pack by suggestion. Her undamaged cords were slowly reeled in.

"Yes... even then."

Penny unlatched two others from her back. She let them bang behind her. No sound. No noise. Stealth.

"Your stupid. You're fucked. You're a... a sick serial killer latching onto excuses to torture people!"

"You know... that's a stretch."

"I know Sky looked up to you and was thanking God you saved his life, and the first thing you do when he's outta here is run up and slaughter his family!"

Energy crackled at her blades. Team Leader Cardin's screaming was dulling the sound. Penny reduced the energy to her auditory and ocular sensors. She needed the extra power. Reserve power. Battery Sources. Emergency Aura supply. All of it.

"For my queen, I had to."

She needed a charge.

"Bullshit! Horse shit! You were looking for an excuse to kill! You wanted to!"

14% Charge. Rising.

"I did not."

"You did! You did and you're hiding behind whatever that horse shit bitch up in the air tells you to do! She weren't here, you'd be killing under someone else's orders, I know it!"

"I killed no one while I was with Link."

"Because that was Link! And the dude was so much better than you could ever pray to be! I know you know that, too!"

44% Team Leader Cardin had to continue to distract her. His voice was loud, her senses were off. Her Aura was low. Distract her. Distract her. Primary objective: Distract Traitor Impa.

"And how do you... conclude that."

"Because you killed him! He was the first person you killed! You could've killed everyone else, but he was the one you killed! Him! And ya know what that tells me? You know what that tells, this great leader!?"

"What?"

"That you were afraid of him!"

66%. Adequate for melting charges. Insufficient for Traitor Impa. More power. More time. Continue objective! Continue!

"Why the hell else would you kill him first! You care about someone, you do not attack them first! You care about someone, you die for them! You? HA! You wouldn't know what it means to care about someone if they threw themselves at your feet and called you their Lord."

"I would not, for I would accept no one who would do such." Traitor Impa stood taller. Dangerous! "For I am no Lord."

88%. Closer! Closer!

"No, but I do not what you are." Team Leader Cardin was closer to her now.

He was standing right before her. He was within her range. He was in danger. He was in high probability of being bifurcated by the Biggoron's Sword. He was standing without a guard or proper escape plan!

In conclusion, Team Leader Cardin was being fearless.

"You're just another Monster. One that a knight has to tear down."

He raised his hand and pushed at Traitor Impa's shoulder. She raised her blade to strike at him.

He rolled in avoidance. Grabbing her arms. He activated his Semblance, GUILT, and stood behind her. He had lassoed a grip on both of her wrists. It would not ordinarily be enough to hold Traitor Impa down. There was enough data to conclude this!

But she was weak. She was vulnerable. She was uneasy. She was prey.

Team Leader Cardin knew this an acted. Team Member Russel must have seen him and followed suit. And Penny did as her team had practiced. Her blades rose up around her. The cannon crackling with energy as it took aim at Traitor Impa.

94% Dust Accumulation Reached. It was suitable.

"Penny! Endgame! Now!" It was an order. Team Member Russel heard it, too.

Penny fired her Dust Cannon. Team Member Russel threw out a partially energized Wind Dust Crystal. Said Dust crystal cracked against Team Leader Cardin's armor. It blew him away, at approximately 45 m/s with an initial acceleration of 50.1 m/s^2. Without Aura, he would be damaged, but as noted through training, it was the necessary speed for the formation to work. And, per observations from Former Team Member Dove, she was the only member of team CRDP possessing the timing and algorithms to perform in adequately. She made a promise to be careful.

Her promise was met as she watched Team Leader Cardin being blown off of Traitor Impa approximately 0.00123 seconds before her lasers impacted. She did not possess the speed to raise her shields in defense.

The deafening boom of impact forced Penny to turn off her auditory sensors. Gyros in her abdomen and lower extremities maintained her balance as the stone beneath them cracked and shifted, maintaining her balance. Cries came from her Team Members, but neither had complaints. She did not stop firing.

65%, 43%, 21%, 1%

She ceased as Dust reserves ran out. Her blades returning to her and smoke billowing up from the impaction of her cannon. The ground in front of her was charred from the heat. Per the requisites for use of the Cannon, Penny began to take observations in front of her.

Her Ocular sensors observed the theorized distortion of color and spacial relation as the energy beam shot out. Her observation protocols made note of the time, date, location, target, and impact of the beam, leaving the commendation box open for further analysis later. This included the opinions of her Team Members and a diagnostics test from a certified Atlesian Scientist, such as her Papa Zepp. These were listed as mandatory priority tasks.

Penny altered her code through an additional function reducing to 'convenience' tasks. Priority one was clear.

Priority one, Traitor Impa, standing in what was left of the trail of her Dust Cannon. Penny was prepared with blades up for a counter attack. As her sensors were able to observe and document more, the likelihood of risk dropped. From 99.99% lethal threat... to 10%. A simple scanning of variables used indicated why.

Based off of resources, mental capacity, history, and resources, Impa remained a high risk due to her possession of the former three variables, in numbers above average for Atlesian Specialists or documented Huntresses. In relation to resources, previously, she possessed among the 0.5% of all documented Hunters.

Her merits in the field dropped significantly with the loss of her arm, portion of her torso, and weapon.

Penny filed her attack as a success. Traitor Impa was significantly impeded, soon to be neutralized.

"Holy shit... that thing... it doesn't screw around."

"Eyes up Russel. Bitch ain't done yet." Team Leader Cardin stood up, despite possessing only 12% Aura at the moment. "Until I see her eyes roll back or head roll off, I'm not calling it." Team Leader Cardin was acting with the appropriate amount of caution.

"Got it... Got it." Team Member Russel brandished his blades. Penny did not discard hers.

"But Penny," her Team Leader spoke on. "Seriously-"

"Well... done..." The deadness in the voice had her swords back up. Team Leader Cardin was prepared as well. "You have… won…" The Traitor Impa spoke. Her lips were rising in the objective display of joy, happiness, or satisfaction.

It was an uncommon sight on those egregiously injured. And Traitor Impa, despite still standing, was possessing injuries relating in a 55% likelihood of death. The number was increasing in relation to time. The wounds remaining untreated was the issue.

Penny had no intention to hail medical transponders. That would counter productive to the demise of the Traitor Impa.

"Great, we won," Team Leader Cardin spoke up. "Make it official for us and keel over."

"I will… I will…"

"Wait, seriously?" Team Leader Cardin looked towards her. His confusion was as evident as Traitor Impa's relief. That was the expression she wore. Facial markers matched with a 84% likelihood. "Then… what? So used to standing up to us you need a good push? I could even throw something to help."

"Do so… please…" Penny was beginning to doubt the accuracy of her conversation functions. She had yet to accurately predict any of Traitor Impa's responses. "But after… a… moment." Penny deduced what the Traitor Impa meant."

"Oh! Deliverance of last words!" It was a custom among many hunters. "I request we forsake her last words!"

"Seconded!" Team Member Russel threw up his hand.

"Agreed!" He was on her in a moment.

Despite the power of the Traitor Impa, Team Leader Cardin was far larger. Without her Aura and significant weapons available, he was able to lift her into the air. It was either a show of her training or physiology that her head remained connected to her torso after being lifted by the hair, despite the significant portion of her chest missing. Penny lacked data on which. She had no routines running requiring the acquisition of such data.

"You will… regret… it…" The relief around the Traitor Impa fell, held up as she was. Penny found that acceptable. It improved her own enjoyment. That was likely due to the recurring memory file of Former Team Member Dove Bronzewing.

"I disagree!" Penny was all smiles.

"The power… sage… hood… maiden… hood…" the Traitor Impa spoke on. "It will be… continued… on…" Penny ran the words in a keyword search through her head. She cross-checked relations to Impa.

The conclusion she reached required immediate action.

"Team Leader Cardin!" Penny suddenly yelled. "She is referring to the Maiden's powers!"

"Th… what?" He did not recall. "The… oh! Oh!" His focus redirected itself appropriately. "You stupidly dumb bitch! You better start remember all the most important people in your life! These are gonna be your last seconds, better start spending them thinking of how pissed off the girls back at Beacon are gonna be that they're not here ta see you dying! Pissed off that they don't get to kill you themselves! Ain't that right PENNY! And RUSSEL!"

"Indeed Team Leader Cardin! Traitor Impa is the target of a significant number of appropriately aged and appropriately enraged girls!" Said Team Leader ceased his necessary screaming at Traitor Impa to look at her. "It is important and appropriate to focus her last thoughts!"

"WHY!? What's going on!?" Team Member Russell's outburst was confusing. Until Penny performed a search of her large data array, limited to the past two months, filtering through interactions with said team member, and found no results indicating he was aware of Impa's power.

That was distressing. Her functions concluded that with a high probability.

Perhaps it was bad her and Team Leader Cardin discussed their plans in bed. She would discuss that with him again later. Much later.

After they addressed this.

"Traitor Impa possesses a power that transfers to another woman upon her death. Indicated power is greater than 99.9999% of active or inactive Hunters, necessary for unlocking objects of power substantially greater than Atlesian Military, and said death is imminent." Team Leader Russel was shaking his head.

"H-Huh? Who!? What are… Then who are we supposed to start naming?!"

"Anyone! Name every girl you can think of! Start screaming them at her!" Team Leader Cardin was holding Impa together now, but he was still shaking her.

Penny had no functions indicating she should stop him.

"You remember how this traitor keeps talking about her love for that queen of hers. You recall how she keeps yapping about how important her duty and honor is? This bitch thinks of that monster up in that whale when this monster croaks, then the bigger fish inside the whale gets the power!"

"Team Leader Cardin is correct!" Penny's functions reached the conclusion after him! Stupendous! "If Impa thinks of a female below the age of thirty before she expires, her power will pass to her!"

"Do you qualify!?"

"I have no data affirming or denying a possibility."

"This is no time to chance it! Sorry Penny!" Team Leader Cardin was not in need of offering her condolences. "Just get this bitch to remember all the women that she's pissed off! Like the sisters! You murdered their uncle and had them screaming for blood! They were doing it so loud I thought about giving them a first shot at you!" Friends Ruby and Yang!

"Y-Yeah! Especially Ruby! I-I think I saw her crying when she was working on her weapons! Imagine that! Imagine it! She was holding up that massive weapon of her, trying to get it to work, oiling its joints and she kept crying into it! She kept crying and asking for her uncle to come help!"

"You are not allowed to forget Yang either! That girl was looking for someone to kill when she found out! I thought I was gonna have to replace my mace after I got in a fight with her! She was screaming your name the same way I was last month! Think about them! Just imagine how much pain you put them in!" Penny's mind whirled.

"It would be beneficial of you to also remember Friend Weiss Schnee!" She stood above the Traitor Impa, her blades out and ready to impale if necessary. The numbers were decreasing with the expected survival of the woman. "She expressed a large number of instances dedicated towards your teaching method, indicating a positive outlook. Your metaphorically accurate 'backstabbing' has made you a target of much negative emotion for her."

"Her sister is on the list, too!" Team Leader Cardin shouted on. "She was there with us in the mine and damn did she love talking to you! Almost as much as beating me up! But you had to go and prove that the bastard me was right about you! I don't like that, but I bet Winter hated it!"

Actually, Penny had no data indicating such an event. She did not voice her concern. The priority objective over rode the 'truth' command.

"I-Is there anyone else for us to name?"

"I have records of over 45 possible Maiden Candidates that have interacted with the Traitor Impa, but I am unaware of their full relation." Team Leader Cardin snarled. "I propose we continue to verbally abuse Traitor Impa."

"Gladly!"

Team Member Russel dove on top of her. That was the accurate verb, even if it also accurately ended with his pants being stained with blood. She was under the impression that was hard to remove from cloth. Team Member Russel did not appear to care.

Neither did Penny.

"You know who hates you the most? Blake."

Penny was unsure that was true. She had several gigabytes of counter evidence and claims.

"We're both Shadows, both of us, and I got talking to her for advice before! She told me you gave her advice because you were a Shadow before you were a traitor!" General, but his comment was not inaccurate. No need for correction was detected. "You do not know how much she adored you! She wouldn't shut up about how you were one of the greatest examples of Faunus she'd ever heard of, and she wanted to be like you carrying around a dozen weapons!"

Penny had no recollection of these meetings. Nor any time when Team Member Russel and Friend Blake were in close proximity to one another without the supervision of others.

No need for corrected was detected.

"When I say she adored you, I'm under selling it! Blake Belladonna, the girl who was burned into a Twili and has to practically live under that Magic Cloak, was your greatest fan until you up and started murdering people! Until then, she was the one who wanted to be you!" His hands moved to her head. "No one else was even close!"

Team Leader Cardin had since stepped back.

"You want to remember someone important going into the next life, fuck those you served." Penny was not sure what he meant by that. "Fuck those you fought with. Fuck those who you think might know you!" Penny was unable to find a correlation to Team Member Russel's words and logic. "The only thing you should be thinking about are those who are going to come after you. Because they're the ones who are going to carry on what you failed to do!"

Team Member Russel lifted up Traitor Impa's head. Penny was able to observe the red eyes of the Former Shiekah General staring at her teammate. Team Leader Cardin did not stop him.

"So remember Blake Belladonna! Remember her, because she's going to do what you were too weak to finish!" Penny was not prepared for that.

SQUECK! That, as noted by her optical sensors, being Team Member Russel slamming Traitor Impa's head on the pavement. She observed brain mattered behind the woman.

The both of her team mates fell either to their knees or over. Her servos followed the 'instinct' protocol to render aid. It was overrun by a necessary function requiring the observation of data.

That being the dispersal of the Maiden's powers from the remains of Traitor Impa's body.

Fwooooooommm Penny measured the altering density in the air.

Thick, increased permeation in the oxygen, unidentified force altering the spacing of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Said force was causing mild asphyxiation in Team Leader Cardin and Team Member Russel, both boys falling back and taking breaths measuring 134% volume size in relation to regular aspiration. Penny was unaffected.

She measured the force, recording the data, and did her utmost to record the projected trajectory of the force. She truly did her best.

But the force and change in air density swiftly reverted to normal, and her functions were unable to filter the raw data to acceptable levels for drawing conclusions. She pursed her lips. Papa Zepp wouldn't be happy to hear that.

Penny heard her teammates coughing then. Their health took higher concern than her Papa's data. For now at least. For approximately the next 8.3 hours.

"Team Leader Cardin and Team Member Russel, please take larger than average breaths. It will assist in recovery of your-"

"Got it. We got it… I-I got it." Team Leader Cardin waved her off. "Bout the only thing I got right now."

"Same, just… the hell was that?"

"I measured the increase in air pressure was likely attributed towards an unknown substance filling in the empty space between the air's nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide molecules. The increased mass within the same volume resulted in a higher pressure, which your lungs were not capable of overcoming."

"Not easily, at least. So Maiden powers, right?"

"That is correct Team Leader Cardin."

"Awesome… great… their out of her." He shook his head. "Any idea where they went now?"

"Are you attributing the third-person relation of 'they' to the inanimate power of the Maidens?"

"… sure." Splendid!

"Then 'they' have gone somewhere I was unable to properly track. At this moment, the speed was either too great for my sensors to discern an exact trajectory, or its method of dispersal was such that it will congregate elsewhere once reforming within a new body."

"And that body…. Was one of the girls we were screaming about." He looked at their shared teammate. "I'm thinking I have a good idea who that is now. So Russel… the fuck was that?"

"What?" Team Member Russel did not seem fully cognizant yet.

"I believe Team Leader Cardin is referring to your efforts to force the Maiden powers on Friend Blake. The observed course of actions you took were not those high in my predictions. Rather, she was low in the scale of possible candidates."

"Not to mention that whole talk about adoration and stuff. Dude, we've only ever hung out with RWBY as a team, and I know for a fact that Blake never took you off to the side for one-on-one teacher love talk." Penny was unaware what this 'teacher love' talk was. "So straight up answer, how much of that was bullshit?"

"90%, at least."

"You're low-balling. That was 100% horse shit."

"Sure, why not. That better than bullshit?" Team Member Russel and Team Leader Cardin were having a conversation Penny was not familiar with. "And honestly? I just threw out what sounded like it would stick with her the hardest. I mean, she didn't seem to care about the people she's killed."

"Traitor Impa did express a critically low amount of empathy nominally shown in individuals regarding the death of others." Penny listed of. "In relation to death by fault, her mannerisms, including words spoken, did not match attributable standards."

"You lost me, again." Penny counted that was the 133 time in the last month she had 'lost' Team Leader Cardin in conversation. "What does that mean."

"Means I figured she'd care more about what she broke that mattered. That is how loyal she has to be."

"You didn't mention jack about loyalty."

"No, but I did mention Blake, and how she was 'basically' loyal to Impa. Least as much as someone is to a teacher. Had to spell that out first." Penny replayed the conversation in her head, recalling Team Member Russel's words. "Then just make her realize that was bad."

"Why bad?"

"Because, I was guessing here I'll admit, most people tend to think about their regrets when they're dying. I figure that was important to her, because she wouldn't shut up about how 'proud' she was of you, man." Team Member Russel's fingers flexed in the air. Air quotes. She was proud to remember the term. "So I thought it would be a good idea to make her remember something similar she failed at."

"Still not picking up on how Blake fits into this."

"Honestly?" She really doesn't. Penny wore an expression of confusion similar to Team Leader Cardin. Or she adopted her to match his. "She was just the one who fit best."

"Better than the other girls we know?"

"Everyone else either had someone they liked killed by the bitch, or had a family member who was working with her. Blake was the outlier. So figured why not."

"Because it was a risk?"

"Not more of a risk than what Dove did." Penny did not like the mention of Former Team Member Dove's actions in past tense. "And right now, I don't care."

"The hell? Say that again." Team Member Russel complied with their team leader's orders.

"I said I don't care. I don't care if it was a risk." He stood up and walked over the body of Traitor Impa. "I don't care because this monster took out everything else I do care about. She killed Sky, she made Dove kill himself trying to stop her, and all she did was just talk about how 'good' we were doing."

Penny did not find the action of Team Member Russel kicking Traitor Impa to be efficient. She also found no reason to stop him. The action of the body swaying with the impact was oddly pleasant. She would have to ask later why.

"So I know it was a risk, but the fuck is a risk anymore? Sky's dead, Dove's dead, and so are like probably half a dozen other people because of her. If me getting the wind knocked out of me was the price of her dying, then it was worth it. Are you about to say I'm wrong?"

Penny ran the risk-reward function again in her mind. She lined the variables Team Member Russel described and the per-existing conclusions as well.

"Actually, by my determination, given the risk of Traitor Impa's presence, I find the loss of limb an acceptable price for her termination." Team Leader Cardin stared at her. "I am concluding that Team Member Russel is not only correct, but under selling his efforts."

"Heh, and usually I'm too busy bragging. Loss of limb, huh? Guess we should have asked Yang and Ruby's dad to do something about this." Penny did not understand. "You know, because he's already down and arm and a leg?"

Penny didn't understand.

"How does the loss of limb correspond to-"

"Pffff-" The sound of air exiting Team Leader Cardin's pursed lips took Penny's attention.

"Team Leader Cardin?"

"Pfffff-hahahahaha." He was no bending over and clutching his knees. Penny understood and recognized humor, but she had not observed an event to bring about the display of emotion. Not even after reviewing the past half hour.

Regret, anger, despair, hope, and relief. No humor.

"Hee hee ha ha ha ha." Team Leader Cardin stood taller as his voice grew louder. He was also smiling brightly, to Penny's pleasure. He had a nice smile. "Ha ha ha ha HAHAHAHAH!" His laughter was increasing in both volume and frequency. He also had a goof laugh.

Penny still did not know what was happening.

"Cardin? Did you finally snap?" Team Member Russel did not either. "I think that was due a while ago man. We already took Impa out, so snapping now is kinda-"

"Don't you guys get it?" His question came as he looked down at them both. Penny knew Team Leader Cardin was tall. "We did it. We actually fucking did it."

"We-" Something slapped over her auditory speaker as her lips bent to form an phonographic 'f'. She looked to see Team Member Russel there.

"We did it! We actually did it!" Team Leader Cardin marched closer to them. "We planned and we fought and we literally had to stand at the gates of hell! But we did it!" He was screaming.

"You are referring to our victory?"

"YES!" Team Leader Cardin was showing nothing but joy on his face. "After everything, we did it! After all of that!" His hand pointed towards the UF Grimm still hanging in the sky. "We still fought and beat her! We killed that traitor! The Hunters couldn't do it, Link couldn't do it, no one could do it!" He turned away from them.

Boom. And proceeded to kick the body of Traitor Impa. Penny still found it unsuitable to stop the deed.

"This evil rotten bitch is finally dead! All of it! For Sky, for Dove, for the rest of the people she slaughtered for the fun of it! We finally killed her!" He turned with arms extended and rushed towards both her and Team Member Russel.

Both were picked off of the ground with a certain amount of ease. Penny found herself crushed against Team Leader Cardin's chest and with Team Member Russel's head pushing against her own. Her feet were unable to touch the ground, dragging at Team Leader Cardin's knees. Team Member Russel was kicking outwards.

"We did it you guys! We finally avenged them all!" He looked down at Penny.

Now she finally understood why he was laughing. She had not observed it before.

It was relief. Relief and joy.

Penny found herself smiling brightly as well.

Relief and joy, even if there was still a large cluster of Grimm and several other high-priority targets around the Vale airspace. Even with recognition to the trauma that was likely still being pushed onto civilian, active, and inactive members of the Atlesian Military, and with notes from the currently unresponsive CCTS referring to large concentrations of battle in several points of the city, Penny found herself smiling.

Laughter was easy for her, and she felt her laughter was a bit easier to come out.

Team Member Russel had since lifted his face from her chest, and was grinning up at them both, laughing as well. They were all laughing, the remainders of her team, her team, laughing as they had accomplished the primary objective.

The Traitor Impa was terminated. Her threat to others neutralized.

Penny felt relief. It felt wonderful. Team Leader Cardin's arms were warm. There was a war still being actively engaged in behind them.

Team CRDP laughed. Penny had no regrets.

---

Weiss was to find Ruby. That was her goal. Blake for Yang and her for her Ruby. Partners and partners. That was the plan after saving the citizens, at least.

That plan wilted and died like flowers in the frost of Atlas when the sky was ripped apart by that blade of light. It had to be a blade. She had seen too many beams recently to confuse the two. And when she saw that blade, she only knew of two people in all her life that could possibly make something like that happen.

One was standing atop the roofs of Beacon. The other was a mask in the hands of her partner.

Her partner she was currently looking for.

"Dammit Ruby. Dammit!" She ignored the Grimm that screamed at her, her voice rising above them.

Glyphs appeared about her as she all but flew through the city, the Tome in her hand helping her glyphs to harden faster, letting her all but jump in mid-air and above the grounded Grimm beneath her. Her blade scrapped off the lightning from the encrusted jewels, making quick work of the Rapiers and Nevermores that swooped towards her. She never looked past them as more than a smokescreen. Her eyes were looking elsewhere.

Towards the stadium, and realizing quickly how fruitless it was going to be to try and reach it. If not because of how high it was, and not because it was coming to come crashing down in a catastrophic heap, then because the person her partner was facing was going to be trouble.

Because Ruby was strong, despite all of her claims early in the year aside, and she had a literal spirit of a sword at her call. She could sense danger and use that behemoth of a scythe as easily as a fencer could use an epee.

And yet she had brought out the mask of her Grandfather, of Link, to face an opponent.

Whomever it was, Weiss knew near immediately she would be no chance against them and of little assistance to Link. Such were important matters to consider. That left her with finding where to go next.

"Blake is looking for Yang, JNPR is leaving with CRDL, Winter and the rest of the military is working in pockets of evacuation, there are few to no citizens left in the city." She bit her lip knowing there had to be more, the city of Vale simply far too big for there to be none, but just as aware that looking for them with eye alone would be like trying to find a fly in the dark. "Where then? Where can I go?"

She had to move, and she had to think ahead. Be like Winter. Be like Link. Be like the great leaders who were knightly and dutiful. A knight's duty was to their kingdom... and Vale was abandoned.

That left just the castle, and she was more than a little aware of who was there.

It didn't stop the heiress from putting haste glyphs above the blocks of ice she was churning in the air, turning her leaps in mid-air to animalistic bounds. She carried herself over the water channel to Beacon in some time record she was sure would impress even Mikau, where he here. The few Grimm that remained around her fell without a second though, and little more than a flick of Myrtenstar at that.

Her feet hit the ground at Beacon, more overcome with how dead it felt at first than the torn battlefield around her. No life, no sounds of teams playing, no bullheads getting ready for take-off, not even the glimmer of the bright light of the Headmaster's tower bearing down on them, through the darkness as the beacon it was meant to be.

There was nothing, and it made Weiss bit her lip.

Even more so when she traced the war torn ground around her.

"My word..." the statement fell breathlessly from her, looking at the scarring of the land. Tracing the trenches dug with what looked like a single great plow. She knew it could just as easily be a sword, and the idea of something or someone tearing into the ground in an arc, great enough to nearly sever a building, was great enough itself. "My God..." it only became worse when she saw that effort delivered to actual buildings.

The administration hall torn out, exposing the multiple floors and ruined furniture within. Burned marks traveling up the stone and leaving decaying grass at its base. The crack of lightnings from the ever present clouds above. All of that not with going the sounds of battle that echoed around the grounds now, like the whispers of death.

Weiss had been listening to them for hours, mixed with that of heated battle.

And for all that she witnessed, she couldn't ignore him.

Standing atop the dorm room still, at the edge of the building with that twisted blade in his hand, and staring up into the clouds. It was only the distance and comparing him to the goliath of a Grimm floating in the skies that made him appear small. Weiss could not forget he towered over her so much like the authority of the SDC.

Yet he didn't look her way. He never so much as glanced at her. He did nothing, not even as the Grimm continued to rampage about Vale.

"Ms. Schnee! RUN!" Or she instinctively threw up glyphs about herself, scrapping at the Tome in her palm to reinforce them with ice.

No more than a hair's breadth later than did something crash into them. Loud and hard enough for her head to feel like she had taken the hit directly. Staring at what assaulted her, she thought she suffered a concussion for it.

It was a natural thought to have, staring into the red eyes and tarred skin of a dead man.

"You will not take her!" The cry from above sent the beast scrambling away. Weiss released one wall before her, jumping, before the ground about her was severed again. She was in no danger, but she knew better than to hold still. Blue eyes tracked the monster landing some distance away, shield up and mockery of a sword with it.

At her side, Ozpin descended, his cane up and posture stiff, but strong, next to her.

"Ms. Schnee, I do not think it was wise of you to come here." He didn't glance at her as he spoke. "I am currently dealing with a rather troublesome foe."

"I apologize if… I interfered." She didn't dare look up. She knew how fast Link was. She couldn't think this beast wearing his face would be any different. "I came here because every where else appeared to be managing, or I was sure I'd be more of a hassle."

"You cannot be with your partner?"

"I thought Ruby was here, but I was able to put together where she is now."

With the statement said, the sound of a pillar of steel raining from the sky vibrated through the air. If Weiss were less inclined, she'd might have said it landed hard enough to make the clouds above ripple. She certainly felt it through her boots, watching as even the Shade across from her adjusted his stance.

But she couldn't look. Neither could Ozpin. Too much of a risk.

"I'm sure she is alright. She's reckless, but she has Link with her."

"His better half at that. And here we are to contend with the worst."

"I suppose that is the best way to phrase it." She adjusted Myrtenstar's grip, flicking through the few vials of Dust she had left. No more than a few fire forays and an earthen pillar at that. She'd be dependent on the ice and lightning from the Tome after that. "I was also looking for my team members, but Yang took off after we were able to push the last civilian ship out."

"She would not abandon you. What happened?"

"She inherited the powers of a Maiden." She felt Ozpin fighting himself, resisting the urge to look towards her. "She thought her mom, I do, too. But I don't know."

"And Ms. Belladonna went with her." Just after, actually. "Then you came looking for Ruby, and saw Link pierce they sky."

"I actually came looking for him." The tip of her blade pointed up, but not far from the beast across from them. Just the god far above. "I thought… he might know of some place for me to be, or way to assist Ruby."

"At the moment, I can answer that." The Headmaster now dared to step in front of her.

The Shade across from them stepped forward as well, soundlessly as its blade swiped through the air. She saw handfuls of grass jump up against the wind pressure alone. They gently floated back down, even in the midst of hell around them.

No sooner did they hit the ground again than did it jump.

Weiss fell back, glyphs walking up her in defense. She was only just able to form one before the Shade of Link was above her, holding a soundless cry as he, it, was about to bring its long-sword down.

TWANG! It was beaten away by Ozpin in a show of force that Weiss regaining her footing. For a moment, she was lost in the dance of the two. Being a swords woman herself, watching the pair of them fight, put her in a delicate state of awe and envy. Because, with all honesty, the two were simply too fast for her.

Weiss was able to catch the glimpses of Ozpin's can swinging out and batting away at the long-sword of the Shade, only to blink and see them some meters away, him now twisting the can around and sidestepping the shield blows of the dark Link. Blows, matched with tactics that were very much not Grimm Like. Stomping boots at the delicate footing of Ozpin, bashing forward with its shield to disorient the man, and even flipping backwards to ready a counter strike.

The only time she caught a full exchange between the two had her breathless from beginning to end.

What else could she be when the Shade flipped its way onto the end of Ozpin's cane, standing on it. STANDING!

Link was by no means a light individual, and strong as Ozpin was, he though the weight of a knight like Link would be too much to hold outstretched. That was what made the sword pointed at him, in mocking more than anything else, so horrific. Ozpin, however, was a Headmaster for a reason.

He twisted and pulled his can back, ripping it until it was held at his side like a katana ready for a quick strike. The sudden departure of its stance left the Grimm falling, but with its shield down and flipping forward, ready to capitalize on gravity to strike. Ozpin took advantage, rushing under the beast before it could fall so much as a head's length down. He twisted and struck out in the next motion.

But the shield of the Shade proved invaluable, and it let it catch the otherwise damning blow of the Headmaster. It sent the beast off, careening almost, but only to hit its shoulder and correct itself, sliding back on its feet with weapons raised.

Be it because it was a Grimm or Link, it didn't look injured from the blow. Ozpin was next to her a moment later, agreeing.

"It was not wise to come here, Ms. Schnee," Ozpin repeated himself, with much more force to his voice. "I am facing a foe born of time traveling, and I fear you will only earn yourself the title of target if you remain here."

"If I was anyone else, even Ruby, I'd agree." Weiss licked her lips. "But my Aura is still strong, and I have the means to barricade myself."

"You made do that anywhere, be it here or Vale. I assume you have a stronger point?"

"I cannot assist you from Vale." She twisted Myrtenstar as she spoke. "And according to Impa, before her traitorous ways, I am a Mage." There wasn't time left to explain.

She let a glyph form beneath Ozpin, intentionally making it large as possible. It surrounded him, spinning with a double helical pattern that increased the speed of everything within. Haste, and one that Ozpin quickly realized the intent of. She waited, however, for the Shade to notice. And it did.

When it did, she twisted her blade carefully, calling forth and forcing another Glyph to appear behind the beast. Dark, black as night, and heavy. A secondary support, necessary for what was to come. She glanced at Ozpin now, waiting for him to see it. She knew he did when he winked in return.

She fired her weapon and Ozpin was gone. The Shade had its shield raised moving forward to catch the blow it was so sure was going to be struck against him. Ozpin, however, flew past the beast without trying to make contact.

By the time the monster turned its head, the Headmaster had landed on the alternative glyph. Weiss felt a tooth nearly crack with the force it endured. Ozpin kicked off of it regardless.

WHAM! The Shade had nothing to raise against the Headmaster now.

The cane delivered what should have been a debilitating blow to the beast, sending it flying head over heels and tearing into the ground with an unforgiving speed. Weiss watched it slam through a building, dust falling down and debris likely burying it. It was too much to hope for it being dead.

So instead, she summonsed more glyphs. Not haste or rigidity, but illumination. She surrounded the monster.

Her reward for doing so was letting Ozpin notice the moment a dark hand pushed out from the rubble. He dashed forward when the Shade had just birthed itself from the small hills worth of rubble. WHAM! WHAM! He was not kind to it. Weiss had no pity in kind.

In no time at all, the Headmaster had literally beaten the monster free, but it proved its namesake by countering even while the cane rained blows down on its head. Its shield came up, just as its sword's flat was twisted to angle the next blow of the cane to it. Caught, the monster spun and tried to whip the Headmaster away. Ozpin was no amateur, however.

He jumped over the monster's head, carrying the momentum with him. His hand found perch on the edge of the shield and tried to rip it off. His reward now was the monster trying to bite him. Ozpin, rather aware that this was more than just Link he was facing, let go and retreated a step. The idea of Link ever doing the same fluttered and died in Weiss's head. There were more important tasks for her now.

As, for example, Weiss laying a gravitational glyph between the two. It was small, exact, but quick to place. It made it satisfying as well when the monster's boot rose and fell on it. It was rather clear from the large arc it was making with its sword it was about to rend the air. But with the glyph in place, its balance was thrown.

What would have been a savage blow to Ozpin came up short, slicing the air next to him. A slice that still cut through the building and acted so much like a high-speed wire trap. The dorm rumbled with the sudden cut through it. Ozpin didn't take time to mourn or observe.

WHACK! Instead, the tip of his cane connected with the underside of the Shade's jaw, sending his head up. BAM! That made its stretched gut an obvious weakness. That beast doubled over itself, knees nearly hitting the ground as the pain rolled through it. Weiss wondered for a brief moment if the monster had to breath.

That thought was wasted as Ozpin jumped, avoiding the lateral slash of the monster. Weiss didn't even see the Shade prepare the strike. Just as she didn't see it kick off some stone and all but fly after Ozpin. That as what Weiss as sure the monster was doing.

That was until it hit the ground without ever striking at the Headmaster, instead twisting its piercing gaze towards her. Weiss had time to gasp at the fury in those monstrous eyes.

Then she had time to hear it scream.

"KRAAAAAGH!" An inhuman hiss blew forth from the monster. Its first sound, and she knew not even a mother would be pleased to hear such a shrill sound. Her mind focused, even if her head rattled, as the beast took a step forward.

A moment later, the monster threw its blade at her. Weiss let out a noise of surprise, but was easily able to step past the flying weapon. She didn't know the purpose. Not until her eyes tracked its full path.

And watched the same Shade that 'catch' the blade behind her. Feet behind her.

"Wha-" she was able to get out, but months of training had her reacting in time. Her glyphs and ice walls came up.

WHAM! And one of them shattered as the beast struck at her, sending shards of the columns about the land as she found herself rolling over dead grass. She laid down empty glyphs as she rolled, trying to think of some way to get the Shade off of her.

But the moment Weiss stopped spinning and landed on her knees, the Shade was above her again. Its eyes were that of death. She raised ice and glyphs again, reinforced as best she could. It struck at one and she ducked her head.

A good thing she did, as the blade sailed through a moment later. The briefest instance of relief hit her as she dodged the blow, only to be reminded in the next breath of what she was facing, of what she was facing.

That reminder came as the shield of the monster hit her across the head. Her vision blurred. The Tome nearly slipped from her fingers. Only a deathly pale grip kept it in place. Her weapon, not so much. That left Weiss realizing how exposed she was, even if the world was dancing in double vision around her.

She knew the monster was swinging back with another strike, so she didn't bother for finesse. She raised another icy wall with the Tome in hand, pouring what she could of her Aura into it. The blade didn't slice through it now, but the blow it delivered shook the air again. Weiss poured more aura into her glyphs now, focusing them up into the ice. Another blow, and another massive amount of the ice was chipped away.

Up and up and up, and the Shade tore it down and down and down! Her vision wasn't recovering, her breath was being lost with it. Defense, defense, defense, DEFENSE! She couldn't hope to strike! She couldn't even see a moment to try!

She only saw her guard being beaten away by blows that carried both weight and skill, and she was severely lacking in both, by comparison.

It was nothing short of a blessing then that there was a man nearby more capable than her in both.

"Melt them!" The command came, and she followed as if Ruby had screamed them. Weiss dropped her head and the walls. She felt the blade of the Shade swing over her head, deathly sure that she had lost a few hairs from the closeness of it.

BOOM! Just as sure that she was going to be nursing a concussion with the blast that echoed over her head.

She looked up in time to see the Headmaster skidding to a stop in front of her, the Shade of Link digging its blade into the ground to stop itself. The anger it wore as it looked up outdid any nightmare that Weiss may have had. And here she was fighting in a hellscape all itself.

"Are you well, Ms. Schnee?" He didn't turn around. "Injured? Concussed?"

":P-Possibly the latter," she admitted. "Otherwise alright, Aura low and disarmed."

"Will that impair your ability to use your Semblance?"

"Not as long as I… focus on using it. Not the Ice walls." She needed to be careful with her Aura.

"I would request you do so then. If needed, retreat to a safe distance, but not any building." It took only a glance at the rubble to understand why. "If truly desperate, run to the God of Light. He will likely assist you."

"But we can't." She whispered more than spoke. "I-If we do… d-distraction." Her jaw worked in circles. Did Ozpin not realize what was happening with the Fierce Deity and Salem?

He didn't' answer in the way she was expecting. Instead of words, he took a step backwards to be side by side, then looped an arm around her. Weiss felt her balance shift. It was thrown when the Shade's blade sped past her, and the air cut at her aura.

TW-TW-TW-TWANG! The ricochet of metal clattered in front of her, faster than she heard most professionals spar at. Her double vision forbade her from seeing the crossing of sword and cane between the Shade and Ozpin. She could only be sure that neither was giving ground, no moves were wasted, and she was in the way.

She had to fix that.

"Here." She dropped a small pyre glyph behind the Shade's head. More of an annoyance to even newbie students.

In the midst of the two fighting, it went off like a bomb behind the Shade. It's shield hesitated, looking to swing around. And the Headmaster capitalized.

BAM! With a boot to the monster's chest. To her disdain, Ozpin didn't follow up. The reason was obvious, with her hanging off of his arm. That was just as quick to change.

"You are doing superb, Ms. Schnee. Let us not lose the advantage so quickly now." Ozpin spun around her as he released her, guarding her as he held up his cane as an epee once again. "In moments like these, attrition is a detriment and defense a delaying of the inevitable."

"Strike fast, strike hard, and finish quickly then?" Weiss saw the back of the Headmaster's… head bob. "Very well. I am at your command."

"Hasten me once more, and if possible reduce the combat area." A green hue began to lift around Ozpin. "I will not give the Hero's Shade a moment's rest."

Then neither would she.

The monster cried out in front of them. She couldn't see any damage about it. No broken plates as with some Grimm, no wounds among its hide, nothing but the angry calls of whatever demon was taking Link's form.

She'd have to take that as proof. Why else would the Shade look so desperate?

---

"Cia?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"It is almost time."

"I-It... of course! Of course your Grace! I... what more do you need me to do?"

"Before you ask for more, first perform what I asked of you." The dark witch made a muted sound as she worked the staff in her hand, the gates flittering off of it and flying about the great Wind Fish's chassis. Her red eyes gave them no notice more. "And then, when you are done, be sure to extricate yourself, preferably to the outer edges of Vale."

"You won't... need me here?"

"I will not. Not once I begin." The dark queen of the Grimm rose, and her robe fell around her soundlessly. "And I want you in a place where I am less likely to miss, and he will be unlikely to attack."

She wasn't so close to the lavender haired woman now, but her teeth were all but chattering. It was a small mystery why. The girl was so skittish.

Be it in the face of the the God that was in the curtain of blackness, silver eyes glowing past the Seer's vision, scornful of the life on the other side. His hands tight around the Relic of Destruction, his weapon of choice and maker of his greatest feats. Cia was likely in fear of that.

That, or the bow, curved as if by divine winds and colored with the wretched darkness. The humiliatingly elegant tool of the archer, held in alabaster hands, hanging with a string so fine it could hardly be seen.

It was one of those two that had the witch at her wits end. Salem hadn't the greatest care which.

"Yes, Cia. Him or me." Her red eyes gleamed as she stared at the woman. She straightened herself like a treated log under the gaze. "But both of us are soon to strike."

Without another word, Salem pulled back the string of her bow, an arrow notching itself along its deepest point. Shadows were practically dripping from it, vanishing into the ether as Salem let her red eyes bear the target in front of her. They were too visible, too easily seen, through the portals of Cia's making.

A lesser being would have complained of sport, worth, or challenge with the shot.

Salem only wondered when the bell would ring, and her arrow would fly.

---

Author's Note:

So I should start with saying that I am sorry this is so late. I was actually working on two other stories over this one. One was a FGO story, because I love that game too much, with the adoption of Christ as the first servant in it. Maybe it was because of Easter, but I literally have 80,000 words written in it already, for Act 0, and I'm not even done. So I was behind on that. Then I had a Steam Punk short story I was writing up, with the hopes of getting that published as the finest in a series. Not a really telling thing, but I've always had a sweet spot for steam punk, likely because I love the idea of overcoming the inherent weakness of steam engines (time for start up, weight, available materials, etc.) and making a Victorian world out of it.

But I am apologizing for more than that. I have started to look over old reviews, chapters, and such, and I realize how terrible a writing strategy I had starting out. My story ideas I don't 100% agree with, sure, but the idea of having to over explain actions, details, including non-necessary characters, bloating and embellish points, it really took away from a lot of the emotion of scenes I wanted.

I thought about going back to edit it, but with over 1.7M words there, I don't have the time. Not with a wedding, two stories to work on, and a career that appears to be on the edge of Everest with the appeal going up and quick fall off the cliff. So I may not edit, but I hope to finish strong, for those of you who were able to put up with my BS for so long.

I thank you all profusely for staying with me as long as you have, especially those who were on the Discord server before I got off of it (none of you, I promise, all about me being against the... incidents that site has), the before I tore that down (second verse, same as the first), and of course, the general oddity of dealing with me.

I love every one of your reviews, I read and respond to almost all the questions I can (you NEED to sign in! I can't respond to Guests!). You've all been a pleasure and I hope the last four... five chapters here really wrap it up.

I have them ready to go, and they will be like this.

Victory

Defeat

Agony

… … .. …

Epilogue

Thank you all again. The War is over.