Authors Note: Not all that confident on this chapter… I'll know if its good or not by the response I suppose.
Yang waited as patiently as she could, struggling to hold back her urge to simply run in and find Jaune. There was no guarantee Jaune was here at the moment, even if they knew he was they didn't know where exactly he was. It would have been all too easy for a White Fang thug to hold a knife to an unconscious Jaunes throat.
Her blood ran cold at the thought as she bit her lip. She would have drawn blood were it not for her aura kicking in.
She sat in a small alleyway off to the side of the train yard. It wasn't exactly a secret but the terrorists seemed to be both in a hurry and woefully incompitent. It would have been rather funny were it not for the threat of death if they failed.
The plan was simple and surprisingly well thought out for one of Ruby's but it would work.
Yang looked out across the way to a rooftop where she could just make out the red of Ruby's cape.
One shot, a single round from Ruby's sniper was the signal they waited for. All they were waiting for was Torchwick to expose himself. They had spotted him after a few minutes of scouting but they hadn't been in any position to take advantage of it.
Now they sat in silence, hoping the sound of their breathing didn't alert the guards.
The second he showed his face Pyrrha, Winter, and Qrow would strike, hopefully catching him off guard. Ruby would fire a shot to let the rest of them know when that part of the plan fell into place.
For now, they would wait. Yang felt her hand shake, her breathing coming out uneven. It had been a long time since she had felt this nervous. She was confident in the plan, her team, team JNPR and even Qrow, but she still felt uneasy.
Somewhere in one of those buildings Jaune was being held prisoner. IF they didn't act quick enough, or if they couldn't find him they might… Yang refused to accept that idea.
They were going to find him. She would find him. They would kick the bad guys ass and return to Beacon as heroes. Then she would get her date with Jaune even if she had to hold him hostage to do it.
He had a lot to make up for with the amount of worry he had caused her. She would tease him and poke fun at how he had gotten captured and how she would be his knight in shining armour. She would be able to do all these things because he would be fine.
She caught a glimpse of orange hair and she grit her teeth. This was it.
A few moments of silence filled the area in which she could imagine everyone holding their breath.
There were a few shouts and startled yelps, before a shot rang out through the area forcing life to a pause.
Blake had taken a moment to wait, a split second where she thought about her actions. Yang had already flew out of the alley way with a howl, fist digging into the gut of one terrorist before tossing him into another.
Yang's yell had been more akin to a scream, stunning those in the immediate area to silence. "Where's Jaune!" When no immediate answers came she shoved her fist into the nearest face.
Thankfully there were plenty of chances for answers.
Roman cursed softly as panic fell on the camp. True to form the White Fang were useless, though he hadn't really expected anything different.
"You are under arrest." He rolled his eyes at the woman who held her sabre up towards his throat.
"I hope your plan didn't call for em to come quietly." He turned his head ever so slightly, looking behind the two hunters standing before him.
Neither of them looked initially, clearly not trusting it to be anything more than a trick. Their hesitation gave Neo all the time she needed to close the distance.
By the time the old guy turned she was already on top of him. Perhaps it spoke to his ability as a hunter or perhaps his luck but Neo's strike was batted to the side and she slid on something.
She flew past him, flipping in the air to land on her feet, right by Roman's side. It hadn't been the devastating attack he had hoped it would be, but it had at the very least given Neo the chance to get to him. Together they would be able to find a way out of it, or fight if they had to.
Roman scanned the area subtly looking for anything he could use to his advantage. smirked at what he saw.
"You know what I love about terrorists Neo?" The smaller girl tilted her head slightly but otherwise kept her eyes on the hunters. "They don't have any sense of self preservation."
"Argh!" One of the masked thugs lunged clumsily at the woman, forcing her to move her blade to counter. Which she did with ease, slicing down and removing the man from the fight in an instant.
She had only managed to turn partially back to them before Neo had fallen upon her. Had it not been for the other hunter it might have been over then and there, sadly the guy had been able to deal with the three or so idiots who had rushed him.
Steel met steel as he caught Neo's blade on his own. Forcing her blade down with a flick of his own. "I'll deal with the small one, you focus on Torchwick."
Roman couldn't see Neo's face but he could feel her smile despite that fact. The vicious look had forced many to back down before, though it didn't seem to work this time.
The woman hesitated, seemingly unsure of whether they should split up, a fact he was more than willing to take advantage of. He held Melodic Cudgel up, pointing it at her before taking his shot.
A cloud of dust was thrown up and for a moment he dared to hope that would be the end of her. The cloud warped outward slightly and he sighed. No such luck.
Neo had taken the opportunity he had granted to go after her own target, no doubt enjoying her time. Roman not so much.
He ducked under as her sabre cut down, blocking another strike with his cane before finally being forced back under another strike.
He wasn't a push over or weakling but he also wasn't an idiot. He knew when he was out matched and this was one of those times.
He bent back slightly, just missing a cut aimed at his throat, before another came for his chest. The blade made contact with his forearm and he could feel his aura drop. Again he was forced back.
That frustrating exchange continued to happen as they were driven away from Neo and the other guy.
Roman bent back slightly, reaching towards the ground as he tried to dodge under her strike. The gravel he threw at her eyes didn't do any damage to her aura but it served as a momentary distraction.
It would be enough time for him to get a couple hits off. Or it should have been, were it not for the white glyph that appeared below him, sending him flying backwards.
Ad he rolled to a stop only one thought ran through his mind. Maybe he should have taken the other guy.
Winter rubbed the gravel from her eyes, attempting to see her opponent through her blurred vision. There was a dull burn there like she hadn't managed to remove it all, her eyes naturally wanting to force themselves shut. She forced them open in time to see him charge.
She held her sabre up, blocking the cane before it could strike her side. A fist rocketed towards her face a second later, she ducked under it but was forced back slightly.
Torchwick attempted to follow up and press his advantage by swiping at her legs. Winter glared at him as she flipped up above his cane to avoid the attack.
He swept low, attempting to catch her as she landed, again forcing her to pull back. This time however she didn't just move out of the way of his attack, instead she forced him back at the same time. Giving her the distance and time needed to use her semblance.
She watched as his look changed from one of arrogance to that of a man who realised they had made a mistake. The ground under her feet was covered in a large glyphs, the familiar white doves materialized seemingly out of nowhere.
To Torchwick's credit he did try and close the distance but he was far to slow. Winter breathe din as she prepared to release her summons, only for her concentration to be broken by gun fire.
Where it had come from, she could not say but the suddenness of it had been all it took for her to slip and the glyph to fail. Torchwick launched at her with a new desperation, one that proved behind his arrogance and ego was a cunning criminal. He wouldn't let her fall back and attempt to use her semblance again.
Winter ducked under another attack as she assessed her options. Torchwick was probably physically stronger but he had little other advantage. She was assuredly faster and more skilled.
The only thing that kept the fight from being over in a second were his underhanded tactics. He didn't fight like a hunter and that gave him some semblance of advantage if only in the fact she couldn't predict his attacks.
She swung low forcing him back slightly as he raised his cane and aimed it at the ground beneath her feet. A reticle popped up at the end of the cane and a shot struck the pavement, kicking dust and rock up into her face.
Winter held a hand over her eyes just long enough to stop a repeat of earlier before continuing the fight. She heard the strike long before she saw it, though it should have been obvious he would take that chance to attack.
The strike had been intended for her right arm, likely in the hopes she would drop her blade and be left undefended. She moved her sword to block, twisting her wrist in an awkward angle, the force of the strike might have broken it were it not for her aura.
The dirty tricks he pulled were not overly original. Despite that, they were still quite effective. He had attempted to back her into a container of dust, effectively putting a bomb behind her that he could detonate with the pull of a trigger.
She crouched down slightly as a glyph sparked to life under her feet, sending her flying off to the side as the attack struck. The container exploded in a fireball. She could feel the heat on her back and noticed several pieces of metal embed themselves in the surrounding area.
Luckily none had hit her, she doubted any would have hit Torchwick either. The criminal seemed to have been somewhat affected by the blast though, coughing slightly and not moving to attack her.
Winter knelt down, slowing her breathing and forcing a sense of calm over herself. She felt her semblance surge and the last of her dust burn as she tried to summon once more.
A slowly growing form rose from the ground. It was perhaps more dust than she should have used, draining what she had left and putting it into one attack was a risky move but it would pay off.
She had the speed and skill on Torchwick but his aura was still powerful, she hadn't been able to dish out enough damage so far and it was difficult to say how long it would take her to win.
Every second this fight went on was a second that things could go wrong. Torchwick was cunning and if she couldn't remove him quickly he would find some way to escape.
The beowulf rose from the glyph and began to take form. A thunderous sound shook the ground and Winter turned. The container that had explored earlier had started a fire, one that had clearly spread to something larger.
Winter's eyes widened as she threw herself to the side, nearly missing the scrap metal that flew past her. It took her a moment to compose herself as she stood, turning to her summons. Only to see it fading away as the scrap metal that had lodged into it fell to the ground.
It was bad luck. Torchwick finally seemed to be able to breath again, moving towards her with a smug smile on his face. As if he had planned for the chain reaction.
Winter berated herself for not thinking he had planned it. Perhaps he hadn't expected it to remove her summons but he was no foul, he knew what sat behind the container he shot at.
She had made the mistake of allowing him to control the flow of combat, no more. She was the better fighter, that had been proven, now she needed to show she was the smarter one.
Her eyes flicked to the side, she needed to corner him. Force him out in the open where he couldn't use things like containers full of dust as distractions.
Her eyes narrowed as she took in her surroundings, finding exactly what she needed.
She would have smiled had it not been so unprofessional. Torchwick had no idea what was coming.
Authors Note: It was a really hard decision to end the chapter here or to put the whole fight but I decided to do this… guess we'll see how that goes.
Time for the real reason everyone is here though, my end of chapter fireside talks. I am busy, like holy shit that's a lot of shit busy. I've said it before but I'll remind y'all just in case, I am a Soldier in the United States Army. That being said within the next month I have to study for and attend a Soldier of the Quarter board, take a Physical Fitness test, do an 18.6 mile ruck in four and a half hours, do a 12 mile ruck in four hours, run an obstacle course, go to the gun range to qualify with my weapon, and sit in on a promotion board.
Now… that might not sound too bad, until you factor in that most of that shit lands in the same two weeks. Oh and on top of all of that I have my day to day job and have to be trained how to do some new stuff for said job… Show me for wanting to be high speed.
All of this is a long winded excuse for why I might miss an upload, I shouldn't, but just in case you have been warned. I am ahead a couple chapters more than I planned to be so if I need to I can upload ahead of schedule. Just given yall some insight into my daily life these days.
Hope you all enjoyed the story and I encourage you to review. Positive or negative they always make my day.
Sincerely SE