Italics indicate thinking
Bold is for attacks
Leona's POV
With no time to waste we made a makeshift gurney and got Qrow on it, moving as quick as we could to get to a populated area where Neo could get the last of the tools and supplies she needed. We were rotating between who would carry the makeshift medical bed, who would take point and who'd watch the rear, right now Ruby and Jaune were on carry duty, Neo was keeping an eye on Qrow, Ren and I took the front and Nora and Tarzana had the back.
I looked back and could tell Neo was starting to get a little stressed out, she can tell that she's not fully trusted yet and while she is trying it's not easy without all her usual stuff. Back home the matriarchs are some of the best healers, having knowledge of so many medicines and elixirs, and Neo being from their line means she's the closet thing we've got to a healer.
"Just hang on Uncle Qrow." Ruby said with clear worry in her voice "We'll be there soon."
"Hmm." Neo mumbled something under her breath as Qrow coughed a bit.
"He's getting worse." Jaune said.
"How much farther?" Tarzana asked "Time is dwindling and this map is leading us nowhere."
"We have no way of knowing." Ren said "But I feel like we're close to something."
We soon came to a fork in the road with two options left to proceed since going back was no option.
"Mistral is that way." I pointed left.
"That means we're on the right path!" Nora cheered before she read the sign "Oh…"
"Does it say how far?" Ruby asked me.
"I don't see anything." I shook my head.
"The path goes up into the mountains." Tarzana noted "It won't be feasible to climb that way and carry him."
"He won't make a trip through that." Neo told me clearing her throats "Other path."
"Okay well what about this place?" Ruby asked "Kuroyuri? Maybe we can get help there?"
"That village was destroyed years ago." Ren told her "There's nothing left there."
"If it'll take us around that mountain it's the best shot." Jaune said.
"It will take too long." Ren shook his head.
"If the town had a doctor there may be supplies and tools left that Neopolitan can use." Tarzana said.
"Hmm." Neo nodded up and down rapidly.
"I told you there's nothing there!" Ren snapped in a rare moment of anger.
"He's hiding something." Tar told me.
"Yeah I know." I hummed "What do you think we should do?"
"Let's just split up." Nora said backing Ren up "We'll go up the mountain pass, the Amazons can escort Ruby and Jaune around the long way through the village, we'll meet up in Mistral."
"It's not safe to split up." Jaune said "What if that guy comes back."
"We don't have time to play things safe." Tarzana sighed "If they cut through the mountain perhaps they can get help faster, or locate another place for us to go, we have to cover as may options as possible, or we'll hit our time limit and he will die."
"Tarzana and I will be enough to defend these three." I nodded "Nora and Ren will scout the other way and we'll meet up on the other side."
"Alright." Jaune gave up his protest "Just…be careful and take care of each other."
"We always have." Nora smiled.
We all split up and started moving out, Tarzana took the back like and I had the front.
"They'll be okay." Ruby smiled "Don't worry."
"Hmm…" Tarzana stopped walking.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Something passed by here." She looked at the ground "Make sure to stay alert Leona."
"You got it." I nodded "How big?"
"…too big." She smirked.
"Just how we like it." I laughed.
Later
Neo's POV
We made it to the village before sunset but most of it was in ruins, probably had been for a decade or so. There wasn't much left for me to use, certainly not the proper kits for brewing an antivenom.
"How's it looks?" Ruby asked.
I swallowed and cleared up my throat "Not…it's fine. I…stabilized him a little more, he has a few more hours but…time is running out."
I coughed a bit.
"It hurts doesn't it." She told me "You don't have to force yourself to talk to me."
"I…could say the same to you." I told her "I know…none of you trust me."
She sighed "No, I do, Uncle Qrow wouldn't have made it this far if not for you thank you. If I'm being honest at first I didn't but you've done all this, if you were really still against us you wouldn't have bothered and would have taken the chance to hurt our side by killing Uncle Qrow. Even without that I trust you…because Leona trusts you and I trust her."
"You are…kind." I hummed "I see now, why they hate you so much. They're so hateful and you're…very kind. I see now why Leona likes you."
"We just, get each other I guess." She rubbed her wrists.
"These scars, you…bleed for her?" I asked.
"I few times back at school when she got her…umm urges." Ruby blushed.
I looked at her wrists.
These scars…she fed on Ruby a lot.
"So we didn't even fight…at full strength." I hummed.
"What was that?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing." I smiled.
Leona's POV
"I can't find a damn thing here." I told the others.
"OREEAAAAA!" I heard a screeching in the distance.
"Sounds far off." Ruby hummed meeting up with us.
"For now…" Tar mumbled a bit.
"What's with the look Ruby?" I looked at her.
"It's my fault, I dragged everyone along to follow me on this stupid trip and now…" she frowned "I should have just gone on my own."
"You didn't drag us in." Jaune said "We're here cause we want to be."
"Adventuring with you is all I ever liked doing since I came here." I told her "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"But Tyrian and-." She said.
"Quit feeling sorry for yourself." Tarzana told her "It gets us nowhere. You have people fighting with you so accept it, everyone here is fighting for themselves and the other members of this team, we all should be prepared to throw our lives on the line for each other."
"Hmm." Neo smiled.
"We're out here to make something of this whole crazy situation." I put a hand on her shoulder "So relax, and have some faith we can all handle ourselves."
"ORREEEEEAAAAA!"
"It's getting closer." I reached back for my blade.
"I've never heard anything like it." Ruby told me.
"Screeching…this level of destruction…the footprints." Tar mumbled "So the beast does exist and we walked right into its home territory, I thought it only a Grimm of legend."
"Time to add something new to the hunting book?" I asked "What is it?"
"A Nuckelavee." Tar hummed.
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
"Half man, half horse and all Grimm." Tarzana told her "I wager we have…five minutes till it arrives."
It's moving that fast?" Jaune asked.
"What part of half horse did you not hear?" I growled hefting Bloodsplitter onto my shoulder.
"Prepare as quickly as you can." Tarzana said "Move Qrow while you can. This village is about to become a battlefield.
We took our brief opening to move Qrow to a safer spot in the village and figure out the best place to strike from, it helped that Ren and Nora showed back up too. It was quite for a while, the only sound that of horse like clopping and then it showed up, it was a horse and riser like creature, but the rider had no legs, merged with the horse. The rider had horns and lonk tenril like arms with three fingers each. A quiver's worth of arrows had been lodged in its back but the creature paid them no mind.
"ORRRRREEEEE!" it roared loudly as it stepped around us.
"Begin." Tarzana yelled.
"HRRAAA!" I jumped off a roof and planned to just chop it in half with my blade but before I could get close it's arms stretched out at incredible speed and knocked me out of the air.
"Leona!" Ruby took some long distance shots to allow me to recover.
"Shit, it's really strong!" I laughed "I LOVE IT!"
"Don't get too cocky." Tarzana flashed by me.
In one fluid movement without breaking stride she reached down and pulled to machete like blades out of her calf holsters.
"HYA!" she slashed it's crooked fingered hands back.
"She's quick." Ruby told me.
"She's just warming up." I told her.
The top half of the Nuckelavee suddenly went limp as the horse started moving forward.
"Blasted creature." Tarzana went back in and jumped up into the air.
"She's doing it." I hummed.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Her Semblance." I explained "You know how when you spin around you get dizzy, well that can't happen to Tarzana, she's like a living gyroscope, she can spin her body any which way and never lose her orientation thanks to her power of Cyclone"
Tarzana spun around in the air and like a buzz saw sliced into the beasts back. The horse half came to a halt and the human like portion sat up like some sort of crudely maneuvered puppet.
"OREEEAAAAA!" it screamed again and started charging.
"HMPH!" Ren palmed the ground and used his powers to mask us from view.
Once we had a chance to regroup Nora unloaded with a barrage of her grenades while Ruby and I gave a little more covering fire.
"Neo can you knock it out." I asked loading up another arrow.
"Too big." She shook her head "Can't do much."
"RAA!" the beast tried to swing at us so I quickly used my blade to block it, but it seemed to have no issue scooping me up and sending me flying.
"HYAAAP!" Tarzana clicked her blades together to make a glaive and threw it like at the beasts head and caught it on the return trip.
"Any ideas?" I asked her standing up.
"The two halves are always moving separately." She explained "The top half doesn't seem to attack while the horse is walking, and while the top attacks the horse stays still, it can't manage both halves simultaneously."
"So then let's twist it up." Jaune went back at it "Run in a circle!"
"ORRREAAAA!" the Nuckelavee roared as we circled around it.
"It's getting confused!" Ruby said.
"EEERRRRRAAAAAR!" it twisted it's top half and spun in place to catch up with us and knock us back,.
"Way to jinx it." I laughed landing next to Ruby.
"Well it was working for a bit." She pouted.
"This thing is smarter than it looks." I hummed.
"HMM!" Neo slid under it, dragging her knife across it's underbelly "AH!"
The horse reared back and bucked her away, causing her to fly over and crash into me.
"Thanks." She jumped up.
"Oh yeah, you're very welcome." I rolled my eyes a bit.
Still the slice to the undersized was enough to piss the thing off even more.
"REEEEEAAAAOOOOOEEE!" it reared back and roared, the horns on its head and the spikes on it's back getting more noticeable and savage like.
"It's getting stronger?!" Nora yelled in disbelief.
"Alright it's getting strong!" I cheered.
"I haven't had a hunt this good in years." Tarzana smiled.
"ORRRRREEEEEEE!" the Nuckelavee roared like a banshee as its mouth opened all the way.
While it has us stunned with its sonic burst the beast slammed Ren into a wall, pinning him down.
"Gimme a boost!" Nora ran at me.
"You got it." I held my hand out.
She jumped up and landed on my hand, I pulled back at the same time and threw her like a fastball.
"ORRAAA!" I hurled her as fast as I could.
Nora used her hammer to block the beasts other arm from hitting Ren, but ended up being pinned herself before being tossed like a ragdoll.
"Okay, I believe we can kill this beast." Tarzana told me "It's been some time but can you still preform that technique."
"I still know it yeah." I nodded "Neo?"
Hmm." She nodded "But…it's been a long time."
"It will work." Tarzana hummed "You four buy us a few moments will you, allow the Amazons to end this if you would.
NO POV
The others provided the needed covering fire while the Amazons got into positions.
"We will explain this to you as a courtesy." Tarzana spoke "For it's tradition to know how you will die."
"We have to explain it because once we start you'll be in such unbearable pain you won't be able to even comprehend it." Leona added.
"I will start." Neo said "But severing the veins on your wrists, ankles and neck."
"After which I'll cleave you clean in two." Leona explained.
"You will be launched skyward and fall back to the earth." Tarzana said "Where I will slice you into a million pieces. Oh and all of this…"
Each of them held up a hand with all fingers out.
"Will take Fifteen Seconds!" they yelled.
"Fifteen seconds?" Nora gasped.
"There's no way something like that…" Ren hummed.
"Begin!" Tarzana yelled.
Neo had already gotten close via one of her illusion techniques, her body dashed around the larger creature as she used her Veinripper to cut open the Nuckelavee's ankles, wrists and neck.
"Five…Leona!" she yelled.
"HRRRAAAA!" I physically strongest of the three yelled running in, her Bloodsplitter dragging around along the ground.
The beast was in clear pain from Neo's ripping assault which allowed Leona to easily get close, bring her blade upwards in a slicing motion and cut the monster clean in two, knocking it into the air.
"Ten…It's all you Tar!"
Their leader stepped in slowly, pulling her blades out of their holsters, she looked up and got into position, activating her Cyclone she spun in place like a top, the two halves falling into her kill zone and being chewed up like it was a blender.
"Fifteen!" she yelled as the beast two halves landed.
"Did it not work?" Jaune asked.
"Hmph." The three tribal all looked up.
"Amazon's Triangle Attack- Fifteen Second Slaughter: Viscera Rain!"
The Nuckelavee suddenly exploded into a cloud of black and red dust.
"Holy crap." The other four awed.
"They're…insanely strong." Ruby gulped "and I thought Leona was freakishly powerful but she never even showed us something like that."
"We've slowed down." Tarzana said "That took seventeen seconds, Leona."
"How's it my fault you're the one who took her sweet ass time getting into her position." The red head yelled back.
"You knocked it up to high, it took to long to fall that's what slowed us down!" Tarzana snapped back.
"That's the first time we've done it in over five years." Neo said "I think that was still pretty good."
Later
Leona's POV
Apparently all the commotion from our fight was enough to draw the attention of a nearby platoon who picked up us and took us Mistral where Neo was able to get the tools and assistance to heal Qrow.
"Writing a letter?" I saw Ruby sitting at a desk.
"Uhh yeah, it's for Yang." She smiled.
"See I told you not to worry it all worked out." I rubbed her head.
"Leona…thanks for coming back." She smiled "I really mean it."
"I know, I'm happy to be back, that place was keeping me different, I know what I did was wrong but I have to accept that I did what I did and try not to let it happen again." I told her "With Neo and Tar around, hopefully I can be more reliable now."
"You won't…never mind." She sighed.
"No, what is it?" I asked.
"It's just with your old friends here and now that I see you have all these special things you can do with them and not us, you're not gonna leave the team are you?" she asked.
"What would make you think that?" I asked "Just cause my old team is here, doesn't mean I'm not still your teammate, you, me, Weiss, Black and Yang will always be a team. I love fighting with you Ruby, I love being around you, there's something I get from being with you that I don't get with Tar or Neo, or anyone else."
"Yeah, me too." She smiled "You know…that team attack was pretty cool."
"You and I will have to work on something even better then." I smiled "Sound good?"
"Heck yeah it does!" she laughed "Oh shouldn't yell, Uncle Qrow is sleeping."
AN
Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.
Till Next Time!