Chapter 6: Across The Burning Bridge
Amongst all the kingdoms, perhaps one of the most commonly told tales, was of a once prosperous city. A city that at one time was bustling with life and joy, only for that to be snuffed out in a single moment. Once a bright, beautiful testament to humanity's tenacity now sits as a derelict reminder of the souls that once clung to it. This city was not particularly remarkable, nor important. However, the reason this story is so often told is because this city has existed countless times in every kingdom. Regardless of what kingdom you went to, you would hear of the same city, the same story, only the name would change.
One of these many cities, sat nestled between a river and a cliff in the kingdom of Mistral. Once a highly prosperous town, Divide, served as one of few cities making up a vital lifeline along one of Mistral's largest rivers. Aside from a sizeable steel mine, Divide had nothing else to boast of. With the advent of airships, the river's commerce began to dwindle, giving fewer hunter's a reason to pass through the town. Divide was tossed into an impoverished state, and on one fateful day, the few remaining hunters found themselves helpless as the city fell.
Ruby had spent an entire week working herself to the bone, both keeping tabs on team WBY and monitoring unusual freight movements within Mistral. Her work finally paid off when she discovered that in the last three months, freight entering the river had increased by fifteen percent. This in itself was nothing too unusual, as freight movement in the river fluctuated by anywhere from ten to twenty percent throughout the year. However, what was unusual was that the requests for security to the Hunter's Association, which usually fluctuated in sync with the freight movement hadn't increased at all. She also found that the first city along the river hadn't reported any increase in freight movement. Common sense would dictate that the additional fifteen percent were being stopped by grimm, however there was very few reports of grimm attacks from ships moving along the river.
She had no way of being certain until she actually arrived at the now desolate city, but Ruby felt confident that she would find what she needed there. Having decided it was worth her time, Ruby set out for Divide. Normally the easiest way to the city would be on the water, as all the roads were unmaintained. The trip would take an entire day via ship, and Ruby didn't have that time. With the need to get into the city discreetly, it didn't take Ruby long to decide to make the trip on foot. Normally this would be unthinkably foolish, both on account of the grimm and the overgrown swamp one would have to get through.
Ruby had decided that even if there was an easier way to get the mission done, this would be a good opportunity to finally pull herself together. Though she didn't like to admit it, Ruby knew that she had been in a slump, both mentally and physically. As such, she took nothing with her other than her weapon, ammo, and water. It was a walk in the park compared to the patrol in the corps, which could last up to a month. With the few things she had, Ruby set off as soon as she saw light on the horizon. By the time she had arrived at Divide, the sun was halfway to it's peak. Ruby had neglected to wear a watch, but she didn't need one to tell her that she was slow.
During her time in the corps, Ruby had taken it upon herself to evaluate her men in the field. She had set very clear standards, and she was quite vocal about the ones who failed to reach her standards. Out of habit Ruby was evaluating herself, so far she was failing miserably. Her next task was to begin her hunt. Ruby had decided to allot herself an hour to find her prey. Given the size of the city, it was a near impossible timeline. Impossible or not, with her poor performance lately, Ruby needed the extra motivation. Although team WBY had stated that they wouldn't leave until the culprit was found, time wasn't on Ruby's side. Taiyang had already been discharged from the hospital, and his injuries were supposed to be fully healed in four more days. As far as Ruby was concerned, Taiyang was just an additional element of danger she would have to account for, once he recovered.
Ruby immediately set off for the Divide's port, using her semblance to move across rooftops. As she observed the city below her, Ruby found it rather remarkable that anyone would continue to use the city with the state it was in. Most of Mistral she had seen so far had been in a rough state, however Divide could hardly be called a husk of a city. Crumbled remnants of buildings lay scattered about the deteriorating streets. What little remained of the once tall buildings of Divide rotted in place, littered with bullet holes and burn marks. The scars of the brief resistance that was mounted, all too obvious.
Divide's port couldn't be said to be in much better condition than the rest of the city. The scars of battle in the area much more prominent, likely the last bastion of hope as people attempted to escape the city as it was overrun. Ruby walked along the waterside, observing the movements of ships along the river. She had wondered how someone could move ships in and out of the abandoned port without anyone noticing, however now that she stood along the water's edge it was obvious. Divide sat at a bend in the river, which was much wider than the rest of the river. Due to the expanse of the bend in the river coupled with the fog that rolled across the water, Ruby's trained eyes could barely see the vessel's on the far side of the river. Divide itself was a breeding ground for Grimm, so it would only make sense that anyone passing the city would keep as wide a breadth as possible.
As she continued along the port, Ruby's thoughts were interrupted by a low hum. She quickly ducked behind a pile of nearby debris, looking out at the water, just in time to see a large vessel break through the fog. The ship in question, a nondescript cargo vessel approximately one hundred meters in length. Ruby could see a few crew members standing on the deck, all of which were wearing rain jackets, covering their heads and bodies. Despite their attire, Ruby's trained eyes had little difficulty making out the distinct outline of dust rifles hanging under their jackets. Ruby had written them off as a fairly incompetent terrorist organization years ago, she was surprised to see just how disciplined they now seemed.
All the men on the deck stood steadfast, their eyes trained on their surroundings. For Ruby it didn't make much difference. If anything, the girl found the extra challenge extremely inviting. Ruby wasn't sure that she would get much out of today's endeavor, so she was hoping that they
would be able to atleast put up a fight. Ruby quickly looked up at the sky, taking note of the sun's position.
Seriously, I was so close too.
Though she couldn't give an exact number of minutes, Ruby could tell you that it took her just over an hour. Though there were easier ways to tell time, using the sun and stars had become something of a habit. Usually it would be a fairly useless skill, however as Ruby had learned in the corps, watches and electronics tend to stop working when exposed to extreme cold. As such, being able to have a sense of time when you were stuck in perpetual daylight or darkness was helpful.
Ruby readied her aura, waiting for the briefest opening in their security she activated her semblance. Blasting off the port, Ruby landed on the vessel without a sound. Sitting low between a couple guards, she wasted no time in figuring out her next movement. Spotting an opening between freight containers, the girl activated her semblance again. Bolting down rows of containers, Ruby came to a secluded opening in the middle of the rows. Stopping to observe the steel containers lining the ship, she was completely unsurprised to find the Schnee Dust Company logo. Knowing better than to hang out in the open, Ruby quickly opened one of the dust filled containers and stepped inside.
Once she had secured the door behind herself, Ruby decided she may as well get comfortable. Sitting down in a corner, Ruby let herself relax as the ship sailed to it's destination. After some time had passed, Ruby felt the ship come to a stop, shortly followed by the sound of heavy machinery. She continued to wait in silence, knowing that if she came out now she could lose her opportunity. Eventually, Ruby heard a loud, bang, above her head. Following the noise, Ruby could feel her container lift into the air, and begin slowly swinging away from the ship.
Standing up, Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from it's holster on her back. Flicking the switch to transform it, the weapon quickly spun out into it's full form finishing with a satisfying, click. Ruby was comforted by the heavy feeling of Crescent Rose in it's complete form. Ruby was in a hurry to finish up here, as such bringing along her weapon in it's crippled form would only slow her down. Hefting the weapon overhead, Ruby brought the scythe around in a single vertical arc, bisecting the container. The girl's action immediately brought herself, and both halves of the container crashing to the ground.
Ruby landed gracefully, preceded by the sound of two massive crashes. As Ruby took stock of her surroundings, she found herself surrounded by masked faunus with rifles aimed at her, "Well, looks like I came to the right place," Ruby's smug voice reached the ears of the masked men, only seconds before the deafening sound of gunfire filled the area. The action of the White Fang came too late, their target disappearing before their triggers could engage. Ruby reappeared before a crowd of White Fang, the barrels of their weapons clattering to the ground
as she did. Before they could react to her presence, Crescent Rose spun around again. What the men could barely perceive as a single attack, left countless deep gouges on them all.
Another burst of rose petals, before any of the nearby men could blink, blood filled the air around them. Out of panic many of the men began firing their weapons, their action gaining them no ground as they continued to fall in a flurry of rose petals and blood. In a last ditch effort, one of the larger Faunus rallied the remaining men having them take up a defensive formation with their back to a nearby warehouse. The large man in the center of the formation barked out orders, attempting to fight back. The formation of men stood vigilant, waiting for their foe to appear. The men continued to wait, the seconds feeling like an eternity. Instead of being greeted by the sight a rose petals, the men were sent flying when the wall behind them erupted in flames.
The leader of the men struggled to his feet, trying desperately to locate the enemy. Before he had a chance, he was sent back to the ground, a black combat boot slamming into his face. As he looked up, disoriented, he found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle.
"Goddamn hunters," he muttered out, through a mouth full of blood. Suddenly the barrel was gone, the girl grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up to make eye contact.
"Try again, asshole. Once you come back to your senses, you'll notice your men are still alive. If you want things to stay that way, you're gonna do me a couple favors," Ruby's cold voice cut through the man's ears.
"We'd rather die."
"I figured you say that," Ruby smirked, and brought her weapon up to point at a nearby stack of containers. Activating the dust crystal in her weapon, Ruby fired a round penetrating and igniting the container, resulting in a ground shaking explosion.
"What the hell are you doing!"
"Well you said you'd rather die, but I'm not really in the mood to kill all of you. I figure if I destroy all this dust though… your boss should take care of the rest," Ruby replied, the joy in her voice nauseating the man.
"Wait, fuck! Fine, fine, I'll listen. What do want?" the faunus man screamed, overcome by fear.
"Don't worry, it won't cost you anything other that some time and dust."
"I'm so damn tired of this! We've been looking for this bitch forever, and we're getting nowhere," the outburst of anger came from Yang Xiao Long as she paced around team WBY's room.
"Calm down, Yang. No one is happy, but it's our fault for expecting her to slip up again," Blake's voice interrupted her, attempting to calm Yang down.
"Yea, I get that, but shouldn't she have made a move by now? I mean, Uncle Qrow got jumped his first night here. The next day, Dad picks up on the bitch, and a few days later they throw down," the blonde continued to grumble.
Tensions ran high in team WBY's room, after spending a week trying to draw out Taiyang and Qrow's attacker, the team had come back without any results.
"I think that's where we made a mistake. Don't you think it's weird that Taiyang and Qrow hadn't even been here for an entire day, when this person managed to find a perfect chance to attack Qrow? With Taiyang, the reason that run in happened so soon was because he noticed her," Weiss spoke up curiously. "I think there's a good chance that the two of them were followed here from Vale. If that's the case, then our enemy is far more complex than we first thought."
"Well, if that's the case, then there's no predicting what our enemy is going to do," Black added.
"So instead of getting the jump on her, we're stuck sitting around playing defense until one side gets complacent," Yang cut in, both her teammates stopping to stare at her, "What! Even I say smart things too, sometimes."
The other two girls couldn't help but begin laughing, quickly inciting Yang into the same behavior. The joy was soon interrupted, as the phone began ringing. Blake reached over and picked it up.
"Yes, this is team WBY's room. Right now? Alright, we'll be right over," Blake hung up the phone, a confused look on her face, "Someone from the hospital is here to see us."
Team WBY, made their way to the reception area of the building, tensions clearly running high amongst the team. As the team walked into the room, they were greeted by the sight of a beautiful young faunus. To say that the team found the girl stunning was an understatement. The girl was at least as tall as Blake, and a cat faunus as well. She had silk like silver hair, flowing past her shoulders, soft facial features accented by sharp emerald eyes.
"Hello, my name's Tamara Morris. I'm the life flight pilot at the local hospital, and I'm here about a security bulletin that was put out at the hospital," the faunus stated, holding up a hospital badge with her name and face.
"You have information that you think can help us?" Weiss questioned.
"Help? Well, I'm pretty sure I can take you right to her. I'm actually the one that transported Qrow Branwen to the hospital, at the time I was informed that a, Mister Xiaolong, was the only one here who knew him. So when I heard someone come into the hospital later in the week asking about both of them, I thought it was pretty weird."
"Look, we already have that information. If you came to give us her description, then you're only wasting your time," Yang replied callously.
"Yang, you don't have to be so harsh," Blake scolded.
"Actually… I've seen her a bunch of times. I think she might live near me," the faunus continued meekly.
The three girl's eyes widened instantly, the demeanor becoming far more serious, "You're certain about this?" Weiss questioned.
"Pretty much. She's definitely the same girl I saw come to visit those guys, and other than you three, she's the only one who's visited them," she replied confidently.
"Even if it isn't certain, it's the best chance we have," Blake added.
"I'm down. We finally have a chance to get a jump on the bitch," Yang's eyes had now turned a brilliant red.
"Wait, going right now is a bad idea. We should hold off and figure out a better approach," Weiss spoke up, acting as the voice of reason.
"What the hell do you mean, wait. We know where she is, this is a perfect chance!" Yang's anger now being directed towards Weiss.
"Like hell we know where she's at! She may be within eyesight of us right now. If we go there, she'll follow us straight back to her hideout. You think she'll come back after?" this logic, quickly calming Yang down.
"Ummmm… I'm not a hunter, but what if she can't follow you? I was being kinda lazy, so I came here in my airship. I can fly you guys there," the pilot interjected, stunning all three girls.
Yang and Blake stared at Weiss intently, not needing to say anything, "Fine, let's go."
Once the four women had reached the roof, team WBY found themselves shocked at the sight of the pilot's airship. What greeted them wasn't the simple civilian model airship that they had
expected. Instead was a sleek, grey, unmarked airship. The design was overtly military, the windows had been blacked out, and it had mounts which were clearly intended for weapons.
"This, is your airship?" Blake asked, gaping at the machine before her.
"Yea, she's a scrapped Atlas Military project. Aviation mechanics kinda goes along with the whole pilot thing. I found her sitting in a scrapyard, and just knew I had to have her. So about a year, and a lot of money later, here we are," the pilot rambled proudly.
"You rebuilt it from the ground up?" Weiss questioned.
"Ehh, pretty much. The military had yanked everything except the engines. Those, they could never get to work. So, it was quite the tall order. Well, we should get going,"
Once inside, they found that the interior was just as impressive as the exterior. Peeking into the cockpit, the girls could tell that it was no ordinary vessel. The electronics themselves, looked more advanced than what was inside of most military ships.
"Go ahead and strap in, it shouldn't take long to get there. It's just the next town over," the team's new acquaintance yelled, as the engines began to spin up. Upon the announcement, the engines sped up, the craft lifting into the air seconds later.
As they began their trip, Annette began to think about her conversation with Scarlette the previous day. Though the girl had reassured her that everything would work, Annette couldn't help but think about how risky it seemed.
"Look, I'm not saying that your plan won't work. I'm just trying to explain, that it's a bad plan," Annette groaned, as she grabbed up her things from the safehouse.
"And, I'm not arguing with you. It's a bad plan, it might not work, and there's a couple of uncertainties. However, if everything happens as it's supposed to, then it's the only way that I can be sure my target will separate," Ruby answered her, the tone of her voice suggesting a serious lack of interest in the conversation.
"How? If they don't see through my cover, if your distraction actually comes through, if they don't see through it, and if they decide to split up, then your plan will work. How can you be so sure about what they'll do anyway? You've been following them for all of a week, yet you act like you know everything about them," Annette continued to push the topic, refusing to let Ruby blow her off.
"Then, are you out?" the younger girl questioned Annette, her demeanor becoming serious.
"And if I am?"
"Please, I need your help to make this work. I promise I'll make it up to you," Ruby pleaded with Annette, now standing only inches away. Annette stared down into large silver eyes, feeling her resolve crumble.
With a deep sigh, she answered Ruby, "Okay… I'll do it. So what if things go south? You do have a backup plan, right?"
"Of course," Ruby chimed with a giant smile on her face.
"Shouldn't I be filled in on your backup plan? This does pertain to me as well."
"Uuhhhh, about that…." Ruby looked away sheepishly, "So if things go south, you can just run, leave things to me."
"Scarlette, what's plan B?"
"Charge?" Ruby practically whispered, anticipating her partner's response.
Annette glared at Ruby, her face full of disappointment, "You're an idiot. Seriously, how'd you ever make it this far?"
Ruby began whining in frustration, clearly embarrassed by Annette's response, "That's always Plan B though… It's worked so far."
Annette let out a deep sigh, and began rubbing her head, "You really are unreal," at the comment Ruby began grinning from ear to ear, "Stop that, I didn't mean that as a compliment. You're seriously creepy sometimes."
From that point on their conversation had quickly devolved, the topic of the next day's operation disappearing all together. What Annette had found truly strange, was that she was enjoying herself. As annoyed as she was, as stupid as she knew the next day's plan was, she realized that she was actually having fun working with the other girl. Fun, was something that Annette hadn't thought of in quite a long time.
"We'll be arriving in couple minutes. It'll be the metal building tucked away, over there," Annette informed her passengers, pointing to the abandoned building, housing her safe house.
"Get us over top of the building, then get yourself to safety," Weiss commanded, "I have my doubts that she's home, but if she is we're going in hot."
Doing as she was ordered, Annette moved the airship over top of the building, all three girls jumping out of the ship. As soon as they had landed, Annette maneuvered away, setting her ship down a block away from the building.
So far the plan was working, or Ruby had decided to assume it was until she heard otherwise. She had once again removed the head of Crescent Rose, already missing being able to use her weapon in it's full capacity. As she made her way into the hospital, Ruby grabbed out a couple metal orbs from a pouch on her belt. Approaching the desk, Ruby spotted the same receptionist from the last time she had visited.
"Oh, you're the same young lady from the other day. If you're here to visit the same two, Mister Xiao Long has already been discharged, however Mister Branwen's condition hasn't changed," the receptionist aptly informed her.
"No, you see I was curious, what's the least essential area of the hospital?" Ruby asked, her expression dead serious.
"Excuse me? I don't understand."
"I see. So, let's say, something horrible were to happen in the hospital, and someone were to warn you first. What area could you evacuate fastest?" Ruby nonchalantly questioned the receptionist.
"I still don't understand, but I suppose it would be the southeast wing. It's mainly administrative, and storage rooms over there. Can I ask wh "
"Good, go ahead and evacuate it," Ruby ordered.
"Excuse me! I don't know if this is supposed to be a joke but "
Two metallic, pings, could be heard. A second later, the two metal orbs flew from Ruby's hands, "Ten minutes," Ruby turned and began to walk away, twin explosions rocked the hospital. The grenades Ruby had tossed launching fire and shrapnel in all directions. Walking out of the hospital, a man in a hooded sweatshirt stood just outside the door, staring at Ruby, "Fifteen minutes, southeast wing."
The three members of Team WBY busted in the steel door of the safe house, pushing their way into the room. Their weapons at the ready, the girls took stock of their surroundings, coming to the realization that they were the only ones inside.
"You know, when I think of a criminal's hideout, this is pretty much it," Yang commented.
"Quit being a dork, and start looking for some kind of clue," Weiss commanded.
The three girls, quickly went to work tearing apart the building. After an extensive search effort, they managed to turn up empty handed. Tearing apart furniture, doors, floor panels, and anything that they could break, they came out with nothing.
"I don't think that she was foolish enough to leave anything here," Blake finally admitted.
"Seems like it. So now we wait," Yang answered her.
"We should probably stage ourselves outside, even from the stairs it'll be rather obvious that someone's been here," Weiss responded.
"Sounds good to me, where we stagin up?" Yang asked enthusiastically.
"Good question, Blake I suppose you'd be the expert," Weiss replied, directing Yang's attention to the faunus girl.
"There are some good places nearby. I suppose we can " Blake was cut off, as the sound of a massive blast cut through the air. All three girls quickly went to the roof, looking for the source of the explosion. From their place on the roof, they could see a massive plume of flame and smoke billowing out of a building on the horizon.
"Isn't that " Weiss began to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of her scroll. Weiss stared at the device, wide eyed at what she read, "The hospital, someone set a bomb off at the hospital. Witnesses are saying it was the White Fang."
"The White Fang hasn't committed a major attack in two years, why here?" Blake cried, on the verge of panic.
"Doesn't matter, we're going!" Yang shouted as she began storming off.
"Stop, Yang!" Weiss screamed after the blonde, "We can't go! The Hunter's Association has already sent all available teams to assist. If we leave now, we lose our chance. Weren't you the one who was hell bent on finding the person who attacked Qrow and Tai?"
"Uncle Qrow is still there! We can still find her, but I have to go help Qrow," Yang argued, for once sounding like the more reasonable of the team.
"What about Ruby!" Weiss bellowed, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Ruby's already gone, I'm not losing Qrow too," Yang responded, the red gone from her eyes.
As they were arguing, their ride from before appeared overhead. A loud voice bellowing out from the ship, "I'm heading for the hospital, are you three coming?"
"You go Yang. Weiss and I should be able to handle this person, but it's not worth it if we let Qrow get hurt again," Blake answered calmly, Weiss nodded in agreement.
"Thanks guys," as the airship sat down, Yang quickly climbed aboard, the vessel lifting off almost instantly.
Yang stared intently out the window, full of uncertainty, "How long until we reach the hospital?"
The pilot was silent for a second before responding, " Don't worry, we'll get where we are going soon enough."
Yang couldn't help but think about what Weiss had said.
What if this person knows where Ruby is?
What if Weiss and Blake can't handle her?
Not much later they approached the the town, Yang watched as the hospital quickly came into view. Yang's nerves began to run wild, eager to get on the ground, however she felt the ship suddenly lurch and veer away from the hospital.
"What the hell are you doing! Where do you think you're going?" Yang shouted, her eyes turning red as she watched the hospital shrink behind them. Yang's anger only increased when she received no answer, flames now licking at her skin. The angry blonde activated Ember Celica, a loud click could be heard as she chambered a slug, "You better start talking."
"Either shoot me, or sit the fuck down," Annette replied, hardly a hint of emotion in her voice
Yang stood there for a moment, seething in anger, knowing she wouldn't shoot the other woman. Turning on her heel, Yang walked back to her seat anxiously waiting to find out where she was being taken. Thinking the situation over, Yang now realized just how foolish her team had been. A complete stranger had contacted them directly, claimed to have first hand knowledge of their target, and they had done nothing to verify her claims.
After a few more minutes the airship began to get lower to the ground, looking out the window Yang could see that they were approaching the port. As they got lower, the door to the airship opened out to the port, a single woman standing there in front of Yang.
"Are you the bitch that's responsible for all this?" Yang questioned, stepping out of the airship. The woman across from her wore a dark red jacket, and black skirt that barely went to her knees. Yang couldn't make out her face behind a crimson scarf, and the jacket's hood. The sun sat low on the horizon behind the girl, the poor lighting obscuring her features.
Ruby knew this point would come eventually. Standing across from the same person who had protected her for years, then turned her back on Ruby, she refused to hesitate. Ruby's palms were sweating, her heart racing, the only thought left in her mind was how to overcome her foe. Ruby didn't have any desire to speak to Yang, nor did she have a need to.
In response to Yang's question, Ruby only reached behind her back, a large red staff unfolding behind her. The airship behind Yang lifted off the ground, a wave crashed against the port, Ruby disappeared. Yang immediately brought up her fists, putting herself in a boxing stance. She could barely make out a dark blur flash across her vision, bringing up her hands she was knocked off balance when a red staff slammed into Ember Celica. Bracing herself, Yang cocked back her fist, throwing a volley of punches at her enemy. Ruby in turned dodged each one as if her body was attached to spring. Activating her aura again Ruby vanished, moving to flank Yang, only to be stopped as fist crossed her vision.
Diving under the blow, Ruby caught herself with a single hand tossing herself into the air. Spinning as she flipped herself over, Ruby threw a kick at Yang's head, the blonde easily ducking it. Landing back on her feet, Ruby brought the end of her weapon up, firing a dust charged shot at her target. Yang once again maneuvered out of the way, in return firing her weapon at Ruby multiple times. Ruby easily danced around the shots, once again closing the distance between the two. Ruby brought up her weapon to attack, Yang ducking preemptively. As Ruby prepared to reorient her weapon, she found the ground give way under her feet. Yang had taken the opportunity when she dodged, firing multiple rounds into the ground, had broken the concrete under Ruby's feet.
Ruby attempted to regain her balance, only to be stopped when she felt her opponent's hands latch onto her body. She felt her body jerked up, the motion reversed instantly, as her opponent slammed her onto the ground. Ruby felt the air leave her lungs and her senses go numb as her body impacted the ground. Knowing that she was far too vulnerable, Ruby commanded her body to get up, commanded it to fight back. Instead she felt herself yanked off the ground by her ankle. Yang yanked Ruby's body, tossing her across the ground once again. Ruby forced herself to get back in the fight, turning herself over as she rolled across the pavement. Skidding across the ground, she could feel the ground beneath her feet, pushing herself into a fighting stance as she skidded to a stop.
Reorienting herself to her enemy, Ruby found Yang charging at her. Aiming her weapon at Yang, Ruby emptied her magazine in an attempt to buy time to recover. Ruby activated her aura again, charging at Yang and taking well aimed swings at her body. As Yang dodged and
blocked, Ruby continued to speed up the pace of her attacks. Her efforts paying off when a blow eventually caught Yang in the stomach. Not letting up, Ruby kept up her efforts, managing to deliver two more blows to Yang's leg and shoulder.
As Ruby began to get confident, Yang managed to catch Ruby's weapon. Knowing to immediately escape the situation, Ruby let go of her weapon and began to retreat. Not managing to back off in time, Ruby still managed to catch a blow to the gut.
"Want this, bitch?" Yang yelled spitefully, tossing Crescent Rose towards the ocean. Ruby launched herself off the ground, leaping over Yang's head, and receiving her weapon in midair. Catching Yang off guard, Ruby reloaded her weapon, and fired a round at Yang. Not noticing her opponent's sudden movement in time, Yang was unable to dodge the round, her aura receiving the blow.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, Ruby once again closed the distance between the two. Readying her weapon on approach, Ruby spun her weapon in a circle around her body, negating the momentum at the last second. Bringing her the end of her weapon straight up, Ruby caught Yang with a blow to the chin, disorienting her. Not willing to pass up the advantage, Ruby continued her assault, attacking Yang's body at a blistering speed. Yang brought her arms up in an attempt to defend in her impaired state.
Ruby stopped the attack momentarily, Yang looking up to take the offensive, only to find her opponent missing. Yang could hear the soft tap of her opponent coming to stop behind her, followed by a metallic click and a bang just as she was thrown forward by a dust powered round. As she saw the ground fill her vision, Yang attempted to catch herself. Before she could, Ruby charged again using her staff to transfer her momentum to the back of Yang's head.
Yang slammed into the ground, tumbling across the cold cement. Just as Ruby believed she had the fight under control, her opponent exploded in flames, standing up and glaring at Ruby with crimson eyes.
I knew this would be a pain in the ass.
Ruby's thoughts distracting her momentarily, long enough for Yang to close the distance. Throwing a punch at incredible speeds, Ruby barely had time to intercept. The force of the punch knocked Ruby off her feet. Showing Ruby the same brutality she had recieved, Yang didn't wait for her to recover. Delivering a series of punches before Ruby could even get her feet back on the ground.
Ruby could feel every inch of her body screaming out, her mind waning. Refusing to let herself pass out, Ruby reached into a pouch on her belt grabbing a yellow crystal. Ruby however, could not get her body to move as fast as it should, Yang back on top of her. Yang once again throwing a vicious punch, Ruby barely dodging in time for the fist to graze her face. Yang threw
another punch, Ruby bringing up her hand that was holding the crystal. Yang didn't have time to even register what was happening, only felt the crystal shatter as she punched Ruby's hand. The two girls were instantly enveloped in massive arcs of electricity.
The two stood no more than a foot apart, both of their bodies felt as if they were on fire. Neither was willing to concede, both still trying to overcome the damage the electric dust had done. Ruby once again cursed her misfortune, Yang's semblance once again coming to life. Ruby could see the smirk plastered across Yang's face, could feel the flames swelling up around her. The blonde pulled her fist back, a torrent of flames billowing around the two.
"Eat this bitch," Yang muttered out, putting all her strength into her arm. To Ruby, it felt like an eternity watching Yang's fist creep towards her, anticipating the blow she was about to receive. Ruby's eternity ended, Yang's fist colliding with her gut, a massive explosion of aura and flame throwing Ruby into the air. Ruby felt her numb body slam into the ground, bouncing off and impacting the cement again and again. Ruby's body eventually came to a stop almost a hundred meters from Yang. Ruby knew she needed to stand, needed to fight, but no matter how many times she commanded it to, her body wouldn't move. The most she could do was look up to see Yang storming over to her, she blinked and Yang was over her. Ruby couldn't hear what she was saying, but she knew Yang was yelling. She noticed that at some point Yang had picked her up by her collar.
"Fucking talk! What do you want with my family? What do you know about Ruby?" Yang cried out, her fury evident. Even if Ruby were inclined to answer, she couldn't. As she laid there, her sister screaming at her, a look of disgust aimed at her, she could hear words echoing in her head.
"At the rate you're pushing yourself, you will eventually break again. There might not be anyone there to pick you up next time."
Is this it old man? Is this where I break? In the end she'll probably find out everything too. What was the point of even trying?
Ruby prepared to give up, was ready to let the whole damn charade come to an end. However Yang's screaming was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. Yang spun around, another gunshot could be heard. For a single brief second Ruby could see past Yang, the visage of a woman with long silver hair could be seen in the distance. Yang dropped Ruby, charging at the interruption.
"Get up! Is this your fucking Plan B?" Ruby knew the voice, unable to believe that the faunus had come to her rescue. Ruby could see Yang closing in on her, and felt fear creeping into her veins.
Stand up! Stand up! Stand up!
Get the fuck up, you useless girl!
Digging deep, Ruby grasped at any strand of strength she could find. Her body screamed out at her, skin torn, bones broken, Ruby didn't care. She continued to push, knowing she had something left, she always had something left. She had fought for months on end, always on the verge of collapse.
How could I become this weak?
I can't actually be this weak, can I?
No.
Yang was mere feet from Annette, readying herself to attack when Ruby found it. That same familiar feeling that had once carried her. That same bone chilling cold once again filled her body. Yang's fist was cocked back, ready to strike. Ruby could see her muscles tense, the fist fly forward. The entire world slowed to a crawl, rose petals exploded in all directions. Just as Yang's fist was about to hit the faunus girl, she felt her arm stop as caught in a vice grip. In her blind rage, Yang turned to find the culprit, stopping as rose petals filled her vision. Yang found herself staring into brilliant silver eyes.
The blonde woman found herself surrounded by a swirl of silver light and rose petals, "No, I…"
Yang was unable get out a coherent thought, before she found herself flying through the air. Facing the sky, Yang suddenly found a brilliant silver lit entity above her. Ruby slammed both her feet into Yang's chest, slamming her into the ground. The blonde huntress bounced across the pavement, before managing to stand herself up. In a mad panic to identify her enemy, Yang's eyes found the other girl just in time for her to vanish in another flash of rose petals. The same instant Yang registered what happened, she felt herself tossed like a ragdoll, feeling the blow a second later.
Ruby stood next to the silver haired faunus, her mind racing. She no longer thought about concealing her identity from her sister, nor did she care about her objective, "Why?"
"Well I noticed you were gettin your ass handed to you, figured I'd give plan B a shot. Thanks for the save," Annette gave a relaxed response, regardless of Ruby's tone.
"You're an idiot. We're coming up with a new plan B," Ruby continued to talk, never taking her eyes off of Yang.
"It was just startin to grow on me too. So, did you win yet?" at the same moment the blonde girl once again pushed herself off the ground. Not wasting a second, Ruby was gone leaving behind another cloud of rose petals, "Fuck that's hot."
It's not. It can't be.
That's not her.
Could she hate us that much?
"You're not her," Yang spit out through a mouth full of blood. Yang brought up her fists again, flames once again breathing to life around her, "I refuse to accept that."
Ruby approached again at impossible speeds, an explosion of flames halting her approach. The brief pause nearly costing her, Ruby's vision barely picking up a flame covered fist in front of her. Activating her semblance again, Ruby disappeared swinging for another blow at her sister. Instead of a satisfying impact, Ruby was halted as another fist flew towards her. Once again, watching the world slow down, Ruby was instantly behind Yang.
Aiming the barrel of Crescent Rose at Yang's torso, Ruby fired a round. Yet again, forced to retreat as Yang fired a shotgun shell over her shoulder. Ruby pushed every last remaining dreg of aura into her semblance, Rose petals flying violently. Using her staff, Ruby threw blows at Yang from every direction. Every time Ruby landed a blow, Yang would throw another near perfect punch barely missing her.
Ruby couldn't understand how Yang could continue to fight in her broken state. As she circled her, Ruby made brief eye contact with Yang, silver eyes staring into a crimson hellfire.
Ruby backed off momentarily, realizing that she was no longer fighting Yang. All that stood before Ruby now was the final instinct driven strand of Yang's semblance. Knowing that she needed to end things before Yang let herself die, Ruby powered up her semblance one final time. Launching herself across the port, not so much as a blur, nor a rose petal could be seen. Faster than any normal being could perceive, Ruby reappeared inches from Yang. As she did, the entire world exploded around her. The shockwave blasting apart the ground, and tossing Yang into the air, rose petals suddenly flying in every direction.
Ruby observed Yang's barely conscious body, lying on the ground, covered in bits of concrete. Ruby took her time making the walk across the port, knowing what she had to do.
"I knew it. It's you. I've… been looking… for so long," Yang forced out between shallow breaths. She had pushed herself too far, had let her semblance run out of control, "I'm sorry. It's… my fault."
Ruby steeled herself, continued to cling to the cold that crept through her veins. Bringing up her weapon, Ruby spun the staff around slamming the end into Yang's shoulder. A disgusting, pop, could be heard, Yang screaming out in pain. Ruby waited, observed her surroundings, she found nothing. Refusing to fail, refusing to let everything be meaningless, she once again attacked the blonde.
This time, Ruby did not wait to strike again. Smashing her weapon into Yang again and again, all the while Yang crying out in pain.
"Please, Ruby… stop!" ignoring Yang's cries, Ruby readied her weapon to once again strike against her defenseless opponent, instead of the soft feeling of flesh, she felt the impact of steel against her weapon. Ruby felt an all too familiar sensation shoot down her spine, her instincts kicking in and, immediately using critical vestiges of aura to get away.
Looking back at the source, Ruby found a dark haired woman wearing a full face mask, a sword held in her hand. The tingle in her spine, her hair standing on end, the goosebumps covering her skin, all far too familiar signs, that the woman wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Ruby knew instantly who the woman was, she also knew she was in no shape to continue fighting. However, she was far too stubborn to let this single chance slip away from her. Her body screaming out at her, Ruby brought her staff up, readying for battle.
"You really are persistent. There's no way you can stand a fight with me in your conditions," the woman commented in a cold voice.
"I can't win, but if you think that you'll come out unscathed then go ahead and try," Ruby spat out, knowing she could barely fight in her current state.
"You're exactly the same as her. Well you wanted my attention, I'll give it to you," Raven tossed a small object at Ruby, the younger girl barely catching it. Raven immediately vanished through a rip in space as she did so.
Ruby looked down at what sat in her hand. She held a small square of paper, which she quickly unfolded. On the inside, she found a single phrase scribbled on it.
At Summer on the full moon.
"We have to go! The rest of her team is nearby," Ruby's thoughts interrupted by her pilot.
"Yea, I guess we should "
"Yang!" Ruby was cut off as Weiss and Blake rounded a nearby warehouse. The two quickly approached the catastrophic scene stopping when they saw the current state of affairs.
Ruby knew she should be worried, but was too tired to care. She felt a cool breeze blow across her face, her messy hair tickling her face. Ruby quickly reached up to touch her face, suddenly realizing it was no longer covered. She looked back across the port, making eye contact with her former teammates.
"Ruby, but…" Weiss muttered out, Blake standing silently next to her.
"Please, get her to the hospital," sparing no more words, Ruby turned and walked away, Annette trailing her cautiously.
A/N: So that's yet another chapter down. And what might be the most boring arc of this story is finally over. I'm beyond excited to get to work on the next chapter. I don't like to give spoilers, and I wouldn't think this is necessary with an M rating, but I warn readers that the story will get far more serious next chapter. I know that so far, aside from some language this story hasn't been too deserving of a M rating, it will never be Blood Rose levels of dark, but things are going to get rough.
That being said, I'm done giving out timelines. I suck at making them. If anyone is ever curious about chapter progress feel free to PM me and I'll likely respond within 12 hours giving you the status of the next chapter. Well, thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it if you guys let me know what you thought of the chapter.