A/N If this chapter seems a little off or rushed, things around here have been extremely taxing on time, I've barely had any time to think much less write.
The sun had barely risen over Kuo Kuana when Yang was awoken to a light pushing on her shoulder, quickly swing at the person she felt a tight grip on her wrist stopping the strike dead in it's tracks, quickly snapping awake she quickly rolled over and took another strike which ran across the serrated gauntlets her mother wore which quickly woke her
"Do you really sleep in this late?" Raven questioned in a calm tone causing Yang to rub her eyes and check her scroll
"It's almost seven!" she muttered yanking her hand free from her mothers grip as she stood and moved to the window and sat down waiting for Yang to dress, after said woman was dressed she gestured out the window
"Come on, this'll be better on the training field." Raven said leaning out the window and vanishing, Yang rolled her eyes and walked over to the window and leapt out, landing on the path she stood, looking around as Raven made her way over a small bridge suspended over a slightly smaller river, following after her they eventually found themselves standing on a large area set to be a brawling ring, clearly made to allow for rather rambunctious battles, the two stood on either sides of the ring and Raven drew her blade
"Let us see just how much power you have." she offered crouching lower lifted the blade near her head and placed her palm on the Kashira, Yang followed her lead and dropped into a sparing stance causing Raven to snort as she spoke again her tone calm and unchanged from before "Don't treat me like a child, because I will not do the so with you." she warned and dashed forward, bring a strike down on the girl, Yang quickly pushed the strike away and swung an elbow at Ravens' jaw, quickly leaning back she pushed the elbow along and kicked the girl to the ground causing her to tumble and fall, kicking her leg back Raven leapt back avoiding the strike and swung up at the girls neck rolling out of the way Yang quickly fired a shot which Raven dodged, firing both gauntlets into the ground she shot herself up and kicked her feet into Ravens' gut knocking her back, flipping through the air she slid to a stop and let out a hum
"Not bad. But you could still be better." she said and with a quick twirl of her blade sheathed it with a click Yang let out a few breaths before speaking "Haven't had anyone to train with." she reasoned as she brought herself to her feet, Raven hummed and turned away
"Yang... did Qrow tell you anything before he died?" she asked her tone sounding far more careful than before as if she was struggling with something
"... no, nothing that really, you know, mattered. All he told me was that he had an idea where you were, and that I could go after you if I wanted to." she answered walking towards the woman who sighed then quickly turned around while speaking "Well that's a comfort then. 'Branwen's settle all debts', we're naturally born leaders, those who follow do so due to our strength and respect. I myself promised Raven- my mother, that I would never abandon our people, hence why I left, but Qrow seems to have freed me from that... I will not apologize for the loss of years we did not spend together, but I will instill what I know within you, just as my brother did." she offered the most kindness she had in quite a long time.
Yang on the other hand felt strange, she thought of this moment many times before, but in all those thoughts her father had been alive but now all she had was her mother, she didn't know how to feel about that, her mother had abandoned her for years and now she was back.
"What about Ruby?" Yang questioned as Raven dropped into a combat stance again
"What about her? She isn't my blood, there for she has no interest to me." Raven waved off and rushed forward causing Yang to gasp as she stepped back to allow herself a few more instants to react, pushing the blade away she cocked her arm back and fired, Raven quickly dodged to the side smacking her upside the head with the blunt of the blade quickly bringing the blade around to the other side she landed a few quick hits while Yang landed one solid strike on her jaw sending her mother sliding back but she didn't react much more than that as she quickly cocked her neck to the side letting the muscles to pop
"You must be faster or you must hit far harder. Otherwise you'll be useless." Raven stated rushing forward to attack again her eyes seeming to glow with anticipation
(o)
Ruby let out a sigh, they were almost a week off schedule and the others didn't seem worried what so ever, her own anger kept bubbling due to that and the density of this forest it was just making this take too much longer, with a growl she drew harbinger and sliced a tree in half causing it to cry as it collapsed into another causing them both to drop to the ground and the other four stopped and looked at her as she stumbled towards a shrub and dropped down into it. Ren and Nora shared a looked as Pyrrha walked over towards her
"Ruby?"
"I... don't... think... I'm mentally... 'stable' enough for... another day of travel." she said causing Jaune to now look concerned "What do you mean? That's all you've talked about for the past few-" he began but was quickly interrupted by Ruby who shot up out of the bush and glared at him a few twigs stick out of her hair as she marched over to him
"I KNOW! But with all the 'sleeping' you lot need we've been pushed so far off schedule that I need to reformulate a plan, re-divvy rations, mark new possible Grimm locations, mark of specific villages that we need to stop at, oh but you wouldn't know anything about that, all you ever did was go CAMPING with your sisters, and boohoo poor you all you had to deal with was getting your HAIR BRAIDED!" Ruby snapped before turning around and storming off towards the forest muttering under her breath, Jaune on the other hand let out a sigh and walked over to a nearby tree running a hand through his hair as Nora and Ren began to set up camp
"Ren... do you think this was a good idea?" Nora quietly asked as Pyrrha followed after Ruby as Jaune began to walk the perimeter
"I believe that Ruby is going through what we did... just with a far more focused target. I understand her anger, but she just keeps lashing out at us, it may help if you talk to her, I'd do it myself... but-"
"You're better with Grimm then people." she cut in causing him to smile a bit "When she's alone I'll give it a shot."
(o)
Ruby couldn't help but storm off, every time they would make some stupid comment she would feel an anger building up inside her heart that she couldn't contain, maybe she was a monster... The sound of a twig snapping earned her attention quickly spinning around she found Pyrrha brushing past a clump of branches, with a sigh
"I figured you'd be this way. The fallen trees kinda gave it away." she said with a chuckle earning a scoff from Ruby as she turned away to look at anything else "I get it... they don't see it, but I do. " Pyrrha said finally joining Ruby standing in the center of a small newly created clearing she still didn't respond as she returned Harbinger to her back "I failed all of you, with my indecision I mean. You all worked so hard and I wanted to stay a part of that. But I chose my own happiness over yours-"
"Pyrrha... I'm the one to blame for what has happened to my family. I hate to say it but it is true. No one else is to blame, Sephiroth went off the deep end and because I wanted to be his friend... he took everything."
"Not everything, you still have your sister, your teammates, your friends, and so much more... I lost my reputation... it may not seem like much but for my family, reputation is everything, we climb as high as we can, as a Nikos we are taught to be pure ambition, every step forward is praised and every stumble back is punished, the higher you climb the better the praise... but you fall so much farther. I always hated my reputation yet I feared to lose it... and now that I have... I'm scared. Horrified even of the repercussions of my failure." she spoke earning Rubys' attention how her voice trembled and shook from either sadness or fear
"Pyrrha..." Ruby began but sighed, as she pulled her coat off and tossed it onto the fallen tree nearby "I cant stop pushing forward... my anger towards him is all I have left. The last time I saw Yang... she couldn't retain the information I was giving her. She would forget about everything and that hurt so much. So for her, Uncle Qrow, and dad. I cant slow down." Ruby explained after a few moments Pyrrha spoke but her voice sounded miles away quickly turning around she found the woman looking more concerned then anything else, but there was something wrong going on, she could feel... something pulling her to the north, it wasn't far... walking in said direction she felt her legs move, but it was as if she wasn't in control, each step she felt whatever was pulling her tug a little less the closer she got to whatever was leading her
(o)
Winter had woken up consistently a few days ago with one issue, all she did was stare blankly at just about everything and repeated the last few words said to her, another strange occurrence is that her irises now have a glowing green hue to them and glow when the room is dark, but for now she needed to meet with General Ironwood, he had some questions about Sephiroth and she was one of the only people close enough to get any answers.
Walking out of the mansion and into the chilly air she couldn't help but think on her team leader, last she heard Sephiroth destroyed their home, but that letter from Port was almost two months old now. But right now she needed to keep trying to snap Winter out of this... state she was in. it was more than concerning to see her sister brought down into such a state.
"Winter... please, snap out of this soon." Weiss muttered as she rose and walked away from the nearly comatose woman, exiting into the hall she quietly shut the door and turned to face Whitley who seemed a little concerned
"How is she?" He asked as soon as he noticed her presence, Weiss barely acknowledged him as she began to walk down the hall but he followed after her "Why do you care?" she questioned wanting to know his motive at the very least, it was strange to see him so concerned, he never showed such feelings at any point before now, and that was suspicious
"I've checked on her a few times when you were getting something to eat, I'm sorry but her condition doesn't seem to be getting any better, if anything it's probably getting worse." He said causing Weiss to frown, she hated to admit it but he was right
"I have no idea what's happening to her, Ironwood wont tell me but... I'm scared that his ambitions towards destroying Sephiroth is getting the better of him, and now that Winter is... like that, I cant help but feel that I'm right." Weiss said staring out of the window as it began to snow
"Who's Sephiroth?"
"A monster, and someone you should hope never shows up here."
"Would that scare you?" a deep and calm voice came from behind the both of them, quickly snapping around she felt fear rise from her heart her eyes landing on the man as he exited Winters' room, quickly drawing Myrtenaster she dove forward in a futile attempt to stab the man who ignored the attempt and began to make his way down the hall, impaling the door she quickly turned and swung a slash at him but found that he was just out of her reach as he walked
"Whitley check on Winter." Weiss ordered as she rushed the man down in another attempt to end his life this time a grid appeared blocking the strike as it shattered the pieces darted out sending the girl away, rolling to a stop she summoned three glyphs using all three to fire shards of ice at him each began to fire but quickly dissolved into nothingness her power seemed to just fizzle out, rushing forward again she prepared to strike but was stopped short by a powerful slashed that sent her off her feet and down the hall, rolling to a stop her whole world was spinning, quickly sitting up she was greeted by the man standing above her causing her to quickly attempt to make distance pushing herself away from him
"You and your family drain this planet of its life, yet it does not belong to you." he said in a slow and calm tone "If you wish to see your misery, go to Mistral... there is the first step I shall take, towards the end of your world." he continued kneeling down and making eye contact causing a shiver to shoot up her spine as he stared her dead in the eyes, his never blinking as he returned to his feet turned and walked away after making it a few steps away he paused to let out a dark chuckle then continued walking leaving her alone as Whitley quickly exited the room looking far paler than normal
"She... she's gone... I don't know where but she's gone." he spoke causing Weiss to quickly get to her feet and rush into the room, true to his word the spot where she was previously lying was vacant of anyone, in pure shock she turned and bolted making her way out into the yard and looked around for any sign of his movements, no footprints in the snow, no distant movement... nothing. After a few minutes of looking around she eventually gave up, Whitley soon giving up too, both dropping down on the cold steps of the house out of breath
"We... we have to tell Ironwood." Whitley gasped out earning a sigh from Weiss as she ran a hand across her forehead "We cant, he'll freak out, and who knows what he'll do, we know he's going to Mistral so... that's a lead. One I'm going to follow." she said causing Whitley to do a double take as he looked over to her
"What about me?" he asked earning a glare from Weiss "No, I mean, what do you want me to do? I'm... not a fighter like you and Winter, but I know this company almost as well as you do."
"See if you can contact any of General Ironwoods' scientists, I know at least a few of them were involved with what happened to Winter." she answered earning a nod from the boy as he began up the stairs stopping short of the door he turned back
"If you do go after that guy... please, stay safe." he asked earning a bit of surprise from Weiss who concealed it very well with a quick nod as she pulled her scroll from her pocket and began to type
(o)
After walking the short distance Ruby could hear voices, as if hundreds of people were quietly screaming, the dense forest around her did little to calm her fear, slowly drawling closer to the noise she felt a hand touch her shoulder and quickly jumped spinning around and drawling Harbinger, but stopped short of attacking noting that it was Pyrrha who looked her fair share of ragged, turning around she slung the blade back onto her back and continued getting closer to the voices, ripping her way through the leaves and brush she found herself standing on the edge of a small pond of green-ish blue water the seemed to glow, the cries quieted down after a few moments and a voice broke through yet it spoke in a language she didn't understand, but she did recognize for some reason, kneeling down she leaned closer to try and listen closer as Pyrrha entered the grove as well
"Ruby... what is this?" Pyrrha questioned her previous train of thought fading as she looked over the dense green of the grove that seemed to grow much fuller than the forest outside
"I... don't know." she muttered as she placed her hand into the liquid that seemed to pulse across her hand and a sharp pain shot through her mind but as well as a surge of calm, opening her eyes she felt an urge to get closer "Pyrrha... give me a moment with this... stuff." she said sticking her arm deeper into the liquid the burning continued up her arm but felt no worse than hot day when training
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha questioned as Ruby glared over towards her causing Pyrrha to step back "Fine, fine, you get two minutes, after that I'm pulling you out." Pyrrha agreed as Ruby lied down on the surface of the liquid the surface tension able to hold her weight strangely enough as she floated towards the middle she listened to the hum the liquid produced as she closed her eyes, the quiet muttering began to fill her ears and mind as more and more of the liquid began to fill her vision it felt blissful at first but then her body began to seize and pain continued to shoot through her body from each pore it felt as if flames were eating away at her soul trying to let out a scream she felt her consciousness begin to fade as the voice grew in number and louder as darkness over took her mind.
A/N sorry about the long delay, but things 'round here've been hell, and it doesn't look like it's ending anytime soon. My life has been hell, and it's just seems like it's gonna get worse... yay.