Snippet 174

Sharp Shards – Cracks in the Mirror 6

Gerne: Angst/Drama/Dark

Pairs: Past one-sided Arkos, Cold Colours (Whitley/Neon), Black Sun (Blake/Sun), Pink Lotus (Ren/Nora), Emerald/Mercury (Jaded)

Parody: RWBY

AU-Type: Canon-esque AU (Post Fall of Beacon)

Tags: Character exploration, TW: Alcoholism, TW: Death, Dealing with Loss, Internal Strife, Deconstruction, Mental Issues, Guilt Eats You Alive, Camp Camp Cameo, Ruby Wakes Up

Note: Whitley is a bit older in this verse, a bit closer in age to Weiss.

The attack on Haven had to get a cover story. That was something that they all had agreed on. Lionheart would be known by the public to tragically lose his life in battle dying honorably. Jaune hated himself for having to say that. Raven got them the relic before she fled. Ozpin made the point that it was for the best much to Yang's protest. Secrets and lies were back to being the norm among our heroes.

Blake had to hide the fact that Mercury and Emerald were hiding on Menagerie after seeing that Yang was seething to find and kill Mercury for ruining her reputation. Ruby clearly had issues, but Ozpin and Qrow wanted to play it off that Ruby was perfectly fine. Weiss was internally growing more and more afraid of her own teammates. Ren and Nora were questioning why they were still involved.

In the coming days, things in Mistral cleared up and the gang was off to Argus. The ride was eerily quiet as nobody knew what to even say to each other. Ruby had seemingly gotten better and worse at the same time. One could say that the moment Cinder died, the angry split personality re-merged with all of Ruby. The worse part was the 'fully whole' Ruby was sulky, tired, and haunted by dreams.

"Uncle Qrow, can I have some of the flask?" Ruby said looking haggard. "I really need something to take the edge off."

"You ok, Ruby? You looked drained." Jaune asked concerned.

"No…my dreams are clouded with another me yelling at me while I sit on the sidelines watching. I wake up feeling like crap." Ruby said blinking. "I feel like a zombie."

And any feeling for booze Qrow had was slowly evaporating as he put it away. While Yang was rather sulky, at least it was not out of bloodlust. No, she felt guilt for the what she had briefly become upon realizing she might have been becoming like Raven. Add on top of it with Ruby's own issues, Ruby dealing with the fact she was now the Fall Maiden, and Yang was feeling like crap. Blake looked just as bad…racked by guilt of Adam's death and hiding Mercury and Emerald from Yang.

Weiss had chosen to sit next to Oscar and the remnants of JPNR wanting a bit of distance.

"You know this would be the moment someone asks how this could possibly get worse?" Nora joked.

The train rattled as the familiar roar of Grimm was loud and clear causing everyone to glared at Nora.

"Ok to be fair, the Grimm might be attracted to the Relic." Ozpin said taking over Oscar's body again.

"And you tell us this shit now!" Yang snarled.

"I miscalculated. The effect was not supposed to start up until a week passed…but we can use Ren's semblance to hide it. Even use Jaune's supercharge it all the way to Argus. While we deal with the Grimm outside." Ozpin said twirling his staff.

"Sounds like a plan, but please don't hold back warnings like this." Ruby said twirling Crescent Rose.

Despite the exhaustion, Ruby was always down for ending the lives of Grimm. Hack and slash until it's done, she thought. Through each Grimm, her grin slowly rose, and her silver eyes flared. Yang grabbed a Grimm by the horns to toss off the train before Blake shot it in the face.

"Man, doesn't Grimm slaying make you feel alive?!" Nora said batting another one into the side of the mountain.

It painfully smacked back and forth between it and the train before ending up under the wheels rattling the train.

-o-

Salem's castle was all the place quiet as Watts looked to Salem who did not look pleased.

"So, all of my minions are dead or missing." Salem said sourly.

"Apparently, there was a massacre at Haven. Cinder and Hazel among the dead. Tyrian's still missing as is Cinder's two lackeys." Watts reported.

"Tyrian's most likely dead. It has been too long…and he hasn't reported. His loyalty was assured…he's either crippled or dead." Salem said with a hint of sadness. "This is a true loss."

"So, what's the plan?" Watts asked.

"We can't exactly go after the maidens until we get female followers. So, we're going to have to play defensive…and Ozpin's forces have won for now. We need a new plan of action." Salem said thoughtfully. "Remember when I said I want you to go to Atlas….change of plans, we're bunkering down. We don't know if they talked…but we need to go on the assumption they have."

(A/N: This one was depressing as hell to write because Ruby was just torn up inside. Shit, the team is functionally falling apart. Ironically, if one takes it into consideration, they are still winning because with most of Salem's pitiful forces dead, it would not be wise for Salem to attack anything until she has the means to gather the maidens.)