I've been trying to improve my writing, so let me know if I overdid it in some parts or if I should simplify things. I tried using simpler words for the most of the story but I figured since I switched my rating to M, I might as well just use my normal vocabulary when I see the chance.

In case anyone was wondering why some words are spelled weird it's because my brain's default setting is UK English, but... some words I just prefer their US spelling due to their simplistic visual appeal (i.e I mean the u in certain ou words just looks off in this font that I'm forced to put my work in)

You all know how team RWBY and most other teams either have individual character OSTs/Theme songs.

I've actually had a list of songs that are essentially Team ASHN's themes for a long time and I never actually said it so...

Team ASHN/ASHNRWBY's theme would be - Beggars by Krewella and Diskord, Side Effects by coldrain, We Are Legends by Valley Of Wolves

Onyx: Dangerous Man by Valley of Wolves, Villain by Wildfire, Titans In Desolation By The Enigma TNG

Nitro: YOLO by Smash Into Pieces, Gladiator by Zayde Wolf
Hex: Starlight by Written By Wolves
Luna: Calm Down by Krewella, Watch Me by Icon For Hire
Nova was tough because a lot of songs on my playlist that I used to listen to on the bus heading home from university classes fit so I'll just list them out: Throne by Bring Me The Horizon, Boomerang by Smash into Pieces, Dreamin by The Score feat Blackbear, Chosen One by Valley of Wolves, Where Did It Go? by Asking Alexandria

There are multiple songs because they fit as the characters evolve and change.


Chapter 44: Along Came A Rider On A Pale Horse Named Death


-Patch-

The burning sun-blasted heat on the trio as they sweltered under the inferno, training their minds and bodies for tolerance and discipline. Yang felt the beads of sweat steadily becoming streams as she sat under the burning sun, her skin felt on fire and her body felt overheated and exhausted. She wasn't doing anything stressful besides meditation but it felt like she was carrying the weight of a thousand boulders while running a marathon

Nova's face was scrunched up in pain, his body lightly shaking, not from the heat, no he was immune to that, what was driving his strain was the focus and meditation. The sheer levels of concentration he was being forced to undergo were unnaturally brutal.

"That's good, keep at this for thirty more seconds. Grab hold of that wild aura, force it to bend to your will! Aura isn't something that controls you, it's apart of you, in the air around you! You control it!" Tai said as he observed them quietly. The two teens sat on the open lawn, cross-legged, and with their eyes closed.

Their faces began steadily growing redder and their auras began to glow faintly, causing Tai's eyes to widen. What he was seeing before him was incredible. Tai watched as their faces began to relax, the pain gradually leaving their faces, as their auras began to converge from around their bodies to the atmosphere around them, like a thin veil over their heads.

"… And that's the full time!" Tai called forcing the two teens out of their meditation. Nova and Yang collapsed in a heap of harsh breathing and exhausted gasps of air. Nova looked ragged and tired, sweat pouring from every orifice of his body, Yang wasn't any better.

"What the fuck pops! You totally threw in ten extra seconds!" Nova grunted in frustration as he lightly hit Tai on the shoulder.

"Seriously dad, how the fuck do you manage to make the sun so strong?!" Yang asked through exhausted breaths.

Tai shrugged, "I'm not the one doing it, it's the effect of the meditation. You're sitting under normal environmental conditions but forcing strain on your aura. It's entirely in your minds."

Despite his words, it was a lot more complex than that. This type of meditation needed to be induced by a mentor, someone who would force their auras into a state of disarray, after which the subjects would spend their time trying to, not only regain control of the wild energy but also focus it. The best comparison was like taking a typhoon of ripping winds and forcing its destructive energy into one point. Not only was this method of training dangerous, where one wrong move could potentially cause violent feedback of aura that could damage them severely, but it was also almost impossible to master.

The sheer mental strain it placed on the mind and body was enough to amplify the slightest discomfort into agonizing pain, it was a training method not for the faint of heart.

"Does it need to be this harsh though?" Nova said stretching his arms into the air.

"You said you wanted the crash course in Advanced Aura Manipulation, not my fault you're on a deadline." Tai said smiling, "Though, you two seem to have almost gotten the hang of it… something that takes most huntsmen years to learn, hell, most give up before they can!"

Yang smirked, "Yup! We're geniuses!" she raised her hand to high five Nova, who complied.

"You've successfully managed to power your defensive aura into a physical shield, focusing it to a point above you. Now we're moving on to the next phase in the training…" the older huntsman said, stretching his arms above his head and then the rest of his body.

"Which is…?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Physical combat. We're attuning your aura to simultaneously switch between defence, offence, and speed."

"What, like right now?!" Nova asked incredulously.

"The more time you spend on this the further on Ruby and the others get, and knowing that bunch of kids, even Qrow won't be able to look after them all…" Tai said worriedly.

Nova tilted his head in confusion, "Uncle Qrow went with them? I thought you said they left alone?"

Tai shook his head, "After they left, I told Qrow immediately, he trailed after them, he's probably caught up by now."

Nova felt a weight lift off his shoulders, knowing that they at least had Qrow with them made him feel somewhat at ease. His mind began to drift to Ruby, wondering if she was doing alright without him.

He was ripped from his thoughts when a fist came flying straight to his face, forcing him to dodge by a hair strand.

"HOLY SHIT OLD MAN! GIVE A GUY SOME WARNING!" Nova screamed as he jumped back.

Tai smirked, "In battle there is no warning, so always be on guard," he got into a ready position, facing Nova. What he didn't expect was Yang's fist to crash into the side of his head, blindsiding him and sending him cratering into the ground.

"How's that for a warning?" the blonde girl stood proudly, her fist glowing a bright yellow signifying that her aura was focused on that attack.

Tai got up from the smouldering crater, completely unscathed as at the point of the impact his own yellow aura protected him, like a hard shield, leaving Yang to gawk.

"OH COME ON!" she yelled in frustration, "That reaction time is unnatural!"

Tai chuckled, "Not unnatural, quite the opposite. Most people don't recognize the depth of aura, what it can do, and the limitless potential of the mind. Even then, those that do recognize it, spend decades mastering it and can barely utilize half of its capabilities because they only train the body."

"How come you're so good at it then?" Nova pointed out.

"I've had… more hands-on practice… of the life or death type…" he explained.

In an instant he was gone as if vanished from thin air.

"Where'd he go?!" Yang asked, scanning the area.

Nova closed his eyes and remembered what Tai said yesterday during the early stages of their training. Awareness is deeper than just the vision. Sound, smell, the feeling of the air, change in wind direction, temperature changes, everything plays a role in awareness.

"Extend your aura! Create a sensory field!" Nova yelled to Yang as they stood facing opposite directions looking for Tai.

The two teens began to glow with aura, the faint light projecting outward like a zone around them. Nova could feel, smell, hear and sense every change around him ranging from a single blade of grass swaying in the wind to an ant crawling on the floor. The radius of awareness was limited to just a few meters in front and behind them, but to Nova, it was much further than that.

The range was limited by a person's aura capacity, those born with abnormally high amounts of aura had more potential with these techniques, those with limited capacities were hindered. According to Tai, if you were experienced enough, those limitations become negligible, but for novices like them it made all the difference between their ability to react to Tai's oncoming punches and getting ending up with a black eye.

Yang instantly flipped to her right, dodging a right hook from Tai that came out of seemingly nowhere.

"Good reaction!" Tai said his voice coming from Yang's right, she turned around just in time to see his brown blur dash from her field of vision. "But you're still too green! Stop relying on one sense at a time! You have five of them! Use them all!" he yelled again, this time from Yang's left causing her to whip around again, only to be smacked in the back and send crashing to the floor, taking real damage to her body.

"Your reactions are too slow! The moment you sense danger your aura should have switched from sensory to defence!" Tai said stopping in front of her and helping her to her feet.

"Dad you're insane! We just started and you're going at full speed!" Yang complained.

"Our enemies aren't waiting for you to get stronger! The fastest way to improve is by hitting the gas pedal and throwing out the brakes!" Tai said with passion, before disappearing in a brown blur again.

Nova stood stock still, raising his field of senses as far as he could. Tai was dashing around him, he could feel it in the wind changing in his field of awareness. The older huntsman was moving faster than an airborne Nevermore.

THERE! Nova felt it, the moment Tai made a move to attack, a blade of grass to his left made a drastic change in wind direction for less than a second. In that fraction of a second Nova sent his aura from sensory to defence. With his dragon hearing, and the amplified senses, he could hear the muscles contracting in Tai's arm, he could feel the direction wind against his face, alerting him that the point of impact would be his left cheek. In that millisecond, his aura formed a shield around that point blocking the impact completely.

Tai was caught off guard when his fist connected with the steel hard surface of densely compact aura.

Nova stared back at him with a devilish smirk, "How's this for reaction time?" before Tai could register what was happening, Nova sent his fist flying to Tai's face, dropping his defences and focusing it all on the attack in that second. The fiery orange aura burning like actual flames around the leathery skin of his left arm as it collided with Tai, sending him crashing through the forest in a fiery blast.

Nova stood wide-eyed, staring at his smoking fist, and the path of destruction that followed after Tai.

"I thought he said no powers?" Yang pointed out, gesturing the charred Tai that was slowly walking back to them looking like he'd been hit with a grenade.

"Uhh… that wasn't my powers…" Nova responded meekly. "It was like… this arm, it reacted to my aura..."

"Some people *cough* have different reactions to having a one hundred percent amplified attack…" Tai said in between coughs, trying to get the smoke out of his lungs.

"Huh?" Nova was confused.

"Watch this…" Tai converted all his aura into his fist and swung hard at the ground, the result was a shattering shockwave that flattened all the grass around the area even though he didn't hit the ground. "My punches can create a pulse of force that knocks back,"

"So that's why we get pushed so hard when you punch us?" Yang asked with a head tilt.

"Precisely, my attacks aren't very special, Nova's attacks seem to generate heat, seems fitting given his… disposition. Why don't you give it a try," Tai gestured to Yang.

The blonde girl shrugged, and began to concentrate, scrunching up her face and forcing her aura into her right fist. She then aimed at a nearby tree and punched, hard. The result was a miniature explosion of aura, like a blast from a small bomb, rupturing the tree trunk and shattering the wood. Unlike Nova's fist, which was like a burning fireball, hers was like a blast of yellow aura that exploded outward in all directions.

"Wow…" she commented staring at her own hands, "That felt… incredible…"

Tai smiled, it was amazing how easily they were making progress as if this was all-natural to them. He figured it was due to their past experiences, they've fought tougher battles than most people ever would in their lives, they've been through hell and back and fought for their lives, not just for sport or for missions, but to protect and survive. Experience was always the best teacher.

"So… even though I've beaten Uncle Qrow in a fight before… he wasn't using these techniques, does that mean he was going easy on me?" Nova asked realizing that Tai and Qrow used to be on the same team.

Tai shook his head, "Qrow never mastered these techniques, he trained his body and skills to match us, which in of itself is an impressive feat. He probably was going easy on you though."

"How come he never learned? Was he incapable?"

"It's not that he wasn't able, in fact… during our training, Qrow was better than most of us… it's just that… his semblance prevented his mastery." Tai said, his expression growing dark.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"Qrow's what we call… a bad luck charm. His semblance is misfortune, it brings bad luck to him or those around him, whether they be friend or foe. This aura manipulation is a double-edged sword. If you aren't fast enough with your defence reactions, or you overuse your aura, you leave yourself open to taking real damage. Combining it with Qrow's semblance is like strapping a hair trigger to a suicide vest and hoping it doesn't go off…" Tai explained further.

The look on his face told Nova that it wasn't just theory, that something happened in the past that caused the male Branwen to stop his pursuit of the technique.

"Anyway… enough chit chat… you two are still leagues away from being able to use this in actual combat. Round two!" Tai said getting ready to spar again.

The trio continued to train well into the day.


-Atlas-

There she stood, in front of an audience comprised of the rich, snobby, self-important and uncaring, clad in her grey-blue dress that seemed to mirror the theme of the Schnee household. Much like her decision to sing again, her choice in fashion was not her own. She wondered if her father selected this monochromatic, almost bland outfit because he wanted to show her that she was nothing more than his glass idol, a prized pet made to perform tricks when asked.

Her voice rang through the theatre with a somber ring, reverberating a powerful, deep-seated longing, and those who heard her could swear they weren't looking at Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company… no, they were looking at a bird in a cage.

The resounding applause for her impressive display of vocal talent felt like the drumming of a policeman's baton against the iron bars of a jail cell. Their vigorous admiration was more akin to hammering a nail into a coffin rather than the praise she was supposed to receive, as if further cementing the fact that, so long as she was in this household, she would never be free.

Among the seemingly infinite supply of commemoration and flowery words of admiration, droned out like predictable pre-written dialogue of a poorly crafted video game, there was not one single, original and genuine compliment. It was just a conglomeration of people trying to get on her good side so they could get closer to her father, nothing more than greedy pigs searching for their next buffet.

All she wanted was to see the smiling faces of her friends, especially Ruby, in all of her ludicrous behaviour, and Luna in her adorable antics… and Nova in his clumsiness…

Her body had acted on autopilot, her mouth moving while her mind wandered, casually greeting and exchanging pleasantries with the masses now that the party had moved to the ballroom.

"We offer Faunus the exact same wages as the rest of our mining staff, their argument's flawed right out of the bat…" Jacques said as he stood discussing politics with what looked to be businessmen and women.

Weiss rolled her eyes, being forced to stand there and listen to their idle squawking, like parrots spouting the regurgitated words they were taught by their masters. Most of them hardly knew what they were talking about, just vomiting the words they read on a recently read article.

Equal wages sure, but he doesn't mention the taxes he incurs on the Faunus people, the unfair working conditions, and lack of rights… Weiss thought as she watched her father sprinkle gold dust on the fallacy that is the SDC.

Weiss' eyes drifted to a painting, standing at the far end of the grand hall, of Beacon before the fall. Glancing at her father, who seemed to be immersed in his conversation, she made a move to go in closer and observe the painting. As soon as she did, however, her father held her back, "Where do you think you're going?" he asked almost irritably.

Not even allowed to walk without permission… her thoughts said though she mouthed differently, "Just feeling a bit thirsty… I'll grab something to drink…" she said trying to come up with an excuse.

"Sweetheart we have people for that…" Jacques said as he raised his arm to call a waiter, but Weiss held him down.

"No… I can do it myself… I'll be right back I promise," she pleaded. Jacques eyed her, wanting to argue but he was called to the conversation, thus allowing Weiss to escape freely.

She stood in front of the large painting, staring at the grand halls of Beacon, the red flags and white stone walkways, red bits of cloth flying in the air almost like rose petals, which reminded her of Ruby. Everything in the painting drew her memories back to her time at Beacon, a time when she was truly free from the shackles that bound her as the heiress of the SDC, free from the weight of the name Schnee.

"It's beautiful…" a male voice said to her left, "You two match," she spared no glance to him. It was a boy, around her age, with grey-blue hair that was combed over to his left side.

He was wearing a rich looking redshirt with black vest and matching tie. Everything about him said he was dressing to impress and his looks were practically all he had to offer.

"Yes, it is a lovely painting," Weiss said, not bothering to even look in his direction.

"… That was my attempt at breaking the ice. How am I doing so far?" he asked with a light smile.

Weiss fought every fiber in her body from letting out the world's most exasperated sigh. Instead she opted for a more, subtle, approach, "You leave much to be desired…"

The boy was undeterred, "Well I've always appreciated honesty. Henry, Marigold," he said extending his hand for a handshake.

"Weiss Schnee," she said placing her hand in his as a form of courtesy greeting.

"I know… I mean, I saw your performance… you were amazing!" he complimented, causing Weiss to inwardly puke.

Once he saw his compliment elicited no reaction, he opted for another approach to conversation. "So… thinking about buying it?" he asked looking at the painting.

"No, I don't think so." She curtly responded. This caused the boy to flinch at her harsh tone, but he kept his cool.

"Kinda pricey for a painting," he returned carelessly, still making a feeble attempt at holding conversation. Little did he know, every word he spoke was like a slap in the face not just to Weiss, but to the purpose of this event.

Weiss fought the urge to smack him, did he honestly come here without knowing what the event was for?

"It's to raise money," Weiss responded feeling agitated, her blood beginning to boil with every moment she spent talking to this miscreant.

"I'll admit, I only come to these things for the food and drink… and for the exquisite company," he said looking at her. "Is this another Mantle fundraiser or something?"

That was the final straw, Weiss was ready to pummel his smug face into the dirt, but behavioral code of her family argued otherwise, so again, she opted for the less than subtle approach.

"Get. Out." She glared at him. "Get out, or I'll have security escort you out."

"But I haven't done anyth-"

"LEAVE!" she practically yelled, still using her inside voice.

Henry left with a simple 'Whatever', leaving Weiss to grumble in silence. She was perfectly fine stewing in her hatred for this event and everyone in it had it not been for the unceremoniously loud comment of a rather obnoxious sounding party goer.

"But really, does it come as a surprise what happened to Vale?" a woman said drawing Weiss' attention. She dared not look for fear that the burning rage inside her spew forth with icy cold wrath.

"Honey…" the woman's husband said trying to calm her loud voice.

"What? You said the same thing last night! If they're so arrogant they think they can get by without proper kingdom defence, then I say, good riddance!" she said.

The words of the foolish and stupid bit her ears like hornet stings, courtesy, and cordiality be damned. Weiss Schnee was done being the mild-mannered, tight-lipped trophy daughter, she was out for blood now.

"SHUT UP!" Weiss yelled in fury, silencing the entire hall. "You don't have a fucking clue! NONE OF YOU DO!"

"Weiss…" Jacques glowered.

"You all just stand around talking about jack fuck all! Worrying about your hair, your money, your clothes! Not one single person in this goddamned room has once stepped onto the field of battle and fought for their lives. You stand there mocking people that have died! You're badmouthing people that fought to survive against a threat that very much overwhelmed them. You sit in your wealth all day long with nothing to worry about besides how many diamonds you have on your necklaces. NONE OF YOU KNOW WHAT IT REALLY FEELS LIKE OUT THERE! IF YOU DID YOU'D SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND HAVE SOME RESPECT!" Weiss unleashed the pent up frustration that had been building inside her for so long.

"Weiss that's enough! You're embarrassing the family!" Jacques said angrily as he grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away, but she held her ground.

"I am so sick and tired of being your fucking trophy! Let go of me!" Weiss yelled. When Jacques refused to release her, she yelled out again, "I SAID LET GO!"

She struggled out of his grasp and hit the floor.

"Some of my friends lost their lives in that battle… They braved the storm of the invasion to protect people like you… It's times like this I question if that really was the right decision…" Weiss said with tears flowing from her eyes, slamming her fist onto the ground where she lay.

A white glyph erupted from the ground as if responding to her emotions, against her will. "What?!" she looked in alarm. From the glyph sprouted a gleaming white Boarbatusk, summoned from her semblance, its eyes were aimed directly on the offending woman from earlier.

"Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Leave me alone!" she screamed as the summoned beast charged at her at full speed.

Weiss tried to cancel the summon, but it refused to respond. "I can't control it! It's not responding! I didn't even mean to summon one!" she tried to explain but it went deaf on the panic.

Just as the Boarbatusk was about to crash into the woman, it was shot out of the air by none other than General James Ironwood.

"Arrest her!" The woman said now recovering from her initial shock. "What're you waiting for? She's insane, she should be locked up!"

"From the way I see it, she's the only one making sense here…" Ironwood glowered before walking off, leaving Weiss to sulk on the ground.


"Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable, do you have any idea what your stunt cost us?" Jacques interrogated as he paced Weiss' room in fury, while she sat at the edge of her bed looking dejected.

"I-…"

"I'm not just talking about Lien here! Our reputation! Our…" he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"I want to leave." Weiss said not looking at him.

"What?" he turned to her looking infuriated.

"I said I want to leave! I'm tired of staying in this wretched place!"

"This isn't about you!" He countered, "This is about the Schnee family name and you're incessant need to drag it through the mud!" this comment made Weiss lose her cool, tonight just felt like a string of angry explosions and Jacques Schnee was the one detonating all of them.

"ME?! You're the one conducting shady business deals with black market distributors to funnel your dust to other kingdoms without the knowledge of the Atlas council! You're the one running around shitting out words of 'It's for the people!' when all you want is to line your own pocket!" Weiss returned ready to fight.

Jacques' eyes went wide, "So you know about that…"

"Know about it?! It's hard to miss when you rant like a madman in your study! THOSE WALLS AREN'T SOUND PROOF!" Weiss was livid. " You have no right to antagonize me like this! I have done nothing but fight to uphold the Schnee family name and our honor-!" *SMACK* came the resounding sound of Jacques Schnee's hand slapping his daughter across the face, cutting off her speech.

Weiss held her face in shock.

"This behaviour of yours is… unbecoming of you… you won't be leaving Atlas… or this manor. You will remain here until I have deemed fit otherwise," he said almost too calmly.

"So I'm just your prisoner now? Big change dad, " she replied.

"Yes it has come to our attention that this behaviour is a result of our failure as parents, and you will remain at the manor for some much needed attention…" Jacques said slyly.

Weiss looked horrified, "Won't the public get suspicious when they don't see the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company ever again?"

Jacques smirked, "This is why, you have generously revoked your right to the company and its earnings as well as your title as heiress due to your…complications…"

Weiss gasped, "WHAT?! THEN WHO…"

"Your brother who was ever so worried about your health has undertaken the responsibility in your stead… good night… Weiss…" he said before walking off leaving the appalled Weiss to gawk at his audacity. She followed him out only to be met by her brother standing in the hallway.

"You know… you've been nothing but supportive of me since I got home… you wanted this to happen…" she said accusingly.

"Whatever do you mean sister?" Whitely asked playing innocent.

"I thought something was suspicious, you were never a nice person, at the end of the day you're still just a slimy snake…"

"It is foolish of one to disobey father's orders…" Whitely said with a half-crazed smile.

"I can't believe you…" she said as he slowly walked off, leaving her to storm back into her room in a sobbing fit.

All it took was one foolish move that wasn't even her fault, to tear down everything she'd ever worked for. All that time she spent putting up with her family's bullshit and for what? To receive a slap to the face and house arrest. Where was her mother in all of this? Drinking in her room, hiding from the raging shitstorm that is the Schnee family, neglecting the daughter she has, neglecting to support her and stand against the tyranny of Jacques Schnee.

Weiss was done crying, she was done feeling sorry for herself. If her father wanted to remove her from the family spotlight, erase her from the legacy that she fought so hard to build, then so be it. Staying here was only going to cause her more pain.

She cleared the spot near the window and reached for her desk, on it sat the case of her partner. Lying neatly in its bed of velvet was Myrtenaster, the one relic of her time at Beacon that she would not let her father take from her, and it was the one thing that he would regret.

Grasping the cool steel handle, she felt a familiar sense of power coursing through her. She was done being a bird in a cage, she was a falcon, and this weapon was her talons. Still her claws were rusty, and needed to be polished again… so she waited in her room, biding her time and practicing her summoning until she felt satisfied.


It was morning, just a few days after the incident. Weiss stood, practicing her summoning, she was making it quite far until she was rudely interrupted by Whitely standing in her doorway.

"Hello sister," he said arrogantly, leaning on the doorframe of her room with an expression that seemed to just glow with the words 'I've won'.

"Leave." Came the short and purposeful reply.

"So hurtful… and here I came to offer you a favour… father's taking me into town to meet some of his business partners, and I was wondering if you'd want me to pick you up anything… since well… you're stuck here…" he grinned as if to rub it in.

"Are you jealous of me? Of Winter? Of our abilities? Is that why you're such a little shit?" Weiss asked genuinely confused.

Whitely was unperturbed, " Honestly? Why would I? I find it barbaric… what could a single huntsman do that an army could not?"

Weiss smirked, "You'd be surprised at the powers of a dragon…" she said referring to Nova.

Whitely looked confused but just shrugged, "I don't have time for your wild delusions… I'm off…"

Weiss waited until she was sure he was gone before sighing and readying Myrtenaster. She faced the window and summoned a white Glyph on the floor that began to spin violently until *BOOM* an explosion rocked the manor.

"MISS SCHNEE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Klein said bursting through the door. His eyes went wide when he saw Weiss standing next to a giant hole in the wall where her window used to be, a massive suit of armour, like a living knight, stood kneeling before her.

"I'm done with this place Klein… take care of yourself…" Weiss said, and with that she as gone, never to look back.


-Mistral Forest-

Team MNRNJR sat at the campfire, with Qrow bandaged, resting against a tree. Their little area of respite was the only source of light amidst the pitch darkness of Mistralian nights. The closer they got to Haven, the darker the nights became. According to Hex, their geographical location had nothing to do with why the nights were becoming so dark, but they didn't want to out-rule the concept since, the thought of some other force in effect was much worse.

Ruby, Hex and Nitro already knew the story of the Maidens was true, but Jaune, Ren, and Nora did not. Qrow had a difficult time trying to thoroughly drill the information into their brains so they didn't cast it off as mere fantasy and legend.

"So… there are four Maidens… super-powered women, who wield powers of what is essentially magic? And they're the keys to unlocking these four relics that are hidden in vaults under each of the four academies?" Jaune said as if questioning it himself.

Qrow nodded, "Yeah, Four Maidens at all times, meaning when one dies, that power gets transferred to the person they were last thinking off…"

"And you were trying to force this on Pyrrha…" the blonde said angrily, the hurt building in his eyes as he stared at the older huntsman.

Qrow took a long swig of his flask and looked him dead in the eye, "We didn't force anything… we offered her a choice… she was free to walk away at any time, but she knew the stakes and thus she chose accordingly…"

"But… why Pyrrha?" Nora asked looking somber, which was unusual for the hyper girl.

Qrow sighed, "It's not that simple of a question as 'Why Pyrrha?'. She was the most trustworthy candidate to receive the powers of Amber, the previous fall Maiden, our other potential candidates included Ruby… and Nova…"

Everyone else's faces fell, especially Ruby, she wasn't fit to bear the responsibility, and even though she'd take Pyrrha's place in a heartbeat, she's not sure if she could have carried out her task.

"Wait so why did you need to transfer Amber's powers anyway?" Ren asked drawing attention to the question.

"Amber was attacked, by whom we now know is Cinder. She stole some of her powers but not all of it, and we were afraid that if something wasn't done… we'd lose the next Fall Maiden to the enemy… "

"But something went wrong and somehow Cinder ended up with all the power, and thus we're in the position we are now…" Nitro said, clasping his hands around his chin in thought.

Ruby piped in, "You mentioned me and Nova were candidates to become Maidens… Me, I can understand, but why Nova?"

Qrow chuckled, "Well at first before his little trip to Mount Glen he was out of the question, but since his body got transformed into that an interchanging one… well it opened up a possibility, but there were too many variables to account for… besides he had his own supernatural dealings…"

Ren looked thoughtful, "Yes, I do remember Nova controlling fire during the tournament… and unless he possesses two semblances, I'd say you're not telling us everything…"

"Nova is… I think he's called, an Aspect of Remnant… or something… they're like the Maidens, but they're Faunus with the power to control natural elements of the world. They're supposed to help maintain balance whenever the scales of power tip to one side…" Ruby answered, surprising everyone.

"Impressive kiddo, looks like Randolf's words stuck with you…" Qrow said with a slight smile.

Ruby blushed, "Well, when you're boyfriend is a firebreathing dragon who just so happens to be a prince and also a superpowered force of nature… you tend to remember these things…"

"Wait so you guys knew?!" Jaune asked incredulously, looking to Hex, Nitro and Ruby.

The three of them nodded simultaneously, "We've known about the Maidens since our trip to Mount Glenn, and we've known about Nova since our mission before that…" Ruby responded sheepishly.

"And you didn't think to tell us?!" Jaune asked looking hurt.

"What would you have done if we did huh? Would you have believed us?" Hex asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well… I…" Jaune faltered.

"Exactly, you wouldn't have. Besides, if we did tell you, it'd just cause a shit load of unnecessary panic and confusion…" she finished making Jaune shrink back.

There was a brief moment of silence where everyone sat back, thinking over the information, until Ren finally spoke up.

"You mentioned… the enemy… before. From the way you talk, it's more than just Cinder Fall…" he said looking to Qrow.

"Yeah… you mentioned the name… Salem…" Ruby said recalling their fight with the Callows brothers.

Qrow almost fell over, and silently cursed, "Shit… nothing slips past you does it…" he bit his lip. "Salem… is our true enemy. Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, that guy Onyx… they all work for her…"

"So… who is she? Like some sort of big bad super-powered queen? Like a Maiden?" Nitro asked curiously.

"No… she's worse. Salem is who we call, the Mother of All Grimm."

Everyone stared wide-eyed, "WHAT?!"

Qrow nodded slowly, "Where do you think the creatures of Grimm came from? Such monsters didn't just pop out of nowhere. Sure some of them are probably naturally born, but the majority of their numbers are created by that witch…" he tried to take a swig from his flask but it turned up empty, causing him to curse in frustration.

"So, if I'm understanding this right, there are four super-powered Maidens, one of which is currently working for the enemy, working for a Grimm creating witch, who wants to steal these relics to take over the world?" Nitro said pulling all the information together.

"And Nova is one of the Aspects of Remnant who exist to bring balance to the natural world… so he controls fire, and the Fall Maiden controls fire, so he's here to balance that power. Luna's also got powers but I'm not so sure what she's balancing off…" Hex said mulling it over.

"That's pretty much our current situation in a nutshell," Qrow said reclining on the log.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight…" Ren said shivering at the thought.

"It's alright Renny, I'll make sure you get to sleep~" Nora teased with a smile, though it wasn't as bright as it usually was.

Qrow felt bad for these kids. They were just teenagers, being dragged into a storm, fighting a war with almost no support. They didn't deserve to bear this burden, especially Ruby. She was the youngest of them all, but… whether she knew it or not… she was the key to all of this.

"Uncle Qrow… I've been meaning to ask… what does Salem want with me? Why was I being hunted?" Ruby asked.

Qrow thought for a moment, "I'm not exactly sure… but my best guess would be, for your eyes."

Ruby blinked rapidly, "My… eyes?"

"Ruby you posses Silver Eyes, that's a very rare trait." He said, when he was met with a blank stare of confusion, he realized he would have to explain more. "Do you remember what happened after you saw Nova… you know…"

Ruby shook her head, "No, I don't really… there was a flash of light and…"

"All the Grimm in a radius around Beacon was turned to stone." Qrow finished for her.

Ruby gawked, "What?!"

"Yup, you did that Ruby. You turned them to stone with your eyes…"

"But… I don't understand, what do my eyes have to do with all of this…"

"A long time ago, there was a race of warriors possessing Silver eyes. In those days, your eye colour was a bit more common than it is now. These warriors were the bane of the Grimm's existence, they could exterminate hordes of the beasts just by looking at them. No knowledge really remains of their kind, so… if you were thinking about learning to use your power… you're on your own…" Qrow explained looking at the shocked reaper.

Ruby was at a loss for words. This whole time she was of the belief she was a normal huntress, fighting Grimm on her own power, and now she's being told she was also a superpower? It was a lot of information to digest.

"Don't think on it too hard kid… just keep doing what you've always been doing and the answers will find you. Get some sleep…" Qrow said before nodding off.

Needless to say, Ruby did not get much sleep.


By the time morning came, Qrow was doing a lot worse for wear. His wound had begun to reopen, and sickeningly purple colour began to seep into the cloth bandage. He was barely breathing, as cold sweat was flowing down his forehead, his skin growing a sickly pale and the wound that should have been healed hours ago, was open and just as fresh as the day it was cut. The poison flowing through his veins was not ordinary.

Team MNRNJR spared no time in packing up and escorting the barely conscious Qrow through the forest.

"Come on Uncle Qrow, hang in there…" Ruby mumbled as they dragged him through the increasingly dense forest path. The trees on all sides were dead, no leaves in sight. It was like a graveyard for mother nature.

Soon the party came to a fork in the road, to the left the village of Kuroyuri, to the right, the path up the mountains to Mistral. Both paths led to the same destination, just one was longer.

"Look Mistral! We must be on the right path… oh no…" Nora faltered when she saw the sign. Kuroyuri, their old home. Long ago, when she and Ren were just children, their home of Kuroyuri was attacked by Grimm… one dark horse in particular drew flashes of fear in Ren as he stood stock-still, staring at the sign.

"The path to Mistral takes us up through the mountains…" Hex said as she ran a sonar sweep of their area. Most of her navigation equipment was useless now that the CCT Tower was destroyed, but she could at least use small range mapping, however little help it was. "The path to the right goes to a nearby village, seems rather close…"

"I'm not sure all of us will make it through the climb…" Jaune said sparing a glance at Qrow, who looked paler by the minute.

"Then… why not go through the village? They must have some help!" Ruby said looking anxious.

"NO!" Ren said harshly causing Ruby to falter. "You won't find anything there!"

"Ren why are you acting so…" Jaune faltered.

"We can't… go there… it's…" he couldn't bring himself to explain, thus Nora held his hand for support.

"But Uncle Qrow isn't going to make it if we hesitate any longer… if there's even the slightest chance of hope, we need to take it… come on…" Ruby said looking determined and worried at the same time.

Ren cursed under his breath, he didn't want to path through that place… even if they couldn't help it… but he travelled on anyway.

The village was dead, the air was stale and rotten, not a single house was left standing. It was all just piles of ruins and rubble, an empty husk of a once-proud village.

Ren and Nora held each other close as they walked through the cold empty streets, their hearts hammering against their ribs as memories of their past came flooding through their minds.

The fear, the anger, the suffering.

"Well this was a bust…" Hex said as they moved through the ruins of the town.

*Clip, clop* came the sound of the slow thudding of horse hooves against stone as the team neared the central square.

"Do you guys hear that…?" Jaune asked looking around for the source of the noise.

Ren's face paled as his ears finally registered what he was hearing. "No… No… NO! NOT AGAIN!"

"Ren? What's wrong? Ever since we came here you've been acting…" Hex started but her words faltered when the distinct sound of a horse belting out air could be heard behind her, accompanied by the louder sound of clapping hooves.

The party slowly turned to the source of the noise, and in strode a pale horse, and its rider's name was death. In this case, what they saw before them was a black amalgamation, a creature so grotesquely horrifying, it could only be created in the imagination of the twisted.

It was a Grimm, a pitch-black horse made of shadow, with a skinny, elongated torso sprouting from its back. Its arms were grotesquely long, stretching from its height of around ten feet, to the ground. Its head was a human-like Grimm mask with two large curved horns sprouting from its forehead.

"What is that thing?!" Nitro said, readying Atomizer, allowing the metal gauntlets to cover his arm length.

Hex bit back her lip, "I've only read about this thing in textbooks… a Nuckelavee… almost as enigmatic as the Phantom… to think we'd find one out here…"

Ren and Nora held each other in fear. There stood before them, like the visage of the reaper itself, was the very embodiment of their nightmares. The creature that singlehandedly tore down their lives and shredded everything they once held dear.

Fear slowly morphed into anger as Ren left his position with the team, running out full speed, screaming at the top of his lungs, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"REN?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! GET BACK HERE!" Nitro yelled as he gawked at the ninja's recklessness. When Ren paid him no heed he sighed, "Alright so we're doing it this way then…" he too followed up behind rushing in at full speed.

Jaune deadpanned, "GUYS SERIOUSLY?!"

Ruby shrugged, and placed Qrow against a wall where he would be safe, "Let's make this quick… for Uncle Qrow…"

The creature let out a powerful howl that sent rippling waves through the air, knocking back the three boys.

"ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT NOISE?!" Nitro cursed, covering his ears from the deafening roar.

The beast began to move stiffly, the bones in its body cracking as if it was breaking them every time it moved, dislocating and relocating its own joints to purposely move in the most horrifying way possible.

"Yeesh, talk about nightmare fuel…" Hex groaned as she winced at the sight of the thing.

Suddenly its elongated arms outstretched like elastic, firing off in the direction of the downed Qrow. Jaune, reacting quickly, made a mad dash, barely managing to get him out of the way before the stretchy appendage mashed into the ground like a hammer.

"Okay so it's got long-range attacks, what is it Ruffy from One Part?" Nitro complained as he ducked out of the way of an oncoming attack.

"Fucking nerd…" Hex grumbled as she dived out of the way of one of its slam attacks. Then she threw her chain hoping to stop the beast's movement but it just got caught around its right arm. "Oh… shit…"

The creature then unhinged its own spine and began to spin like a pinwheel, swinging Hex along with it, crashing her through multiple already destroyed buildings before tossing her and her weapon to the ground, effectively breaking her aura.

Ruby and Nora winced at the poor girl, before being forced to return to the fight themselves.

The Nuckelavee swung its arm at Ren from an impossible distance, blindsiding the ninja and pinning him to the wall in an iron grip. It was about to send its second arm flying at him when Nora noticed this and turned to Ruby.

"Ruby! Launch me!" she said and Ruby complied, letting Nora hop into Crescent Rose then using the recoil to swing her into the air and high speeds, allowing her to collide with the arm before it could hit Ren, effectively nailing them both to the wall.

"Nice job Nora… now we're both stuck…" Ren grumbled as he looked up only to see directly up her skirt.

"Hey I saved your ass and… STOP LOOKING!" She yelled in embarrassment, though her expression said she most definitely didn't mind.

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Why do I always get stuck with the flirty ones…"

The Nuckelavee released them and tried to do another spin attack but this time they were ready. They all ducked low and fired ranged shots at it, except Ren who ran in with blind rage.

"REN YOU NEED TO STOP!" Jaune yelled but again he was met with deaf ears.

Nora was barely able to push Ren out of the way before he was knocked aside by the creature's rapid attacks.

"REN YOU NEED TO FOCUS!" Nora said shaking him by the shoulders.

"But… Nora that thing… how can you remain so calm?" he asked looking pained.

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not… but right now… if we want to win this… we need to play by our team. Stop letting your emotions get in the way of this… or you'll… I don't want to lose you Ren…"

The ninja's eyes widened at the tone of voice, the look she was giving him, "Nora I…" he was interrupted when the black fist of the creature crashed into the wall above them, forcing them to dodge.

"We need to split its focus. Jaune, me, you and Ruby will take care of its head. Hex, Nitro, and Nora get the horse…" He said with determination. They all nodded as if silently understanding the battle plan.

The moment the Nuckelavee's arm shot at Jaune, he expanded his shield and slammed it into the appendage, anchoring it to the floor.

Before it could react, Ruby began firing shots at it from the opposite side, dancing through the air wildly, drawing its attention, and bringing it to focus on her. Ruby expertly used the recoil and her semblance to stay airborne while dodging its rapid stretched attacks. In one swift motion, the moment the arm was under her, she crashed down with Crescent Rose, stabbing it into the floor.

The beast let out a howl of pain now that both of its arms were anchored.

"NOW!" Ren yelled signaling the others.

On his mark, Hex threw Loki around the horse's legs, anchoring the chains together, locking down its movement.

"Nora… you ready?" Nitro called up to Nora who was perched on top of the tallest building, just above the Nuckelavee.

She saluted down, "Damn right!" she called before free-falling down, spiraling her hammer in a series of spins to gain momentum.

At that same time Nitro activated his jet boosters and came speeding through the air, his fist at the ready. Together they both smacked the horse in the head with enough force to shatter its Grimm mask and crush its head back into the body, crippling the creature and effectively grounding it. This now left the torso and head of the monster at their mercy.

Ren calmly walked up to it, glaring it in the face as it screamed and thrashed just out of reach. He drew a small oriental dagger from his waist. It was old and ornately carved with a curved edge. A relic of his past.

"This is for my father…" Ren said as he swiftly cleaved its left arm from its body. The monster screeched in pain as the black appendage fizzled into black dust.

"And for my mother…" he continued this time, tearing off its right arm. Then he grasped it by the horns, yanking its skull head to face him so that in its final moments, the creature would remember, who it died too.

"And this… is for me…" and with one final strike, he carved its head clean off, tossing the skull onto the ground as it dissipated into black smoke, like the rest of its body.

Team MNRNJR collapsed in exhaustion on the floor, "Holy shit that was intense…" Nitro said as he lay flat on the floor.

"Hey… anyone else feels that breeze?" Jaune asked as he sat up from his spot, just in time to see an airship landing in the square.

Everyone gawked, "What…?"

"Hello? You kids! Are you all okay?" A male pilot said as he stepped off the ship. "We were on patrol when we saw the smoke… no one's been out here for ages…"

"Sir! You need to help my uncle! He's poisoned!" Ruby said frantically moving to pick up Qrow.

"Alright, get him on board, we'll see what we can do…"

They all boarded the airship and were on their way to Mistral. In the end, all their misfortune had one good outcome.


So my projects got delayed by a week again, and I have an exam on the coming Wednesday, so I won't be able to do my preferred two chapters a week for a little while. I'll try to, but if things are just too busy for me to finish in time well...

I'll still try to stick to my usual upload dates of Fridays.

If the suspense of Nova and Ruby reuniting is killing you then, don't worry... soon...