12

On the Wings of the Night

Mara giggle from atop Jaune's shoulders as she pinned her light pink hair behind her ears. It had fallen all about when the blond had taken off with his passenger, sprinting down the trail while she squealed in excitement. A huntsman could run much faster than a normal person and the boy had come a long way from what he had used to be.

Ruby Rose dashed by in a shower of petals that the young child tried to catch as they dissolved on the air.

The group was finally reaching their detour, Outpost Kutsuri, a village that served as a common stopover for huntsman. The trip had taken an extra five days for the group in which they had encountered a surprising amount of Grimm. It was worrying how much the monsters' activity had spiked, Shion was supposed to be a town big enough to have bullhead docks.

Kutsuri was smaller but possed a CCT extension tower of it's own. As well as other commodities aimed towards hunters like dust shops and places to get weapons repaired. There was also what was known as a hunting lodge in the town. This building acted as a deployment center for huntsmen and huntresses looking for new assignments.

Jaune slowed down as they crossed the threshold of Kutsuri, looking up at the still giggling child upon his shoulders he felt his heart lighten a little bit. The young girl acts normal enough during the day but at night the terrors return to her. Most nights she cries herself to sleep and only ever calmed down when Yang slept with her.

No one would say it be the two had gotten attached to each other so much so that Jaune was the only other one she wasn't reserved with. Ruby always looked glum when Mara turned shy around her and Yang just couldn't help laughing herself silly at that. He wasn't the only one who noticed that Yang had gotten attached too.

Something about Mara had stirred both Big Sister Yang and Momma Yang and the combination of the two was so fierce it was palpable. The little girl had even gotten Neo to crack an honest smile when she pointed at the mute and exclaimed that their hair almost matched and that the older woman's was very pretty.

Yang jogged up to him followed by Ruby and a Nora who was dragging a Ren who just couldn't seem to be bothered with going faster than a walk. The red-head had decided otherwise. The watchman atop the gate offered them greetings and they asked him where the lodge was. After getting the directions they headed towards the center of town. The lodge was adjacent to the CCTE Tower. The relay tower was much shorter than the main ones in the kingdoms. The tower itself was a fusion of wood and metal, with much of the base being made of wood reinforced with metal and it turning into just metal towards the top.

The group saw the lodge and Jaune couldn't help but stop for a moment. This was where real Hunters gathered. It was a large two story building with a sign above the double doors leading in that consisted of the crests of all four kingdoms. Jaune let Mara down off of his shoulders as they all entered the lodge.

The first thing he noticed was a large lobby with a counter. Behind it was a bored looking, well muscled, bald man. He perked up when he noticed the group come in but immediately turned dour when he no doubt noticed the age of the group. Off to the left was a set of four large holographic boards that they recognized. They were the mission boards that even Beacon had but this one was no doubt fairly localized.

"Oi, if yer lookin' fer the inn it's down the street on the left."

Yang strutted up to the counter, putting on her typical winning smile and putting one arm up on the surface, "We're here for information, plus we have important news. We just came from Shion."

The man's interest was visibly peaked, apparently Shion going silent had not gone unnoticed.

"Shion's been attacked and destroyed by bandits and grimm." Yang continued after the man had nodded that he was listening. The man's face turned pale at the news.

"Roran! Get the fuck down here, we got a problem!" The man turned around and shouted out into the stairwell near the counter before turning back to the group, "Roran'll be down in a sec, you can tell him everything. I gotta go and make some calls. Mistral's gotta be notified."

Before the man could go off they heard cursing come from upstairs as a yawning man appeared from the second floor. This man had dark green hair that was fairly short but with a small braided lock hanging down by his temple, "Berg I swear if you saw a mouse again… who the hell're they?"

"They say they came from Shion and that it's been destroyed."

The younger man's face instantly became alert and more serious as he regarded the visitors more closely, his eyes flicking from face to face, "Ah fuck. Alright kids come on to the meeting room, it looks like we have some things to discuss."

Roran led the group to a room that was aligned with four couches arranged in a loose square and a large table in the middle. Each couch was big enough for four people and Jaune sat down first. Mara took the spot next to him and Yang next to her. Ruby, Nora, and Ren took the couch next to theirs while Neo stood arms crossed against the wall directly behind the blond. After they were all comfortable Roran asked them to tell them what happened. Everyone's eyes fell on Jaune and with a sigh he started explaining.

"We visited Shion in order to take the bullhead there to Mistral. However when we arrived the town was already gone." The blond swallowed past the lump in his throat, forcing the words out as he remembered the gruesome scenes, "There were dead bandits everywhere as well as huntsmen and civilians. We found a huntsmen and he told us what happened right before he passed."

Roran was nodding along, "Survivors?"

"The only one we could find was Amaranth here." Jaune put his hand atop the little girl's head.

"Shit." With a sigh he looked at the group, "You guys seem a little young to be hunters yerselves."

"We're in training. We were at Beacon Academy."

Roran let out a low whistle at that, "Yer an awful long way from home kids. Anima's been a dangerous place since Beacon, everyone's worried and that just makes the Grimm act up." He put hand to his chin, thinking for a moment, "Tell me, what's the truth about this whole Atlas deal? Everyone saw the videos, those tin-cans of Atlas were turning around and slaughtering people."

"It wasn't Atlas!" Ruby spoke up, her eyes burning, "Someone took control of all those robots and made them kill people. They wanted this chaos and uncertainty."

The man leaned back slinging one arm over the couch as he considered the young lady in front of him and simply nodded at what she said, neither agreeing or disagreeing but filing away the door clicked at it was opened and the bald man, Berg, came in again sat down next to Roran.

"Got off the comms with Haven, a bullhead will be on it's way tomorrow to pick you up. They wanna get your views and know about any survivors." Berg said as he sat down.

"Good. Little Amaranth here seems to be the sole survivor, " Roran motioned to the little girl, "They can take her to safety in Mistral as well. Figure out if she has any relatives and such."

"Thank you. Mr. Roran, Mr. Berg."

The two men blinked owlishly at Jaune before looking at each other.

"Roran, you didn't do introductions did you."

"Slipped my mind, Berg." With an apologetic smile he turned to the group, "My name is Roran Oak and this bald softie-"

"Hey!"

"Is Berg Kreme. He may look mean but really he's a soft hearted fellow with a heart of gold."

Berg smacked Roran upside the back of his head, "Oi! What're you gonna do if that ruins my reputation? I've got an image to protect!"

The two paused and one look at the wide eyes of the teenagers in the room had them in an uproar, laughing themselves to tears. Ruby cast a worried glance at Jaune and Yang slid Mara just a little bit closer to her.

"Alright alright, For tonight we'll put you guys up. We got the room since the only hunters in this town is my team. I'll get you keys in a bit. Feel free to visit anything in town though."

Jaune flopped onto the soft bed once they all had their own rooms, Mara was staying with Yang, and felt himself growing more tired by the second. It had been weeks since they had last slept on a bed. Without even bothering to take off his armor the blond felt his eyes grow heavy and close as he drifted off into slumber.

Weiss entered the hangar bay, Myternaster in one hand and suitcase in the other. Her hands were sweaty, clammy, and her heart beat with nervousness. Taking a deep breath she steadied herself as she waited for the pilot to arrive like Klein had told her he would. She took the moment to reflect on why she was doing something she had never really thought to do before, openly defying her father.

The after being confined to her room after the events at the charity concert Weiss had received a message from General Ironwood.

Dear Weiss,

I am sorry about what happened tonight and hope to cheer you up with this news of your team. Miss Rose and Miss Xiao-Long along with several other companions were spotted entering Anima by some of my intelligence officers as they were gearing up to pull back to Atlas. No matter what they are doing your team seems to be in good health.

Despite what may happen from now on know that you have my support and my wishes for your continued good health.

Best Wishes,

Gen. James Ironwood

She'd read through the puzzling message before finally piecing together what the good General had really wanted to convey to her. Her team was in Anima, moving towards Mistral, with some kind of objective. Now she also knew that he was on her side at least, in what she didn't know but at least he didn't condemn her.

She had gathered one thing from his message though. If they were heading towards Mistral they must have had a reason and she could only think of one reason they would do so on their own. And if her team needed to be in Mistral than so did she, her father could freeze on a mountain for all she cared. Her team was the most important family she had now besides Winter.

A man in a flight suit walked into the hanger with some kind of manifest in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. When he noticed he started walking over, sipping his coffee along the way.

"Hello miss. And please, spare the introductions. The less either of us knows about the other, the better." After a nod from the white haired girl, "Alright so you want passage to Mistral and I'm freighting this shipment of dust there. I've already been paid to take you so just sit tight in the hold and make yourself comfortable. Oh and if we get caught, you stowed away."

He stood until he got another nod from her and then waved her towards his. Weiss took on look back the way she had come before following him. Another deep breath and she followed after the pilot with her head held high.

Jaune's eyes snapped open to the sounds he heard, immediately sitting up. Listening he heard shouting and the sounds of alarms. The sounds were punctuated by the sounds of gunfire and some explosions.

His door nearly burst from it's hinges as Ruby flowed into the room, her face was creased with worry, "Jaune, the town is under attack by Grimm!"

"What?! How many?"

"A lot." She looked at him and the worry was clear in her eyes as her prosthetic hand gripped the doorframe, "Hundreds."

His heart dropped into his feet and he could feel the blood drain from his face. Hundreds of Grimm just didn't attack a town like this. This was insane, a nightmare. Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors and forced his hand to be steady. This was a town for hunters, they would be fine, right?

Taking the stairs two at a time he met the others in the lobby, Roran was standing there with a halberd in hand and several pistols with bandoliers tied to his chest. Even Neo was there her sardonic smile gone and in it's place a look of dead seriousness. Once everyone had gathered around Roran started explaining the situation.

"We've got hundreds of grimm outside the wall. Militia are on it with guns holding them back and my team is lending a hand where they can, trying to prevent a breach. I had Berg take Amaranth to the shelter with the other civilians. Anyone with range I want interspersed on the walls. Try and maximise your fire and keep the Grimm off the ramparts. Anyone who's melee only will patrol for clusters of Grim that may make it over the wall. Got it? I'm trusting you guys to handle yourselves alright?"

Without another word he took off into the night filled with shouting and gunfire. A loud wailing scream came from far off and Ren stiffened for amount before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Neo was already gone so Ren and Nora ran off into the night leaving Yang, Jaune, and Ruby standing just in front of the lodge.

"Alright I guess we should take up different parts of the wall. I'll head towards the west wall and see where Roran's team wants me, you guys wanna split up to the North and South walls"

"That's as good a plan as ever Jaune. I'm ready to annihilate these Grimm. They think they can attack a town Mara's in twice?" Yang slammed her fists together, eyes already scarlet.

Ruby looked over and noticed someone sprinting towards them, their long brown coat flapping behind them. It looked like it might be one of the others on Roran's team. She looked back to Jaune, about to ask a question when something didn't feel right and she looked at the man approaching only he didn't seem like he was interested in stopping.

Jaune must have noticed it himself because he looked at the man too just in time to see him swing his gauntlet weapon at her. The blond man stepped in front, shield deployed when she wasn't looking and blocked the attack as the man flipped up and over their heads to land on the other side of them. A manic grin was plastered across his face as his yellow eyes took them in. The front of his jacket was open exposing his bare chest and Ruby could make out massive scars crisscrossing his midsection.

With a giggle he sprung at them once again but they were ready for it this time. Jaune brought his shield up and charged it forward hoping to disrupt the man's momentum but in a display of agility he hopped onto the shield and peered at the young hunter with and interested expression before flipping away as Yang's fist sailed through his previous position. Ruby appeared behind the man drawing Rose Thorn out into a quick slash that the man avoided by ducking low. The young girl barely managed to get her sword back into a position to avoid a full blow from the man's blades but it still scratched into her aura.

A sweeping strike and the man disengaged once more, giggling to himself.

"Who are you. Why are you doing this? We have enough problems with the Grim!" A flash of heat came from the already furious Yang.

"Hehe. Who I am matters not to you. Not you, though you do interest me. No I am here for you." He pointed first to Yang, then Jaune, and finally to Ruby who had assumed a more defensive posture between her sister and friend.

"Me?" She was confused, she had never met this man before and couldn't think of much that she had done that was worth being attacked over, especially during a Grimm incursion.

The man slapped a hand to the side of his face, his eyes wide as he cackled with laughter, "You…. you don't even know do you? Oh how interesting this must be. As for why I'm here? Well I'm here to whisk you away with me."

Yang stepped in front of her sister, barely restrained fury dancing in her eyes as she looked at the would-be kidnapper, "I'm afraid my sister doesn't wanna be whisked by anyone."

"Then, I'll have to take her by force." The brown haired man said as he inspected his nails, as if disinterested.

Jaune stepped in front of the two girls blocking his vision even further, "We won't let you."

The man stopped his inspection and looked over at the blond man, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A smile spread over his face as he replied.

"Good."

And he disappeared.

He moved so quickly none of them had caught it but when he started swinging at the back of Jaune's neck Yang was there to shove her first through his face. Before following through all the way the man flipped back towards Ruby, attacking her with his blades again while in mid-air. She only deflected one while the rest landed on her shoulders being absorbed by her aura.

By this time Jaune had spun around and was advancing with a series of slashes, stabs, and shield bashes that the man deftly avoided while kicking Yang in the stomach as she approached from the side. Ruby appeared in a flash of petals behind the man and unleashed her quickest attack while his leg was extended. A clang resounded as her blade met resistance and they could all see the chitinous tail that extended from the man.

"Surprise!" With a maniacal grin that was quickly growing old the man turned his head to leer at the young woman. A casual flick of his tail and she stumbled back.

"A faunus? Are you with the White Fang?" Yang and Jaune exchanged glanced and looked back at the man who was shrugging off his coat.

"Ha! Plastic soldiers! No. MY heart and body belong only to my Goddess." The faunus reached his hands up toward the sky as if he was hoping for a revelation.

"Cinder." Ruby spat out as if it was a vile insult. The man's face fell at the mention of that name.

"Only in her wildest dreams!" A sneer crossed his face and his voice rose with vehemence as he attacked again, appearing in front of Ruby once more attacking with a flurry of acrobatic kicks and slashes from his gauntlets.

The young girl was losing aura to the man fast under his rapid assault, Yang and Jaune leaped in to help her. His tail wrapped around the blond brawler's fist and he kicked the blond knight's shield so hard he went careening into the wall of the lodge. With a flick his tail threw Yang just as far away.

Ruby slash at the man again and again but he deflected all of them until he locked her weapon onto his. His tail flash out, stinger first, towards her. Both of the blonds cried out as they say him strike but leap out of the way at the last second as a large sword impacted where he had been standing just a fraction of a second earlier.

Alighting on top of it was a man that Yang and Ruby knew well and they shouted out his name, "Uncle Qrow!"

With a trademark Branwen smirk a reached behind him and pulled out a red object that Rub recognized just as much as her uncle.

"Crescent Rose!" The man tossed it to his niece who caught it and cradled it in her arms. With a flick and a twirl she had the scythe deployed, it's tip buried in the ground with a thunk, "Ruby Rose is back in action!"

A/N: Another week another chapter and this on is a bit of a doozy. I wonder how many of you didn't see this coming?