Spectral wings carried me from Amity's height and on a slow glide down towards the courtyard of Beacon. Behind me, about a dozen of the school's rocket-propelled weapon lockers streaked towards the grounds of the arena. Around me, some Grimm were drawn to the sheer intensity of my soul and attacked me, but I was no longer playing the student. They fell one after the other, my descent uninhibited.
Mentally, I crossed Penny and her soul off of my list, and set my sights on Ozpin. After numerous nights of observation on him, I knew not only his habits, but I could see his soul, even without focusing. Currently, he seemed in some secretive chamber under his tower. So I touched down near the base, caving in the thick steel doors with two strikes, and striding inside.
Atlesian guards fell into piles of viscera behind me, their bullets less than even the stings of ants to me. Keeping track of the mosiac pattern that comprised Ozpin's soul, I slowly carved my way through his tower, but found maze like hallways leading to dead ends, no stairway or elevator in sight that would take me downwards.
Two feet of concrete was an inconvenience to be sure, but a surmountable one. It took me ten minutes to smash and claw my way through, using fire to melt the steel reinforcements. In that time, many alarms sounded and Ozpin retreated further into the bowels of this place. After landing in a pile of concrete and molten steel, I found myself in a much more refined, less furnished hallway.
The tile was reflective, tinted a pale green, and the walls were black. Small, low yellow lights bathed the halls in just enough light to see. Ozpin was perhaps a few hundred feet away just around a bend. However, just as I began to walk, I heard a touchdown of light feet behind me. Stealthy enough that you might begin to question if you had even heard it.
"Hey, you." A rough and slightly slurred voice addressed me, and I slowly turned around. The white suit piece and torn red cape identified the man as Qrow, Ruby's uncle. "Yeah, I'm talking to you."
"How did you find me?" I asked, my split lips fraying as I spoke. He grimaced in disgust. "Not exactly hard to track, considering."
"You know, I've been waiting to fight you since I saw that show in the courtyard. Hell of an entrance." I told him.
"Well, good for you. You get to die satisfied. That's more than most people can say." Qrow's thick blade swiftly activated, mechanics whirring as steam released and the sword became an extended, curve-handled scythe. I flourished my own weapon, deciding Ozpin could wait. He wouldn't be able to hide anyways.
Qrow rushed me with quite blinding speed. Though Ruby's Velocity form outclassed him, he matched her initial Semblance with raw physical ability. Still, it was slow to me. A cut meant to cleanly remove my head was caught in the sawteeth of my sword, and I drug him around by his own scythe, slamming him into the wall.
Qrow was agile, planting his feet onto the tiled surface and launching another attack that I parried. The halls were tight enough and the hunter swift enough that his attacks worked in three dimensions, forcing me to cover every angle. He was an impressive fighter, forcing me into a close defensive battle without any room for me to create a meaningful counter-attack.
Once or twice he even landed shallow cuts on me, the heft of his weapon combined with his speed and strength tore through my shielding, but the wounds closed over in seconds. It became obvious of the victor. In this small space, he was nothing but a physically advanced melee fighter. No variety or room for changes of tactics. In this particular fight, raw physical talent would win.
"This has been fun, Qrow. But, I am becoming bored with you. I'll give you one more shot, and then I'm wrapping this up." I spoke to him between dodging and countering his attacks.
"Sure thing." Qrow stopped against a wall, sliding down it while his blade retracted from scythe and back into sword. As his stance changed, I realized I had made a small mistake. Seeing him fight Winter with such mocking motions, I had assumed that the sword dictated his lesser moveset, and his scythe meant that he was serious. Now, I could tell that in this small corridor, his scythe restricted his movements, and his sword was his real weapon.
Two slugs slammed into my chest right before Qrow struck me. Off balance, his swing hit true and threw me into the wall, smashing tile. I slipped sideways just in time to dodge what would have been him running me through. Attempting to counter, I swung for his neck. In fluid motion Qrow parried me with great force and cut my leg.
I dodged backwards to get distance, but Qrow was faster now, and he used my own momentum to send me back down the hallway, away from Ozpin. My boots dug trenches in the floor as I drug myself to a stop, only to be pushed further by two more slugs and another strike. What a combination. My back slammed into another wall, this one made of steel that caved on impact. An elevator that I had apparently missed.
I shielded my hand and caught Qrow's sword, throwing it to the side and disarming him, determined to counter. The hunter used the momentum I gave him and delivered a stunning kick to my jaw before pushing himself off my chest and regaining his sword, continuing his advance while I had no room left to move back.
Making use of the tight space, I filled it with fire from my left hand, unearthing myself from the hard steel. Qrow twirled his sword and created a torrent of air that blocked his body from the flames, leaving him with only a singed knuckle and more room to strike at me. I parried two more slashes at my chest, his rotational form of fighting leaving extraordinarily small openings. It went from a battle of skill to attrition, as he kept up with me physically in speed, something that will never cease to amaze me.
Sparks flew from the edges of our swords as they clashed, each of us taking small cuts one after another. But mine healed, my power a nearly limitless reserve of energy that kept me from tiring, and kept his strikes from leaving lasting damage. His aura waned, he slowed, he lost blood. But Qrow never lost pressure, forcing his aching body to keep up with mine the entire time, delivering enough damage to my body that put my aura at 95%.
Deep into the fight, he left one small opening. His foot slipped on a chunk of stone that slid across the tile as if oiled. His strike to high, him to tired to compensate, I used the opening. For the first time that fight, my sword hit him full force in the chest, the teeth of it tearing cloth and flesh as he soared down the hallway that we came from.
I saw Qrow launch his sword in the direction he was moving, and cast a throwing knife, knocking it off course. Without his stepstone, he tumbled across the floor and received a bone-crunching kick to his stomach, landing him squarely in the wall. He coughed up blood, gazing around wildly for his sword as he stood. It was nowhere to be seen and he was cornered.
Qrow ducked a slash meant for his neck and rose with an uppercut that nearly knocked me off my feet, and I slammed my head into his, pushing the older man back down onto the floor, where the edge of my sword pressed against his neck. Individual teeth of black steel pierced his skin, drawing half a dozen dots of blood against his pale complexion. His breath was haggard and his aura did not flash in recuperation. Qrow was done.
"Very well done, Qrow. I am glad I did not overestimate you. You are the picture of hunter's perfection." I made to saw through his flesh, finishing him off, but Qrow slowly laid his hand on the edge. Not with force, but giving me pause nonetheless.
"That's sweet and all, but I couldn't really give a shit. I just gotta know why you're doin this. I've met Salem's bunch, and you don't look like you've even met the hag." Qrow spoke through the blood in his throat, coughing and wheezing, drinking from his flash after he finished his sentence. I could see the brown liquor leak back out through a particularly deep gash in his stomach.
"You're correct, I haven't. Don't care to either. As for why? You people are too complacent, with too little fear of death. Salem works well for a threat, but she's to slow and secretive. I'm giving humanity a kick to the teeth, so I can remind them what it was like to survive, and not just live." Qrow looked at me, tired, bleeding, seeing my wounds sow themselves shut.
"That's... A pile of shit. We've been surviving forever. Just barely." I shook my head while he spoke.
"Not as such. These cities, your weapons, most of you not even knowing your real enemy? It's too easy. You all think you're so damn safe. And even if I don't do this again, even if all this was just out of boredom, it'll still ignite the embers of that age old fear that let you claw your way out of the abyss and into the light. But I don't expect you to understand. Most human's never will, even if it is said to them straight on."
"Just shut up and kill me already. I don't care what you think the truth is. Here's my truth. I lost. I've had a reaper breathing down my neck since day one, and I think its about time I meet him. Just do it." Qrow's hand fell from my sword and he all but rested against the edge of it.
"You're talking to him. Don't worry. Soul's are such fragile sparks, so I'll be much gentler to yours than I was to your body." I sawed through his neck, up through his windpipe and into his spinal cord. A near painless death. And as his heart stopped, I felt two familiar sensations. First, a split of consciousness, as I produced what he called a 'reaper' to ferry him to the afterlife. And second, another soul sent to offer him comfort. It is not uncommon for family to wait, and Qrow was no different. A beautiful red and white soul with a kind energy lifted Qrow's soul upwards, and they walked away.
I flicked the blood off my blade and used a rune to burn his body, giving him a hunter's funeral. Once he was ash, I turned on my heels and stalked in the direction of Ozpin, who had yet to move. Intuition told me that the old man was likely waiting for me. I hoped that he would live up to his reputation as headmaster.