"You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...or you will die."
-Ozpin
Weiss could really feel the sheer intensity of Blake's Aura from where she stood, even with the fact that she had her own worries to attend to. Such as, well, a chainsaw sword wielding brute who seemed far too excited at the prospect of cutting her up into bloody chunks. Very worrying.
A rather morbid image to bring up in her mind, no doubt, but it seemed very much the intention of this man. Why else would he be focused solely on her? He's made his intentions very clear to her, and she made herself rather clear about not allowing such things to happen. She wasn't about to let the White Fang of all organizations ruin this mission. It mattered little what it took within some reason, she would take them down swiftly and harshly.
Of course, she was beginning to think she had the easier opponent, despite how big and intimidating he looked and sounded.
Because Blake's seemed a bit...no, not a bit, she was absolutely insane.
"Look at her run!" Ember was firing multiple explosions towards Blake's way, who was nimbly dodging each of them, as a streak of shadow. "You're awfully slippery, Belladonna!"
Blake kept her eyes sharpened and focused, not willing to lose even a single inch if she could help it. Because if she gave an inch before she could strike back, then others were going to get caught in the cross firing explosions, and that simply wasn't something she was willing to risk, not if she could do something about it beforehand. She clearly wasn't dealing with someone who had any problems with collateral damage. The citizens could take care of themselves, but that's no reason to take chances.
Especially not against someone with such a destructive ability. Simple, yet incredibly dangerous.
Ember waved her hand again as a triad of explosions went off in Blake's path, and she was just quick enough to stop her momentum and jump back. Though the shockwave from them was still enough to throw her back a good deal, skidding her feet across the dirt. Her eyes remained narrowed and focused on her quarry, who shot another focused explosion her way, which she dashed out of the way of using her shadow. She tsked as she lightly rolled her shoulder, ears flicking as she tried to find a way to close the gap. Sticking solely to dodging wasn't going to help her, for the woman's explosions could prove big enough for that to not matter all that much.
Currently one of her best chances was to prevent the woman from gaining enough time to windup.
Aura channeling through both her blade and sheathe, she slashed forward with both of them at the same time, the tends tearing through the ground and heading towards the jackal Faunus. She cackled and energetically hops out of the way of the slashes, in turn firing another boot from her hand, the exposition discharging right at Blake's feet and knocking her through the air, crashing up against the quickly emptying houses. She grunted and fell on her side as the heat from the explosions burned her slightly.
"What's the problem, Belladonna!?" Ember snickered with her hands tauntingly raised. "Surely you have a bit more bite than that! Otherwise you're gonna die far too quickly for how confidently and defiantly you spoke earlier!"
"Tch..." Blake hissed as she forced herself to stand, ignoring her brief stumble in order to do so. There was a away to approach this, she just had to find it. She briefly looked to the side, lightly grunting at the sight of Grimm beginning to approach the area due to the amount of commotion that the battle was creating. It was going to be a hassle to have to try and deal with them and the White Fang simultaneously. The last thing they needed was a free for all of that kind of potential chaos. Unfortunately, Ember seemed to be all for it, given her increasingly unhinged laughter.
Fortunately, someone else disagreed.
Overhead, she noticed Lily jumping far over them with a great bound, and landing right in front of the upcoming horde of Grimm. With her eyes narrowed and stance firm, she pulled her palm back a bit, and forcefully thrusts it forward. The blow smashed right against the mask of an upcoming Ursa, and immediately launched it so far so fast it crashed straight through several trees before stopping collapsed and dead across a rock.
"The Huntresses can't afford to split their focus worrying about the White Fang and the Grimm simultaneously! We can't let them fight alone!" She shouted as she kicked another Grimm right through, immediately killing it. "We need to group together and attack as such, to avoid being overwhelmed! The Huntresses can focus on the White Fang!"
Weiss didn't feel all that well about that arrangement, but she didn't have much of a choice, since the one in front of her was very insistent on trying to kill her, with his chainsaw sword slamming right onto the ground where she stood, dashing a few feet away with the assistance of a Glyph. The brute's incredible physical was already reminding her a bit of Yang. She didn't feel great about her chances of taking the full brunt of his attacks. She'll need to manipulate things in her favor in order to maintain some sort of advantage over him.
She had a Glyph manifest right under him, which propelled him towards her. She used another to propel herself forward and kicked the man right in the center, knocking him back and knocking the wind out of him. He skidded back, grunting.
"I barely felt that."
"Well good for you." Weiss deadpanned as another Glyph manifested behind her, and propelled herself forth, Myrtenaster lashing forth. The brute briefly brought his chainsaw sword up and deflected the blow, sending him skidding across the ground once more, though this the me he ended up crashing due to further increased momentum from her.
She slid across the ground and chased him down regardless, with him managing to recover quickly. Several glyphs manifested around him in the meantime, and she ended up bouncing herself off several of them and slashing at him with Myrtenaster, with each cut managing to stagger him, if only briefly.
She landed in front of him one more time, then lunged forth with a powerful thrust from Myrtenaster, and the brute dodged to the side to avoid the blow. Responding quickly, she also jumped over the swipe he attempted and kicked him across the faces further pushing him back.
Weiss clicked her tongue as she landed on her feet. The brute's still barely taken much significant damage from her attacks, despite her attempts to push more force into them. As much as the woman irritated her, sometimes for kicks, Weiss would really appreciate Yang's physical prowess right now. Maybe even Ruby's.
She shook her head. No, she shouldn't think like that, submitting so easily. She shouldn't back down and accept defeat so easily, especially not when innocents were at stake. She'll find a way to overcome this hurdle, she just needed to think. Think and move, for this man was highly unlikely to give her the time she needed.
Surely enough, he came at her again with a swing of the chainsaw, which she gracefully jumped over. Several thrusts from Myrtenaster managed to impact his chest and push him even further back, but he still held his ground for the most part, only really responding to the blows with a grunt. Something that displeased Weiss highly. She was about to be on the move again, eventually settling for being able to wear him down with a constant barrage of attacks that he couldn't react to.
Before an explosion smashed right into her side.
What...!?
Right out the corner of her eye, she could see a smirking Ember had fired a blast right towards her from her hand as she was still engaging Blake. The other Faunus briefly shouted out for Weiss in concern, before the jackal went right back into attacking her with gusto, not allowing her to assist Weiss so easily.
That few second distraction was enough.
The massive brute had the gall to briefly palm her face, them smash the back of her head right into the ground, with the impact enough to expand a crater several feet outwards. The ringing in Weiss's ears and the constant pulsing in her head let her know without room for debate, that the impact hurt.
It didn't end there, for he tossed her upwards while she was still disoriented, and as she was falling, he swing his sawblade towards her. She managed to pull herself together at just the right moment, channeling Aura through Myrtenaster and blocking the blow with as much as she could muster. The force behind the swing was still enough to send her hurtling away from the brute of a man, crashing right into one of the evacuated houses, a bit of debris falling right on top of her.
Blake briefly turned to where Weiss was sent hurtling, but was immediately brought back to focus as another explosion blocked her view of things with the fiery menace that was in front of her. Ember launched yet another right in front of her, knocking her off balance.
"You oughta focus a bit more on what's in front of you, Belladonna!" Ember grinned as she managed to slip right under a slash from Gambol Shroud, and jabbed right at Blake's side.
The force behind the blow, combined with the immediate explosion that happened right afterwards, was enough to completely disorient her and left vicious burns across the impact area. Blake found herself crashing along the ground, tumbling until she came to a stop, smoke emitting off of her body as she coughed in the midst of said smoke. The world was spinning, there was ringing in her ears, she felt incredibly off-balanced due to the sheer ruthlessness behind the attack. She could hear her fellow Faunus laughing at the state she was currently in.
"Don't tell me that's all you've got! I dragged my ass all the way out to this dump for such lame resistance?!" Ember chuckled, in which she also shook her head while clicking her tongue. Blake grit her teeth at her taunts, attempting to push herself from the ground. Then she lifted her head as her vision began returning. Ember slowly raised her hand over her head, as multiple glowing explosive flares hovered over her head. "Ah well. If that's really about as much as you can muster, then there's nothing you can do about this, huh?"
Blake's eyes darkened. She wanted to say that the woman wouldn't dare do such a thing, about at her to not do it. But the former would be naïve denial, and the latter was wishful thinking.
Of course she would.
Immense amounts of flares accumulated and gathered above the jackal Faunus. They sparkles and crackled, glowing brighter. With a rather enthusiastic smirk, she spread her hand out as the flares erupted and bursting apart, sending a rain of explosions onto the entire area. Multiple fiery explosions rained down upon everyone within it's range, and she watched the devastation with naught but a amused laugh.
By the time the barrage finally stopped, quite a bit of the town has been wrecked by the explosive onslaught. It was a completely indiscriminate attack overall. Both humans and Faunus, enemies and allies, even the Grimm have been placed under the chaotic assault that rained down on them.
Ember clicked her tongue. "Such a shame. This seemed like a pretty little town. But that's all it was worth." She lightly shook her head.
Lily was able to expand her Aura outwards, surrounding herself and many a child within her protection, the explosions being unable to penetrate it despite all of the power behind them. That being said, they definitely took their toll, for she lets it down after the barrage stopped, and dropped down to her knees in exhaustion.
"Oh, you're still kicking." Ember noted with a huff. "Well, that doesn't really matter either, cause now you're wide open."
"Does it not cause you any shame, to attack your fellow Faunus like this so cruelly...?" Lily narrowed her eyes as she questioned with a pant, the children gathering around her with concern.
"No Faunus that's lived here has earned the right to survive past today, hanging around humans like this." Ember noted while holding up a flare in her hand. "None of you show any use to the White Fang's ambitions, and quite frankly are an insult to them. So sorry-not really-but ya gotta die."
She fired the flare towards the woman and the children, who all uneasily braced themselves for a fiery explosive demise. Ember blinked as a familiar symbol manifested in front of the group, deflecting the flare and even sending it back at her. She dodged at the last moment, an explosion going off behind her.
"Huh?"
"You barbarian..."
She shifted her head to see the owner of the voice, Weiss, having pulled herself out of the rubble and formed a Glyph in front of the group to shield them. The woman has clearly gone through it, with blood running down her face, her clothes in tatters, and her hair having come completely undone, with it being down. And yet, within her blue eyes, an icy resolve has been solidified as she once again identified her enemy.
"You didn't even hesitate to attempt to kill your own, not even a little...?!"
"Hah? You're seriously protecting Faunus? You? A Schnee?" Ember smiled. "Figured that you wouldn't be so keen on that, given that Faunus are the reason your gramps is six-feet under."
"You speak of things and people you can never understand." Weiss muttered. "Terrorizing through the belief of Faunus supremacy, meaning you can do whatever you want to others. Culling both the humans you see as inferior and fellow Faunus who don't fall in line with that mindset..." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "You sicken me."
"I sicken you? I believe I have just the medicine for that." Ember raised her hand as a flare appeared above her palm again. "You won't feel sick after this...or feel anything at all."
Though alarm bells went off in her head, instinct telling her to immediately move out of the way of something. It was about then that she felt something impale her right through her back and out her front, causing her to look at the offending object with slight confusion.
Wh...?
Behind her, emerging from the shadows, Blake had appeared and stabbed her through with Gambol Shroud. Embers last minute dodge was the only thing that kept the blade from piercing her through her heart.
"Nn. I missed." Blake uttered with a dull tone of disappointment, yet a fierce glare in her eyes.
Ember coughed a bit of blood from her lips and smiled. "Stealthy little cat! I had my attention on the Schnee! I didn't even hear or sense you!"
"That's the idea."
Blake was forced to recall Gambol Shroud and jump back when an explosion separated them from one another. Ember laughed even more as she rolled her shoulders more despite her wound. "So you do have the guts to bare your fangs. Wonderful! Hopefully you can keep that up until I kill you!"
As Blake resumes her clash with the explosive Semblance using jackal, Weiss was again occupied with the brute that was hellbent on killing her himself. She picked up Myrtenaster and trained it towards the bulking man. He scoffed.
"Tch, you're not as fragile as you look,..."
"I have my older sister to thank for that. And those two, as well." Weiss muttered, thinking of Ruby and Yang. In another scenario, that would have taken her out of the fight, she wasn't that sturdy.
Weiss tsked as the man charged towards and swung his sawblade towards her, in which she once again parried while channeling her Aura through her rapier.
The impact caused the ground to crack around them, with Weiss nearly being pushed back from his brute force. Realizing she wouldn't win the clash, another Glyph formed under her feet, the motion pulling her back and out of his range. She slides backward, stopping on a dime before lifting her head to look at the man.
He was handling all of her speed and skill by simply powering through them, which was annoying. Though she got the messages, her current approach simply wasn't working. As such, she took a deep breath, and takes note of one of the Dust vials she brought with her.
Fine. If that's the way he wants it.
Weiss inserted one of her Dust Vials Myrtenaster, and loaded it carefully. As the brute slammed his blade down on her, another Glyph formed beneath her and pulled her way before it could make contact. She slid backwards, as she channeled Aura through her fingers, and slid it across her blade, with a new cold energy surging through it due to the Ice Dust vial she inserted.
When the brute came to move in on her again, she stabbed the ground with her rapier, and the ground around them froze, causing him to lose his balance. Not quite finished, she stabbed the ground again, this time encasing the arm that was holding his chainsaw with. The irritated grunt from him indicated that it wouldn't take long for him to break out of the brief imprisonment.
But it was still more time than he had.
For she didn't waste time sliding up to him, a Glyph manifesting behind her, and with a mighty swing, a large sword of ice shot forth and slammed right into him with harsh blunt force, cratering him into the ground. She wouldn't allow him time to recover, as a Glyph manifested beneath him, and encased his limbs in even more ice. More Glyphs manifested around, and Weiss leapt off all of them in order to gain some momentum.
And right when she found the height she wanted, she had one more manifest above her, and launched her right into the immobilized lieutenant, adjusting herself midair and slamming onto him feet first, the momentum gathered behind the stomp causing an even deeper crater around them to form, and ice crystals to shatter outwards.
Weiss breathed, unsteadily stepping off the hulking man as she heard the sounds of the other battle continuing.
Blake meanwhile dodged out of the range of another explosion, each one growing bigger than the last. That which gave her brief pause for concern, and an urgent desire to end this quickly. The Circle was unlikely to be capable of handling a worse onslaught than it had already.
She briefly had a shadow merge with her, and she completely vanished from sight again. Ember growled as she couldn't sense Blake anymore, not even by sound.
She was soon slashed across the chest.
She responded by launching an explosion in that direction, devasting the area in that direction. Only to be slashed at the arm. She launched dyer another one, only to suffer two more slashes at her back. Growing a bit annoyed with this approach, Ember sent a ring of explosions outwards around her, rending the landscape around her.
"That's your play? You intend to cut me up when I can't see you?" Instinct will drive her to guard and dodge anything that might slice at her neck or pierce anything vital. So it appeared that Blake was settling for everything else that could be cut. Before she knew it, she was being cut up at an even faster rate. Faster, faster, faster.
Soon she sent another ring of explosions outwards, forcing Blake to appear visible again and slid back to avoid the brunt of the damage. Ember appeared beyond the smoke, more flares surrounding her and preparing to launch them towards her. The flares launched towards Blake and were prepared to detonate. She managed to dash past them with several shadows pushing her in several directions away from the resulting blasts, then pushed her farther forward towards Ember, with her bringing her blade down and sending her flying with a crescent slash of Aura.
Ember managed to stabilize herself and attempted to send another flare towards Blake, only to have her attempt thwarted when she was swiftly wrapped up when Blake threw her sickle whilst running around her. With her foes arms pinned to their sides, Blake clutched tightly and swing downward with as much force as she could muster, slamming the explosive hyena right into the ground, resulting in a large crater in the ground.
Blake recalled the sickle, Gambol Shroud brought together as the smoke where her enemy landed slowly began to clear.
"Ugh..." Ember slowly opened her eyes, before she stood back up with a cackle. "That one packed a wallop...not too bad, Belladonna!"
"Even now, you still feel like running your mouth with your irritating laughter?" Weiss glared at the cackling jackal Faunus.
"Schnee...Atlas Elites always have that air of superiority around them, which makes them believe they're above everyone. That's why you're able to say such things." The brute from before was properly restrained by Lily and the others while being placed with Ember and the others, sitting up with a low and lowly voice. "There's been plenty of Faunus suffering all around Remnant. And out of them, Atlas benefitted from it the most. Especially Atlas Elites like the Schnees. That's what makes them the White Fang's most hated enemy."
"Things aren't like that anymore. My grandfather paved the path to help ensure that." Weiss slowly turned towards him, and a scoff indicated that he didn't believe her.
"Insincere gestures and fancy words mean nothing. Your grandfather's efforts don't mean a thing, and never will."
"You dare?" A frigid coldness formed around Weiss when she quietly uttered those words. Insulting her grandfather's kindness and the genuineness of his actions?
"Save it. There's nothing you can say or do. Atlas has benefitted from Faunus suffering most in the past, that can't be changed. That in turn will justify every single evil that is turned your way, from the present into the future. So long as that remains a fact in history, you have to pay." He uttered right back at her. "As the ones that are the most notable amongst all Atlas Elites, you will be the ultimate examples. The White Fang won't stop until your entire family is dead."
Weiss clenched her fist.
"What malevolent logic..." Lily shook her head in disapproval.
Blake still kept her attention on Ember. "Tell me something. The White Fang. As they are now...they're not interested in equality, that much is certain to me. But Faunus supremacy. Is that really what you seek, since you're so readily willing to slaughter your own?" Blake narrowed her eyes. "Or perhaps...you seek equality and supremacy for yourselves. You've shown an active willingness to subjugate and kill humans, and even do the same to fellow Faunus if they don't cooperate with that mindset." Her eyes lowered. "Was it like this the entire time...and your cooperation with my parents was just a front to gather more resources and members...?"
Ember smiled. "My my, you're actually a pretty smart kitty, compared to your pacifistic dumbass of a father."
Blake took another breath, repressing a shudder, then sighed.
"Blake. Are you alright?" Weiss asked.
"...I'm fine. In fact, I've never felt better." Blake muttered, her eyes overshadowed. "Because now...all traces of hesitation regarding this particular decision has completely vanished. My head feels clearer. The White Fang that I knew of and believed in...never truly existed, did it...?"
"Got that in one." Ember hummed. "So what will ya do now? Are you gonna make a claim that you'll take it back and do the organization right, the way you believe it should be?"
"...No." Blake uttered. "It's too late for that. Or more like...it was never really an option. Maybe deep down I did want that to a degree...but I know better. I now understand. The White Fang was tainted down to it's very roots, and those roots have already snatched up and entangled two of my dearest friends. It is filled with Faunus who will subjugate and kill others, be they human or their own fellow Faunus, for power. My parents were amongst their victims, and it's only through a miracle, as well as my mother's and Lady Sienna's courage, that I didn't join them. They'll manipulate the suffering of others to conscript and indoctrinate them to their cause. That is the White Fang's true nature."
Blake clenched her fist.
"So long as the White Fang exists...the festering hatred between Humans and Faunus will continue to grow even more chaotic and destructive. Faunus will continue to surrender their pride and compassion for their own safety and comfort against cruelty, and Humans will continue surrendering the kindness of their hearts to attack first before they're attacked themselves. All routes leading to a benevolent coexistence will continue to be closed off one after another...until there's nowhere left to go. It will be too late by then to turn back the clock."
Blake's eyes sharpened as her resolve showed through their animalistic pupils.
"I'll prevent that at all costs, even if it means dirtying my hands. I'll free my friends from the White Fang's jaws even if I have to shatter every single tooth. As for the organization itself? I'm not going to take back the White Fang. I'm going to destroy it."
"Blake..." Weiss muttered quietly, while still remaining vigilant of possible retaliation. She'll shut it down in an instant. The pause from the whole area was telling. She meant every word, and she had every intent on following through with them.
Despite being sincerely surprised, Ember went back to cackling. "Declarin' war on the White Fang?! If nothin' else, I gotta give you credit for your audacity!" Ember tilted her head as she began glowing. And all of the other she can glowing as well.
Lily's eyes widened. "Her Aura is overcharging at an extreme rate...!"
Weiss didn't need to be told what was happening, for she could sense it as well. "W-What are you doing?! Are you mad?!"
"A woman with an explosion Semblance, fated to be taken into custody...surely you could have seen this coming." Ember smirked. "This entire town's gonna be blown to bits-!"
"This town is a disgrace. Every human, and every Faunus that chose to mingle with them, deserves to die. And you'll be the first one, Schnee!" Ember's partner in crime, this White Fang Lieutenant, stood up with his chainsaw once more, heading towards Weiss with renewed wrath.
Weiss's eyes flashed icy blue.
Blake's feline eyes sharpened.
The Lieutenant had been stopped in his tracks. And Ember's attack slowly stopped charging, until the energy completely dissipated. And it was for two distinct reasons.
The bulking man had been pierced by several spikes of ice, including a stab from Myrtenaster. He had dropped his sawblade from the freezing shock of the sudden attack.
Meanwhile, Ember looked in disbelief as Blake had once again stabbed her with her katana, this time managing to hit her mark.
"I already told you. I was ready to dirty my hands." Blake uttered silently, a sharp glare in her eyes. "Did you think I was bluffing?"
Ember coughed blood, smiling and cackling weakly. "Not...too...shabby..." Ember slowly fell on her side after Blake pulled her weapon free from her, staring at her now lifeless form.
"H...How...?" The bulking Faunus could only stare down at Weiss in disbelief, as she glared right at him. Weiss pulled Myrtenaster back, the ice shattering around them into snowflakes, as the man fell backwards until landing on his back. She looked around and could see the remaining White Fang soldiers quickly losing their morale due to their leaders being taken down, with one being killed outright. It didn't look like they wanted to fight anymore.
Now sure that the threat has ended, Weiss took a sharp breath and dropped her sword, nearly falling to her knees.
Blake caught her with both of her arms.
"B-Blake..."
"It's over." Blake declared softly. "Is this your first time, taking a life?"
"It...it is...is this yours?" Weiss felt the calm, patient glance in Blake's eyes, and that was enough to tell her that it most certainly wasn't. Given the kind of life Blake lived for so long, she probably wasn't all that surprised.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yes...yes. I'll be fine." Weiss huffed as she slowly stood back up, though still slightly shaken. "Are...are you not upset? I just...what if-"
"Weiss, I'm not going to condemn you for protecting your own life. Faunus or not, he and Ember was actively trying to kill us and the people here, all with vigor and pride." Blake responded calmly. "The White Fang are hellbent on killing you one way or the other. Do NOT feel like you're in the wrong for protecting yourself and the innocent from them, even if it ends up this way."
"I suppose..." Weiss muttered.
"There's no shame in being affected regardless. It's not a weakness." Blake softly told her.
"E-Even so...that woman nearly detonated herself, destroyed herself along with her subordinates and her fellow Faunus with her Semblance...all without a sliver of hesitation...just to kill everyone here? Just to kill us?"
"That's the kind of enemy they are."
Unbelievable...even their own fellow Faunus aren't safe from them?! And they have the GALL to...!
"I'll ask again, just to be sure. Are you alright?"
"...I will be." Weiss uttered quietly. "I cannot simply allow them to do as they please. Not when something like this ends up as the result." Weiss turned to Blake. "Blake. We have have to do our best to prevent other travesties that the White Fang might inflict on other people, Humans and Faunus alike."
Blake turned towards Weiss for a moment, acknowledging that her eyes filled with resolve, now fully realizing the kind of enemy she would be facing. With that, she nodded quietly.
"Nn."
It didn't take much for Yang to realize that this woman might consider herself to be a powerhouse. She was brandishing a pair of Dust-infused swords after all, Lightning and Gravity respectively. And rather unfortunately for Yang to a degree, this woman proved to be quite adept at using the two blades in unison, especially if she want to cause some widespread destruction.
As such Yang had to once more dodge out of the way, as a slash from the Lightning Blade sent a wave of it crackling through the area and devastating it through a series of electric shocks and crashes. She watched it pass by as some trees were completely burned to s crisp due to the attack. And as it eventually fizzled out, she sighed while turning back towards the woman in question, rolling her arm as she prepared herself to leap back into the fray.
Fasha simply huffed as she swung the sword infused with Gravity Dust. Yang grit her teeth as she crossed her arms, with a purple wave of repulsion launching her back and crushing the area caught up in the swing. She clicked her tongue as she managed to land on her feet, albeit with a bit of a stumble.
"Her swinging those blades and sending out attacks like that, I'm not gonna be able to get close enough to knock her ass out..." Yang muttered as Ember Celica clicked into place. "That being said, ain't no way she can just keep sendin' them out continuously..." Yang rolled her arm as she looked up ahead of her for any sign of an opening in this woman's approach. "Okay, let's try this again."
"I expected better from you, Xiao Long."
Yang rolled along the ground as a shot of lightning passed by her. She broke into a sprint as another wave of lightning scorched the ground where she was previously standing. Then she had to go into a faster sprint in order to keep away from the slash that soon began to sweep the entire area with lightning.
"You seemed to be quite confident in yourself before, readily stating your desire to take me down." Fasha tilted her head. "Was all of that simply that? Bravado?"
"Not a chance! Just gettin' ready!" Yang shouted as she turned on a heel, and punched outwards with a pillar of flames. Fasha turned towards it and stabbed her Gravity blade into the ground, repulsing the flames so that they pushed outwards away from her. Yang soon closed the distance, quickly enough to leave behind a trail of fire, and clenched her fist with her hair igniting. "Like THIS!"
"Pointless."
Yang was soon pushed back by a surge of energy from the sword, repulsion launching her away from the woman before she could land the blow. She skid across the ground while gritting her teeth. "Oh for the love of...!" She sighed, shaking her head. "No time to get snappy, Yang. Ya gotta think."
"You seem to be getting frustrated, Yang. I had really thought there was some sort of worth to your presence. Are you quite incapable of measuring up to what you've set for yourself?" Fasha pulled one blade out and slashed with the other, forcing Yang to duck under a long swath of lightning caused by the swing. While she was busy with that, she found Fasha forcing another repulsion through her blade, pushing her back an even further deal. "That is quite a sign of weakness on your part."
Yang regains her ground and begins her sprint anew, attempting several shots of Ember Celica towards the woman taunting her. Seeing her deflect the shots without much trouble, she changed up her approach a bit by hiding behind a tree before another shot of lightning could be launched at her. She grabbed the trunk with both her hands, and with a heavy grunt, lifted it right out of the ground, and swung it towards the woman.
Fasha huffed as she easily sliced the hunk of wood in half with the Lightning Dust blade.
"Weak."
This fucking bitch... Yang's eye twitched irritably.
Fasha further charged her Lightning, before lifting the blade upwards as even more lightning surged from the blade. She brought it down with a might swing, slamming it down and scorching the ground in-between the two of them. Yang barely managed to avoid the blast that engulfed the area, Rolling across the ground slightly, she attempted to take an opening in her swing and shoot several fiery rounds towards Fasha. They were all swiftly deflected by a field of repulsion through the Gravity Dust Blade, before she pulls back and thrusts forward, pushing everything in that direction away, Yang herself included.
"It took a bit of thinking. But in the end, it makes a calm sort of sense." Fasha smiled as the swords charged with their respective energies. "It was actually quite a relief that Raven never accepted our offer. Would you like to know why?"
"I'm sure you'll tell me either way!" Yang deadpans while landing across the ground.
"Because in the end, she's proven that she wouldn't have been worthy of us." Fasha hummed with a balance blade on her shoulder. "Your mother made quite a bow to herself. How the Branwen Tribe was her responsibility and hers to protect and lead. She had great strength and skill...and alas, it simply was not enough to save them from annihilation." She lashed out with a stream of lightning, and Yang grunted while dodging out of the way of it. "So in the end, she couldn't live up to that vow. Expected someone strong to at least be capable of protecting her own tribe of bandits. But that proved for not, for they died pitifully."
Yang yelped as another powerful repulsion from the Gravity Dust blade pushed everything away in an even more forceful manner, and she ended up crashing against the ground in a heap. She groaned in a pained heap while barely getting a glimpse of her own blood.
"It reminded me of yet another moral from the story 'The Infinite Man'. When he fought the woman that attacked him, he allowed himself to die in order to protect the Circle. However, when he eventually came back, it was annihilated in his absence. All because he chose to die rather than stand his ground and protect the little hovel that praised and defended him. That's why his most loyal follower forsake him, a withered old woman who saw him as the failure that he was."
Fasha walked up to Yang with a malicious glint in her eyes.
"Understand the connection between Infinite Man and your mother? Despite their great power, they failed to protect what they promised to, and failed to live up to their own convictions. That is what makes them weak, and what made Raven unworthy of us. There is no greater sin, no better example of weakness in life, than promising to do something that you ultimately aren't able to do. Setting up expectations that you can't fulfill."
She lifted the lightning dust blade above her, and targets it towards Yang's head.
"You're soon to follow in their footsteps, failing to protect your sister."
Fasha struck the blade down.
There was a splatter of blood...and Fasha's confident grin slowly turned into one of abject shock.
Yang had caught the blade in her fist, after briefly dodging to the right. It left a shallow cut on her cheek, but it otherwise did no damage to her.
"You sure are talkin' a LOTTA shit for someone who just stepped into my favored range." Yang slowly lifted her head, and her eyes were blazing red.
"Tch!" Fasha grit her teeth as she attempted to wield her Gravity Dust blade, only for a ferocious blaze of flames to emit from Yang's person, making the woman shout in pain, and drop the blade. Yang pulled back her clenched fist.
"You can dish damage out pretty good. Let's see how well you can take it."
Fasha could have sworn that a cannon went off right into her midsection, for the following punch from Yang sent her flying halfway across the forest in a fairy inferno. She ended up crashing through several trees, until she stopped in a fiery trench, coughing blood.
A single blow did all of this to me...?!
Yang was slowly walking up to her, her hair flowing across her face, eyes still glowing red.
"Looks like you can't take punishment as well as I can. Pretty sad."
Fasha coughed again while glaring at the blond woman approaching her, before she stopped a few feet.
"...Did you really help annihilate the Branwen Tribe for those reasons you mentioned...?" Yang questioned lowly.
Fasha glared at her with a brief pause. "...They were pathetic. Depending so much upon Raven and expecting her to protect them from anything. Thus, they had no drive to protect themselves when we came to slaughter them, down to the last man, woman, child, and elder." Fasha narrowed her eyes. "If you don't have what it takes to guard your own life, then you don't have the right to live it."
Yang took a deep breath and sighed, scratching her head in exasperation. "Lady, that is a depressin' ass world-view you got there."
"You're a young fool, of course you would think that."
"Hm. So I'm a fool for thinking that being stronger than somebody else doesn't give me the right to bully them for being weaker than me?" Yang shrugged. "Eh, guess I'll be a fool for life." Fasha scoffed at her response, though Yang brushed it off. "Although, I do agree with you on one thing."
"Which may be...?"
"A truly reliable person is someone who keeps the promises they make that are within their power. So I'm gonna keep getting stronger and stronger, in order to keeping living up to one of my promises to myself: protect everything important to me. And that's including the promises me, my sis, and my friends made with each other."
"As I said, foolish. There will soon be a plethora of enemies that will seek to break you and your precious promise."
"I'm a gal that likes to fight, so that suits me just fine. Even if everyone else in the whole world gives it shit, I've already made my decision."
Fasha grunted, before she shook her head and stood back up, her blade charging with as much lightning as her Aura will help. "Just as well, I've made MY decision!" She charged at her, and lunges at her with enough force to crack the ground, thrusting the lightning infused blade towards her head.
Yang dodges her head to the side, her hair and eyes blazing.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. Try not to hold this against me."
With a huff, Yang pulled her fist back, and slammed it right into Fasha's gut, knocking all of the wind out of her. She then proceeded to use that same fist to punch her downwards and slam her right into the ground with immense, destructive force. It was powerful enough to send quite a few trees surrounding them soaring outwards, crashing along the lands several yards away, knocking over other trees in the process.
The smoke clears, and Yang looked at the results of her attack. Fasha seems to have spit up even more blood, enough to cover her mouth. And she was now completely unmoving, and not breathing.
The impact killed her.
Yang slowly pulled her fist back, her crimson eyes still glowing. "...I'd better head back to those hostages, make sure they're safe. Then I'll check back with Ruby."
Meanwhile...
Ruby jumped up as the Cerberus Grimm slammed it's clawed paw where she once stood, rose petals following around her. She leaned into a wall, them leapt off of it to slash the beast across the chest with Crescent Rose. It howled angrily at her defiance, remaining on the offensive despite her evasiveness.
"You're a big fella, aren't ya? And faster than ya look." Ruby clicked her tongue as she jumped out of the way of another slash of claws, then slashing it across the arm. "Not faster than me, though!" She stuck out her tongue while slashing her scythe upwards across the beasts chest, as it let out another irritated roar. She again dashed out of the way of it's retaliation attack, skidding across the ground while holding tightly to Crescent Rose.
She looked across to the children who were watching the battle with fearful faces, and she narrowed her eyes.
Right, she needed to focus as well. These kids needed to get away from this place as soon as possible, but she couldn't carry them all at once and this Cerberus Grimm was in the way. She had little choice but to kill it first in order to give them safety. Turning her back on it would get her killed or the kids slaughtered, and both outcomes were unacceptable. Especially when one will immediately lead to the other.
"You're just wasting your time, child."
She could hear Dirce taunting her from her position, which greatly irritated her due on the fact that her hands were currently full, thus she could dash over there and give her a piece of her mind.
She grunted as she used Crescent Rose to block against a particularly powerful blow from the Grimm Cerebus, with it roaring and howling at her all the while. She again skids across the ground, dodging to the side as it crushed it's paw into the ground, causing a brief shockwave that knocks most things in the area backwards. Ruby again skids across the ground with narrowing eyes.
"I'm the only one who gets to decide that, thank you." Ruby huffed as she jumped and slashed at one of the Cerebus Grimm's heads, causing yet another bowl of pain. Her eyes wide ed as it reacted even quicker than before and slammed it's paw across her back, slamming her into the ground and bouncing her across it a few times. "Agh...!"
Dirce Grey looked on as Ruby once more recovered from the blow, shaking it off with a roll of her shoulders. Ruby briefly spared a brief glare towards her, before proceeding to attack the Grimm again.
Ruby briefly jumped over a swipe at her, and slashed right across one of it's faces. It briefly turned about slightly, before turning back towards her and slamming it's paw into her full force, launching her across the room and into the wall.
"Guh!"
"You don't really seem to be doing all that well." Dirce pointed out while sitting comfortably behind the barrier. Ruby slowly pulled herself up, into to roll across the ground to avoid a nother blew from the Cerebus paw, nearly getting smashed for her troubles.
"Seriously! You steal the life force from children while putting through intense agony, and you don't feel the least bit bad about that?!"
"The feelings of the subjects of these experiments only matter due to the results they produce. Their well-being is irrelevant." Dirce deflected easily. "I've told you, they should be grateful that they're finally contributing something of use, and that someone will actually put to practice."
"You can't just play with people's lives like that!" Ruby jumped right over another swipe from the Grimm, landing on her feet. "This isn't gonna go on any longer! I'm gonna put a stop to all of it!"
"You? Please! Speaking of playing, you're a mere child trying to play Huntress!"
Ruby managed to block the blows of the incoming paw strikes of the massive beast before her, but it's six arms was beginning to make it more difficult for her. She clicked her tongue as she jumped over a smash of both it's bottom paws at once, before briskly dodging both of it's middle ones in midair, before she felt the third pair slam themselves into her as of she was hit by a wrecking ball.
Ruby briefly slammed right into the wall again, only this time the creature charged right at her and slammed it's paws into her all at once. The creature roared after pulling back from it's assault. Ruby was left in a crater in a wall, battered and bloodied, before she slowly peeled off and fell to the ground, groaning.
Dirce huffed at the state of the girl. "Now do you see? You don't stand a chance, girl. Your friends will sure to be agonized by your death." She glared cruelly upon Ruby's fallen form. "I'll repeat the experiment with them, and observe how their levels of suffering further empowers the Grimm. It'll be interesting to research if a Huntress's negative emotions will give the Grimm a massive increase in power due to having more experience in wielding and developing their Aura. And I'll let them know that their cruel fate will be because of you for daring to interfere with science."
Ruby groaned again, digging her fingers in the ground.
"...Not...happening..."
"What?"
"... you're using...science...to hurt people...for such selfish...reasons..." Ruby lifted her head, glaring despite her bloodied face. "This experiment is OVER."
"Impudent little-!"
Ruby dashed out of the way of the Cerebus Grimm trying to crush her with this paws. She held Crescent Rose in her arms, holding it behind her back. Seeking to take a more practiced approach, she took a deep breath, and sighed.
Focus...
She channeled Aura through Crescent Rose, mostly around the curve of the blade. And with this focus in mind, her eyes slowly opened again.
And she hunted.
She jumped over a biting attempt from one of the Cerebus, and dodged a swiped of their paw by dashing in midair, before she forcibly removed said paw with a vicious swipe. Another paw launched at her, meant another paw lost.
She soon dashed back and hit the wall, focusing Aura into her feet, before she launched herself towards the beast again, cracking said wall as she slashed right through another arm. Turning around at heading an infuriated roar, she briskly jumped back as another pw attempted to slam down on her, and she slashed right through that one as well, removing another arm.
Dirce's eyes slowly widened at the sight. This...is unexpected.
With rose petals dancing around her, Ruby briskly twirled Crescent Rose around, before pulling back and swinging from where she stood. A cutting wave of roses slashed right through the beasts legs, forcing it to slump over and collapse onto the ground, with it's heads howling. Dashing along the walls, Ruby made to boost off of them and slash off one of it's howling heads, bounced off the other wall and decapitated the second head.
Dirce looked befuddled. It was no use, she was moving even faster than before, not giving it a single chance more to recover.
The Grimm made for one last desperate swipe in an attempt to kill the red demon that was cutting it to pieces without a second thought. It was in vain, for she dashed right towards the ground, then shot back up with a spina nd slashed it's final central head right from it's body.
But she wasn't done there.
As the last decapitated Cerebus head was spinning in the air, Ruby placed herself behind it, channeled more Aura into her right foot, and kicked it hard, sending it soaring across the cave...right towards Dirce.
The woman didn't have much time to even panic as the giant head smashed right through her shield and knocked her over as it barreled across, before finally dissipating. The woman landed on her rear with a startled yelp. Realizing that her chances of success was literally cut to pieces, she tried to turn and make a run for it.
She felt the curve of a scythe right around her throat before she got far.
"I'd rather you didn't try and run away, please. Just surrender." Ruby requested with a few exhausted breaths.
Dirce looked back towards the girl, and even though Ruby's expression was more relaxed, the silver glint paired with the shadowing of her face under the hood made her look utterly intimidating to the older woman.
Right. Time for one final tactic.
She jumped away from the woman after ducking her scythe, and she held up her hands. "Alright alright, you've made your point. I do indeed surrender."
"Really?" Ruby blinked owlishly, lowering her scythe.
"I know when I'm beaten, so I'll just give myself up now while I still have some dignity."
Ruby blinked again for a moment, wondering what to make of the woman's act right now.
...
"...Don't say it if you don't mean it." Ruby deadpanned with a flat stare. "I'll admit to being naïve and a bit inexperienced, but I'm not outright stupid."
"You wouldn't harm a defenseless old woman, would you?"
"Apparently not too old to drain the life out of helpless kids. I'm pretty sure I can harm you for that."
"You've already defeated the strongest Grimm I've nurtured. What more could I do right now?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes at the woman for a moment. And then, she packed Crescent Rose into compact mode, and turned her back, intending to check on the children. The moment she turned her back, Dirce cruelly smiled as she pulled something from behind her where she landed. An Explosive Fire Dust Grenade. Dirce refused to allow this interfering brat a complete victory.
She threw the charged weapon right towards the defenseless kids. It would go off in four seconds. The charged weapon flying towards them took one second.
Ruby dashing right in front of them and kicking it back at Dirce took another second.
It was right back at her face again in another second.
The woman had only a moment to widen her eyes at the final second in sheer shock, before the charge went off right in front of her, resulting in a fiery explosion that engulfed her entirely. Ruby gazed at the explosion for a moment with a subdued glare. She had warned her that she wasn't that naïve, and fully expected her to pull something one last time in an attempt to spite her and her efforts to save the kids. Turns out, Ruby guessed correctly.
Before long, she turned back towards the kids and kneeled with a far gentler and warmer expression. "Are you all okay?"
"W-We're okay..." One of them uttered, truly having been shaken by the entire ordeal. Ruby couldn't blame them, they've truly had a horrific time here. The sooner they were safe and sound, the better. She wrapped as many of them in a hug to comfort them, patting some of their heads.
"Everything's going to be okay now. I'll get you out of here. The Circle will help you all recover, I'm sure." She stood up and prepared to guide them out of the tunnels. Hopefully her friends were alright.
It's been a difficult day.
Gee, I wonder what's going to be the reaction to the choices made here...? Probably not all that great.
Oh well, I'll find out soon, I guess. The other chapter is nearly done.
You too, will find out what might happen, soon enough.