Here's chapter 102, everyone.
"Are we almost there?" Willow asked, rubbing both her arms from the cold as Raven simply nodded. Even though they were walking for a bit, Willow was honestly just glad that they didn't run into any Grimm on the way. "This place isn't too far from Atlas. Is there any reason why it's not cleared of Grimm?"
Raven glanced over her shoulder. "If you think that Grimm will die out so easily, then you'd be a fool. Just count us lucky that they don't multiply that fast."
"M-Multiply?" Willow nervously repeated.
"Don't take it so literal. The Grimm show up and we slay them. It's not something to worry yourself over." Raven assured as she looked forward. "We're here."
Willow took a few steps forward, gasping when she saw a sword, broken in a lone tree stump, surrounded by several trees circling. "A sword? Raven, what is this place?"
"First place I failed a mission we were tasked to deal with…" Raven said while looking at the broken sword. The aging on the handle could be seen, as Willow stood next to the black haired huntress. "You only know you're limitations when you come close to death."
The white haired woman stayed quiet, her breath visible in front of her as she examined the blade. Its hilt was frozen, and she figured the tip of the blade was destroyed, since it was barely embedded in the trunk.
"Why did you want me to see this memory, Raven?" Willow asked, feeling a little sad for the woman, since she felt like she wasn't the kind to 'fail'.
Raven took a breath. "I wanted you to never have this kind of memory, Willow." She glanced at the white haired woman. "The way you keep training, I have no issues with, but going past your limits can bring harm to you… I'd rather not see that happen."
Willow's heart skipped a beat, and she brought her hand up to her chest. "Is… Is this why you rather not bring me on a hunt? You're afraid I'll fail and end up getting hurt?"
"Yes." Raven simply answered, saying nothing more as Willow looked down, feeling awful for not taking Raven's feelings into account.
"Why didn't you tell me exactly how you felt about that? If you'd just talk to me-." Willow was cut off when Raven stomped her foot against the snow.
"Because my idiot of a brother was right about you making your own damn choices! I can't let my personal feelings get in the way… As your instructor, I've trained you to handle this." Raven exclaimed.
Willow was taken aback, so she did the one thing she felt was right, and moved close, hugging the black haired huntress. "You've trained me to simply defend myself… Not become a huntress like you and Summer. I'm so sorry for ignoring how you felt, Raven."
"Let go of me… You have no reason to apologize. People who just say sorry-." Raven was interrupted.
"Don't give me your tough act, Branwen." Willow pulled away, and Raven could see the saddened expression on her face. "I wish… I just wish you'd talk to me more, instead of shut me out."
"You and I have nothing to talk about accept your training." Raven remarked, but she was lying to herself.
Willow scoffed. "Stop acting like a damn teenager and realize what's going on here!" Raven was taken aback from that. "Damn it, Raven! I get things were complicated with you and Tai, but you shouldn't be afraid to let someone else in!"
Raven didn't realize that Willow caught on, and she sighed. "There's nothing that needs to happen here."
"Maybe, maybe not, but you won't even give it a chance…" Willow's voice showed how hurt she was.
"You're married." Raven reminded.
Willow growled and took a step towards Raven, glaring at her. "To a man I hate! I can't continue to live this lie with him! You've been the one to make me happy damn it… I… I just want to move past the man who ruined my children's views on what a Father should be like, and spend my days with someone I care deeply for…"
Raven could only remember to the days where she and Tai would go out together, slowly building up to a marriage, and even having a child together. Ever since she and Tai split up though, she became colder, unwanting of love in her life ever again, but with Willow and how much time they've spent together, the hard ass of a huntress wasn't able to deny that she had feelings for the white haired woman.
"Are you going to say something or not?" Willow questioned as she continued glaring.
The black haired huntress let out a light chuckle. "You really are an idiot," As Willow was about to yell at her, Raven took a step forward and pulled her in for a kiss, and Willow's eyes widened, as she felt a kiss that actually meant something for the first time in years.
As the two held their kiss, Willow slowly closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Raven, while leaning up to get on her tiptoes, while Raven was rubbing the back of her head. After a few seconds, she pulled away and Willow pulled back, coughing a bit into her hand. "Um, okay…"
Raven rolled her eyes. "Now who's being the teenager?"
"Be quiet… You caught me off guard." Willow said with her trademark Schnee glare.
"Fair enough, but you're still an idiot for wanting this." Raven stated, and Willow mumbled something under her breath. "Technically you'd be cheating on your husband because of this."
Willow groaned and rolled her eyes. "Unofficially that man is not my husband… But… In a way, you are correct, I married the man, and I have to keep to my vows." Raven's eyes lit up, but Willow continued. "Still, the day I divorce him officially, I would hope you'd wait for me."
Raven scoffed at that. "You really are the kind of person to say that…"
"W-What? I just… I meant… Ugh, screw off, Branwen!" Willow yelled in embarrassment, as she was blushing.
The black haired huntress did something she hadn't felt like she could do in awhile, at least in a genuine way. She smiled, and was happy to be around someone again in her life. "Sure, Schnee. Sure."
Back in Kuroyuri, or at least outside of it by the airship, Jaune and Pyrrha could hear what was going on in the distance. "P-Pyrrha, should we go over?" The blonde leader asked, hoping his friends were okay.
Pyrrha looked back at the airship, knowing that if she and Jaune went, it would be unguarded. "I'm… I'm not sure. If we leave, no one will be here to protect the airship and Klein."
Jaune bit his lip and tightened his grip on his sword. "Damn it…"
Klein was at the entrance of the ship, having heard the fighting as well. "Both of you, please go. I need to know that Weiss will be okay. I can take care of myself."
Hearing that was a surprise, since the butler would be taking a risk with staying behind with the airship. Jaune thought about his options, and when he remembered how Weiss was when Klein showed up, he shook his head. "No. If something happened to you, Weiss would be crushed. Just stay inside and let us do what we promised to do."
Pyrrha looked to her leader, and her eyes lit up, not out of surprise, but admiration as she let out a smile, so she decided to back up his words. "Jaune is right, sir. Please stay back. We can't be sure if anything else will appear near us."
Klein wanted to argue, but he knew that the two Beacon students wouldn't budge, so he glanced over towards Kuroyuri, hearing more sounds of a fight happening still. Zwei was behind him, barking up at the man, in a way trying to tell him to trust the others, so he took a breath and prayed that Weiss was safe, as he got inside the airship with the corgi.
Jaune was glad that the butler wouldn't try to convince them to go, so he looked back over at the town, noticing that no Grimm were around, but suddenly he noticed several stone pillars popping out of the ground. "What the heck? Pyrrha, Grimm can't do that… Can they?"
The red haired huntress in training held her rifle out, scoping in as she spotted a woman on top of it. "It's not a Grimm, it's a woman."
"A woman? Wait, do you think it might be a bandit or something?" Jaune asked, hoping only one person was fighting his friends.
Pyrrha shook her head. "I'm not sure, but she's hostile… I can take a shot at her-."
"Wait." Jaune ordered, and Pyrrha glanced at him, waiting to hear what he'd say. "If she doesn't know we're here yet, we need to pick out the absolute best moment to fire at her. I don't have range, but," The boy reached into the bag he brought with him, pulling out binoculars. "I can use these to at least see the fighting better."
Trusting Jaune was easier for Pyrrha, so she nodded, keeping her rifle traced on the woman, as Jaune watched with the binoculars. While the red haired huntress in training was clearly more skilled in combat than her leader was, she had faith in her partner and leader.
"It looks like she's jumped down to fight, but I can't read lips… Ugh, how do people do that." Jaune complained while looking through the binoculars.
Mia, while glaring at the Beacon students in front of her, was also on the defensive herself, since Nora proved to her that standing around will not be tolerated, so she prepared use of her semblance. The others knew that shooting at her would result in simple dodges, but Ruby had an idea.
"Weiss… I need you to focus." Ruby said, as she knew her partner wasn't fully there, most likely from the fear she was feeling from the Relentless member being in front of them.
Before Ruby could say more though, Mia's eyes lit up and she dashed to the right, so Yang and Nora shot at her, trying to get their explosive shots in front of her. The knockback would be enough to stop her, but she used her semblance, instantly casting a circle under where the explosions were, and as they went off, the students noticed the shells from Yang's weapon, and the canisters from Nora's weapon were floating.
"Gravity dust! Move, Blake!" Ruby ordered, since the woman was targeting her first, but before she could, Mia lifted her hand up, and a circle appeared behind Blake as she tried jumping back.
The cat Faunus gasped when she looked over her shoulder, and when her feet touched the floor of where the circle appeared, ice appeared all over it, trapping her legs as it traveled up her body.
Ren intercepted the woman when she kept dashing to Blake in attempts to knock her out, and his bladed guns met her sword, as she grinned. "You all need to protect each other. And that's where you'll fail." Her eyes lit up again, and a circle appeared under the two, as Ren noticed she was about to jump back, so he quickly dropped one of his guns to grab her arm.
Mia smirked when he managed to grab her, and once the effects of the circle activated, she and Ren began to float, showing she used gravity dust with her semblance again. Ren wasn't prepared, so he let go of her when he aimlessly floated around, and Mia kicked off him, making him land on the other circle with Blake, which the ice traveled up onto him as well, trapping him.
Nora growled, while Yang ran to Blake and Ren to free them. The orange haired girl had enough and swapped her weapon into its hammer form, choosing to engage with the woman, but as she started swinging at her, Mia was toying with her, dodging easily as she laughed.
Ruby was aiming her sniper at the woman, but didn't have a good shot since Nora too close. "Weiss," When her partner didn't answer, she glanced over, seeing Weiss was still a little shaken up. "Weiss, you need to listen." She raised her voice a little, and Weiss gasped.
The white haired teen looked at her partner, and was still shaking with fear as Nora slammed her hammer against the ground when she missed, as Mia hit her with the butt of her sword, which had a bit of force in it to do some damage to her aura.
Weiss' eyes widened when she realized she could be doing something to help, so she growled and readied herself.
"I need you on this, Weiss. White Rose." Ruby ordered, and Weiss instantly casted a glyph in front of them, as Ruby aimed and fired, believing in her aim.
Mia glanced over for just a moment when she heard Weiss' glyph, and as Ruby shot at her, she was hit right in the arm since she had to dodge both the shot and Nora's swinging at her, but she clearly failed in dodging Ruby's rifle round.
Her arm was encased in ice, and she growled, since she couldn't use her blade, so she aimed her magnum at Nora, who moved to the size before she shot.
The magnum round hit into a wall of one of the houses, as it broke it apart a bit.
"Damn it… I need to get away from these kids."
Not much to say here, so I'll keep a short, I was slowly accepting the Willow and Raven ship for this story, and as it continued, I found it fun to do, so yes, I decided to just have it done.
To JJ- Glad you liked The Relentless member getting taken down. It was a fun little moment, and now to see how she handles it now. As for Winter, you can see how she feels about it and how she'll more than likely be more on the side of the Hidden if she learns more and more.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 102. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required.