Here's chapter 105, everyone.
"Pyrrha, that woman. Do you think she's got enough aura for you to take a shot?" Jaune asked his partner, as the red haired huntress in training was looking down at the town, but some of the buildings blocked her view.
As the fighting in town continued, Pyrrha was watching while aiming her rifle down. "The fighting only just started a few minutes ago… Aura is strong, but people have different strength to their aura."
Jaune took a breath, knowing that his partner was waiting on his call to take a shot, but when he saw that a massive circle was being formed on the ground of the town, he gasped. "W-What is that… Wait, that woman, she caused it when she slammed her foot down… Pyrrha you need to to stop whatever that is!"
His cry of distress was for his friends who were fighting off this unknown woman, and Pyrrha didn't need to be told twice as she lined up her shot as fast as possible, aiming directly at the woman.
"I can't miss now."
Pyrrha took a deep breath and fired.
A moment later, back in town, Mia was gasping out in pain, as the shot to her shoulder made her stumble in pain, stopping the use of her semblance. A second later, she slowly lifted her head up, seeing Nora only a moment too late, as the powered up huntress in training was able to land a punch to her face, since she was using all the electricity she's been hit by to power herself up enough for a good hit.
With that landing, Mia was shot backwards into a wall of one of the wrecked houses, gasping out again in pain as she spit up a bit, and her back made an audible cracking noise, as Nora was taking a few breaths, looking dead at the woman on the ground.
"I'll drag you away from here if I have to." Nora growled, having hated the fact that they were fighting in Kuroyuri, and slightly breaking it down further with their actions.
Mia could barely get up, as her back was in too much pain, so she collapsed to the ground on her front and lifted her head to see Nora standing over her, while the others were getting back up.
Ren and Blake were free from the ice, so both of them and Yang walked over to the orange haired girl. "Holy crap, Nora, how did you punch her that hard? I thought I was the one who works the best in hand to hand…" Yang commented, while Blake and Ren kept their guns trained on Mia, making sure she doesn't try anything.
"You are… I just stored up a lot of electricity from her attacks. It's my semblance." Her usual cheery and overly excited demeanor wasn't present, as she simply stared down at the woman, who was groaning in pain.
"W-What is wrong with you kids… Those monsters are going to terrorize more people by letting them live." Mia said, as she looked to her left, seeing her gun was out of arm's reach.
Blake glared at the woman, hating her words, as they felt similar to how people treated her own kind. "You just jump to conclusions, and that's why we won't let you hurt these people, yes, people. You can say what you want about them, but clearly they have lives to live that you only want to destroy."
Mia was annoyed by how she spoke, and when she tried to get up, she was met with another person aiming at them, that being Yang. "You better just stay down. No way are we letting you up now. And if you think about using that circle thing again, remember you just got shot."
The others didn't look just yet, and while they didn't know exactly who shot at Mia, they all secretly hoped it was Pyrrha, or even anyone else that may be around the area with Torn and Nel.
"Heh, so you kids had backup the whole time. Shoulda guessed." Mia laughed, but more from how easy it was to take her down, so she sighed to herself. "So now what… You gonna take me to prison?"
The way she asked showed that she had no intentions of stopping her assault if she had the chance. "Just stop." Weiss' voice was heard, and Yang bit her lip, wishing her friend wouldn't get near the woman. As Ruby and Weiss were walking over, she wasn't happy with Mia in the slightest. "This isn't about your views on them, what you do is murder. That's the simple fact. You aren't some kind of protector, or hero for what you do. You're a murderer, deep down, and nothing will change that."
Mia growled, staring directly at Weiss. "Is that right? Well what would all of you do if you found out the Grimm were actually people too? Hmm? Would your precious hunter life fall apart as you see what you kill?!"
While the idea of Grimm being people was outright ridiculous, Weiss didn't feel much from her words. "No, it wouldn't. If Grimm were people and they attacked anyone, I'd fight them, but if some were trying to live their lives without hurting others, I'd leave them be." As she held Ruby's hand, she squeezed it a bit, because no matter what, she felt that she could say those things to Mia because it's something Ruby herself would say.
"You say that, but you have no idea how dangerous letting monsters like them live! When the day comes where they start bringing down kingdoms, you'll look back on this day and regret everything you're protecting." Mia said with heavy breaths.
Ruby shook her head. "No. We won't. If you feel the hate you have for them won't go away, then we really can't let you go."
"It won't matter." Mia grinned. "There are more of us, so much more, and we won't stop. Not until we know that this planet is free of them." She said, glancing over at Nel and Torn. "You hear that?! You can't hide fore-." Weiss was the one who used her Myrtenaster's blunt end to knock the woman out, as she felt the woman's words reaching her even more so, since she knew of who she was.
"Enough." Weiss simply said, and she turned around to run over to the other hidden, having pulled away from Ruby.
The others were actually surprised that she'd do that to Mia, but they had no time to discuss anything, as Blake grabbed Mia's gun, and Nora began looking for some rope in the wrecked buildings to tie her up.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, frowning as she looked at Torn's injured wing.
Torn could barely move his injured wing, as he sighed, but nodded. "The pain will subside soon enough. You know, you can still leave now… We'll take care of that woman."
Weiss looked a little worried with how he phrased that, and Nel chuckled a little while still clutching her left arm. "Relax, we're not gonna kill her. Bringing her in will do just fine… I know someone who deals with making sure Relentless get jailed for good."
"O-Okay… But I'm not leaving." Weiss saying that surprised Nel and Torn. "That woman is part of the group responsible for…" She lowered her voice, in case the woman wasn't completely out. "For my Mother having to give me up. I want to know that she's not able to hurt anyone else like that."
Torn was actually happy with her words, while Nel shook her head. "Look, I get it, being split up from family, basically changing what your life would've been, it's not something anyone would be happy with. Still, the longer you stay around that woman, the more of a risk it'll be on you, so just let us handle it."
Weiss was about to argue, but Torn spoke up. "What Nel says is true. I promise that if you truly wish to know if that woman is taken into proper custody, then I'll find you in time, and show you proof of her not being able to bring harm to us." By that, he meant their kind.
It wasn't wrong. Weiss had a better chance staying away from Mia and The Relentless, so she sniffled a little and nodded. "Okay, if you can… I'll be at Beacon Academy. Please don't forget."
"For Lazuria's daughter, I won't." Torn assured, as Weiss clutched her wolf pendant, nodding to the old bird.
A few moments later, Ruby walked over and rubbed Weiss' shoulder. "Hey." Weiss only slightly glanced back, and Ruby let out a small smile for her. "It's okay now. We got her tied up and she's still knocked out."
"Good." Weiss responded, as she let go of her wolf pendant. "I know we came here for Ren and Nora, but I think it might be best for us to leave, Ruby."
Ruby looked over at the injured Torn and Nel, feeling bad that they'd leave them like that. "But-."
Nel caught on instantly. "Don't worry, kid. We've got a couple of our people around to help us out of here. Just need to lay low for a bit and wait on them."
Torn nodded. "It's true, so take this time to go back to your academy. I'll find a way there soon, and show you that she's not a threat any longer." He said to Weiss.
Ruby was still a little hesitant, but at the same time, she thought about Weiss and what would happen if The Relentless ever learned of who she really was. "All right… Let's go then."
Nora had just finished tying Mia up with some rope she found in one of the houses, as Blake still held onto Mia's blade and gun. "And there," Nora grinned after tightening the rope around Mia. "She won't get outta that."
Ren looked around the town, seeing that some of the fighting did damage a few places, but even so, he was grown, and he knew that while his hometown was long gone, the memory of the people could still continue. It showed with how he had his friends choose to go with him and Nora.
And with how it managed to get them involved in saving people, he was happy enough with that. Being able to help both Torn and Nel, and in turn, Weiss.
With that thought in mind, the boy in green walked over to Weiss, as she looked a little surprised by how he walked over specifically to her. "What's wrong, Ren?"
"I'd just like to apologize." Ren bowed to her apologetically, but Weiss didn't like that.
"W-What? No, stop doing that… I don't like when people bow to me, and besides, you have nothing to be sorry for." Weiss stated.
"I do. Nora and I wanted to come here, and you all saw how miserable we were. If it wasn't for us, we wouldn't have brought such a high risk to you with that Relentless group." Ren said as he lifted his head back up.
Weiss sighed. "None of us knew what would happen, and besides, we all knew there was a risk, albeit a different one. So you don't have a reason to say sorry, neither does Nora… And besides… I learned what I am because of it."
"Not what. Who." Torn cut in, and Weiss turned to face him. "You are still you in the end, daughter of Lazuria. No matter what. Because calling yourself an it, is exactly what The Relentless wants."
Ruby silently thanked the man for saying that, as she grabbed her girlfriend's hand. "He's right. You're still Weiss, and nothing will change that."
Weiss softly gasped, and she held back her tears. While she herself was still learning to cope with the information of being born as an animal, she took comfort in knowing that this information wouldn't change Ruby's, or any of her friend's views on her.
"Ruby…" Weiss squeezed her partner's hand and not a moment later, she shifted her body to turn and hug her, resting her head on Ruby's shoulder. "Thank you…"
The rose girl closed her eyes and smiled, wrapping her arms around Weiss in return, as Ren, Nel and Torn were happy for the two of them.
Weiss had closed her eyes as well, thinking about her Mother, Willow, and what she'd say to her once she got back to Beacon. While she was upset about the new information in some regard, she thought back to learning about her birth Mother to begin with.
"I won't yell. I won't cry. I'll just talk. And learn."
Adjusting is hard, but sometimes you gotta go through with it and live with the change in your life, so you can at least better a situation that seems too difficult to handle.
To JJ- Luckily you didn't have to wait long to see the conclusion of this fight, and I'm glad you enjoyed Willow and Raven interactions, since while they both have their own time in chapters, having them together in this story just feels right.
To GoldElite245- Hey, glad to see you back in the reviews and yeah, it's a fun ship. I enjoy it enough, and sorry for posting so fast. It's just so fun to post updates sooner than usual.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 105. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 106.