Hey everyone! I know it's been a long time! I am so so sorry! I really struggled with this chapter, and not only that I was having to deal with something almost all the time these past couple of weeks. It's just been really busy and then when I did get time to work on this, I was having a hard time writing it. I did my best and I hope you all like it! I'm really looking forward to doing the next couple of chapters, so hopefully I will get them done WAY sooner than this. Thank you guys so much for your patience! More notes at the bottom!
For a moment, Carly hoped that this was all a dream. A very long, weird dream that had turned to nightmare. She'd hoped that any second now she'd wake up in her bed and realize that being teleported to an online show had never happened to her or Sam. In her head she repeated, 'This can't be real. Wake up Carly, wake up!'
But as she gazed at the monster before her, she knew that this was real, and she couldn't escape it so easily.
The Nuckelavee stared back at the six fighters, its fingers twitching while making a desperate gasping sound mixed with pained groans. For a long moment both sides merely stared at one another, waiting for any sign of attack.
Carly felt her breath coming and going fast. It was getting hard to focus and her mind was telling her to run, to scream. But all she could do was clutch her hobby horse hammer as her throat clogged up.
The only thing that stopped her from hyperventilating on the spot was that her breath was taken from her as the Grimm then threw its head back, letting out a scream unlike anything Carly ever heard. It was so awful and loud that everyone seemed to buckle under the screech.
It wasn't until the Nuckelavee turned its head toward Qrow that Carly felt something spark in her. It burned the cold fear pulsing through her veins, bringing up a courage she forgot she had inside herself.
Her terrified look changed to one of frowned determination and she sheathed her hobby horse hammer. Without thinking about it, she bolted toward Qrow. Whether the Nuckelavee was targeting Qrow because of his semblance or because he was radiating the most negative energy, it didn't matter. Carly was not going to let this Grimm lay a hand on Qrow.
However, as she rushed to Qrow, the Nuckelavee raised its arms to stretch them out for an attack.
Carly was able to see the movement out of the corner of her eye and as the first arm closed in to block her, she leaped over it. Using her momentum, she rolled under the second arm that stretched over her, crashing into the ground a few feet away from her.
As she reached Qrow, the Grimm drew its arms back with a deep desperate gasp. As Carly stood protectively in front of the older huntsman, she heard the clomping of hoofs as it charged at her. Carly pulled out her hammer once more, but before the Grimm got even halfway to her, an arrow shot through the air and embedded itself right into eye of the horse part of the Grimm. The creature let out a distorted neigh and reared up, stopping its galloping stride.
Carly turned her head to see Sam readying another arrow before firing it quickly, this one landing in the neck of the Grimm horse human hybrid. Sam lowered her bow as she readied another arrow and rushed to Carly and Qrow, never removing her blue eyes from the Grimm.
The Nuckelavee recovered itself and let out another scream, continuing its charge, perhaps more quickly than before.
Sam lifted her bow and arrow, her sharp eyes targeting on the monstrous abomination. Carly raised her hammer and prepared herself to use her semblance. But as the Grimm closed in on the trio, it stopped just a few steps from them. Both heads swiveled left and right, searching for its intended target.
Carly whirled her head to Ren, knowing this was his semblance at work. The young dark haired man was crouching low, his palm resting on the ground, pulsing the energy of his semblance to the trio.
Taking advantage of the distracted Grimm, Nora and Ruby fired rapid shots at it. The creature let out another distorted whinny, rearing up to turn toward them. As it gave the young females chase, Jaune leaped forward, slashing at the back flanks of the Grimm horse.
Ren's voice shouted above the battling noises, capturing Carly's attention, "Go! Move Qrow to safety! We'll cover you!"
Nodding, Carly and Sam sheathed their weapons before turning back to the injured huntsman. Both females lifted the older man to his feet, careful of his injuries, as they urged him forward.
"Over there," Carly nodded toward a particular looking building that looked stable enough that it wouldn't fall apart in a moment's notice. Even the crawl space looked accessible to a degree that one would be safe if they moved under it.
Sam nodded in acknowledgement and the two moved Qrow quickly behind the building. As they set the elite huntsman down, Sam made sure none of the medical equipment or his injuries were disturbed. Upon seeing there was none, Sam redrew her bow and arrow and stood up, saying, "Let's go, Carly."
Nodding to her, both females took a step back to the battle around the corner, when suddenly Carly felt a hand grasp hers. She looked down to see Qrow giving both of them a hard stare.
For a moment Carly thought the grey-black haired man was going to force himself up to try and fight alongside them. But after a moment he let out another rough cough, clutching his side with his other hand. When he finished, he looked defiantly up at both of them and whispered intensely, "Don't…let them die."
Carly returned his stare with one of her own, promising, "We won't let that happen. I promise you." She squeezed Qrow's hand to emphasize her point.
Qrow diverted her gaze to look at Sam, who said just as fiercely, "We're going to get through this," her blue gaze burned with protectiveness and strength.
The elite huntsman's garnet gaze flicked back and forth between the two girls before letting out a rough sigh and gave a brisk nod. Sam turned and ran around the corner of the house they were hiding behind.
Carly lingered for only a moment, tightening her grip on Qrow's hand for a moment more. She gave a soft smile and said, "You better still be alive when the fight's over, you hear? Somebodies gotta give me a hard time, right?"
Qrow actually let out a chuckle and even a smirk played across his lips. He gave a gruff, "You bet, sweetheart."
A light blush flushed Carly's cheeks at the nickname, but she pushed those feelings aside. She needed to get back to the others. Despite her blood feeling like ice was flowing through them at the thought of returning to face the Nuckelavee, she had to be there for Sam and the younger companions.
She forced herself to run around the battered building and join the others. Not far from her was Sam, firing another arrow at the grotesque creature. She drew her hobby horse hammer and rushed forward. Before her, Ruby was firing bullets at the Grimm creature and Jaune was dodging the lanky arms that were repeatedly stretching to grab him. Nora seemed to be looking for an opening to strike, her hammer no longer in gun form, running around the giant monster. Leaping from building to building was Ren, getting closer to the abomination. Once he was close enough, Ren leapt toward the Grimm.
However, the Grimm noticed the raven haired man and whipped on of his elongated arms around. The limb hit Ren and sent him flying a good distance away. With him out of the way, the Nuckelavee turned and tried to attack Jaune once more. One of the hands struck the blonde hard enough to send him rolling. As he struggled to get up, the Grimm reached his other hand out to strike the blonde. Not a second later, an arrow whizzed past and embedded itself in its palm.
Carly whirled to see Sam rushing toward the Grimm, a fierce look of protectiveness on her features. As she reached Jaune, she fired another arrow, hitting the humanoid shoulder part of the monster.
It let out a horrible screech, the horse part of the monster rearing up in response.
Forcing herself to not buckle under the terrible sound, Carly lunged forward and was able to strike the hind legs of the Grimm, causing it to stumble. She knew she wouldn't be able to attack the rider portion of the beast, but perhaps could make it an easier target for others. At the very least, it would stall it to some degree.
However, her plan was for naught, as the legs remained stable. Even worse, the hindquarters of the Grimm rose to bludgeon her. If Carly knew anything about horses, it was that their hooves could do serious damage.
But faster than she thought possible, Carly found herself maneuvered out of the way in a flash of red rose petals. The motion went so fast, she didn't have a chance to really comprehend what had occurred until she saw Ruby standing next to her, firing more bullets at the monstrosity.
Giving the girl a nod as thanks, Carly shifted her weapon to its gun form as well. While she was not as quick as Ruby at firing bullets or had quite the sharp eyes as Sam, all Carly really cared about was hitting the beast. She tried to hit the abdomen area as much as possible, what with it looking like the weakest part of the body.
Ruby seemed to catch onto her thought because she used Crescent Rose to launch herself into the air, getting her close to the creature. As she flew through the air, she raised her scythe in an attempt to possibly slash the slim area. Despite this though, the Grimm caught her mid-air and slammed her into the ground. Nora, who was on the opposite side of Ruby of their opponent, used this moment of distraction to try and attack the Grimm herself. But the Nuckelavee seemed to have sensed the ginger haired female and used its other arm to shove the girl to the ground as well.
Not a second later, both arrows and bullets struck the beast from behind. Ren was running toward the Grimm, a furious look on his face. A short distance behind him, Sam was actually loading up two arrows to try and penetrate the beast. She grimaced at the extra effort, having to push herself in order to do more damage.
The Nuckelavee turned at the constant damage and whirled its arms to attack the two. Ren ducked and rolled, dodging the arms, and Sam leaped to the side, tucking into a roll herself to avoid the elastic limbs.
Carly saw, out of the corner of her eye, Jaune raise his sword to slash at its hind legs. Knowing the blonde would be struck shortly after, Carly ran forward and shifted her weapon back to hammer mode. And as Jaune slashed at the Grimm's legs, Carly whacked the horse head as it turned to look back. The beast let out a loud neigh; cut short as Ren reached the Grimm and slashed the dagger portions of his gun blades into the Grimm's legs.
Still, the Nuckelavee was quick, turning and whipping its limbs to try and strike all three of its attackers. It moved fast enough that Carly's attempt to use her semblance to protect them was shattered and all three of them were hit.
As Carly rolled on the ground, she could feel her aura weakening. Being a beginner of all this fighting, she knew she wasn't going to last much longer. And if she lost her aura completely, she felt that her chances of surviving this ordeal dwindled into the singular digits percentage.
Collecting herself, Carly rose, her limbs only a little sore. As she righted herself, Jaune shouted out, "Guys! Keep moving! Go in a circle while hitting it!"
Nodding, Carly returned her weapon to gun mode and followed suite as the others. She wasn't fast, but she was agile. Firing numerous bullets at the Grimm, she could see the others running around the monster. Sam and Ruby and Ren passed behind her, never letting up on firing bullets, or in Sam's case, arrows.
The Grimm tried to grab and attack its prey, but with everyone constantly moving and more able to avoid its attacks, it was all futile.
"It's working! Alright! Now, one or two of us try to land a hit on it! But nobody stop moving!" Jaune shouted out.
While no one responded, Carly noticed Ren rush forward and slash the side of the Grimm before getting out of range of its legs to resume running in circles.
Smirking at the positive result, Carly ran to the Grimm to do her own damage on the abomination. As quick as she could, Carly whammed her hammer onto the knee portions of the front legs, causing the creature to stumble forward a moment.
Without waiting to see how else it would react, Carly moved herself back into the moving ring everyone had formed around the Grimm.
For a moment, Carly thought that this plan would actually work. Perhaps she and Sam were aiding enough that the Grimm was weakening at a faster rate, possibly ending the creature sooner than expected. The beast was failing to hit any of them with its long limbs and despite it spinning around; it couldn't keep up enough to target onto one of them.
Her hopes were dashed, however, when Jaune, who landed a blow onto its flank, was kicked and sent flying. He even collided with Ruby and the two stumbled to the ground. Still, both former Beacon students got back onto their feet quickly and Jaune swiftly changed his sword to a broadsword, using the scabbard and shield to do so.
With the beast distracted by Ren swiftly slashing at it, the Nuckelavee didn't notice Jaune run back in. The blonde's sword cut through a decent portion of the Grimm's hind leg, but not enough to knock it down. Thinking quickly, Carly summoned a small shield in front of Jaune as the horse part of the Grimm tried to kick the blonde again.
Thankfully it worked as not a fraction of a second later, the horse hoof collided with the orange floating shield.
Nodding with a smirk at Carly, Jaune used this opportunity try and slash the beast once more.
While his attack did hit the Grimm, it did not land in the same place as his previous attack had, hitting a lower part of the leg. But it still caused the Grimm enough pain that both the humanoid and equestrian parts let out yowls of pain. At the noise, everyone froze.
The Grimm, instead of trying to kick Jaune again, whirled away from the blonde and twisted its head to look upon the prey surrounding it.
A heartbeat passed and no one moved, observing one another. Then the Nuckelavee let out a gasped moan and raised its upper body up. The rider part spun itself around, its arms stretching out to incredible lengths so as to hit everything in its vicinity.
Everyone tried to roll, jump, or overall dodge the attack, but the Nuckelavee was faster and knocked down everyone within seconds. Carly tried to use her semblance, in a vain attempt to protect the members, but she was hit before she could activate it. And with how low her aura was, she didn't think her shields would do any good.
As everyone tried to regain their footing, the Nuckelavee let out another gasping groan, its arms shrinking back to normal form. Carly watched in horror as the Grimm struggled with itself before its sewn mouth ripped open and let out an ear bleeding screech.
This was not like the other yowls the creature had made. Those were unpleasant but one could handle them if they forced themselves to. But this scream reached a level of pitch that Carly was sure she had never heard before. She threw her hands over her ears instinctually, but despite her efforts, it barely seemed to help.
The only ones who didn't seem as affected by it were Ren and Nora. While the two did cringe and grit their teeth at the unbearable screech, they both still kept moving. Nora shot another round at the Grimm as Ren ran up the dead tree at the center of the town to fire his own bullets at the head of the creature.
Noticing the raven haired male, the Grimm shot its arms out at the former Kuroyuri resident. Ren tried to leap out the way, but wasn't fast enough and ended up being pressed against a nearby building, the claw part of the Grimm implanted into the wall of the broken down building.
Carly forced herself to stand upright and find her weapon. The previous blow the Nuckelavee landed on her had sent it in a different direction than her.
"Carly!"
The brunette turned to see Sam holding up her hammer before tossing it back to her. Fumbling with the catch, Carly shouted a thanks only to hear a loud crash. Both of them whirled their heads to see Ren still pressed against the building, but with Nora a few feet above and to the left of him. She was dangling from her hammer that had been caught and moved by the Grimm.
Thankfully both of the former Beacon students were alive, as Ren looked up at his old friend while the ginger haired girl kicked the air, struggling.
Upon noticing Ren's gazing up at her, Nora, crossing her legs as she did, shouted, "Stop looking!"
Blushing, the raven haired young man moved his weapon up to cover his eyes as he muttered out an apology.
Unable to help herself, Carly let out a small chuckle. Even in the middle of a life or death fight, these kids could make her smile.
The humorous moment was broken when Sam fired an arrow that landed right in the back of the Grimm's head. The Nuckelavee let out another gut wrenching scream before throwing Nora. The girl let out a yell that was cut short as she hit the ground hard. A crackling sound filling the air as Carly saw Nora's pink aura shatter. The ginger haired girl rolled to a stop and didn't get up, making Carly's heart stop with terror.
A frustrated shout pierced the air, pulling Carly's gaze from Nora to its source. Ren was slashing madly at the claw pinning him to the wall. Reacting quickly, Carly dashed for the arm pinning Ren in place. As she leaped into the air to hit it, she saw out of the corner of her eye Jaune lunge forward and slice the back legs of the Grimm.
Landing a strong blow to the stretched limb, the Grimm let out a groaned cry and pulled its arm back, dropping Ren. Its cry was cut short as an arrow landed next to the one imbedded in its skull. Sam, standing next to Ruby, readied and fired another arrow while the younger female fired rapid bullets. Sam's arrow barely missed the Grimm's head as it turned to its other attackers.
Carly readied herself to rush and attack the monster, but before she even moved, Ren breezed past her. He charged at the abomination that killed his parents, attacking the arms that stretched out to stop him. However, his assault was abruptly stopped as the Grimm managed to land a powerful blow to the huntsman in training. As he tumbled and rolled to the ground, he quickly jumped back up and sprinted to the Grimm once more, resuming his constant battering.
"Ren, stop!" Jaune shouted both angrily and fearfully.
"You're going to get yourself killed!" Carly yelled, running to the younger teammate, hoping she could use her semblance to quickly pull him away from his blind rage. She was able to block a kick from the equestrian human hybrid, but the shield she formed shattered quickly shortly after the attack.
Not fraction of a second later, the Grimms arm whirled around and hit both of them. Carly was knocked to the ground, but Ren dug the sickles of his pistol weapons into the arm of the monster. If he had a plan in mind, it was tossed out the window as Ren himself was tossed across the center of the village. Losing his hold on his pistol blades, Ren was thrown roughly to the ground, landing near Nora, who was slowly rising to her knees.
Jaune shouted Ren's name in fear as everyone saw Ren's pale pink aura shatter. Still, the raven haired teen raised his head, a furious murderous glare aimed at the Nuckelavee. It was clear that the huntsman in training was going to either kill the Grimm or be killed.
The Grimm horse let out a challenging whinny and galloped toward the two former residents of the destroyed village.
Thankfully, when Carly had gotten hit from the previous attack, she had not only kept a hold of her weapon, nor lost her aura, but she had landed somewhat in between the two parties.
Knowing that this might be the last time she used her semblance before her aura shattered, Carly acted quickly. While Nora shoved Ren underneath the house beside them, Carly bolted, putter herself in the path of the charging Nuckelavee. She forced herself to focus, and as the Nuckelavee reached her, rearing up to strike, an orange shield bloomed, catching the attack.
Despite focusing all her efforts on keeping the shield up, Carly could feel her aura dwindling. The Nuckelavee was putting incredible pressure on her shield, aiming on breaking through it. She didn't know how long the shield would hold after the fact, but she wasn't intending to stick around and find out.
A round of firing sniper bullets filled the air as Ruby shot at the back of the creature. The Grimm removed itself from Carly's shield to turn back to the young girl. It stretched an arm out to grab the silver eyed female but a flash of rose petals indicated he failed.
Carly's shield disintegrated a moment later and Carly felt her body shaking from the effort of using her semblance on an already low charged aura.
In the distance, Ruby jumped from building to building, pausing only long enough to fire more rounds at the Grimm. Her drive wasn't on injuring the Nuckelavee, no, she was just trying to steer it away. And it appeared to be working as the Nuckelavee galloped after the girl.
Sam, who was a decent distance away, readied two arrows and fired them quickly. One of them landed on the shoulder of the creature and the other actually struck the tender abdomen of the Grimm. This pissed the Nuckelavee off enough that it stopped, turning its attention to Sam instead of Ruby and swung its arms at the short haired brunette.
Sam tried to dodge out of the way, but the Grimm was aiming to kill, and hit Sam fast and hard enough that she flew into a building. Not only that, but as Sam fell to the ground, a decent portion of the house fell around and on her, as it had been weakened over time and previous attacks.
"Sam!" Carly shouted in fear at seeing her friend struggle to get up. Her aura didn't appear to be shattered, but Carly couldn't help but feel that her dear friend was getting to her limits as well.
"Back off!" Jaune yelled at the Grimm as he sliced at the side of the monster. The Nuckelavee turned, yelling as it struck Jaune as well.
The blonde quickly got up and moved quickly enough that he dodged the next attack the Nuckelavee tried on him.
With its back to her, Carly attempted to deal a sneak attack on the Grimm, or at the very least, a singular blow.
However, it appeared that the Nuckelavee had reached its limit in its prey coming at it from multiple sides. For as she got closer to the Grimm, its upper body twisted around, its horrifying gaze targeted on her. Just as Carly was using her momentum to try and leap back, the Nuckelavee swung its arm back around and grabbed her.
A newfound terror pulsed through Carly as she was lifted into the air. All she could think was, 'I'm gonna die. This is it,' over and over in her head. She was slammed against a building, breaking her mental mantra, and she felt her aura shatter, hearing a faint crackling sound.
But the Grimm didn't seem to be finished with her. She was dragged to another building where she was knocked into as well. That hurt a lot more with no aura to help her, and as the Nuckelavee threw her once more, this time releasing her, Carly thought for sure she was done for.
She flew through the air and landed harshly onto the ground. She rolled for a long moment. For a moment, everything went black. But a few heartbeats later, Carly heard a horrified yelling.
Carly opened her brown eyes, her ears ringing slightly, feeling more pain than she had ever felt in her life. The concept of moving felt near impossible, and all Carly wanted to do was close her eyes and fall back into darkness.
What kept her from doing this, though, was her mind reminding her that Sam needed her, that the kids needed her. That she wanted to get back home and see her family and friends.
That she didn't want to die.
Groaning, and with a huge mass of effort, Carly forced herself up onto her knees. As she took a moment to breath, she felt a hand touch her shoulder.
She turned to see that it was Sam, kneeling beside her and looking beyond worried. She kept saying something to her, but it was almost as if she was speaking a foreign language and couldn't understand any of it, despite her speaking perfectly good English.
The ringing in her ears let up a little bit and Carly shook her head before turning back to Sam to ask, "W—What?"
"Are you alright? Can you stand? Does anything feel broken or dislocated?" Sam questioned her, her blue eyes wide with fear.
Nodding, Carly forced herself to stand, using Sam as support, muttering, "Y—Yeah, I'm alive."
Sam reached down and handed Carly her hobby horse hammer, which had fallen out of her grip from the previous blow. Carly gave a weak, "Thanks," before looking up, feeling her strength return despite feeling like a truck ran over her.
It would appear that she had gotten her second wind just in time, too. Ren and Nora were crawling out from under the house they had hidden beneath, looking more determined than before. Nora grabbed her hammer as Jaune took a few steps back away from the Grimm, putting himself next to his teammates.
Sam looked at Carly and whispered, "You gonna be able to keep going?" Her concern was evident in her tone, but Carly gripped her hobby horse hammer tighter and whispered back, stronger than she felt, "Yeah, I didn't get this far to die here."
Her dear friend seemed to be mentally debating on whether she should encourage Carly to keep fighting or urge her to find Qrow and rest, given that she was without her aura and been dealt a powerful blow. In the end, she gave her a supportive, albeit worried, smile and nodded.
Digging inside herself for any strength she had left, Carly ran with Sam to regroup with the others, Ruby coming right up behind them. The Nuckelavee, a few feet away from them, paced slowly back and forth, never removing its gaze from the small band of exhausted fighters. Just like the beginning of the fight, there was a moment of silence as the two parties regarded one another.
Praying that things stayed true to the episode, Carly cast a glance at Ren, pleased to see the knife in his hands.
"Ren…" Ruby said hesitantly, pausing only to check that her friend had regain control of himself. When Ren turned his magenta gaze toward Ruby, clearer than before.
Upon seeing this, Ruby finished her statement more confidently, "The four of us can take care of its arms," indicating Sam, Carly, herself, and Jaune with Crescent Rose and an incline of her head.
"I'll take care of the horse," Nora stated, turning toward Ren for assurance.
Nodding, Ren spoke, "And I'll take care of the rest."
Smirking, Carly ran with Ruby to one side of the Nuckelavee while Jaune and Sam ran toward the other.
"I need you to get its attention while I try to pin down its arm!" Ruby shouted to her as they ran.
"Not a problem," Carly panted, feeling her lungs burn, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins kept her body moving. Once they reached a suitable spot for their part of the plan, Carly engaged her hammer into gun mode and began firing round after round on the Grimm.
She was successful in catching its attention as the Grimm turned to her. It used its arm to reach out and strike her, but before it could collide with her, Ruby shot down from the sky and landed the scythe part of her weapon into the arm of the Grimm. This caused the elastic limb to remain in place, making the Nuckelavee scream out in pain.
Rushing to join Ruby, Carly helped put pressure on Ruby's Crescent Rose. While the arm of the Grimm was pinned, it was still struggling to be released. Grunting, Carly used what little strength she had left to force the scythe down on the Grimm arm and keep it from breaking free.
As Ruby and her kept one Grimm arm pinned, Carly glanced up to see Sam fire and arrow at the Nuckelavee. The Grimm monstrosity, reaching its limit, tried to strike her but, like its other arm, was stopped as Jaune shot through the air from the side, restraining the limb with his shield. Sam bolted to the blonde and took over pressing down the shield while Jaune drew his blade and staked the Grimm arm to the ground.
Only a second later, Nora was seen falling from the top of the building she had climbed up. She raised her hammer and smashed it into the Grimm horse head, the momentum from the fall adding extra impact.
The Nuckelavee, successfully pinned, started screeching wildly, struggling to try and break free any part of its body. When Ren strode up to the abomination, it turned its penetrating eyes onto him and hunched forward to scream directly into the former Kuroyuri resident's face.
Once the Nuckelavee finished its roar, the two regarded each other for a moment, the silence in the air thick with unpleasantness. The only sounds that could be heard were the gasps of the Grimm beast.
After another second, Ren flipped the knife in his hands and sliced off the Nuckelavee's right arm. The Grimm let out another screech of pain, but was cut short as Ren grabbed one of its horns and pushed its head down to slice the other arm off.
Without its arms and the horse part of its body practically demolished, the Grimm flailed around wildly, screaming endlessly. Despite its constant movements, Ren gave the Grimm a deep cut across its chest. This caused the Grimm to curl forward, covering its body before lifting its head back up to scream in Rens face again.
Ren merely closed his eyes for a heartbeat before reopening them with the same ferocity as he had in the battle earlier. With a quick swipe of his arm, Ren beheaded the Grimm. Its grotesque head faded into ash midair as the rest of its body followed suite at a slightly slower pace.
The Nuckelavee was dead.
Carly fell to her knees in exhaustion, but a smile played across her lips as she let out a slightly laugh. She caught Sam's gaze and saw her friend hugging Jaune, a smile of her own on her face and her face beaming with relief and joy.
As Sam looked at Carly, her smile grew and she mouthed, "We did it!" causing Carly to let out a more exuberant laugh. Carly felt tears roll down her cheeks from the whole ordeal, and felt herself stumble as Ruby threw her arms around her in a hug, a laugh of her own erupting from her. Between them, Nora tackled Ren to the ground in a bone crushing hug. The two embraced affectionately as everyone relished in surviving the attack.
However, Ruby abruptly pulled back from the hug after a few moments, a terrified look on her face as she whispered, "Where's Uncle Qrow?"
The once uplifting air died to an uneasy worry as Carly and Sam looked at the house they had hidden Qrow behind.
Ruby followed their gaze and ran toward the building. Carly and Sam followed as quickly as they could.
Carly prayed that the ash haired man was still alive and if he was, would survive till they got to Haven and got some help.
Authors Note: I didn't want to end the chapter at this point, but this chapter was already so long and I feel like everything that is going to happen afterwards needs to be in the same chapter or else it will come off disjointed. I'm excited for the next couple of chapters and I hope you guys will like them! Please let me know what you all think of this fight sequence, I am really new to them and I want them to come across clearly. So feel free to let me know your thoughts and critiques! I hope you all at least enjoyed this chapter and stick around for more to come! Thank you again for being so patient!