A/N: And we did it! I am free from this cursed fight
I cannot believe what a slog that was to write. I only pray that it continues to be as interesting as y'all have made it out to seem in the comments. In my head I feel like a sack of potatoes.
That being said, on a fairly different note, please make sure you're staying safe out there! I'm just recovering from what was likely COVID (testing isn't available for the masses so who knows 100%), and it was not pleasant by any means- being able to breathe properly again is a gift. The last few weeks have been really rough. Please do your part to stay safe and not spread it/not get sick yourselves! If you ever need to chat in quarantine, feel free to reach out and message me on here or Discord :)
Other than that, enjoy the ending of this dang fight! Let me know what you think of it- don't be a silent reader :D
What We Call Home
Hazel tried to move. He couldn't. It didn't matter if he could feel pain or not- he was caught, and there was no way for him to escape.
A quick motion of Weiss' blade brought the stinger, and Hazel's speared, gutted body, flying back into the large hall. The Queen Lancer ripped the needlepoint out of Hazel's side with an audible squelch, blood dripping off the tip of the jagged point as it retracted almost entirely back into the creature's abdomen.
Jaune took the opportunity to run over, rejoining her and Ren. "Are you two okay?" he asked quietly.
She nodded. "Sure am. But Jaune- how much Aura do you still have?"
The boy smiled confidently. "Tons left. What do you need?"
She gestured to Ren who was barely tottering to his feet. "Get Ren back in fighting shape," she commanded. "I'll guard."
"Got it!" It took a moment, but the boy figured out how to reignite his Semblance in his hands, pressing them against Ren's shoulders. The white Aura began to spread throughout Ren's body, and soon enough, a pink glow began to resonate with it, healing Ren's wounds.
Nora smiled, satisfied as she returned to the battle. However, everyone seemed to be staring at something, the battle momentarily ceasing in favour of looking at the hole in the wall. Nora frowned, following their gazes cautiously.
She didn't need to be cautious- just surprised. Confused. Uncomfortable.
Standing atop the rubble from the broken front wall was Blake Belladonna, the Faunus girl looking back at them all in just as much abject confusion. She looked older, wiser- just like the rest of them. But why in the world was she even here?
"Yang?" her familiar voice called, eyes transfixed upon her former partner.
An idle thought entered Nora's mind as she fought to process it all. Is this what Yang meant back in initiation? Can we have like, one minute before something else crazy happens?
It didn't look like that would be the case. Abruptly, Ruby screamed, pointing towards the vault, "Yang, go!" to which Yang complied instantly, the blonde taking full advantage of the confusion.
Nora almost cackled as Mercury reached out, grabbing her prosthetic arm as she ran past, only to have her release the lock on it, leaving the boy behind with a fake arm as she leapt down into the vault.
Go fight, Yang. You've got this. Because Raven wouldn't let her daughter die, right?
Nora's blood ran cold, suddenly very unsure. "Wait- we can't let her go alone-"
Ruby called back to the rest of them, "She'll be fine! Our job is here!"
Chewing her lip, Nora nodded at last. "But after we're done here, we're going after her," she muttered under her breath.
Jaune heard her. "We're not leaving her behind," he said resolutely. Suddenly, the entire building seemed to shake, the tremors coming from below. "Gotta work faster, people!"
Finally, Ren was able to climb back to his feet. Weiss had turned her Queen Lancer against Hazel, Mercury and Emerald, the two retreating to hide behind Hazel against the giant Grimm with their backs next to the hole in the wall. With the fire-Dust he had injected into his arms, Hazel attempted to fight off the giant creature, but Weiss made it dance around his attacks easily.
Professor Lionheart was perched atop the stairs again, shooting fireballs at the Grimm and at Oscar, who was dodging the attacks feebly while trying to regain enough strength to properly continue the fight. Nora made a move to go up the stairs, but she saw a bird fly in behind the man, shock stopping her short for a moment as the bird transformed seamlessly into Qrow. The man landed and slashed at Haven's headmaster without hesitation. I will never get used to that.
So, all that needed to be taken care of was Mercury and Emerald, the two firing at Ruby and Weiss from a distance. Nora wanted to run forward and engage the two, still feeling energetic from the heavy dose of lightning she had tasted earlier. However, the Queen Lancer was firing spines in that direction, and there was no way she was going to throw herself in the way of an incoming Lancer attack- it was gruesome enough just watching it happen, since Hazel was taking the hits almost faster than his Aura could heal him.
So, she and Ren stuck to firing at the two from the sidelines, distracting them from attacking Ruby.
"You guys okay?" Jaune asked, extending his shield to block the shots coming at them.
Ren coughed, and Nora groaned exasperatedly. "I want to go fight them," she grumbled, "but Hazel's there!"
Ren sighed in response to Jaune's question. "Surviving."
She added, "I don't know how that big guy is still standing. He recharges his Aura faster than I've ever seen!"
Qrow flew down to support Oscar, giving Professor Lionheart the opportunity to turn his attention to the Queen Lancer. Firing wave after wave of fire-Dust attacks, he managed to push the beast backwards into the hole torn in the wall. Weiss was unable to move the Grimm away in time when Hazel roared, leaping forward and grabbing the Queen Lancer. The moment his hands connected with its Aura-filled body, he began frying it with the fire and lightning still fueling him onwards, shattering the summoning into pieces which dissipated into nothing.
Weiss' face fell as the creature faded, almost forlorn at the defeat. Before she could set about making another one, however, a dark blur jumped forward through the misty remains of the summoning, knocked Hazel to the floor from behind, and came to a halt beside Ruby and Weiss.
Blake stood, quietly checking in with her teammates for a moment.
The inaudible reunion was quickly ruined by Hazel letting out an angry cry, charging towards the trio. Nora nodded to Ren, then charged forward- now that the Queen Lancer was gone, it was safe to approach. We can finally take them down.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Qrow chasing after Professor Lionheart. Haven's headmaster had ducked into a side corridor, leaving the rest of them to face off against Hazel, Mercury and Emerald. With everyone back on their feet, however, it wasn't an issue. They could do it- leave the Huntsman to Qrow.
Making sure that Ren was steady on his own, she sprinted towards Ruby. The girl caught her eye and nodded, running to meet her whilst Weiss and Blake immediately began weaving around one another, heading towards Hazel without hesitation. Ruby planted herself on the ground, spinning around Crescent Rose's blade. Nora grinned, leapt upon it, and allowed herself to be thrown upward like a spiralling, speeding bullet as Ruby finished swinging the scythe in an arc.
It brought her so much joy to watch Emerald's look of pure fear as Nora flew towards her. She uses illusions, huh? Fine.
She wouldn't let Emerald use Pyrrha against her- never again. So, Nora simply closed her eyes, building up momentum as she fell through the air, heading straight for where Emerald and Mercury were standing. Haven doesn't really need good flooring, right? She grinned, sensing the ground coming up to meet her. Professor Goodwitch wasn't around to yell at her for breaking stuff- she could get away with it.
Magnhild's impact on the ground was deafening. She grinned, firing another grenade to propel her away from the impact site. Opening her eyes, the entire area was covered in dust and rubble, the sounds of coughing filling the air as people moved away from the destroyed section of the floor.
Out of the debris, however, a streak of black and silver shot towards Nora. She dodged, glaring at Mercury as he righted himself. However, Emerald was nowhere to be found. Where in the world-
Off to the side was Emerald's unconscious body, lying in a twisted heap on the floor. Nora didn't feel an ounce of regret, instead focusing her attention back onto Mercury. The sounds of clashing steel and Hazel's piercing roars continued to fill the room behind her as Ruby and Weiss continued to battle the giant man. A quick glance over told her that Jaune was working to help Oscar recover his Aura, while Ren had disappeared, likely following after Qrow.
A dark blur landed beside her. Nora shot a wink at Blake, the girl smiling tensely back. "Let's ruin his day?" Nora murmured.
"As much as he's ruined ours," Blake replied evenly, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes before she readied herself to take Mercury on.
"You owe him for messing with your team during the tournament, too," Nora mused aloud. At that, Blake's eyes grew steely looking at the boy, likely remembering the trauma the finals round at the Vytal Festival had caused her teammates. Ruby had told them during their time in Patch that his legs must've been prosthetics, that Yang had never actually hurt him.
They had been disqualified anyways.
This is for Yang, Nora thought distantly.
And with that, the battle began.
It became quickly clear that while Mercury was an incredibly powerful fighter, there was no way he could keep up with both Nora and Blake. While her reflexes had slowed down slightly due to fatigue, the ample electric charges Nora had conducted had amped her strength up to eleven. Meanwhile, Blake was barely phased by Mercury's onslaught, having not had to fight for very long. Her energy gave the duo an advantage. As Nora slammed her hammer into pillars and walls and floorboards, narrowly missing Mercury every time, Blake was always there to intercept the distracted boy and throw him back into the path of Nora's hammer.
Soon, the boy seemed to be getting far too frustrated with the jumping duo. Annoyed, he turned his gaze around the battlefield, eyes falling onto Ruby.
Nora caught Blake's eye, who nodded imperceptibly and leapt forward. The Faunus girl jumped beside Ruby, grabbed her, and suddenly, the two girls looked locked in place.
Nora grinned wolfishly, shooting Magnhild to propel her back up to the second-floor balcony. She knew what had just happened- Blake's Semblance left perfect copies of herself and whatever she was holding in its place, giving Blake time to slip away unnoticed. The girl had already pulled Ruby out of the way, giving her time and space to focus on fighting Hazel without the danger of Mercury nearby.
Mercury was clearly too fatigued by the entire battle, the normally-perceptive fighter kicking Blake's false form with gusto, extending his leg outwards. Perfect, Nora thought, jumping off the railing once again. Using another shot from her hammerhead to increase her speed, she aimed her hammer and crashed it down, right onto Mercury's still-extended leg.
It was like it was happening in slow motion: Magnhild's hammerhead landing forcefully onto Mercury's calf; the shattering of Blake's clone from both Mercury and Nora's impacts; the look of sheer confusion on Mercury's face twisting into one of absolute surprise; the sound of metal crumpling; the satisfaction which blossomed across Nora's chest as she saw the metal limb skew, boot bending backward-
Got you.
The boy collapsed instantly onto the ground, protecting his head and neck from the shrapnel undoubtedly flying out towards him once Nora landed. She grinned and jumped away, watching Mercury spit and swear, fury radiating from every pore as he frantically pulled up the leg of his pants. He didn't seem to be in pain. Underneath the material, however, metal shone, wiring broken and completely useless with bits of a prosthetic hanging uselessly off the skeleton. Upon seeing it, the boy simply crawled to the sidelines, cursing under his breath, the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The door into which Professor Lionheart had run off slammed open, but the figure who stepped out was Qrow, the man's face gaunt and pale and more than a little stricken. Ren soon followed, and they both stumbled over, joining back up with Oscar and Jaune. They're all too exhausted, Nora thought sadly. Yet, at least Ren and Qrow had the sense to begin firing away at Hazel, trying to wear his body down, if not his will.
However, the addition of Ren and Qrow's bullets to the already-endless assault against Hazel seemed to set the man off the edge. Roaring angrily, he reached down into the pouches by his waist. From the sidelines, Nora heard Mercury scream, "You're going to die!" but the giant man didn't respond, too focused on the battle around them. The crystals shining in his hands were bright blue- ice-Dust.
The orange-haired girl sprinted to rejoin Blake, Ruby and Weiss, who had paused to regroup. "We can't take another wave of this, guys," Ruby murmured, watching Hazel fumble with the ice-Dust crystals.
Nora groaned. "Let's stop it, then!"
Weiss sighed, then closed her eyes, concentrating. Her hair began to move lightly in the wind conjured from her Semblance as she began to summon numerous glyphs are the room, shining white and black as she infused them with her Aura and with gravity-Dust. "Do what you've gotta do," she muttered wearily. Using the Queen Lancer had clearly taken more out of her than they'd thought, despite the Aura amplification from Jaune.
Ruby and Nora nodded at one another. "Team RNJR?" Ruby murmured.
Nora rolled her eyes. "I think you mean 'JNRR', you dork," Nora teased.
Then, without hesitation, Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose and leapt into the air, using one of Weiss' glyphs as a platform. She shot forward, using her Semblance to speed her up into a red blur in the wind, barrelling her scythe straight into Hazel and sweeping the man clean off his feet with a well-placed hit to the knees. The man tumbled, having been too distracted with the ice-Dust crystals he had just jammed into his arms, his veins beginning to grow blue under his skin.
At the same time, Nora jumped from glyph to glyph, landing on a black gravity-glyph. The symbol positioned right above Hazel worked its wonders, throwing her downwards like a rocket at the man.
And just like that, Nora swung her hammer downwards, slamming the hammerhead right into the crystals and driving them all the way through Hazel's arms.
The sound of clattering Dust on the ground, the echo of snapping bone, and the strangled scream of pure, unadulterated pain which finally ripped free from Hazel's lips was the signal.
The fight was over.
As Nora flipped lithely back onto her feet, rushing towards Ren and Jaune, she could only wince as Oscar's eyes bugged out of his head and the younger boy threw up at the sight of Hazel's ruined form, a pool of vomit growing by the second. "Did we do too much?" she asked Jaune.
The blond looked absolutely green, eyes glued to the staircase and away from Hazel's writhing body. "I'm not even looking," he repeated over and over again, lurching every once in a while to fight down bile.
Ren sighed, turning Jaune away from the sight and going to comfort Oscar. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were still standing in a line, watching coolly with weapons drawn as Mercury and Hazel crawled over to Emerald. Mercury had managed to right some of the damage done to his prosthetic, but it was clear that he could do naught but hobble- Hazel's eyes were wild and feral, but the gaping wounds in his arms had yet to heal. Emerald's eyes were quietly flitting open, the girl clumsily climbing back to her feet, but still in no shape to fight. The trio took on their fighting stances anyways, but it didn't matter.
It was over.
Qrow crumbled to his knees, absolutely exhausted. Oscar jumped in front of him, trying to guard him from any potential attack. The boy looked absolutely terrible, however, his tanned skin gaunt and sallow, barely able to maintain his balance without leaning heavily upon his cane.
Ruby pointed Crescent Rose's barrel at them all threateningly in an arc. "That's enough! Just give up," she demanded.
Mercury snarled, attempting to remain upright- soon, however, he had fallen back onto the ground. The grey-haired boy slammed his gloved fist onto the ground in frustration, glaring up at them bitterly.
Emerald's bright red eyes were shimmering in unshed tears and waning hope. "It's not over!" she cried anyways. She sniffled, wiping away the blood which ran down her cheek from a gash by her eye, her Aura long having since run out. "Cinder will come back. She'll have the Relic, and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down."
As she spoke, however, her eyes landed onto the center of the staircases, widening in anticipation. Nora shifted to watch as well, hearing the familiar shifting of gears and grinding stone. Someone's… finally leaving the vault. Her heart fell to the floor. Please, please let it be Yang.
She didn't know who would arrive.
Her fears were quickly assuaged as long blonde hair emerged, riding the elevator atop the statue all the way to the top of the staircase. Yang stood confidently facing the ruined hall, not a scratch to be seen. In one hand was a curious artifact- a golden, intricately-woven lantern, the inner light glowing an ethereal, almost neon blue.
Cinder, Raven, and Raven's henchman were nowhere in sight.
"Yang," Ruby breathed, her relief palpable even across the battlefield.
Nora wanted to scream in joy. She's okay! She made it! It took quite a bit of effort to blink away the tears which welled up in her eyes. She made it out with the Relic.
Not everyone was as pleased. Emerald immediately began to cry, long, thick lines of tears rolling down her cheeks without restraint. As if all life had been sucked out of her, her weapons slipped from her hands and the girl crumpled to her hands and knees, breathing heavily as her tears dripped onto the floor.
Mercury finally tottered to his feet. He reached out for his partner, whispering, "Emerald, get up- we need to go."
The girl didn't respond, only grabbing the sides of her head and shaking, eyes still transfixed on the elevator. Yang began walking down the stairs, but Emerald's eyes didn't move, focused purely on the empty space where she had expected Cinder to be just moments before.
"Emerald!" Mercury repeated, more urgency in his voice this time.
It was as if she couldn't even hear him speak. Nora frowned, taking a step back as the girl's red eyes began to dilate in front of them. Nora could feel the hair rising on the back of her neck and arms, and she began to sidle away, ready for an incoming attack.
What Emerald did, however, was decidedly not an attack. Instead, a guttural, raw scream tore out from her throat, and then, she vanished.
"What the-" Nora cried, hearing similar words of confusion and trepidation ripple through her friends.
Their words all died in their mouths, however, as the ground where Emerald had stood began to emanate a thick, inky black smoke, tendrils of darkness curling upwards into the air. The scent of rancid, rotting flesh and congealed blood began to flood the room. In the blink of an eye, that darkness solidified into black fabric, spinning around and sending gusts of wind to nearly knock them off their feet.
Nora barely held her stance against the assault. "What is this?" she whispered, the words stolen away from even her ears by the wind spiraling out from the darkness before her.
And then, from within the dark fabric came pale arms lined with purple, sickly veins. Grey hair in an intricate bun emerged beyond that, the body growing from nothingness before them becoming larger and larger until they had to crane their necks backwards in order to see it. The creature's face seemed to be gritted in pain, skin and flesh and bones moving and shifting so unnaturally that Nora was going to be sick watching it move, the fluidity of its limbs almost too reminiscent of the Nuckelavee's jarring motions.
Finally, the image stilled, and the creature opened its eyes. It was a woman with black eyes, red irises glowing like the Grimm. The figure leaned her head back, neck close to snapping. With more intensity than any Grimm Nora had ever heard of, the monstrous figure glared down at them all, her jaw dropped unnaturally as she screamed, the sound reverberating through Nora's very bones.
Nora slammed her eyes shut and covered her ears, but it was too late. The sound was already a part of her, the pure despair in those red eyes embedded into her mind forever.
Only one thought filled her mind, so sudden, so invasive- but there was no other way to explain the ramifications of the nightmare before her.
We're going to die.
Eventually, the scream died away, leaving behind nothing but horrified silence in the room.
After a few moments, she was finally able to open her eyes. Everyone looked just as shaken as she was, but otherwise, the group was unharmed. Nora spun around, searching for their opponents. However, no matter where she looked, she couldn't see Emerald, Mercury, nor Hazel. A faint part of her protested their disappearance- shouldn't they go after the trio? They were weak! It was the best time to strike- with Mercury's leg like that, they wouldn't move far, either…
She couldn't open her mouth to suggest it, though. The only thing she could focus on was the memory of that figure; those burning, pitch-black eyes, those tendrils of darkness.
Blake was the one who finally put to words what they were all feeling, although her tone carried more confusion than the rest as she stuttered, "Wha- what was that?"
She doesn't know about the Maidens or anything, Nora thought numbly, trying to shake that horrifying image from her mind. They all glanced at one another, the trembling unanimous amongst them all. The face they had seen… that had been the face of a true monster.
Although she had never seen it before herself, the sinking feeling in Nora's gut betrayed who that figure had been.
"An illusion," Ozpin muttered at las, "but an accurate one. That… was Salem."
That's… what we're fighting?
It just didn't feel real.
Still, there was no time to dally around- so, they sucked it up, crawled to their feet, and tried to push the image of Salem out of their minds.
"Where's Cinder? And Raven? And the other girl?" Nora asked Yang as the blonde finally reached the group. "How are you still okay?"
Yang's gaze hardened for a moment, taking a second to reattach her prosthetic arm which Jaune had found lying on the ground. Then, she told them- there had been no battle in the vaults. By the time she had arrived at the bottom, the vault had been opened, and everyone had disappeared.
"Good thing the Relic wasn't taken," Qrow murmured wearily.
Nora had to bite her tongue so hard it bled to hold back her screams of anger.
Cinder must have escaped.
The next few minutes were a blur, now that the sounds of combat had finally ceased from within the hall. The Mistralian Police Force, along with Faunus who had come to put an end to the White Fang's attacks, began to stream into the building, helping them all out and surveying the damage. The police easily figured out how to begin cleaning up the school and processing all of the rounded-up members of the White Fang. The nearby paramedics were more than happy to take charge of Nora and the rest, wrapping blankets around their shoulders and helping them outside.
Once they were seated at the benches outside in the quad, giving more than enough space for the officers to get their work done, it was time for proper reunions. Blake gave everyone shy, nervous hugs, spoke to Oscar briefly, and then returned to her team. Nora smiled as she watched Team RWBY sit away from them all, quietly catching up with one another. They're finally together again.
Ruby's face had never before radiated more happiness than when she looked around at her teammates, together at last.
Eventually, Sun Wukong came over as well, having helped Blake lead the Faunus in the charge against the White Fang. The duo later explained that they had found out about Adam Taurus' plans- Sun was more than happy to tell them all the tales of how they fought against the White Fang in Menagerie, the small landmass dedicated to the Faunus south of Mistral, and how they had recruited soldiers to fight against Adam Taurus, the leader of the splinter cell of the White Fang which had attacked Beacon.
While he spoke, Blake merely smiled and nodded along, sitting between Ruby and Weiss on one side with Yang on the other, the girls simply basking in each other's presence.
Blake's parents came and went, too, the Chieftain of Menagerie decreeing the cleanup of Haven Academy as something that the Faunus would aid in. They finally left after leaving Qrow with a few words to watch over Blake. After the fight had ended, the girl had decided instantly that she would be going with the group without even hearing about the Maidens- she didn't really need to know the details right away, after all.
She had seen Salem. They all had. And if her team was fighting that monster, then Blake said she wanted to be there, too.
So, they trudged home to the manor, unsure of their next steps. While they walked, Ruby murmured the whole story to Blake, giving her a quick rundown of everything they had learned over the course of their journey. Blake listened silently, tight-lipped and unsure as she followed along, face even paler underneath the light of the crumbling moon.
When they reached the manor, however, she finally spoke up. "I'm… I'm sorry for leaving you all," she whispered. "And I'm sorry you had to learn all this alone. This all sounds crazy, but… I believe you. Can I- can I come with you?"
The rest of the girls in Team RWBY simply traded looks, soft, weary smiles on their faces. "Of course you can," Ruby whispered.
Nora crossed her arms. "It's your duty," she said simply, smiling at the girl.
Blake's eyes were watery as she nodded, fervent and earnest, before Ruby pulled her upstairs and began to show her to one of the spare rooms. Qrow sighed, trudging up to his room as well. Jaune helped Oscar limp upstairs, the younger boy absolutely exhausted after his very first battle. Nora's eyes followed them all the way up the stairs, warmth in her heart.
Soon, it was just her and Ren in the living room. Nora didn't realize that she had been clutching one arm until Ren's fingers gently pried her grip away, the intensity of her own hold leaving bruises forming in her skin. Her Aura was far too weak to heal her wounds anymore.
"Nora," he murmured, pulling her hands into his, "what is it?"
She finally tore her eyes away from the stairs, a smile automatically slipping onto her face. "Nothing, Ren," she replied. In just a few moments, the fatigue from their battle finally crashed into her, and she slumped over, letting out a weary sigh. "Just tired, that's all."
"No," Ren replied. "What is it?"
It took her a few moments of watching his face to realize that his image was blurring- that she was crying. Stuttering, she took a step away, quickly trying to blink away the tears. "I'm- I'm fine, Ren-"
"Nora." His voice was patient, albeit exhausted. He wasn't going to assume, but he wasn't going to let it go until she told him, either.
She bit her lip, then sighed, giving in. Meekly, she stepped close, pressing her face into his chest before he could react. She knew it would make him uncomfortable- he still wasn't used to the physical contact between them that she wanted- but damn, she needed the contact. She just needed to feel that he was there.
Taking in a shuddering breath, she whispered, "They're all together again."
She felt his arms wrap around her after a moment's hesitation, his chin resting on top of her hair. "Yeah," he murmured, voice rumbling in his chest. "I'm proud of them. Ruby hasn't ever been the same without her teammates."
"I just…" She sniffled, long and hard, the image of the girls holding each other's hands and looking so fulfilled still painted in the back of her mind. "I'm so happy for them, but…"
"It's okay, Nora." He stroked her back gently. "It's okay."
I hate this. I'm not supposed to cry. I have to be strong- that's my job- I have to make sure Ren and Jaune are okay-
But she had seen Pyrrha that night. In Emerald's illusions, in Crocea Mors- but that was it. Pyrrha had been there just as tricks of the light, games played in her mind. Pyrrha wasn't there anymore.
She wanted her best friend back. It hurt so goddamn much to not have the redhead there. "It's not fair," she whimpered, feeling the sobs rise up out of her mouth. "Pyrrha- Pyrrha's still with us, but I just- I want her with us! And I'm so happy RWBY is together again, and it's so good that Blake's okay, and we got the Relic, and Jaune got his Semblance, and everyone's safe, but Salem was terrifying and all the bad guys escaped and Cinder- I just-"
She was just rambling, and Ren knew it. "You wanted to beat Cinder."
"Exactly!" She slammed a fist weakly against Ren's shoulder in frustration, shame and disgust and bitterness rising up into her throat. "We were so close. We could've gotten her. She was there, and now who knows where she went-"
"It's okay-"
"It's not, though! We failed Pyrrha!"
"Hey." Ren pulled back away from her, looking firmly into her face. "That's not true."
"But," she cried desperately, "Cinder is probably still out there-"
"And that's a problem for a different day." He pulled her back into his arms, movements clumsy and awkward, but earnest nonetheless. "And that day, we'll be stronger."
She let out a long, keening sob against his collar. It was just too much.
In her mind, she could still perfectly visualize the illusion Emerald had conjured to distract her, and the very thought of it, alongside the image of Team RWBY walking up the stairs… it was enough to shatter her heart to pieces, and she didn't know how to fix it.
She had been strong for so long. "I'm sorry, Ren," she sobbed into his chest. "I promised Pyrrha I- I wouldn't cry, but-"
He held her without a word, giving her the space she needed to cry. He didn't have any Aura left to calm her down, so all she could do was weep. And, a few minutes after she began to sob properly, she could feel his own body shaking, his own grief and weariness and shock breaking him down, too.
She had been strong for so long, but now? She just wanted her best friend back. And unlike with Team RWBY, she didn't know if she would ever be able to make that feeling go away.