Author's Notes: Hello! Long story short: I got busy, stayed busy, had computer issues, and didn't get along to finishing this until now. The good news is, the word count of just the straight chapter is above 14k, so it's a juicy one. Appreciate all the reviews, especially ones that were critical of Sibyl's thought process. It tells me I'm not doing a good of a job as characterizing Sibyl as I should be, because while I don't care if people think Sibyl's decision is stupid, I do care when people question it, because that means it doesn't make sense for the character. Then again, I may be mixing reviews with people who want Sibyl to act a certain way and whatnot, but regardless, I have good reviewers and appreciate all of you. I never get flamed, just people who disagree. I've listened and changed a few things thanks to a few of them, so please, keep 'em coming.
Roman Torchwick remembered a time long ago when things made sense. A time when he stood atop the criminal underworld, when people came to him for all sorts of things, mostly unsavory. A time before crazy, insane people forced his cooperation in ruining everything he'd ever sought to rule over from beneath.
Back then, little fifteen-year old girls didn't carry around giant scythes and chase after dangerous criminals. They also didn't gain entry into precious combat schools like Beacon years early, and they certainly didn't make friends with some out-of-this-world undead boogey man who was capable of bringing down a whole cavern atop his head and leaving alive. God, Roman missed when things had been simple- back when kids minded their damn business!
No, instead, he had to deal with this. Little Red showing up at his camp in the middle of the night. That in and of itself wasn't too bad. She was a single huntress, and definitely not one good enough to give him trouble. The real issue is, she wouldn't be out here alone. In fact, this was some sort of stupid shadowing-season for First Years Huntresses, so there was definitely a trained Huntsman around ready to cause some chaos, not to mention her team which had caused enough troubles for him already.
Worst of all would be if Sibyl was here. Oh, Sibyl best not be here, because Roman might just die if that was the case, and he had a few too many plans in motion to die now. No, this was bad, but it was salvageable.
"…should we kill her?" Asked Perry. Poor, sweet, innocent Perry. Well, not so much innocent, but he was a hair smarter than most of the White Fang goons in his employ at the moment. Roman took a deep breath, turning away from the tied-and-bound Ruby at his feet and resisting the urge to knock his more useful minion on his ass with a firm swing of his cane.
"Do you know just who that is, Perry?" The white-fang grunt said nothing, eventually shaking his head in the negative. Of course he didn't know- why would he know about some random huntress? "That's little miss Ruby Rose, a member of team RWBY at Beacon academy. Odds are she has a Huntsman or Huntress prowling around above us right now, looking for her. What do you think happens to us if we hurt her, much less kill her?"
See, they thought a Huntsman was something to be afraid of. They were wrong. "But we really shouldn't even worry about some Huntsman. Usually, they're against the whole killing thing, so worst case scenario is you end up in the nice, comfy arms of the Atlas military. No, it's a Huntsman up above if we're lucky, if not…"
Roman paused, tapping his cane on the ground three times and breathing deep before continuing. "You know about dear-little Adam, right? Your fearless leader, so strong and mighty? You know about what happened to his little… outpost?"
Perry paled, and Roman gave a scowl. "Well, I know what happened. A lot of people died. I remember a few reports of people with their chests just… blown out. Holes straight through them. It took forever to dig far enough to reach them, because the cavern they were in was collapsed. Wild stuff! Must have been some interesting autopsies at the hospital.
"Suffice to say, I know who did that. And he happens to be a very good friend of the Huntress who stumbled upon our little operation here. If we're lucky, he's not with her… but I wouldn't count on it."
Roman kept his gaze on Perry for a few moments longer, before the White Fang grunt finally turned his eyes to the ground. Right, well, now that the idiotic idea of killing her was done, Roman had to figure out just what to do with her. He turned back to the tied-up Red on the ground, whose eyes were wide while her face was scrunched up, as if not sure what to make of just what exactly had just happened.
Gah. Kids… why couldn't he be dealing with some twenty-five-year old? He'd whack them across the face with his cane to remove that pity-inducing look but doing it to someone so young just didn't sit right. Guess he'd have to use words…
"You're not going to get hurt, Red, so calm down. I don't want that undead ripping my heart out and shoving it down my throat." And Sibyl probably would do that. Roman shivered at the thought. Yeah, avoiding having his heart in his throat seemed like an important detail of his upcoming scheme.
Still… leaving Ruby alone wasn't exactly the answer, either. "But you will be coming with us. Neo!" Roman whistled, and it was barely a few seconds before his faithful assistant appeared, smiling brightly at Red and waving. "Put her somewhere safe on the train, and do not hurt her. We don't need to give that guy anymore reason to hate us."
"Ooh… I don't know about that," Came the whisper of a disguised Chester, and Roman resisted the urge to both jump and curse. The man could move silent as a fox when it suited him. Yeah, Cinder had stuck her little dog on him to keep watch; he would have rather had the damn kids than Chester.
…Why did he have to be here so quickly, anyways? They'd just had some dumb dance at the school, before Cinder had him flown out here. God, Roman hated Chester.
"I do agree we shouldn't kill little red… but where's the harm in roughing her up? Peeling back a few fingernails?" And comments like that was exactly why Roman hated Chester! He was a God-damned sociopath, and that was being polite about it.
Roman took a deep breath, turning around and pointing his cane at the masked man's chest. And no, he wasn't in that ugly attire he seemed to love so much, complete with the stupid, smiling mask; it was a pretty generic set up, probably to stop him from getting found out and killed the next time Sibyl saw him at Beacon.
"Alright lapdog, listen. This is my operation. Mine. I decide when we leave, I decide what we do with prisoners, and if you don't like it, too damn bad! So, please, go sulk in some dark corner and cut your wrists till you bleed out, before I make Neodo it for you."
Chester laughed, leaning down and rubbing a finger across Red's cheek. Roman was about ready to kill him right there, but he knew better. If he killed Cinder's boy-toy, the woman would slowlyroast him alive. "Look like you've got a rotten angel watching over you, little Rose… but he might not always be here." The freak stood and stretched, giving a small wave at Ruby as he moved back towards the train.
Ruby muttered something under her gag, and Roman nodded in agreement. "Yeah, not a fan of his either, Red." Sighing, Roman gave her another long glance and ran a hand through his hair. "Why couldn't you just mind your business? Why not just read a book or something?"
A glare was his only answer.
"Right, well… Perry, get everyone on board. We've moving, now, before her team and whatever Huntsman she has with her finds us." And he could only pray to whatever God he didn't believe in that Sibyl wasn't with her… because things might get rough if he was.
Why did Cinder's damn plan have to hinge on him being the one going to jail?
Yang had been sleeping, but the not-so-gentle whispered hiss of Blake and the barking of Zwei combined to pull her out of the deep slumber. Not that she realizedwhat was making all the noise the moment of her waking up, but within a few seconds, she recognized the barking of Zwei just because she'd lived with the dog for so long.
"Yang, get up," Blake continued to demand with a growl, "Zwei just came back barking, no one else was woken up for second-watch shift, and Ruby is missing." Yang stretched as she finally came to sit up, not really listening to Blake's words. Well, she hadn't really been listening, up until her partner said three, critical words: Ruby is missing.
Ruby was missing? Alarm bells went off in her head, and Yang scrambled up to her feet, nearly slipping. Her sister was missing in this deathtrap of a city!? "W-What? When did she go missing?" Dr. Oobleck's hand came to lay on her shoulder, and for once, her fast-paced teacher's presence helped in calming her down.
"We don't' know, but we certainly have the means to find out," Doctor Oobleck explained, holding up a single finger as he began to… be himself, speaking quickly, "Given Zwei came back, it's reasonable to assume he knows where Miss Rose was taken; secondarily, Sif is a hound of unknown origin, and has quite the nose and tracking abilities. We can use the both of them to find Ruby, and we will do so now. Get your weapons, girls. Time is of the essence!"
Not needing to be told twice, especially when her sister was in danger, Yang had strapped both her gauntlets on. Everybody else seemed to have woken up a few moments earlier than her and were all ready. Zwei barked to gather their attention before setting off, Sif trotting along at his heels near the front of their group.
It only took around five minutes of following Zwei before they managed to find a gigantic hole in the ground, Ruby's crescent Rose laying near it. "Ruby's scythe," Yang muttered, leaning down to pick it up. Her fingers involuntarily tightened around the grip, and Yang took a deep breath to calm herself. Ruby was fine; her sister was extremely talented. No way she'd be hurt so easily.
Taking a look down the nearby hole, she felt her eyes widened at just how deep it went. It was like a damn valley!
"Did she fall? Down there?" Weiss wondered aloud, and it seemed to be the only real conclusion to come to. Was Ruby okay? The fall shouldn't have broken anything, given Ruby's aura and what not, but there was always a chance that it did. Were there Grimm down below? What if-
"Of course, how could I be so stupid?" Doctor Oobleck thought aloud- and he always seemed to think aloud. Still, eccentric professor or not, he was still a trained huntsman. They ought to pay attention. Deciding to bridge the gap in communication, Yang spoke.
"Doctor Oobleck, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong!? Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion, once home to thousands of people- working people, all who commuted to and from the city of Vale using underground subways! When the Grimm danger grew too large, the population desperately searched for safety; they fled underground, and what did they find!?"
What?
"Caves! The South-East quadrant of Vale is known for them!"
"Doc, what are you trying to say?"
"We're not just looking for an underground crime network… we're looking at an underground crime network!"
"They've been working in caves?" Blake questioned, and Dr. Oobleck both shook his head no and sorta agreed. Nothing he did ever made sense!
"Not precisely. Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start; it lacked many of the natural defenses that allowed Vale to prosper. When the end drew near, its inhabitants fled underground into the many deep caves they had cleared out in preparation for the subway system; they cut themselves off from the surface."
"All cleared out… it had to have been leveled for the subway system, too," Weiss mentioned, her face growing grim. "We're practically looking at an open space, filled with buildings and plenty of storage space. These criminals aren't working in Caves, Blake. They're working with an infrastructure to match Vale."
"Precisely," Oobleck confirmed, approaching the hole and giving it a deep gaze. The only reason this underground city was abandoned is because an explosion opened up the mouth of another cavern, this one filled with subterranean Grimm. Vale soon closed their tunnels, creating the largest tomb in mankind's history." Yang bit her lip, imagining the horror. All cut off from safety, backs to the wall as endless hordes of Grimm approached.
"And, if Ruby is down there, we must find her. Quickly." Doctor Oobleck pulled out his weapon of choice, extending it into a sort of makeshift bat, before crouching in front of the hole and squinting. Well, Yang wasn't going to wait while Ruby was in danger. Leaping forward, she fell through the hole without much care, landing with a roll before popping up back to her feet, taking a glance around for any dangers.
There were none, so she looked for other relevant details. She heard the others land behind her a few moments after, but paid them no mind, instead giving the cave- and city, because she could see the towering buildings all around- a hard look. The buildings were all in ruins, sure, but they were still buildings that reached sixteen stories or taller.
"I can get us down to the surface quickly with my glyphs, but if anyone is watching, they'll probably see us," Weiss suggested, but Oobleck held up a hand to protest.
"We don't know where Miss Rose could be. Sif, Zwei, have you caught her scent?" Zwei made a scene of sniffing to try and pick it up, but Sif suddenly froze, his ears perking up and his head turning to stare below. He growled, turning to glance at Yang and leaping with an open maw, ripping Ruby's crescent Rose right from Yang's own grip.
While the group stayed in a mute shock, Sif rushed over to Weiss and undercut her legs out from beneath her, the Schnee heiress scrambling to get a proper seat on his back- only to scream in surprise when the wolf leapt straight off the edge of the cliff-face they stood on.
"Weiss!" Yang yelled, approaching the edge and reaching out with a hand to stop Sif from killing the both of them, Of course, then things started to make sense, because Weiss was using glyphs to create platforms for Sif to jump from as they rushed with a rapid pace towards the surface below.
"Guys… I hear something," Blake said aloud as they watched Weiss and Sif continue on, "it sounds like an engine."
"Of course," Oobleck exclaimed, "that's why Sif acted so quickly. We need to get to those tracks, now!" Well, Yang didn't need a red carpet to walk along, and as she leapt off the edge, she was suddenly thankful that initiation at Beacon involved coming up with an… innovative method of free-falling. Sure, she didn't have a launch pad to get her up to speed instantly, but she'd be able to reach the ground quickly enough.
The explosive rounds of Ember Celica helped thrust her forward and slow her descent towards the ground, and she didn't pay much attention to Blake and Oobleck behind her. Blake was a smart cookie, and Oobleck was a trained Huntsman. The two of them would figure out a way to get down there and quick.
She hit the ground about haflway towards the tracks she'd been able to spot from the previous cliff-face, and when her feet hit the ground, Yang sprinted with gusto. As the front of the train passed her, she kicked it up another gear,
She managed to hop on four or five carts ahead of the last, while Sif and Weiss landed around the middle. Giving a glance back, Yang internally cheered that Blake and Oobleck, plus Zwei, landed on the very back cart… and a very, very bad thought occurred to her.
What if Ruby wasn't on this train? What if they had just left her sister behind? No, no, she had to trust Sif; Sif loved being with Ruby. He had to have caught her scent, even from so far away. The Great Wolf came from Sibyl's universe- things from that place were weird.
So, no, Ruby was definitely on this train… somewhere.
Giving a glance around and not seeing that anyone had noticed her, Yang approached one of the nearest roof-panels and slammed her fist into it, breaking it open before jumping down. The room had five White Fang members in it, all very alarmed to see her. Well, she wasn't going to give them time to process it: leaping forward, she slammed her fist into the nearest one, cracking his mask and sending him bouncing off the wall on the far side of the room. Turning to the other Fang member to her left and grabbing him by his shirt, she turned, flinging him over her shoulder and at the two grunts directly behind her. Finally, she extending an arm and pointed it at the one member who was scrambling for his gun, almost succeeding to pointing it at her before Ember Celica fired, sending him to the ground.
It was a brisk walk over to the two who had taken their friend's body to the chest, but when she arrived, she gave each a firm punch in the face that left them unconscious.
A brief clapping sound made her eyes widen, and when she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw the clapping came from that girl with the wild hair who had helped Roman escape when they last confronted him was standing there. Neo, was it?
"Where's my sister?" Yang growled, her hair beginning to glow. Neo just gave a silent smirk, raising one finger to her mouth in a shushing motion. Oh, Yang was going to beat it out of her!
"What is that?" Blake wondered, but she, Oobleck, and hell, probably even Zwei all knew what it was.
"That… is a bomb," the Doctor confirmed, and she felt her eyes involuntarily close at that. Of course it was a bomb; why wouldn't it be a bomb? A moment thereafter, she heard beeping. "Get to the next cart," Oobleck demanded, and Blake agreed, quickly rushing forward along with Zwei.
As they leapt forward, the cart behind them was released, and a few seconds as it rolled down the track, it exploded. A few seconds after that, and Grimm began piling through the hole above it that had been created. "Oh no…" A quick check on the cart beneath them revealed that it, too had a bomb in a hatch atop it.
"They're trying to lure Grimm to the city!" Both Oobleck and herself cried at once. They had to stop this train, now. A look ahead showed numerous White Fang members climbing atop the roof, presumably to try and stop them. Great…
Weiss hadn't initially been sure why Sif had knocked her off her feet and onto his back, but once he had thrown the both of them off the cliff, she just worried about making sure they didn't die by using her glyphs. Then she had noticed the train, and realized Sif was just like Sibyl; they acted when something was wrong, no hesitation.
Unfortunately, now their numbers were split up; she and Sif were probably the furthest up the train. Of course, depending on who the criminals were on this train- and she was guessing the White Fang, naturally- the good news about not all of them being in one group is it made dealing with them both easier and harder.
Yes, they were separated, but so were whoever would be sent after them. Their flanks might be open to attacks and vice versa, yet as Huntresses and Huntsman, they were more equipped to deal with that, especially if everyone at least had a pair. Taking a deep breath, Weiss examined her surroundings while Sif adjusted Ruby's scythe in his mouth. His own sword stayed sheathed on his back; Sif didn't exactly have arms, after all.
There was a hatch on the roof of the cart, which seemed to be the only logical choice on where to go. Opening it and jumping in after Sif, Weiss was ready for anything to be in there- except nothing. The cart was completely empty of people, though there were plenty of items and whatnot everywhere. "Smell anything, Sif?" The wolf shook his head in the negative, and Weiss hummed.
They could go forward in the train or back. It seemed best to go back, help the others in-
Weiss flinched as the sound of an explosion sounded from the rear of the train. If there were bombs on this train, and they were heading for Vale… she and Sif had to stop this train as soon as possible. But what if Ruby was in one of those carts? "Sif, do you smell Ruby at all?"
The wolf sniffed the air around them before gesturing with his snout towards the front of the train. Perfect, they just had to go-
Weiss barely leaned backwards in time to avoid the throwing knife that flew right by her jugular, her eyes widening as she looked to who exactly had thrown it. Whoever it was, they had to have been hiding. They weren't hiding now, though; no, instead, they were juggling a few indistinct throwing knives.
He tilted his head, glancing at the two of them and the door that would lead to the next cart ahead. The two of them could try to tag-team, but who knew how good her opponent was and how long he could delay them for? This train was going to breach Vale if they didn't stop it. Ruby was ahead, albeit it without her scythe… but Sif would be with her if the two advanced.
Gah! This whole situation was terrible, but she had to weigh things. Working with Sif might not even work out for her. They didn't know each other well enough for that; Sif and Sibyl practiced all the time, sparring and whatnot. Weiss had only fought with the wolf once.
On the other hand, Sif had Ruby's scythe, and together, the two should be enough to deal with whoever was at the front of the train? …Was potentially risking her life, as well as the lives of Sif and Ruby, worth stopping this train?
She was a Huntress; they were all Huntresses! Their job was to endanger themselves to protect those who couldn't.
With narrowed eyes and the shifting over her posture into a more-ready combat stance, Weiss spoke. "Sif, go ahead and find Ruby. Stop the train."
The Wolf growled in confirmation, rushing ahead but pausing upon looking at the door… right, Sif didn't know how doors worked. Still, the wolf was nothing if not perceptive of that; he rushed backwards towards her, getting a running start and jumping through the ceiling panel they had dropped through, presumably to go further forward. It wasn't like he'd have trouble getting any of them open; with his sword, he could just cut or smash them open.
Sif was resourceful. He'd figure it out; her job was to deal with whoever this masked terrorist was.
"…I was hoping he'd leave. Now, I could tell you all about what I plan to do with you when I'm done, little Schnee. And I am going to beat you, make no mistake. But still, I don't want to tell you. It ruins the surprise, and the surprise is the best part."
"The funniest part about all of this? I'm not even doing this because I don't like you. It's all for him." The masked man gave an evil, terrible laugh, and Weiss almost felt herself hesitate in her reply. But almost didn't matter.
"You remind me of my father, an arrogant child that masquerades as a man, someone who thinks that just because he says something means it will happen. You also remind me why I hate my father."
Ruby was stuck in a box. They had stuck her in a freakin' box, gag still on and hands and legs tied. Roman had thrown her in there with a bunch of blankets and told her to "sit tight." And, much as she had struggled to get free, it just wasn't happening. It was hard to say how long she had been there, but eventually, explosions had started to sound in the background
And she was just… left in this box. Left waiting and wondering what was going on, if anything would be resolved or not. There were some guards with her, too, but they didn't really speak too much.
…Hopefully her team had found out about her. Zwei had escaped; he would have went right back to them. They had to know. It was just a matter of waiting.
As she stayed there, bound and trapped, she heard something slam open and clatter on the ground. It was followed by her guards shouting "what the hell," some gunshots, and the sound of bodies hitting the floor. A few moments later came a loud howling, a very distinct howling. It was Sif, and he was right outside of where she was trapped.
Yelling through her gag and slamming her body against the side of the crate she was trapped within, she only had to wait a few moments before a much larger and stronger body slammed into it from the outside, knocking it and her sideways. The lid popped off and she slid out, glancing up with a smile at the sight of Sif, who had her precious, precious Crescent Rose in his mouth.
The wolf wasted no time in approaching her, slicing with her own blade and cutting her bindings. She removed her gag, reaching out to hug the wolf. "Sif, I am soo happy to see you! Where are the others?" He pawed at the ground, gesturing backwards a moment later with his snout. Oh, so they were split up? Sif was the only one this far forward?
Well, that was fine! They needed to stop this train, and fast. She didn't know, uh… where it was going, but the explosions didn't sound good. The guards hadn't been surprised by it, either, so it had to be planned. They had received some sort of radio call about resistance at the back of the train, though…
Ruby had just assumed everyone was at the back, yet here Sif was, by himself.
Well, it would be enough. While Ruby wasn't exactly Sibyl when it came to working with the Great Wolf, her and Sif had spent a lot of time together and even sparred some. Together, the two of them were more than enough firepower to stop all of this… probably? "Right, well, good job, Sif! We need to stop this train, though." she mentioned, pausing briefly to grab her scythe and unfurl it, not wanting to be caught off guard. Thank goodness Sif had brought it. Those White Fang grunts had been right when they called her useless without her weapon… and that was something she was going to change.
Testing the weight of Crescent Rose, she couldn't help but smile. She nodded and moved with Sif up one more cart.
Roman Torchwick stood there, running a hand through his hair. "You know, Red, I tried to be nice. I tried to give you a nice cozy little space to just sit and relax, but your little mutt here had to come and ruin it, not to mention your friends at the back."
"Well, that's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy. And please, put that thing down," he requested, gesturing towards her scythe, "it's embarrassing. Go plow some fields."
Sibyl was reflecting. Reflecting on what he was doing here, precisely. Not so much as the place, but this world. His goal had never been to stay here, and yet, with each passing day, it had grown harder to resist. It was just… nice. Nice having friends who were always there; nice being wanted and needed by everyone as a person, not some sort of… hero.
He hadn't even tried continuing his experiments on soul-sorcery recently. The desire to go back to Lordran had faded with each and every day; he found himself wishing he had pressured Ozpin harder upon his initial arrival, but what was an undead to do? These things couldn't be rushed… though perhaps he would check in soon.
It was a difference between here in Lordran, Sibyl supposed. A difference he still hadn't realized. In Lordran, time was a given; it was both unmoving and forever changing. Sitting around and waiting for someone to get back to you was just how it went. You got someone's word, and you assumed they had the honor to be held to it.
Ozpin was undoubtedly using all the resources at his disposal to try and gather information on Lordran. The possibility that there simply wasn't any was something the undead had considered, and it seemed to be the reality. Glynda surely would have told him otherwise. Still, it wouldn't hurt to check, would it? At least then he might be able to lie to himself and say that getting back to Lordran was still something he was trying to do.
Sighing, the undead leaned back against his bench, crossing his arms as he watched the morning sun rise. At least he had brought some of Lordran with him. Pyromancy and sorcery… the former more than the latter, honestly. Pyromancy was born in Lordran, in Izalith. He had brought a piece of the Chaos Flame with him upon his arrival, and just as fire was meant to spread, he had sought to teach Yang.
Gah, all this mindless meditative thought wasn't his style; he needed to go and do something.
Sibyl made to stand, giving a glance to the sky above… and squinting his eyes to try and see what circled above. A raven? Or… perhaps it was a crow. The latter was something worth noting… or perhaps a coincidence. This was another world, after all. Crows were hardly a precursor to anything, much less Velka's will.
Enough of this paranoia- he was simply nervous because Weiss and the others were gone. A trip into town might do him good; maybe another trip to that bookstore he visited previously? Anything would suffice, honestly… anything to get his mind off the nervous feeling in his gut.
And so, he sought a transport into the city, giving one long look to the crow above that had to be waiting for a corpse to be left well alone, so it might feast.
Sibyl wouldn't realize it until long after, but the crow above was circling him
He was good. Weiss hated to admit it, but the masked thug in front of her was very, very good. She had suspected he'd be better than most just by his demeanor, but he really was something else. Her head flinched backwards to avoid a knife's blade from slicing across her eyes, and she barely had any time after that to step back and give a prodding thrust with her rapier towards his lower section. It succeeded in making him tuck back the leg he had planned on tripping her with.
That was how he fought. Everything was meant to create another opening to take advantage of. He seemed to know that he wasn't faster than her, and he also knew he wasn't necessarily stronger. But there was one thing he was better at than her. The masked bastard was far more graceful.
He didn't fight; he flowed. It was a style that had given her no small amount of frustrations since she arrived. She gritted her teeth at the reminder of another girl who always seemed to best her that fought in the exact same way. It wasn't something that could be taught, not really. And, finding people who were just… gifted at it, infuriated her. More than anything else, even.
She worked so very, very hard and could hardly even scratch either of them.
As her opponent stopped in his combat, staring at her with a tilted head before juggling his knives in front of her, something broke. Weiss screamed, dashing forward and striking with repeated blows that came faster than anyone had the right to keep track of.
Yet, every strike missed. Every cut, every thrust, every slash missed. All her days of training, all her endless hours of bleeding, of fighting with her sister and father to do just this, meant nothing. She just wasn't good enough. She wasn't perfect, and she was facing someone that was.
A thrust of her blade straight at his face A close miss. She flicked her wrist, the blade coming down diagonally to slice through his damn neck. He ducked, striking out with a knife at her abdomen like a coiled snake. She twisted out of the way- or rather, tried to. The stinging feeling across her stomach was a reminder that she had failed.
Taking a leap backwards with the use of her glyphs, she was unable to stop herself from tracing the line along her stomach. It was bleeding, though her aura was taking care to try and stop it. The masked man shook his head, giving a pitying laugh.
"So," he began, walking slowly forward in a sauntering manner, "when I have you beaten, what do you want removed first? Your eyes, or even better, that pretty, pretty hair?" Weiss didn't rise to the bait, instead shifting into a combat ready stance and evening her breath. 'Calm down, Weiss. You're a Schnee.' Schnee's didn't get angry, much less about thugs.
She needed to use her mind. There were more options than just her blade thrusts to deal with him. Her weapon served as far more than just a rapier, after all. Dust could touch him even if she couldn't, especially in this room. A blast of fire would leave him with nowhere to go. Changing the cylinder on her weapon, she didn't let her eyes leave the masked man who looked almost bored.
"Careful. All the other carts had bombs in them… what makes you so sure this one doesn't?" That… was a valid point. Well, there were other options, all she needed to do-
A knife came flying forward at her, and she parried it to the side with practiced ease. Of course, following the knife was a madman, rushing at her with the intent to stop whatever her plan had been. "I gave you a chance for a good surprise… and you wasted it." The Heiress was left scrambling in defense; he only had one knife at this point, but his fists and kicks still packed a massive punch.
Every prodding strike she made, every attempt to create distance failed. He stayed within her reach, almost constantly trying to disarm her. She knew why; if he managed to do that, this fight would end without much ceremony. She grunted as a kick slammed into her side, and all she managed to get in return was a glancing cut across his waist. He was bleeding now, but he also didn't seem to care.
She needed to do something, quick. The more pressing question was how to do so. He seemed aware of how she fought and made it a point of retreating anytime she even thought about using some of the dust at her disposal. Perhaps speeding things up would work; he was graceful, but he wasn't as fast as she was.
A small crack in his assault gave her the opportunity she needed; a slash at his neck forced him to take a step back, and Weiss quickly retreated with the use of her glyphs, throwing herself back and against one of the far walls onto another glyph.
She thought about saying something witty, a quick one-liner… but instead, she just smirked. This would drain her, but she needed to end this fight quickly.
Like lightning, she struck, forcing herself off the wall with a massive burst of speed. She gave a small frown when her opponent barely avoided her strike, getting a small cut on his outfit and little else. Of course, this was a trap now: she would slice him to ribbons with a thousand cuts.
Barely a half second had passed when she struck again, flying off the far wall with another glyph and getting a cut on his thigh that actually drew blood. He gave a wild slash with his knife, but it missed. Again and again she struck, bouncing off her glyphs and ignoring the sweat beading down her face.
Cuts began to add up; what was once three or four cuts were now two dozen, and her opponent was getting more and more furious. Still, he kept his silence, instead trying to get her with his knife every time she shot past. He had managed one grazing slice, but little else.
His defense grew sloppier and sloppier, and as both of their breathings got more ragged, she realized he still might outlast her. As she graced his chest with her blade and he nicked her ankle, Weiss readied to freeze him. Bouncing back, she aimed for his face this time; something she hadn't done in awhile, given that it was the hardest thing to hit.
The explosion of ice that came when he realized what she was doing, bringing up an arm to protect his face, was massive. Frost filled the air and Weiss stepped back, waiting for it to clear. When it did, his whole body was encased in ice. She laughed, unable to stop from feeling smug. She'd won, and he was left encased in ice, unable to do-
Weiss squinted, because she swore there was… something happening to him within her ice. It only took a moment before she realized his clothes had fire crystals dust lined with it. And as a small, but more than enough explosion to get rid of all her ice occurred, she barely avoided a shard of ice from impaling her in the stomach.
"…You… you bitch!" Her adversary screeched, his mask cracked but not broken. His hands were flinched into fists, and the smirk that was previously on Weiss's face had faded completely. "I am going to end you! I will hang you by your entails; I am going to pull your hair out and leave your scalp a bloody mess! I'll cut off your fingers and shove them into your empty eye sockets! Not even your family will recognize you!"
Weiss barely managed to parry his first outraged strike, and the kick he sent slammed painfully into her side. She ducked beneath a punch only to find herself thrown backwards by a follow-up roundhouse kick that she'd barely even seen him send at her.
Sent skidding across the ground, she barley scrambled back to her feet to avoid the knife that slammed right into where her chest was. He rushed at her again, and she just… thrusted her rapier. It slammed into something; in fact, it slammed straight through something. It was in his stomach, she realized.
His face was inches from her own, and she could smell his ragged breath even through that mask. "That," he declared, reaching forward with a hand and grabbing her by her neck, "wasn't very," he lifted her up, taking a step forward before slamming her backwards onto the ground, her cranium nearly cracking at the force, "nice."
She could barely even think, see, or hear. Her mind vaguely registered a sharp pain in her stomach, and when her head twitched forward slightly she realized it was because he had stabbed her with her own rapier and sliced. Her stomach was sliced open.
Weiss should have been in shock, angry… in pain, but she wasn't. Or did that mean she was in shock? It didn't matter. Vaguely she watched as her adversary stood up over her, turning around and walking to retrieve a knife.
It was very tempting to lay there. To not move, to close her eyes, to sleep, but she didn't. No, a shaking hand- and she wasn't even sure if it was her hand. She couldn't feel it, just barely register it in her vision. The hand grabbed the catalyst at her side. Logan's catalyst, one Sibyl had given her.
She loved Sibyl. Was he okay? Was he worried about them? She nearly giggled at the thought- given the condition she was in, he should be worried. The man above her was about to kill her brutally, and she could hardly even think enough to feel fear about it.
Still, he had turned his back to her. That wasn't very nice, and she was going to make him pay. Was she going to die? Her aura was almost drained. She was bleeding out of her stomach and out of a lot of other places. Was she going to die, before she became a huntress? Was she really going to have her fingers cut off and shoved into her eyeholes?
Was Sibyl going to be able to recognize her corpse?
Vaguely, she felt the hand- and she was fairly certain it was her hand, at this point- grasp the shaft of Logan's catalyst. She raised it up, ignoring the burning feeling in her whole body when she did. Oddly, it was really easy to imagine a Soul Spear. The diameter, the size, the force she wanted. It was all so very, very easy to imagine.
That made it easy to cast, and as the teal spear shot forward- it was the largest she'd created, Weiss realized idly- she could feel her eyes close. She didn't hear the deafening crack of a Soul Spear slamming into something, but she certainly felt the cart-shaking quake of a soul spear slamming into something. She smiled.
Neo, and Yang did remember that her name was Neo, was playing with her. It was obvious, but more than that, it was annoying. Yang knew what it was like to get her ass beat, but there was a difference between Sibyl and Pyrrha doing it versus this girl. The other two, no matter the circumstances, prided themselves in efficiency. They didn't play with their food; they just ate it.
And, maybe most annoying, was the fact that Neo refused to actually hit her. Instead, the girl just dodged every attempting Yang tried. It left the blonde feeling like a four year old, trying to pound away at someone who had their hand on her head, holding her back with a yawn. "Why won't you stay still!" Yang demanded, striking out with a punch only to have the umbrella-wielding girl give her a cheeky smile, parrying the blow with her umbrella before leaning back with unbelievable grace to avoid a Combustion cast to her face. It was infuriating that even Yang's newest tricks weren't helping.
This… charade had been going on for long enough, and as embarrassing as it was to admit, Yang was getting tired. As another one of her fists missed, she found her desire to continue fighting slow. "Why… why aren't you actually fighting me?" The girl, Neo, tilted her head, tapping her chin for a few moments before shrugging.
What? Think I'm a joke!?" Yang gritted out, unable to stop her hair from lighting up. Neo stared for a long few moments before shaking her head, a small frown on her face. She gestured for her ears and made a cupping motion.
Yang, still cautious, vaguely listened… and heard nothing, really. She heard fighting up on the roofs, but outside of that, it was pretty silent. Raising an eyebrow, Yang prepared to say something before she heard a very distinct noise.
The shatter of a Soul Arrow. Neo blinked, turning to look at Yang before sort of vaguely gesturing in that direction. "What… what is your deal? You're working with Roman, you're trying to blow up Vale! You should be trying to kill me, stop me from preventing this!"
Neo gave her a small wave, nothing else, before disappearing with a shattering of glass. Growling in frustration, Yang shook her head. Weiss was a few carts ahead, unless Sibyl had somehow gotten here, which she both didn't doubt as possible and also really doubted. Ignoring the oddity of Neo, Yang began breaching through doors, giving each room a brief glance before finally she reached a room that looked like a battle zone, blood and-
Weiss? Yang blinked and her jaw unhinged. Weiss was on the ground, knocked out. She was bleeding- she was bleeding everywhere! Not giving another second of thought, Yang rushed across the room, sliding to a stop right in front of Weiss. Her own rapier was stuck through her stomach! A shaky hand checked her pulse, and Yang almost breathed a sigh of relief that she was still alive.
She didn't breath that sigh of relief, though, because it looked like she might die at any moment! What was Yang supposed to do? Remove the rapier? Ignoring the rapidly forming tears that began splattering against Weiss's body, Yang tried to examine the wound more closely. She tried to do some breathing exercises as she saw that someone had cut Weiss open. It couldn't just be a simple stab, could it? No, it had to be this!
Well, it looked like removing her weapon wouldn't cause much more harm, so Yang did so gingerly, unable to stop from wincing at the slimy schlinking sound it made as she pulled it out.
Setting it onto the ground- and it landed with a clatter, because her own damn hands were shaking so hard that just setting something down was difficult, Yang thought about what to do. She had a bunch of small cuts all over her body, and it had to be adding up quickly. Yang had to do something, or she was about to lose a teammate. She had to do something, or Sibyl would lose a girlfriend, and the world would lose one of the few people who gave enough of a shit to try and be a Huntress and protect it.
Yang closed her eyes, breathing in deeply and trying to ignore the tinged smell of blood that was all across the room. Could… was there enough cloth to tie around the wound? No; Weiss wore her stupid skirt and Yang wore freakin' shorts. Weiss's shirt was also cut to hell, so removing it to try and tie around her stomach was a bad idea, and also: what the hell was she going to do about the rest of the cuts?!
The room was also freezing, though it had become harder for Yang to notice these things since Sibyl gave her pyromancy.
…Pyromancy. Pyromancy was the only way to save Weiss. Conjuring a flame, Yang finally saw more than just the damaging factor of the flame. It could protect, it could save people. It was going to save Weiss… it had to.
Yang glanced around for a few seconds, breathing in relief when she saw a discarded knife that had fresh blood on it. It would work. Cauterizing wounds… you were supposed to heat the metal, right?
The only good thing about Weiss's stomach incision is that it was… mostly precise. Her blade was sharp, so when whatever asshole had dragged it across Weiss's stomach, the flesh was still close enough together. Not enough for her to just… press the blade against it, but it wasn't too messy. Yang didn't breath as she kept her flame in her hand, the warmth it provided about the only thing that kept her from throwing up.
The knife's metal was directly on the flame, and Yang watched as it began to rapidly heat. How hot was she supposed to make it? Probably… probably not red hot, but it had to be pretty hot, right? Yang closed her eyes, breathing in deep as she tried to think. They'd never really been taught about it- usually, aura took care of wounds, but Weiss was so low on aura there was nothing her aura could do.
Eventually, the blade got hot enough, and Weiss had bled out enough that Yang figured it would work. Hopefully. It had to work. It was hard to get her hands to stop shaking, but she managed to do it. For Weiss, she managed to do it.
Using her other hand to… to pinch the edges of Weiss's cut together, she pressed the blade against it for a solid two seconds and no more. Instantly, Weiss spasmed with a cry, struggling against the pain. Yang gave some nonsensical words to try and calm Weiss, but it was clear the girl wasn't exactly awake.
She didn't know exactly how long to keep the blade pressed, so she kept pulling it back to check. Eventually, it… it looked like the job had been done? For a small area, anyways. Yang was going to have to keep cauterizing it. It went across her whole stomach. Someone had cut across Weiss's whole stomach.
It seemed to go on forever, but eventually, Yang was made to wince at the sight of about one fourth of Weiss's wound being cauterized together. The skin around was suffering from first and early second-degree burns, that much she could tell. It was also… ugly. She hated to be mean, but it was a scar that belonged on Sibyl's body. Hell, she was pretty sure there was a similar scar on Sibyl's body.
Yang tried to stop herself from crying, mostly so she wouldn't shake as she completed the same process with another one fourth of Weiss's wound. She wished she could have just done it all at once, just a quick line across that would leave the wound closed, but Weiss hadn't been shot. She'd been cut open like an animal.
Weiss's nonstop struggling didn't do much to make her feel better about it, and when Yang finally finished and Weiss continued to cry in her sleep, the blonde threw up. Not on top of Weiss thankfully, but she threw up all over the place, tears mixing in with the nasty slush.
Weiss… if Yang had kept fighting Neo, Weiss would be dead. Neo… Neo had saved Weiss. What in Izalith? What was going on, why was everything so insane! Why couldn't anything make sense! Yang scooted closer to Weiss, biting her lip as she debated on what to do. She… should she leave Weiss there on the floor?
Yang lifted up Weiss's head, wincing at the sight of a blood splotch in her white hair. So, she might have brain damage on top of everything. Great. Yang breathed deep, maneuvering the girl's head to rest on her lap. Yang was going to stay right here; she couldn't move Weiss, and she wasn't going to leave her. Running a hand along her face, she realized that Weiss wasn't exactly warm. Well, Yang could fix that. Pulling the girl even closer and ignoring the blood that began to seep into her own clothes, the vixen reached out with her hand and conjured the largest flame she could manage in front of the both of them.
...They couldn't stay here. The train was going to crash and being further back in the line of carts would put them more in danger from the Grimm following behind. Getting a grip of the girl laying in front of her, Yang held her bridal style and began making her way forward in the train.
"We're… we're gonna be alright, Weiss. You hear me? We're going to be fine."
Yang didn't know who the words were meant to comfort.
Roman would have sighed if he was able. Instead, he was left ducking beneath the sword swing of a freakin' wolf. Who the hell taught a wolf how to wield a sword, anyways? Roman had faced the not-so-little mutt once before, but that had been behind the safety of a giant mech. Dodging a great sword wielded by a gigantic, grey wolf in person?
Slightly more intimidating.
Little Red wasn't making things much easier, either. She might not have been aiming to kill like her pet, but she was trying to beat his ass. Even he was having trouble dealing with the both of them… but he wouldn't have to deal with either of them for too much longer. The train should be arriving soon enough, and hopefully all the girls were in alright shape.
Chester… the bastard worried him. He could ruin the carefully laid plan if he killed one of them, and Roman didn't put it past the sociopath to do it.
Dodging a slice of Crescent Rose that seemed meant to cut off his back ankle and leave him on the ground, Roman retaliated with a swing of his cane, backhanding Ruby across the room with the move. Sif's slash cut across the side of his waist, eliciting a grunt from Roman, but he wasn't in too bad of shape. They'd been going at it for a little bit, and if Roman was right, then very, very soon, their train would be crashing into a wall.
It was easier to keep it going since he wasn't really trying to retaliate. It also helped that he really did need to just concentrate on dodging. Ruby wasn't a problem, really. It was the damn wolf.
Parrying a blow of Sif's sword, Roman stepped forward and kicked, catching Ruby in her stomach and sending her back again. Honestly? This was a bit of fun, stretching his legs and beating up kids. Not too harsh, of course, but it was good to see he still had enough in the tank to give a dog and a girl some trouble.
"Come on, you have to have-"
The door to the cart opened. All eyes went there, and there was a shared gasp. Right, well, Roman didn't gasp, because he wasn't a teenage girl, but he did clear a lump in his throat. Not because the sight was too grizzly for him- Roman had blown the head's off a few people before. No, he cleared his lump because of who was injured.
The Schnee girl was being held by the golden-haired vixen, and she did not look good. Her whole outfit was bloodied and in tatters. "You," the gauntlet-wearing huntress declared with hatred, "one of your little stooges did this!" Her hair was on fire, and Roman took an unsteady step backwards.
He knew exactly who had done it, too. Chester, that fucking sociopath, had nearly killed the Schnee. It wasn't something he had considered as an option, but it made perfect sense. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Cinder had told him to kill one of them, especially the Schnee.
"Look, kid, I have no more control over that psycho than-"
Roman didn't have time to blink when Sif shot at him like a bullet. Really, it was the fasted he'd ever seen the wolf move, enough to even take him by surprise. He barely managed to raise a hand to grab the thing's jaws and stop it from ripping out his throat.
"Sif, stop!" Little Red demanded, her voice as firm as it was ever going to get, given she was like, thirteen. The Wolf stopped trying to tear his throat out after another brief second of struggle, but the growling didn't stop.
"Why? Why should Sif stop!? Weiss might die, Ruby! Because of him!" Right, well, the blonde wasn't doing much to help his case.
"…They wanted to kill me too, Yang, but he stopped them." Roman nodded to himself at that, glad Ruby had an ounce of reason and mercy. He was also thankful he had, 'ya know, stopped them from killing Ruby, because otherwise he was dead.
Roman gave a breath of relief as Sif removed himself from his body, though the wolf stayed ready to pounce at a moment's notice. "Listen," Roman began, slowly forcing himself up into a seated position. "Thing's are… complicated, at the moment. Me and Neo, we're not exactly picking roses with the people who want Vale up in flames."
They all paused at that, giving him a scrutinizing stare. A few moments later, a hatch above the cart they were in was kicked open, Blake and some… dog fell to the floor in a hurry. Great, the gang was all together! Chester was out of commission, otherwise the Weiss girl would be dead. Maybe, just maybe, Roman would get a chance to explain that, while he was a bastard, he wasn't that big of a bastard.
"Get down, we're about to-" Blake yelled out as soon as her shocked eyes got a hold of everyone in the room, though he didn't think she was really talking about him. Though, he had a good idea about what was about to happe-
The trip into town had done absolutely nothing to calm him. In fact, the more time that passed, his anxiety built. It wasn't that he didn't trust the girls; Sibyl trusted them very much. It was just… trouble followed them, just as it did him. Plus, he had spotted no small amount of crows today. A foreboding sign, most definitely.
If the crows weren't a bad sign, the way his flame had been feeling for the past hour and a half or so was. Nothing too bad, just a simple… uncanny feeling, similar to when Laurentius had gone missing back in Lordran.
He was dressed in his hard-leather wear, complete with the accompanying open-faced helmet and a bandaged eye. Weiss had taught him to apply his own makeup, and the lines that he feared so much were of no worry. A Silver Knight Straight Sword rested at his hip and was the primary reason he wasn't sitting on a nearby bench, instead leaning up against a wall.
Tracking the crows hadn't been too hard, given as they near always stayed within his eyeline, but when they had gotten here… well, they mostly stopped. People milled about, a few giving him odd looks but not saying too much. He wasn't much odder than your average huntsman, he supposed.
Sibyl blinked, because something had landed on his shoulder cauldron. One of the crow's had, to be precise. And it was staring at him, eyes unblinking. Sighing, the undead turned his head to the sky and said a silent prayer. Something was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon.
As the crow gave a cry of goodbye and took towards the sky, the Chosen Undead pushed himself off his wall, unsheathing his blade.
A moment later, the wall directly in front of him exploded, and Sibyl cursed as he realized why the crows had been circling. There were about to be a lot of corpses. A few metal carts- pieces of a train, Weiss had informed him with pictures long ago- had fallen past the initial explosion, laying on their sides in the middle of the resting area.
It took a few seconds, but Grimm began escaping through the now-broken wall, including a gigantic King Taijitu which buried out from the ground. As an Ursa charged forward and leapt at some teenaged couple that had made the mistake of going on a walk today, Sibyl inserted himself, conjuring a great combustion and sending the beast down.
"Come at me beasts!" He declared, glancing around at as many Grimm as he could find- and, just like back on that trip he had taken with Professor Port, they all seemed to… lock on to him, ignoring everyone else around.
Of course, it didn't get all the Grimm, just the ones he looked at… but it would be enough to hopefully let some of those around him get away. Perhaps if he flared the abyss in his eye, it might draw all of them around... but he swore not to use the damn darkness, and besides, all that attention would be too much for even him to deal with.
As a Beowolf tried to claw out his eyes, he stepped aside and brought his blade upwards, beheading it in one swift motion before turning his palm outward, a spray of fire coming out and doing a decent job of crowd control.
He was the only one here capable of dealing with anything right now! His eyes glanced to the left and he saw an Ursa rapidly approaching a mother and their child. Damn it all; ignoring the claws of a Beowolf slashing across his waist, he tried to make his way towards the two.
But they were everywhere! For every-one he cut down, blasted away with a fireball or a great combustion, more joined in. He got multiple wounds across the courtyard, but they were hardly worth mentoning. Sibyl lost track of the mother and daughter momentarily, an Ursa blocking his path. Stepping back, he avoided a wild swing before following up with two rapid slashes in an x, the beast's body falling forward.
Cursing, the undead leapt over the body, sliding to a stop and conjuring Fire Storm on the ground beneath him. Grimm in groups went flying up in the air, but it didn't matter; there were simply too many for him to deal with alone! Regardless, it cleared him a path towards the mother and child-
Were he a weaker man, he might have shut his one good eye at the sight. The child backed against a wall, watching as an Ursa had slashed her mother into two barely connected halves, blood spilling everywhere. There was no scream, no cries. The woman was dead, pure and simple.
Sibyl, however, was not a weak man, and so he charged forward as the beast turned its vision to the child. Giving it a tackle, the two made a visible imprint into the wall; not wasting a moment, Sibyl stepped back, thrusting with his blade upwards and into the throat of the beast. It died, but that was hardly a comfort for the child who just witnessed her mother died. And Sibyl knew.
He had saved this one child, and at the same time, a numerous number of those around had died. Still, the girl was behind him, and the Grimm were now focused on him. He had failed to save the both of them, but he could save the girl.
"S-Sibyl!" Came the cry of Blake, and it was the first good thing he'd heard in awhile. They were safe, the girls were safe.
Blake was numb as they climbed out of the rubble of the wreckage, following towards the light that was a few carts ahead at most. Weiss was in Yang's hands, and no one had any idea if the wreck had affected her any worse than her current condition. What had happened to Weiss, anyways? She was extremely capable, and Sif had been with her.
Nobody was speaking as they moved through the flipped over center carts, nobody dumb enough to try and go outside. Grimm were moving in massive herds, just a stream of black outside the windows. It was a wonder they hadn't been discovered and killed yet.
Eventually, moving through enough of the carts, they got a glimpse of outside. And it wasn't pretty- there was numerous Grimm everywhere, more than a few dead bodies, though not as many as she might have first expected. Alarms were blaring, but they were nothing compared to the screams and cries.
"…What do we do with Weiss?" Yang wondered silently, eyes stuck on the outside of the cart. They needed to go help- they were huntresses, but… Weiss was injured. They couldn't just leave her.
"Someone needs to stay here with her," Ruby declared, doing her best to stay strong for all of them. Sif gave a silent growl, unsheathing his blade and taking a sitting position.
"What if the Grimm see her?" Yang mentioned, giving the girl in her arms a long look, "She'll be trapped in here with just Sif, and I don't know if that's-"
"What are we supposed to do, Yang?" Blake hissed, leaning in close. "Weiss is our friend, I know we want to keep her safe, but people are dying out there right now! We can't all just stay here with Weiss. We're huntresses. We're supposed to help everyone."
Nobody said anything for a long moments, and Blake knew she had won- and what a hollow victory it was- when Yang slowly laid Weiss on the floor, Sif lowering himself to the ground and prodding at her with his nose.
"…You're right. It's just… I'm scared," Yang admitted, rubbing at her arm. "We already lost mom, we almost lost you and Sibyl, and now… now Weiss is…" Blake laid a hand on Yang's shoulder and squeezed in comfort.
"We're all scared, Yang. But Weiss is strong. If me and Sibyl made it, she can make it. I know it."
They all unsheathed their weapons and took a deep breath, moving towards the front of the cart and charging out under the sound of the blaring alarm. Ruby went left, Blake went right, and Yang went ahead, brawling with the Grimm at random.
It was a lot different from initiation. Dealing with Grimm in this number, with this panic in the air… it was just different. It was something that was hard to describe, but… everything just happened. Blake didn't think when she saw a group fleeing up the street, she just acted, speeding by as fast as she could to try and stop the Grimm from killing them.
The Cat Faunus didn't even register when she stepped over a corpse or on one. There was just too much happening at once, and her mind was in a constant state of react react react.
Or, it was until she saw an unmistakable sight. Columns of chaos fire, Grimm rising with it high into the air. "S-Sibyl!" She screamed, rushing across the courtyard and tearing through Grimm all the while. One tried to take off her head and she slid, slicing off its neck with one clean move before continuing to rush towards him.
He was a killing machine. Damn near half the Grimm in the area were focused on him, and he just… cut them all down. Fireballs were thrown at a rapid fire pace, his straight sword cut through necks and body alike without much trouble, and any hits he took he shrugged off or straight up ignored. He was bleeding profusely from his shoulder, but it didn't impair his swings.
Idly, she noticed there was someone behind her. A little Faunus girl, standing next to a corpse. Again, in another situation, she might cry, avert her eyes…. But instead, Blake continued to act, working her way towards Sibyl without hesitation. He didn't greet her, but she did see his eyes flicker towards her.
He absorbed a claw to the chest before punching with his free hand- or, so she thought. When his fist exploded, she realized he'd really just been palming a fireball to the Beowolf's chest. "Where's Weiss?" Was the first thing he asked, swinging with his sword sideways and cutting thorough an Ursa's outstretched arm.
"She's… hurt. Really bad," Blake explained, deciding to be frank. Now wasn't the time to be cute. Time seemed to pause for just a moment, as Sibyl's abyssal eye almost exploded before he reigned it in.
"W-Where is she?" He demanded, not even reacting when a Beowolf caught his back with its claws. He acted thereafter, though, slicing its head off.
"In the entrance cart, where all the Grimm are coming from."
Sibyl turned away from her, approaching the swarm of Grimm. "Keep the child safe."
Weiss was hurt. Sibyl didn't register much else in his mind except that. Weiss was hurt, and she was in danger. He barely noticed when armored men began to drop from the sky, reinforcements that they so desperately needed arriving. He idly noticed Yang and Ruby stirring up trouble, and he only just heard the arrival of Nora and her team.
Certainly, though, all of them heard and saw him, because he didn't just make his way towards where Weiss was, he cleared a path. He had forgone his longsword, returning it to his waist. It wasn't sufficient for the type of widespread damage he needed to yield. Instead, he had retrieved his catalyst, and an endless swathe of spells and pyromancies kept the masses back.
He even used a spell he swore never to use. A spell that only Logan, in his madness, had used. White Dragon Breath tore through the Grimm, the crystals forming violently and blasting those in its path backwards. It left him very drained, but he could deal with being drained later.
The most important thing to consider is that they were making progress. He was getting closer and closer to Weiss's cart, and the Grimm were thinning, even if it didn't feel like it. Eventually, he got close enough he could see her, and the sight made his breath chill. He was so distracted that an Ursa even managed to get past his defenses, and he barely tilted his head away in time to save it from getting removed. His helmet had long ago been removed due to a few other swipes, so this attack was actually dangerous enough to have him worry.
He felt a very sharp, painful stinging in his left ear, and he realized that was because it had been removed. He was now without a left ear. Growling, a cast of great combustion ended the Ursa's life, but Sibyl could feel himself slipping. There had to have been a few dozen more scars all across his body now, including a deep cut across his cheek.
But Weiss was so close. He had to get her to safety- he had to. Somehow, they'd plug the hole all the Grimm were coming from. They might not even know Weiss was in the cart- and why would they suspect that? And if she got trapped down there with them… she would die.
Sibyl didn't even think about Weiss's appearance as he entered the cart and grabbed her, holding her close enough to try and hear her heartbeat. It was impossible to do so over the roar of the alarms. Regardless, he exited the cart, aware of Sif at his side protecting the both of them. He tucked his head and ran, ignoring the numerous Grimm that attacked him. He ignored cut after cut, didn't pay any mind to the cut that damaged his back left leg. All of it was irrelevant compared to getting Weiss to safety.
He couldn't even fight his way back, because he had to hold her carefully. She was so hurt… he had to protect her with his whole body. If he tried to hold her one handed, tried to use his pyromancy, all it would take is one lucky swing. He couldn't allow it, so instead, he curled himself forward and ran. And it worked; he was an undead, naturally hardy. The Grimm's attacks hardly bothered him. Or at least, compared to the thought of failure, they hardly bothered him.
Eventually, after enough time running, things calmed down. He couldn't hear anything to his left, and only vaguely to his right. Everything was ringing, and there were dark spots in his vision. Slowly, he fell to his knees, carefully laying Weiss down on the ground and examining her more closely. He reached two fingers to feel her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when there was one, however faint.
Someone grabbed his shoulder, but he forcefully shrugged them off, instead examining Weiss's injuries more closely. The more profound was a deep cut on her stomach, one that ran near all the way across and looked to have been cauterized. Yang, he realized idly. Yang must have used her pyromancy to do so.
She had numerous small cuts everywhere, and she was bleeding at the back of her head. Or, well, somewhere on her head she was bleeding. It was hard to tell. Everything was fading to black, and he could only barely hear his own words.
"Weiss," he whispered, falling gently beside her and pulling the Schnee Heiress close, "please live. Please."
With those words, his consciousness faded.
Everything was awful, Blake decided. They had sealed the patch- numerous teams from Beacon had shown up, plus the Atlas's military quick response had helped dampen the damages. The fact of the matter was, though, people had died. Not as many as might have, primarily thanks to Sibyl being on the scene at the beginning, as well as team RWBY thereafter, but people still died.
And, while the Atlas military and a few other Beacon teams were busy helping civilians and cleaning up the… messy places, Blake's own attention- as well as a great many others- were on Sibyl and Weiss. A small girl, the Faunus girl Sibyl had saved, refused to leave his side, too.
Team CFVY hovered around as well. Where the hell was a transport? The both of them needed medical attention, immediately. Sibyl was missing an ear, not to mention was bleeding from… well, basically everywhere. Weiss… Weiss was even worse, somehow. Every moment that passed made Blake more and more worried that they wouldn't make it, and that was the worst part about it.
Eventually, a transport did arrive to pick the two up. Nobody gave well wishes or anything like that- the mood was way too depressing for it. Instead, everyone just… did what they could to clean up the area. Team RWBY was permitted to go back, but even team JNPR was made to stay. There were too many wounded; Sibyl and Weiss were just two of many.
Blake couldn't help but shudder as she remembered Sibyl carving his path. Every hit she'd thought would kill him, but he just shrugged them off. He was like an actual Huntsman, capable of clearing out practically hundreds of Grimm by himself. It wasn't an outrageous feat- Glynda was capable of much the same, and in fact, the final pushback of the Grimm had really occurred when she arrived.
Still… at least Sibyl hadn't touched the abyss for all of this.
They were in a waiting room now, waiting for them to wake up. It was the second time Blake had been in this position, and it was awful.
It was awful.
She was never going to be able to hear again. That was what the doctors had told her- or rather, tried to tell her. They had to write it out on some paper for her to see, to actually understand. She was deaf. The blow that masked thug had landed when he slammed her against the ground, combined with her low aura at the time, had led to serious damage to her brain. The doctors had told her she was lucky that her hearing was all that seemed to be wrong with her.
She didn't feel very lucky.
Weiss was deaf. It felt weird to think, but as she strained her ears to hear anything- anything, literally anything, from her heartbeat to Sibyl's breathing, her own breathing, literally anything, it was impossible. There was no noise. Was her heart even beating anymore? She rested a hand on her own chest, the soft vibration of her heart a small comfort. Still, life wasn't supposed to be like this. Life was filled with noise.
There were supposed to be cars honking, birds singing, insects chirping, something! The wind was supposed to blow, people should be up late talking outside! Instead, where noise was supposed to be, was an all-encompassing silence that refused to end. It was… the silence was loud, if she had to describe it. It wasn't like being in a room by yourself at night. No, it was just… nothing.
She was deaf. Her, the Schnee Heiress, someone who was supposed to be the pinnacle, was supposed to be perfect- it was why she had been given private tutors in everything, why she had straight A's in all her classes, why she tried to hard in combat class. She was supposed to be perfect, and now, she was deaf.
And… and she didn't know if she should even be mad. It would have been easy to be mad, but all she could think was that she was alive.
Weiss stood up from her hospital bed, not caring that everyone had told her to stay put. She needed to see. She needed to see what the great Schnee Heiress had been reduced to.
Sibyl was in the room too, across from her, but he'd been sleeping for awhile. She was hoping she was quiet enough not to wake him, but… well, how was she supposed to know anymore? Weiss let out a silent cry- or at least, it was silent to her. Was she making noise? What was going on? Why couldn't she hear anything? This wasn't fair- nothing was fair! People had died, she was deaf, Sibyl had even more scars and-
A hand wrapped around her waist, and she froze. Slowly, the hand pulled her back, and Weiss allowed herself to rest against Sibyl as he reached around and hugged her gently. He had lost an ear when he was trying to get to her. She had made Sibyl, who already was without one eye, lose an ear. Glancing upwards and backwards through her own tears, she wasn't able to stop from reaching a hand and grabbing at where the bandages on the side of his head were. He allowed it, not moving as she stroked it.
'I'm sorry,' she tried to say, but again, how was she supposed to know if she actually said it? 'I'm so sorry. I didn't- I never-" Whatever she was going to say was cut off when Sibyl just tightened his hug, resting his head atop hers. It made her feel safe.
Sibyl made her feel safe. Slowly, he began walking the both of them towards somewhere. He knew what she wanted; of course he knew. Sibyl knew her. Sibyl loved her, and he wasn't like her dad. He would love her, even with all her flaws. Even with her being deaf.
Had Sibyl ever told her that he loved her? Would she ever get to actually hear those words?
They were in the bathroom now, though the lights were out. Sibyl was shirtless, his eye and ear bandaged with little else covered. She was in some pants and a shirt; for the both of them, their wounds, while serious, were not the leave-bed-ridden for a month type. That meant they weren't forced to stay in some hospital gown for forever.
Sibyl flicked on the light, staring blankly at the mirror and his own scar-riddled body.
Slowly, Weiss removed her own shirt, leaving her in nothing but a bra and pants. She stared at the reflection, fighting against all that was to not have her lip quiver. Most of the small nicks she had gotten in her fight with the masked man had healed, though there were one or two deeper ones that were going to have to stay. They were hardly noticeable, and they were almost nice? But there was one scar that wasn't nice.
Naturally, her eyes went to her stomach, where a large cut ran basically all the way across, waist edge to waist edge. Yang had told her- written, at least- what had happened. She'd been bleeding out, there were no clothes to tie it with, so she'd been forced to cauterize it with a discarded knife and her pyromancy.
It was the only reason Weiss was alive.
The skin around the scar had to be the worst. It was all… discolored. Nothing about her stomach was pretty anymore. Black contrasted with her pale white skin, and only served to make the cauterizing wound stand out even more because it was practically its own flab of skin and-
Sibyl slowly turned around, revealing his back. Weiss's eyes flicked towards him in the mirror, before she finally turned to actually face his back. He had a similar scar. There was no cauterization wound, but, to be fair, he had enough scars that outdid that. No, his back was just a similar burn. Discolored everywhere, nothing matching, just overall… grotesque.
But it didn't retract from Sibyl. It was Sibyl, just as much as those grey eyes, the bulging muscles, the… the calm he brought her. All of it combined to make Sibyl, her favorite person in the world. She ran her finger along his back, and before long, he had turned back around to face her.
He had a bunch of new scars thanks to him. They had offered to heal them, but he shrugged it off. Probably said- and she didn't know, but she could guess- that a few new ones weren't bad. She knew why he was doing it. For her. He didn't want her to feel bad, so he was keeping even more scars, on top of the ones he already had.
It was heartwarming. It also made her sick with herself. Did he really think she was so weak as to care if he didn't add a few new scar strokes to the grotesque artwork that was his body? All because she, the perfect Schnee, finally had something actually wrong with her? The little scar on her eye hardly mattered. She got compliments on it more often than not.
This? This… line on her stomach? It wasn't attractive. There was no intrigue to it. It was ugly.
Sibyl cupped the sides of cheeks, pulling her in close for a kiss. She returned it, though not as strongly. How could he kiss her? How could he kiss her when she was… she was broken? She couldn't hear. She couldn't hear anything. She'd never be able to hear him say he loved her; if… if they had kids, she'd never even be able to hear them cry.
Weiss gave a choking sob. Sibyl held her close, allowing her to rest her head against his chest. Eventually, though, he pushed her back, crouching down and examining her wound. She flinched away. Why was he looking at it like that, why wasn't he disgusted, why did he still want her-
Sibyl grabbed her hand and stroked it gingerly, which did enough to calm her down that she didn't flinch when he traced one finger along the outline of her scar. He slowly stood up, reaching for a notebook he'd kept in his back pocket just for her. It was one of the first things he'd asked for.
He spent a few seconds writing before holding out the page for her to read. He had beautiful handwriting.
It's a beautiful scar.
She gritted her teeth, grabbing the notebook and tossing it halfway across the bathroom. 'No it's not,' she maybe-said, 'don't lie to me! Don't lie to me to make me feel better. There is nothing about that scar that is beautiful! I- Sibyl, God, I don't even know if anything I'm saying is right. Am I saying nothing?'
She cried again, but after a few moments, Sibyl shoved his notebook into her face again, this time forcefully.
Begrudgingly, she read it.
Do you think I, of all people, care about a few scars? It is a beautiful scar, Weiss, because it is a scar of victory. Of perseverance. You are so incredibly strong, Weiss. Stronger than I. The scars I have, they come from my death. When I was too weak to survive, too weak to have the will to live.
'You're… you're just saying that,' she mumbled, closing her eyes and trying to get the tears to stop.
He held the notepad for her to read again.
'I am many things, Weiss, but a liar is not one of them. I love that scar, Weiss. I love that you hate that scar, just like I hate my scars. I love it, because it means you're still here. That you're alive and able to judge. That scar is the reminder of the worst day of your life… yet, to me, it reminds me that you brushed with death and lived. And that brings me more joy than anything in this world ever could.'
Weiss cried, throwing herself against him in a hug. 'What… what about the hearing? Does it not bother you?' It bothered Weiss. It bothered Weiss a lot.
'I am half blind, due to an abyssal infection of all things, and am missing an ear, Weiss. I'm hardly one to judge. Besides, I have been meaning to pick up a new language. Sign Language sounds wonderful.'
Weiss held him close, refusing to let go. He was the only thing that was stopping her from crying even harder.
She tugged him to her bed, uncaring about how small it was. They slept together, and Weiss squirmed when he wrapped a hand around her stomach gently, careful to never prod her scar so much to hurt it. But he wasn't scared of it. Not like she was- she didn't want to think about it. No matter what he said, it was ugly. She knew he saw it as ugly, too.
It made his pretending that it was so pretty all the more sweet.