"What the hel do you mean you lost Ruby?!" Yang snarled, her eyes blazing red as they bore into Qrow.
Yang's shoulders were squared as the Huntsman stared back.
"I mean exactly what I said," he growled. "I turned my back for a minute and she was gone. We think she fell into the caverns but we need your Faunus' partners eyes to see down there."
"You couldn't have just called us?" she shot back. "You could have gone in and try to find her while we got there."
"There's no signal." He said. "I tried to send a message to Beacon and you but there's nothing. Something's jamming my scroll. Stop arguing with me Yang, we need to find Ruby and-"
"We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you hadn't-"
"Enough!" Weiss suddenly snapped, stopping her way between them with an icy glare.
"The two of you can have your little family tantrum after we find my partner. Stop acting like children and come on already!"
Yang girts her teeth but nodded begrudgingly. She could yell and both of them later. What had Ruby even been doing to get separated in the first place?
"We'll probably encounter White Fang," Weiss went on. "If the caverns are open then that's the likely place for them to be. Blake, do you think your vision will be applicable?"
"Yes," the Faunus nodded. "If any Faunus is going to be able to see down there it'll be me, probably better than some of the others too. But we don't know how many are down there."
"Then we take it slow." The Huntsman said. "A stealth-like approach. In and out as fast and as carefully we can."
"We can't take it slow!" the brawler growled. "the White Fang know us, at least some of the do. Who knows what they might do to Ruby the longer we take."
"And if we rush in and get spotted then they might do it anyway." Qrow countered. He glared at the blonde. "What did tell you? We do this my way or not at all. Got it?"
Yang had a few choice words for that, but she knew now wasn't the time.
"Fine," she spat. "But lets at least get there fast before she gets too far away."
Surprisingly Weiss and Blake nodded in agreement, echoing their confirmation to her as her uncle turned. He'd lead them to the last spot they'd seen sign of her and go from there.
Yang clenched her eyes shut and balled her hand into a fist. Whatever was happening between them, all the crap could wait until her sister was back with them safely. She could hold back on being mad until then.
…
…
Roman didn't look happy to see her. As in honestly, looked as if he wished Ruby was anywhere but here in front of him at the moment.
It was of course the familiar setting of having her seated in a chair opposite him as he paced back and forth. This time he'd gone without the restraints, probably decent enough to realise that tying her up in a Grimm infested hovel while also surrounded by Faunus extremists and fanatics wasn't the best idea.
Instead Neo had her arms happily wrapped around her neck. Not in an uncomfortable way, it was almost like a hug, and the way the multi-coloured-haired girl grinned widely showed she was happy in some respect.
But Ruby knew that at a moment's notice the hug could become an easy way for Neo to snap necks, and although she was ninety-nine percent sure Neo wouldn't kill her, it was Neo, so anything went really.
Roman sighed loudly. "You know Red, this little thing you have where you appear at the worst possible time is going to get old real quick. No, fact I think it already did, the first time we met! I mean seriously, what are you even doing here?! How did you know I was here?"
He glowered at her. "Are you some kind of curse? Did I doing something in this life to warrant you showing up to mess with me continuously?"
Ruby knew it was a rhetorical question, but she couldn't help herself.
"Maybe?" she shrugged. "I mean, you are one of the most wanted criminals in Vale, I'm pretty sure that counts for something."
She felt Neo vibrate against her back in what she assumed was mirth, and flinched lightly when the thief tapped his cane on her nose.
"Watch the sass Red, I'll have you know I'm the most wanted criminal in Vale. I earned the title, use it will ya?"
He sighed again and pulled over a wooden box. She could see it was loaded with dust, but at the moment it was just something for Roman to sit down on.
"I'm just so done with all of this. I've been here for less than a week and these animals are driving me crazy. I swear if my boss wasn't terrifying I'd toss them all over the edge of a cliff."
Ruby frowned. Yeah, his boss… she a knew who that was now… this was about to get interesting.
"So how did you even get here?" Roman asked suddenly. We didn't give anything away at the last recruitment rally that you and your friends oh so kindly interrupted." He leaned in. "By the way, that blonde is scary. I mean, who the hel can punch an armoured paladin to death?"
"My sister apparently."
His eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you two are related." He slumped. "Between the two of you, I wonder what your genes can do."
He shook his head. "But anyway, back to the interrogation – yes Neo this is an interrogation, stop giving me that look! – how did you find out about this place Red? I need to know who's lips I need to sow shut."
Ruby stared at him. Could she use this as an opportunity? On one hand, if she was wrong and Cinder wasn't his boss then she'd lose nothing, Cinder might become unknown to him but it was Cinder. Ruby knew she could take the thief if it came to that.
On the other hand, if it was Cinder. She might be able to get some info out of him. Maybe not much, but it was more than she had right now, and she needed to know why Cinder was involved in this. If she as working for Salem she needed to know why she'd accepted it.
And why Ruby hadn't been hunted down instantly afterwards.
"I was told," she started. "it was… let slip but someone just a little while ago."
Torchwick raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that isn't vague at all. Come on Red, don't you know the whole give and take scenarios involved with this sorta stuff? Don't they teach you about that sorta thing in Beacon?"
Ruby had the cheek to roll her eyes.
"It's not like the Grimm do much interrogation." They did of course. If you were important enough Salem would have her Grimm poke around in your head, or worse. She'd seen it herself.
"Eh," he admitted. "You have a point there. But still, even movies do a good job is showing that you don't stay silent or give the interrogator round about answers. You keep them happy and give them little bits of info at a time."
"Yeah, but those kind of interrogators get physical. I knew you're not going to hurt me."
He grinned. "Maybe, but Neo can get physical in other ways if you remember properly."
Ruby's eyes widened right as the shorted girl plopped down on her lap. On arm slung around her neck and body pressed against her.
She fluttered her eyelashes delicately, but it was the shit-eating grin that did it.
"No please!" Ruby squeaked, feeling the heat shoot to her face. "Anything but that!"
Roman rolled his eyes and Neo snickered. "Teenagers," he grumbled. "You're all just balls of hormones. I swear."
The Reaper glowered at him, or tried to and failed, because the evil criminal on her lap was letting her hands wander. A noise escaped her throat.
"Alright," he smirked, clasping his hands together. "We'll get right down to it. who told you about this place?"
"…"
Well, she was planning on finding out what they knew anyway. it would be pointless to try and keep it a secret.
"Cinder."
He nodded. "Right, and what did-"
He froze. "W-what?"
Neo's movements had stopped to as she leaned back to stare wide eyes at the younger girl.
"Did… I hear you right?"
"You did," she said, looking smugly at the thief if only to see his reaction. "Your boss told me. That's who she is right?"
He laughed nervously. "There can be more than one person with a name Red, I'm sure-"
"Dark hair, golden eyes and can use fire? I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same person."
Roman swallowed nervously. "And… how exactly do you know her name?"
"We know each other. We're childhood friends I guess. She was my best friend actually before we separated."
Roman looked very, very pale.
"Oh." He whispered. "Oh dear god." He seemed to realise something, what it was she wasn't sure.
"You… were friends with the fire woman?"
"Yeah. I've known her since I was ten. I saved her life and she saved mine. A lot actually now that I think about it."
"That's nice." He mumbled, mostly to himself. He looked pretty out of it now that she looked at him properly.
"Are… you okay?"
"Yeah… I just realised I'm in a room with the friend of one of the scariest and insane people on remnant"
Ruby frowned. "Cinder's not insane, she's not scary either."
"Seriously?" Roman baulked. "She's a manipulative pyromaniac with the goal of taking over the city!"
"Come on," The Reaper blinked, but after a second smiled. "She can't be that bad. What has she done wrong?"
The master thief looked at the huntress in training as if she were crazy herself.
"She's threatened to set me on fire multiple times, not to mention she's allied herself with the White Fang. Do you think I'd willingly work with these people?"
"Okay that sounds bad," Ruby agreed. "and I can't really say what's going through her mind in regards to the terrorist part, actually, I can, but the threating to set you on fire thing is just a threat. She said the same thing to my uncle all the time."
That just seemed to make Roman worry even more. "Oh I'm so screwed. If she's chummy with you I don't know what's going to happen when she finds out about this. Why would she even tell you about this? It's not a good idea to warn people before you take them over."
"Well she- Wait, you said it again."
Roman blinked. "Huh? Said what?"
"Taking over. I thought you just said something wrong but you said it again. You think she wants to take over Vale?"
The man shot her a look. "Well obviously, what else is she going to do?"
"Roman, she works for the Grimm now."
He stopped. There was a pause, and Ruby saw Neo make an act of cleaning out her ears.
"She has a way of controlling them sure, but come on, that's only-"
"Her boss," Ruby cut in. "I told you this went bigger than that the last time we talked didn't I? I spoke with Cinder last night, I didn't want to believe it but it's true. She works for the Salem."
"Salem?"
"The Queen of Grimm."
Roman laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking with mirth… until he saw that Red wasn't laughing. She wasn't smiling. She looked completely serious.
"Come on Red that's gotta be a joke. A Queen of Grimm? That's not possible."
"Salem has existed for thousands of years," Ruby said, her voice had gone flat, her eyes steely as they bore into Roman and he froze and knew she wasn't trying to lie to him from that look alone. "She has control over the Grimm and has been trying to wipe out humanity since it appeared. It's been… six, seven thousand years maybe? At least according to what Ozpin says."
Roman swallowed. "Ozpin?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow, and the thief was amazed at how different she looked now, not a child, something else.
"You don't really sound surprised."
He pulled his cap off his head, pressing it against his chest as he shook.
"I knew he was involved in stuff, I thought it was some kind of conspiracy crap though. Maybe he had some kind of underground crime ring going on that I didn't know about, or dealings with other kingdoms like that. Not this."
He leaned back as his hands rose to his face and let out a rattling sigh.
"You know Red, every time we talk it's like you're shattering my worldview. Why can't you just let me go back to being a thief who robbed regular people?"
"Because you're good at it," she answered reasonably. "You're so good at it you caught the attention of dangerous people. This is bigger than vale Roman. It's bigger than the White Fang who are just being used as fodder. If Salem gets what she wants then they'll be dead in the end too. I don't know what Sienna Kan things she's doing siding with the Grimm, but it'll be bad."
There was a pause as Roman bit his tongue. This was too big for him. It was too big for him! Grimm leaders, destruction of Vale and some kind of thousand-year war? What kind of craziness was this? And here he was, being dragged into it. If it wasn't for Red he'd never even know until it was too late. The kid was saying that Cinder wouldn't kill him. Maybe she was right, but that other guy would. Watts. He'd seen it in his eyes the first time they'd met.
He would kill Roman and Neo as soon as they weren't needed anymore.
And he knew Cinder wouldn't be the type to stick her neck out for them any time soon.
Well screw that! He wasn't going to just roll over like that. He'd go kicking and screaming if he had to. He glanced at the girl in front of him, who was looking at him expectantly. She knew about all this. She was involved in some ancient war again a Grimm Queen that nobody else knew about.
Damn… he needed a plan, a new one if she was going to get out of all this… but for now, he might help her along in a few things.
"Sienna Khan doesn't know," he said after a moment. Ruby blinked, Neo looked surprised too, but he pressed on before either could stop him. "She knows there's some kind of dealings going on, but her reports just consist of so-called freedom fighters helping the White Fang get their voices heard by the people of Vale. Those Freedom fighters are us if it's not clear."
"Then… who's leading the White Fang in Vale?"
"Someone a whole lot crazier than her." He chuckled, but there was no humour in it. "Some guy called Adam Taurus. He leads the White Fang here in Vale and I'll tell you, the's a lot more fanatical in what he wasn't to do with the White Fang. I'm talking extermination level of fanatical/ anyone that's not Faunus he wasn't dead, he's only working with Cinder because she has the Grimm with her. He was impressed by the things not attacking when she said so."
He huffed, reaching into his front pocket and pulling out a cigar. He lit it and let it calm him down.
"He's in this deeper than me anyway, I think he at least knows about Cinder having an employer, if what you're saying is true anyway. He's all for whatever the plan is, and if you're saying it's to destroy Vale then that makes a lot more sense. I doubt his boss knows what's about to happen, she probably won't find out until it's too late. I don't think it'll matter though I'm a great judge of character I think. A guy like that's not going to be satisfied with just one city."
Why are you telling me this?" Ruby asked suddenly, confusion written plainly on her face.
Roman rolled his eyes. "Because despite what the council would have people believe I'm not a monster. I mess things up for them all the time, but that's a personal thing. I'm a thief and a troublemaker, not a mass murdering psychopath. Killing everybody in a city isn't the best thing for business. What about you Neo?"
The ice cream girl frowned, making a few motions with her hands. Roman nodded.
"Yeah, she likes killing a lot more than me, but she's more interested in messing with idiots and killing people who can fight back. Slaughtering thousands of civilians not her thing."
Ruby bit her lip. "So… what happens now?"
He sighed again. How many times was that now? It was as if all this crap was ageing him or something.
"Now we wait I'm not stupid to think you came here yourself. Your little teams probably here in the city, and a huntsman shadowing you if I had to guess. They'll be here eventually. Neo and I will make some drama about trying to stop them and you can escape then or whatever. You can stop the White Fang's little operation here while you're at it."
Ruby smiled suddenly, beaming brightly at them. Roman tried to scowl, but the corner of his mouth twitched up despite himself. "Now don't give me that look. I don't need you getting mushy with me. I'm doing this to save my own skin."
The red reaper hummed.
"Neo, get her to top that."
Neo pressed her-
"I'm sorry I'll stop!"
The criminals rolled their eyes. Teenagers and their hormones. The kid was going weak every time something remotely intimate happened. Weren't kids her age supposed to be all over each other?
"Actually," she said after a moment of calming down. "There is one more thing; why is the White fang here anyway? What are the trains for?"
"Nothing now," he said. They planned in stocking the trains full of dust and crashing it right underneath the plaza in the city and letting the Grimm in. it didn't like it but you know… not much I could say to stop it. Doesn't matter anyway. It wasn't supposed to happen for weeks and the whole operations about to be a bust when your team gets here."
As if on cue the sound of bullets rang out.
Roman rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, what is it with your team and dramatic timing?"
…
…
A few minutes earlier
Weiss felt herself sweat as she followed behind Blake and the Huntsman, keeping as low as she possibly could. Yang was next to her, looking like she might explode at any moment. She hoped she wouldn't. they were right in the middle of it now. They were using one of the crumbled buildings as cover, which was a surprise onto itself. There was an entire city right under their noses and they hadn't even noticed. It was the perfect place for criminals to hide.
"So what do you see Emo?" Qrow whispered to the Faunus. She narrowed her eyes but didn't make comment on it in a place like this. "There's more light in some places than others." Weiss strained to hear as she whispered a reply.
"They're up ahead. I can't tell how many there are but their loading… something into the trains. I can't see Ruby anywhere but some of them look unhappy. That might be because of her but it might be because of where they are."
A dark cave in an abandoned city would dampen anyone's mood.
He nodded. "Right, anything we can look for specifically?"
Blake bit her lip. "I…. don't know there are patches of light in places, but most Faunus don't need that. I mean, some don't have night vision like you said but I would have thought they'd only bring Faunus who could see in the dark to a place like this…no, it must before something else."
Qrow frowned. "What else could it be for?"
"A human?" Weiss suggested. "They… Torchwick could be here. He was accompanying the White Fag nth last two times we ran into him."
"But why would he be here of all places?" Yang growled. "We're missing something. There's something bigger going on here and we don't have a clue."
Weiss saw the Huntsman twitch slightly, but she chose not to say anything. He knew something they didn't, but bringing it up now would only risk getting them caught
"We need a plan," the man said after a minute. "We need to find out exactly what's going on with those trains. If that Torchwick guy is here then Ruby might be there too. We need to sneak past these guys and get there quietly."
"That's going to be hard." Blake winced.
"You're right," a new voice whispered. "Especially since they already know you're here."
They stiffened, hands flying to their weapons but the tell-tale click of something told them something was already being aimed at them.
There was a noise and before their eyes a girl appeared, her skin changing from pitch black to a more familiar colour.
Blake sucked in a breath.
"Ilia."
"Blake."
There was a whisper of steel as another terrorist appeared; the spider Faunus from the docks.
The huntresses-in-training shared a look. Things were about to get loud, and there was only one thing they could do if it did.
"Yang!" Weiss hissed, making the blonde straighten. "Go with your uncle and find Ruby, take down anyone in your way, we'll deal with these two!"
There was no time for confirmation. As soon as the words left her mouth Weiss .lunged as the Faunus, Blake mimicking her exactly.
Qrow and Yang sped off, bursting out of cover as Trifa screamed a warning. White Fang grunts were promptly alerted by the commotion as the brawler sent a fist into one of their faces and a shot rang out.
Then more, the gunfire doing everything possible to light the caverns up as noise nearly deafened the heiress. Her rapier scrapped along the side of the chameleons Faunus' whip.
She gripped Myrtenaster tightly and pushed back, summoning her glyphs underfoot to make the Faunus stumble. She got a second respite to shoot a look at Blake. The cat Faunus was already combating the spider, Blake's dual sword and cleaver fighting off both dagger and webbing as they slashed and lunged dangerously.
Weiss barely got her rapier up in time to deflect the electrical whip as it snapped at her again.
"Damn you Schnee," Ilia hissed out. "You just had to get in the way didn't you, you humans never learn."
She ignored her in favour of stabbing with Myrtenaster., a series of precision strikes that gave her room to think. Realistically Weiss wasn't sure if her victory was a likely thing. The Chameleon was at least as good as Blake and the heiress knew how strong her friend was from experience.
She needed to think of something, or figure out the enemies weakness.
She summoned her glyphs, the surface of the ground becoming smoother for her, easier to move on while becoming more difficult for Ilia. She lunged forward, the tip of her sword scraping against the terrorist aura. Maybe she could whittle her down?
She flipped over a swipe and struck down with her heel, smashing atop her head.
Ilia stumbled and growled, before attacking again, lashing out with her empty hand. It knocked against Wiess' wrist and the Faunus took the chance to send her knee into Weiss' side. It hurt, and the heiress gave an unladylike grunt as she pushed through it. She knocked the pommel of Myrtenaster against Ilia's elbow, causing her to wince and disengage less she lose her own weapon. She still managed to backhand Weiss across the face as she did so however, causing the heiress to miss her opportunity to follow.
"Damn you," she said again. "I thought Schnee's were supposed to fight with honour? Isn't that one of their only good properties, no, you're just like every other filthy human."
Weiss' lips peeled back into a snarl.
"If you're going to insult me perhaps try something less overused," she snapped as she readied herself to fight more. Her glyphs appeared behind her, she needed something! "Calling me a human isn't an insult, it's a face, and the only one who's going to be filthy is you, when I grind you into the dirt."
Ilia roared.
…
…
Yang smashed her fist into the face of another White Fang grunt stupid enough to get in her way. There were dozens of them around her, even more, but they were crowded together, so much so that they couldn't fire at her without hitting each other, it was probably the only thing helping her right now.
Apart from her uncle of course, who was battling through his own share of grunts at a much faster rate than her, he was more careful though, eyes constantly flickering as he looked for things Yang wasn't in the mind to see.
The train was just a few feet away.
She kicked out and rammed an elbow into the terrorists both in front and behind her, knocking them to the ground. She fired off a shot, hitting another and spinning her around to bludgeon Ember Celica on others face, sending him barreling into a group of three others. She leapt over another and smashed her boot down on her face before whirling in the air, firing off two more rounds that hit as she landed on another.
One had a sword and charged at her, she barely paid attention, catching it in her hand and pushing aura into her palm to stop it breaching even a layer of skin. She fingers clamped around it and the metal snapped. She backhanded him again and planted her boot in another stomach.
She sent out a jab at one, a kick at another. A right elbow to the Faunus jumped at her and left hook to the idiot who tried to grab her.
Another, another, another. She barrelled through them like the worthless obstacles they were as Qrow did the same. He was ahead of her, but not by much. These guys not doing much to slow either of them down. A small part of her mind questioned why this was so easy.
She'd gotten stronger since last time, but not that much. No, something was wrong. These guys were weaker. But why? Wouldn't it make sense to send tough guys on a mission like this? What were they even planning?
They broke through the crowd suddenly, but Yang was rooted to the spot at the sight before her.
Roman grinned smugly at them as both Huntsman and Huntress came to a stop. Qrow swore.
"He blondie," he waved. "Who's our friend? A bit old for you don't you think?"
She didn't answer him, he was goading her. Her eyes were focused almost entirely on the person beside him. That girl from the warehouse, Neo. She was grinning ear-to-ear, like she was enjoying the chaos all around them
And how she had her deadly blade against her sisters that.
Her hair lit up as she growled menacingly and took a step forward.
Torchwick tapped his cane on the ground and wagged a finger at her.
"Ah, ah, ah!" he laughed. "We can't have you getting too excited over this, why don't you stay right there?"
She growled louder, but stopped when a third figure moved to stand beside the thief.
Roman's smile dimmed a little as a man nearly twice his size stood next to him. Even with the white mask he looked familiar. Had she seen him somewhere before? She thought she might recognise the massive chainsaw he wielded for a sword.
He chuckled darkly.
"Looks like I'm going to get to kill a few humans early. This is going to be fun."
"I'd like to see you try!" she snarled.
Torchwick held up his hands and stood between them he suddenly looked a lot less amused.
"Now, now, let's not get hasty. How about we make a deal blondie? You and the old man can have little Red back free of harm, easy."
Her eyes narrowed, and beside her she heard Qrow tighten his grip on his sword. He was just as suspicious as her then. Good.
The thief went on. "And in exchange you let us walk out of here peacefully, we won't trouble you and you won't trouble us. Ain't that a great idea?"
It… was. Yang didn't drop her fist, but they did lower a fraction.
She didn't trust the bastard, but if he was getting away then she at least knew he wanted her to take the deal. Her eyes sought out Ruby's.
The younger girl didn't look afraid in the slightest. She eyed the biggest member warily, who had his head tilted to the side silently. The Faunus was thinking of something.
"It's fine," Ruby said. "We don't need to turn this into a fight if we don't have to. I think the deal fair."
The way she said it made it sound like she wasn't the bargaining chip, but it made Yang relax her shoulders just a little bit more.
Whatever Qrow heard made him nod. "We'll take that deal if you don't mind."
Romans' shoulders sagged, and if Yang's eyes weren't playing tricks on her Neo looked relieved too.
No, her eyes were playing a trick on her, there were the ghosts and shadows on the edge of her vision now. She needed her pills.
"Okay, great, now let's just let Red g-"
"What do you think you're doing?" the Faunus growled menacingly.
The thief shot him a glare. "What does it matter to you? Just keep quiet and let the humans do the talking."
His head tilted the other way.
Very.
Very.
Slowly.
Yang felt the tension rack up behind them, and she couldn't even hear the sound of White Fang grunts anymore.
This conversation was taking too long. It had been less than a minute, but in a few more the grunts would have the sense to attack again.
"You want to cower away." The big man accused, his weapon revving loudly.
"I want out of this Grimm filled pit," Roman shot back. "If you want to get yourself killed by these two be my guest. You won't last long against a Huntsman and Huntress."
His head tilted again.
Slower.
"Maybe…"
…
…
Weiss nearly fell as she scrambled out of the way from another lightning dust infused stab from the Chameleon.
It had turned bad so suddenly. She had the upper hand, but the Faunus around them had stopped firing, and the light they'd been producing had died down. Her vision had gotten worse, and Ilia had taken advantage by darkening her skin to match it.
Weiss barely had the reflexes capable to dodge the blows coming from seemingly every direction.
She couldn't use her dust either. Blake was too close, still fighting Trifa and winning, but not fast enough.
Weiss was losing.
Her teeth ground together as she fought off another attack.
Since when had she been the weakest? Since when had she relied on her friends to save her so much?
The answer came quickly.
Back when Blake had dived in front of her to shield her from bullets. She'd gotten hurt from that.
She wasn't going to let that happen again, not again!
Weiss summoned her glyphs again, larger, stronger this time and sped forward. Meeting Ilia's strike as it came down.
She kicked out, knocked the Faunus down to one knee and slamming her elbow into the side of her face. She winced as she felt a fist hit her in the side and fell back as another hit her in the chest. She stabbed forwards though right as Ilia got up again and felt Myrtenaster carve out another chunk of Aura.
The same happened to her as the lightning whip slashed at her.
Her eyes closed instinctually as she took the pain, and it was all the Fauns needed as the whip wrapped around her neck.
She cried out as it shocked her again she fell to her knees.
Blake called out her name but she was too busy trying not to fall over in pain to notice.
Her rapier was kicked out of her hand and a boot planted on her chest, her back hitting the ground. She glared up through the burning sensation in her eyes. She wasn't going to lose, not to this one. Ilia glared back down, and raised a foot to snap her neck.
Weiss roared, pushing out with everything should could, forcing it into a single glyph that appeared between them. Ilia stuck it instead and stumbled at the unexpected solid surface. The white symbol gleamed brightly and Weiss pushed again. A barrier wasn't enough, she needed to get her away, get this whip off her knew.
She needed a weapon.
A weapon!
As if answering her prayers she felt something solid in her hand and she stabbed it forward. Ila fell back to above having her throat sliced open.
Weiss scrambled to her feet abut froze as she saw it:
It was… a sword. It wasn't Myrtenaster. It wasn't a rapier. It was thin, double-edged and slightly longer. It was a longsword, no, it was a straight sword.
And it glowed bright blue.
What? How? How had she summoned a blade out of nowhere?
She didn't revive an answer, instead she saw the whip lashed out at her again. She raised the blade, and the lighting infused weapon bounced off it like it was nothing. Ilia gasped, an outward sign of Weiss' own surprise.
She didn't have time to marvel though. She rolled to the side, picking up her rapier and holding it in her right hand. She didn't know how to use her new blade, let alone dual wield, but she did know that she had the upper hand, especially because Blake had finished her fight, and stood beside her.
Ilia's eyes turned red for a moment as she looked between them before suddenly;
"Blake," she appealed. "You still have a chance to make things right! Kill the Schnee and you can be forgiven."
Weiss didn't even have the chance to gape before Blake hissed. "Not a chance."
"Why!" Ilia cried, throwing her arms out, she was wide open but…
"Why side with her? With humans? After all they've done to us how can you side with the worst of them over us?"
"I'm siding with my friend over you," Blake corrected, and Ilia stepped back as if she'd been slapped. "You can spout off whatever you want Ilia, but unless you plan on surrendering, don't bother. I won't listen to whatever lies the White Fang has filled your head with."
Ilia snarled and prepared to die at them.
The ceiling above them shook.
…
… Yang leapt back as the oversized chainsword swung at her.
It had been a nearly instant thing, the Faunus had moved past Roman and attacked them with a snarl.
Torchwick looked just as surprised by it as them, but he was already moving, backing up as Ruby somehow escaped the other woman's grip.
Qrow met the big guy head on, sparks flew as it grated against his blade and he pushed back.
Yang grunted as a fist slammed into her back and she spun around.
Her shin shattered a grunts mask and probably his face as he fell.
She raised her fists in preparation. The grunts had gotten their courage back by the looks of it; fanning out in a crescent before her.
Her eyes flashed red. These idiots wanted to try at her again? She'd make them regret it!
But right now she had someone else to deal with:
Neo was still there, standing beside the thief with a grin on her face. Yang felt her body heat up at the sight of her. She'd had a blade to her sister's throat.
She was her target.
Yang let off a shotgun blast from both gauntlets and propelled herself forward, barrelling through more of the White Fang that got in her way and bringing her fist down like a hammer on the multicoloured criminal.
Ruby called out a warning.
Why would she call out a warning when she was about to hit the bad guys?
She didn't have any more time to question it, as her fist stuck the girls head with all of the force she could muster.
Neo shattered into a million pieces instantly, and Yang shut her eyes for a split second as glass shat up in front of her eyes.
She didn't even have time to register movement before foot slammed into her face, making her grunt. Neo backed away slowly with a massive smile plastered on her face still. She held ut a hand and made a 'come at me' motion.
Yang obliged, launching out with a right, missing and jabbing twice with her left. The first one missed but the second one landed, although not the way she was hoping it to. Neo held up her parasol and knocked her fist away before countering with the tool, the handle knocking against her wrist painfully as she kicked Yang's ankle with her heel.
The brawler let out a yelp and took a step back, losing ground that the other fighter exploited mercilessly, using her longer reach to slam her weapon into Yang's stomach.
She dodged to the right, then to the left and ducked under Yang's punches. It was happening again!
Just like at the warehouse this girl was playing with her like she was nothing!
Yang fired off a shot and gasped when Neo's parasol opened and blocked it. the girl eyes her smugly.
She took a step forward and two steps back when yang tried to move in, before doing a god damn backflip and kicking Yang in the chin with her foot as she did so.
How was she even doing that?! Yang would kill to be able to move in such a way, her body was in no way conditioned to bend and flip like her opponents.
Yang breathed heavily, not just to calm herself down but because her aura was starting to tank. She was tiring herself out trying to hit her and it just wasn't working.
Again, Neo taunted her with a gesture but she didn't take it this time. She needed to be careful, she couldn't go on the offensive as she was. She had no way of hitting her. She needed to slow the woman down.
Neo didn't wait for her to think up a plan, lunging with her parasol as the hidden blade sprung out the top.
Yang grit her teeth and braced herself. This was going to suck either way;
She held out her right arms straight and shifted her body to the side, letting the blade graze her and having her aura take the hit.
She reached out with the same hand and twisted her wrist, latching onto the weapon.
Neo's eyes widened oh-so-satisfyingly as she realised what had happened and tried to pull back to no effect.
Yang reached up with her left hand and gripped tighter, wrenching it from Neo's grip.
The criminal stumbled and Yang barreled into her with her shoulder. They both fell to the ground and rolled.
The came to a stop with Yang on top. It was a pure brawl now, her element as she rained down on the smaller fighter, who now desperately attempted to block as many hits as she could.
Yang grinned savagely as her punches landed again and again. She was winning.
Neo snarled silently and bent back, bucking her hips. Yang ignored it, relentless in her attack. Just a few more and she should be able to shatter this girl aura!
Neo bucked again and again. Yang was heavier though, more muscled than the lithe form of the multi-coloured mute.
Neo kicked out and up, her body suddenly bending in a way that would have Yang screaming and wrapped her legs around the huntresses neck.
She choked, gasping for breath.
Damn it, she wasn't going to get shaken off. Her hands reached out, wrapping around Neo's neck and squeezing.
The mutes eyes widened and reddened, it as a contest of strength and endurance now, whoever could snap the other persons ne-
Yang gasped, but for a different reason as Roman' body was sent flying at the two of them, knocking her off and Neo away.
The blonde looked up to see Ruby holding her scythe before her.
"Sorry." She said, not sounding it in the least.
Yang blinked, looking around suddenly. He eyes fell onto Neo, who was gasping and hacking as she struggled for breath.
Roman had struggled to his feet and was kneeling over her protectively.
Had she…
Had she nearly lost it and killed her?
The question was left unanswered as the White Fang bastard who had started it was fired into the side of the train, leaving a dent as she sagged.
Qrow didn't look as worn out as she felt and still had his weapon at the ready.
"I told you, you couldn't beat them!" Roman spat. "You fucking idiot."
The man made a noise that might have been a groan if I wasn't so deep.
"Maybe," he said again. "Or maybe I was stalling for something."
"What?"
"You're a coward Torchwick," the Fauns went on, struggling to his feet as the huntsman regarded him cautiously. "You don't have a cause. You're not willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your goals. But we are. And right now, we have the perfect opportunity to get rid of five people who've been a thorn in Adams side since they arrived."
Yang's eyes widened in horror as he reached behind him and pulled out a trigger. Her mind connected the dots in an instant as Ruby called out a warning to Qrow.
"There're bombs on the train!"
But it was too late.
It barely took a second, but it was long enough for Yang to stumbled back as the button was pressed.
And the trains exploded around her.
…
…
Ruby's heart was beating frantically as her vision was engulfed in fire. She'd barely managed to clear the area with her uncle and sister, but all around them more trains were blowing up. Each and every one of them had bombs in them, all of the dozens and dozens on the tracks.
"Neo!" Roman cried over the noise. "Get us out of here now!"
The mute nodded and grabbed her partner. Ruby's eyes met theirs and some kind of message passed between the three of them.
She wasn't sure what it was, only that it was along the lines of; don't die.
Right now, she didn't think she could make any promises.
They disappeared a second later and around them the White Fang screamed.
The ceiling above them was opening up as Ruby's eyes widened.
There weren't just bombs in the train.
There were bombs lining the walls!
They'd created a contingency in case people had arrived.
Ruby swore.
Of course they had. Why hadn't she thought of that?
People didn't just ignore it when someone got involved in their plans again and again. They adapted and prepared for them.
This was their preparation.
She saw Weiss and Blake running towards them with a third – the chameleon Faunus – limping beside them.
"What's going on?!" Weiss cried over the sound of boulders smashing onto the underground buildings.
"There's no time" Qrow yelled. "Climb!"
It was an instant thing. Ruby moved, firing off Crescent Rise to rocket herself upwards.
Yang and Blake did the same with their own weapons and after a second Weiss summoned black glyphs, creating platforms for both herself and the injured Faunus.
"W-what are you doing?!" Ilia gasped.
The heiress scowled as she concentrated. One glyph after the other, stepping stones on the path upward.
"Saving your life." She shot back.
The next pair fired them upwards, and gave Ilia the chance to cast out her whip, latching on to some of the still solid walls.
She separated from them in an instant and they lost sight of her.
It didn't matter, they still had to make their own way out.
Below them, Ruby could hear the howls of Grimm. One of the bombs must have opened up the deeper caverns.
They didn't stop. Higher and higher towards the light until with a might leap Ruby breached the surface.
She grabbed onto the edge and pulled herself up, rolled onto solid ground.
She peered back over the ledge into the now nearly kilometre-wide hole as her uncle and team made it to safety beside her, landing unceremoniously in heaps.
They all gasped and panted heavily as the shaking underground ceased and they marvelled at what had just happened. Somehow, they'd all made it.
"That," Yang coughed. "Was definitely a thing. Holy crap." Ruby couldn't help but agree, and she let out a strangled gasp, climbing to her feet. "Yeah, well how about we get out of here already then. I think that's enough adventure for now."
Yang shot her a look and grinned.
Before her eyes widened in terror.
Ruby gave her a confused look and didn't have time to ask before Yang shot forward, grabbing a hold of her hood and throwing her to the side.
Ruby gasped as she saw what was happening. A beowolf had climbed out of the hole behind her and made to bit off her head.
Instead it clamped down on Yang's arm.
Through her skin.
Ruby paled as a shower of red splashed across her face and she watched as Yang's right arm was torn off in a hail of gore. Her sister screamed in agony, but it wasn't over and an Ursa appeared next, clawing itself out of the pit, sank its teeth into her right leg.
And dragged her back down into the darkness.
Ruby screamed
"YANG!"
...
Yep, I'm leaving it there.
The trains are destroyed and the White Fang operation in tatters. The city is safe for now but what about team RWBY?
You'll just have to wait for the next one to find out.
I'm not sure if the shock value had any effect but you at least know what's going down. Yang's lost her arm and it's going t get worse, with getting dragged away by Grimm and all. she might already be dead. Who knows?
Oh wait, I do.
Oh well, like I said you'll have to wait for the next one.
On a more honest note I'm a little worried about this arc. As you already know I've been planning the part out in my head for the longest time and now that it's happening I worry I'm moving to fast. Pacing is perhaps one of my biggest flaws storywise at least in my opinion.
What do you think?
Anyway, I'll leave it here for now. what did you think? did you like it? Hate it? let me know, and feel free to say what you think might happen next.
So, all the standard, if you want to keep up to date and see more be sure to follow, favourite and review.
Bye!
P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre