Chapter 8: We Missed You

The Grimms were slowly beginning to thin out in numbers, but even with the small amount it still considered itself a horde by the fact that all of the Team's energy had broken down in a matter of hours of endless fighting. Even with their new abilities, it somewhat drained from the lesser practice. It had never occurred to them that it would show up in the real world where their Semblance was forced to be used beyond their limitations.

Blake successfully spun her ribbon tied weapon with Yang at the short end, the vast packs only got knocked to their backs, the next having the Blondie release herself in a launch; using the force of her bullets to heighten her and double blast a Grimms head to the other. A precise swipe of a claw sent her tumbling off balance in the air and has her body rammed against a bigger Beowolf, the sheer impact bringing it down with her with a puff of frost heaved from its chest, a misfortune of prickly crystals dug into her back. "God damn. Shit." Yang cursed heavily, pulling off the dust that stuck to her body, an ooze of undeniable blood leaking from those holes. Using the sharp object, she angrily threw it at the Beowolf behind her, the thing penetrating through the eye.

These ravenous creatures, while dumb at this age is unyielding. Weiss was almost thin of attack options as the opposing Dust she has stored in her rapier was not giving any effect to the opposite element. It had gone through as much until the Dusts themselves ran empty. Giving a drop of magic to Blake with the swindle of the golden clock ticking underneath the Faunus, a fury of purple slashes dancing along the bodies of Grimms. Dusts slid off and the creatures fell.

Weiss felt a little uneasy without the powers of the crystals. While her semblance was of use it might not be enough to deal with the enemy this great as it will only hold them long enough before a dying breath. "I can't believe they all died." She said as she parried a swift attack, "the Altesian Knights are proving themselves-" She lunges at their mouths, "Useless!" The Beowolf steps back, a scaffolding of green crystals coating its muzzle. It coughed tid bits of it while it adjusts itself to the armor, but Weiss did not permit it. White rings cornered from left to right hang in the air, with an air step towards it, she lands on each of them in dashing speed, multiple, vigorous lunges up and down to its side and above made it dead for sure.

True that backup was sent. While they helped pick them off, they were nothing but chewable toys after. It had seemed that even the General have not foreseen these types of Grimms that can deal massive damage on his military designs. A fatal flaw.

These Dusts that falls from their bodies, when torn apart, turned grey. It became useless and not anyone on their team was able to use it; not like it was in any form or shape to be inserted into their weapons. Things were getting desperate.

Things were getting worse.

Weiss had been hit consecutively by three Beowolves. No shred of aura was left to bounce off the sharp claws that had already dug deep a few inches above the skin. One charged aggressively, knocking the Heiress meters away with a fistful of fire.

Her back roughly skidded across the broken pavement, the unleveled ground making her flip to her front and tumbling to her sides. Weiss painfully gasped in near disbelief as she lets a hand out of sub consciousness lead its way to her stomach. She felt the ripped fabric and a very grueling texture of what seemed to be a hole. She choked in a sobbing sound with no tears.

She was going to die here. A Bewolf before her already telling her that. Its massive dog mouth was falling upon her and Weiss instinctively out of fear closed her eyes and flinched her body.

It was believed that life flashes before your eyes when you die. In the moment of terror, before life will be robbed from you, emotions will suddenly fill you with peace and tranquility. One blink and you see all the memories. And for this instance, Weiss thought she'd felt it.

The Beowolve's whole face was grabbed by one huge armored hand, crushed within its bearings and brought to the ground. Weiss, startled by her own delayed death shot her eyes wide open with a panting breath she held. A huge wall of her glyph was at an angle before her, the hand that killed the Grimm crawling out from it, emerging itself bigger than any Beowolf or Ursa, a Knight in armor stepped out. His sword slid from the dimensional rift of the glyph, pulling it out and heaving it above his head and brought it down to the Grimms. Drawing it to his body again he swung it around, damaging the numbers of the lot. His other hand which was also intimidating even without the weapon clipped an Ursa to the ground, carrying it without heft and hurling it to the sky.

Weiss carries her weight with her forearms, climbing until she was on her knees. It would have taken half of her strength to get up to her feet, until the Knight went down on one knee, bowing his head and offered his hand at her. Weiss stared at it. Silver plates glinted and it was recollecting old memories of the past where this hand that was now offered to her used to hold a sword responsible of her scar. Her eyes traveled across his arm to his helmet, behind it an empty being controlled purely by magic. She can't tell if he, or it has eyes that was subtly looking at her to take his hand. There was no haste when she did, and carefully the Knight with permission of her touch held her body up until her feet was properly placed on the ground.

The Knight then put his hand over his chest, head still bowed like it was waiting for further orders. And Weiss, as if she can feel his communication knew that it was waiting for orders.

"Help them." Weiss points at where Yang and Blake was still fighting off the Grimms, their looks trading from the enemy then back at her. Blake had tried to go after her while Yang provided cover and distraction, but this much pinned them to where they were standing.

Without further ado, the Knight rushed to their side and heedlessly took out the Grimms that surrounded them. They were swept off like feathers into the air in mere seconds and most probably scared the smaller ones, none of the monsters having a chance to even attack the mountainous foe.

Freed away from the ring of soulless animals, the two quickly managed to get to Weiss.

Not for long was the deed done.

The Heiress suddenly felt something runny beneath her nose, Yang the first to point it out that she was bleeding, her face expressing a puzzling look to a very concerned one. Weiss lets a finger suspect it; instantly coated heavily in thick black.

"Weiss are you-" Blake asked unfinished when she sees the Heiress's legs give away, catching her before she fell and putting her arm over her shoulders to shift the weight.

Weiss covered her nose out of pain's instinct like she thought she can stop the bleeding from flowing, the liquid pouring out abnormally from that of an ordinary nosebleed. She used what was left of her sleeve to wipe it away, the mess permanently staining the now ripped clothes.

The Knight alerted by its subject turned to face its master. A pinning weight stomped its back before it took a step forward, bringing his body slammed to the ground. A bigger Beowolf with the fur coated with streaks of white. Centuries old of spikes combined with different colors of Dust spread its ice to the Knight's limbs, immobilizing it from protection and movement. Followed with a menacing growl and bark, its massive clawed hands brought it around the metal head, and with full force ripped it away from its body. The Knight's remains scattered in bright light before dispersing into nothingness.

This brought morale to the few Beowolve's that hid from the Knight, coming out again to join its pack leader.

Yang froze, eyes wide, then narrowing it into a hard glare. She lets her hands leave Weiss to Blake's care as she began to walk towards the killer of her younger sister.

"Yang." Blake stipulated, knowing that the Blondie was filled with emotions. She knew how much her heart is filled with loathsome detest towards the Grimm and Blake feels it too. "Don't do this alone." She tried to coax her, at least to gently persuade her not do something stupid, but Yang was set dead straight. She would do anything for her sister's vengeance.

"Stay." Yang said. Blake opened her mouth to protest, but the brawler knew, she turns her head slightly to look back, her eyes furiously in red. "Stay." She reiterated.

The Beowolf dazed at the girl assembled with excruciating rage. It fed its attention along with its remaining minions that stepped to the front lines to protect and serve its leader. An eager wolf with the blue dust coated along its spine galloped at her, blowing glacial forms of ice at the girl. Yang's fueled aura spread out fire that countered the infused dust Grimm, creating a fog of smoke that temporarily blinded the Beowolf's sight. A whirl of wind separates the fog as Yang brought a rib breaking blow at its body away from her. Following behind it a second Beowolf with the same color sent waves of electricity to stop her tracks, no effect numbed her movements even with the slight flinching from her muscles that she was trying to seal the pain. Using it to her advantage, she turns as it tried to swipe her away, and coming back with a foot forward, she sent two fists at its midriff of its own power to shred its insides and shatter the overpowered and glowing dusts to tiny bits of itself.

One by one came after her, one by one were they knocked away with one punch, backfisting them elsewhere and bashing them off to the sides left with deformed bodies without stopping to walk towards the Leader.

The last fell with a hanging Jaw with Yang dealing a final blow of a stomp to its head, actually crushing it and splattered across the floor. It's now between her and the big one.

She digs into her pockets, only one remaining packet of bullets left in her arsenal. She loads it in her gauntlets and cocks them both. Who knows if this might be her last time as well? She was going to do it for her. For Ruby.

The Beowolf pulls her leg and towards itself, bringing her back slammed down and draw her up to face level. Yang fires a bullet to it, the first shot only slapping it, the second releasing her. Yang rolled to the side when the Beowolf pummels both fists at her, continuing to roll aside when it breathed ice. Hands on the floor she spun her legs around that swiped a kick at the larger foe and hopped back to her feet. Giving no time for the Grimm to retaliate, Yang stormed in without much thought, frenzy of punches and kicks trying to break its shell. A gust of wind pushed her back for a moment that gave an allotment of time for the Beowolf to coat its hands with graveled rocks and smash her aside. Yang sacrifices her ammo to launch herself back to the Grimm and return the favor.

Her weapon clicked out of ammo and she didn't realize it, not even stopping to know she was flatly hitting the wolf without much vigor, but violent all the same. The Grimm towered over her, every punch absorbing electricity, every punch absorbing her hate. With its huge hands it grabbed her punches and pushed her forward. Yang leaned in, her teeth gritting hard as her muscles begin to strain. The claws were digging deep and she was failing to keep them away as every inch of her aura drained whilst keeping her semblance intact. One drive forward and Yang lost her footing as the Beowolf was now over her arched back, the ground beneath them bursting in craters. One more heave, and the Grimm roared and thrusts her down. The outline of Yang's body marking the ground.

Blake shouts her name in terror. Weiss removes Blake's arm from her, "you have to help her."

The Faunus looks at Weiss who starts to push her forward, "Go!" Blake nods once and starts to run for it. She takes her weapon out and moves the slide of the gun back, aiming and firing the trigger. The bullets only tapped the armor, not a single budge or hole placed. Wrapping the ribbon around her wrists she then threw the gun at the Beowolf. It wrapped itself around its neck, and snapped taught the ribbon, pulling the creature off her with massive difficulty.

Her mind began to intertwine with a ringing noise. Something was coming up. In reflex, she rotates her body away from a spike that shot from the ground, two consecutive noises fills her vision, and just as predicted, barrages of these sharp objects came after her. Stiff on her position, she twists her body left and right, ducked slightly and up again as these spikes propelled through her. A spike broke her visor open, exposing the strong rays of light to her sensitive eyes. Blinded and distracted; she fell back. The ringing clamor bellowed, but it was too late to turn. The icy thing impaled her left shoulder almost near the heart and through the back. With little energy she moved her right arm away from another path of the spike.

Setting herself ablaze as Yang witnesses this. She roars, the battle cry bringing the Beowolve's attention back to her. She struggles wildly. Furiously. Frantically. Her semblance was already drained from the beginning and there was nothing left to reignite the burning sensation. She was becoming desperate, almost hopeless as her efforts were wasted. She felt like crying, disappointment washing away her willpower along with her strength as the Beowolf lets her arms touch the ground, its mouth ready to gnaw at her.

Weiss takes the last of her energy to stand and reach them. Vigorously ripping every ounce of vitality to save the two. The Knight. The Knight's dead. How was she going to call him again? Shout his name? Give herself another near death experience? The rings of her own, her glyphs. She gives a weak sign to summon them, only a faint light and it disappeared.

They were all at deaths door.

A bullhead airship sped by, coming down a spear of trailing, familiar roses of red.

The Beowolf's chest was suddenly met with two boots when it looked up, away from Yang entirely. Grazing across the ground, a barrel was pointed at its face, a caliber bullet fired and it sent its attacker tumbling away and shattered its mask into pieces.

Ruby landed perfectly on two feet, Crescent Rose swiftly being held behind her back.

The Beowolf climbed on fours, the mask that covered itself was now exposed of white, the eyes still red instead of orange as Ruby remembers fighting their kinds before. It snarled, mixes of colored dusts replacing the mask. It sensed nothing from her. What used to be fear was now filled with sheer determination, a little bit of anger but overlapped with a sense of its own blood and poison.

Carefully planning the Grimm charged towards her. Ruby sniped the wolf to pin it. Some of them ricocheted, one of them splintering the shells. Ruby twirled the scythe around that deflected the claws, counter attacking with the tips of the blade and shooting the creature with a crescendo. It decided to blow a fiery breath, Ruby dodging with the heightened semblance of speed moving across point A to B and striking when vulnerable. She brings her scythe down from where the Beowolf stands, purposely having the Grimm step back and stabbing the ground. Rolling atop the staff of her weapon as the Grimm stepped forward to attack, Ruby spun around a revolution of 360 degrees that avoided the claws inches away and return to side sweep its face. Resting her foot to the base of her weapon, she pulled the trigger that sent her and her weapon back with perfect momentum. The bullet yet another kick to its face. Flipping in the air and bringing her feet sliding to the floor, she shoots again to send her forward. Knowing beforehand about the spikes, she fires at her sides to turn to a different angle, running to regain the pace and velocity and let the propulsion do its work.

Ruby rolls into a razor ball, the dock of the scythe's blade hinging upwards to have its sharp edges face out. And like a razor itself it whirled across the line of the Beowolve's body. Above the Grimm now, Ruby's back arched and returns the weapon into her scythe form, time slowed for a bit and Ruby brought in the blade, puncturing both the armored back and skin. Flipping herself and bringing the Beowolf around with her, she slams the creature to the floor.

It didn't stop there. With Ruby still clutching her weapon, the Beowolf rose to its feet and stands tall, pulling the girl with the scythe with it. Ruby balanced herself and spun around the staff and planted her feet on its shoulders. With a heave, Crescent Rose left its back, and brought it to the front where it could never miss the source of its own life. Ruby pulls it out again and the Beowolf went stiff. And not too long did it fall to its knees, the Dusts around it breaking off and turning grey, and finally it fell to its stomach, Ruby hopping off it as soon as it made contact to the ground.

The blades of her weapon was all jagged and cut, dented and scarred heavily, the tip totally chipped off. The older Grimm was one hardy tank. This amount of strength was still new to her and at first she never knew that she'd actually take the Beowolf down in one setting, well, with the cost of her precious Crescent Rose that is. She folds it and stations it at her back.

A black mist crawled into the air from the Beowolf's body. She knows that this was a way of how a dead Grimm would disappear when it died. Something in her chest was moving however; she clutches it upon wondering what is. She flinches and winced. Ruby looks down on herself and zipped only halfway just enough to check what was bothering her; the huge scar opened on its own and it was starting to be painful. The mist that hovered above the corpse made its way to the opening, like in the process of possessing a soul. The corpse joined the smog and nothing was left but grey dusts scattered on the ground. She grunted and bended a little, black veins were crawling to her neck and along her arms and hands that made her stand straight back. Her head moves to the left and slowly to the right as it traveled, cringing at how it moved in her. The scar then stitched to its normal position after it sipped the remaining density, no sign of blood anywhere around the illusionary wound. It also seems that the black veins are fading away until it fully disappeared. Confused at what just happened; she saves the questions for later as she slides the zipper to its original place.

Ruby turns to help her teammates, but they were already up and near her. Blake supported Weiss, careful to keep away from the injured shoulder and in turn Weiss helped Blake lead the way due to her blinded state. Yang was a little slumped, nearly everywhere was bruises and cuts, the fabric of her clothes burned; her scarf as black and close to the ashes.

Yang was crying. Ruby took account of her features, she doesn't remember her sister without pupils, but she also doesn't remember the last time she actually cried this much. Yang closed in, looking all over her as if she couldn't believe her eyes, but as she actually touched her, Yang pulls her in a tight hug. There was a sudden surge of heat from her sister, but Ruby gave no words against it nor did she push away. She was told of her own death; when she never woke up and fell away from life. She knows how hard it was to loose someone precious to you, and having to be alive again was a miracle. She can imagine how much Yang was left in pain, to think that your only sister would be gone from you. So she whole heartedly embraces her despite the searing heat. But maybe she'll tell her later when everything is back in shape..

Blake could sense the different aura; an aura that was strong and familiar. She reaches out to find her and accidentally touches Yang's shoulder instead, it was blurry and she couldn't tell so much, but she knows there was another person and if she can't see, then she wants to feel. Yang held Blake's hand and leads her close to where Ruby was, she was too speechless to tell Blake who it was, but she knows that she was here for real. The Faunus with the missing bow and adjusting eyes feels the shoulder of a shorter and younger build, a shoulder she held rarely but remembers all too well. She trails her way to Ruby's face as if she wasn't sure enough.

"Hey Blake."

That voice was unmistakable, the Faunus gave a smile and hugged the red head who obliged to hug back her teammate. Blake steps back knowing that there was one more who misses her just as much, the ability to sense telling her otherwise.

Weiss approached her slowly. Her features were gentle aside from the hurt of injuries and the smear of dry black blood just across her cheek. And in that soft voice, she said.

"You're alive…"

Ruby, still feeling awkward as always as she was with everybody, momentarily went on her toes and back to her heels, giving a small laugh to give relief of this unintentional tension of herself. "Um. Thank you..?" She said with a grin.

Weiss lightly flicks Ruby on the forehead. "Dolt."

Ruby was going to protest and whine until Weiss hugged her. And in a small whisper of truth, she muttered, "We missed you." Tightening her hold, she almost chokes out her next sentence as she wiped away her sense of pride of this moment, "I missed you." The touch, the sense and even the smell. Her voice, personality, her cheerful side. She missed them all like hell. This was a first to Ruby, where the Heiress was actually having her arms around her was new. All the while different. A good kind of different. Different from Yang's sisterly hug and Blake's friendly one. Awkwardly at first she places her arms around her, knowing that maybe if she didn't she might let go soon. She relaxed eventually and dropped her shoulders, her hand gently rubbing the small of her back. "Sorry."

Blake and Yang joined in the embrace after a moment. Their Team back and complete again.

A/N: Yeah it took that long to think of a good idea to write these out. The planning was longer than the actual writing. Settling down recently after the new term launched, I forced myself to sit down and quench my brain dry. I feel bad for having all of you to wait, I really am. It even bothers me in my sleep you have no idea.

I was actually racing this story with volume 3. You'll probably know why from its recent chapter release.

Also, February 1 is near. We all know what that day is. Let's keep on creating.

Keep on Moving Forward guys.