The Heart of Winter

III – Take No Prisoners

Jaune Arc

The silence was all too resounding, Jaune thought as he sat against the rotten wooden wall of an old abandoned house. Ruby lay unconscious nearby, chest gently rising falling but she'd been dead to the world for the past few hours and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Not long after the sound of battle faded their mysterious saviour appeared, hauling Qrow along with her as best she could on her own. She'd looked further annoyed but most of her own injuries seemed superficial. On the women's orders, Jaune had taken Qrow's raggedy old cloak and used it as a makeshift bandage to help apply to pressure to Ruby's wounded leg.

She'd set Qrow against the opposite wall, letting his head loll forward be he was still alive and breathing - somehow. She'd spent some time examining the older Huntsman in silence before turning to Jaune with a stern look; "The shot I gave him earlier is not enough to treat the poison in his system," Jaune was worried she was going to say something like that.

"So that's it then...?"

"No," she shook her head, scowling, "after all the effort I went through to save his hide I'm not going to let some silly poison kill him." And so she had stood up, brushing herself off, "make sure he doesn't die why I go and retrieve what I need to treat him. Do not leave this building under any circumstances unless it is the only way for you to keep them alive."

"Who are you?" Jaune demanded a little more forcefully than he should have, give the woman quietened him with a harsh glare. He was even a little panicked when her hand went to the hilt of her blade. After a long moment, her glare weakened and her posture seemed to relax a little as she looked at Qrow's slumped form.

"I am Raven Branwen," the lightbulb inside of Jaune's head went off, "I am Qrow's sister." The blonde gave a nervous nod; so this was Yang's biological mother? He recalled Ruby telling him about her and Yang's situation during their second semester at Beacon after he'd idiotically pointed out that despite being sister's the girls didn't remotely look alike.

"So you're here to help your brother?" As though he knew someone was talking about him, Qrow started to cough weakly. Jaune quickly rushed over to check on Qrow, and whilst his temperature was certainly lower than earlier he was starting to heat up again. Whatever Raven had given him earlier must have started to wear off, meaning the poison could resume its work unimpeded.

"My brother owes me a great debt that I intend to collect," Raven stated simply, looking rather irked again now the blonde was asking more questions, "I can't collect that debt if he's dead." Well, Jaune thought, that's kind of cold. "Now if you're done asking incepted questions I'll take my leave for now seeing as time is not something we have on our side."

Jaune didn't like the idea of being left on his own with two unconscious people, especially when the Minotaur might come back for round two. Yet, he was smart enough to know in this instances he did not want to push his luck. What little he'd gleaned of Raven's character told him it would not be a wise move. So he'd nodded, watching stupefied as the dark-haired woman had summoned a strange looking portal, stepping into with one last look over her shoulder; "Don't do anything stupid."

That had all been several hours ago and the sickly grey sky had lightened somewhat, indicating that morning had finally come. There was still no sign of Raven making a reappearance and Qrow's condition was once again worsening, but he was still, by some stroke of luck, alive.

Shifting, Jaune stood up and stretched, his entire body felt three times as heavier than it should, but he supposed that's what nearly an entire day without a real meal or sleep would do to a person. Given everything that happened in the past few days, Jaune was beginning to wonder if this entire mission had been doomed from the start. Tyrian had wiped the floor with them until Qrow had shown up and even he had ended seriously injured with things only getting steadily worse from there.

'Looks like the old man wasn't joking about being a literal bad luck charm,' the velvety voice was back, causing Jaune to blink - he'd almost completely forgot about the voice in his head after everything that had happened. 'I'm a little curious to see what the next disaster to strike is but I've always been a little morbid like that.'

Jaune could only growl in frustration as he threw his hands into his hair, doing his best to cover his ears with his forearms. It seemed the next disaster was the complete collapse of his sanity. Get out of my head, he hoped against all better judgement that the voice would listen to him. This was the last thing he needed right now, but that was probably exactly why the voice chose that exact moment to reappear.

'I think I'll stay, thank you,' the voiced taunted all too gleefully, 'I mean I was awfully bored and thought I'd drop in a say hello. Y'know, make sure you were still kicking after having a run in with a Minotaur of all things.' Jaune screwed his eyes shut as he took a long, shuddering breath. All he had to do was ignore it, eventually the silence would return and with it hopefully Raven would too. 'She's certainly a strange one, isn't she?'

Ignore it, Jaune thought, pacing back and forth for a moment, doing his best to find any way to distract himself.

'You know,' the voice chipped in, a sing-song note in its voice, 'you've got to wonder what this debt is that's she's talking about, right Blondie? I mean, old man Qrow would've had to have done something particularly interesting he wants to be kept hush-hush for his sister to call it a great debt. Any ideas?' Jaune started to whistle to himself, trying to make some sort of noise that would drown out the unwanted guest in his head. 'Oh, come on, Blondie, don't be like that - spitball with me. It'll take your mind off of things for a while.'

He seriously doubted that.

'Still, it all sounds rather fishy if you ask me.'

I didn't. Jaune thought with a scowl. Damn it, he thought as the voice laughed haughtily at the fact his resolve had finally cracked but Ruby seemed to groan awake and Jaune felt his heart stir as her eyes finally flickered open.

"Hey there," Jaune said softly, smiling weakly before moving to support her as she tried her best to sit upright, "take it easy, Ruby. You've been unconscious for a few hours and you don't want to go making things worse."

"A few hours?" Ruby repeated huskily, Jaune nodded weakly but saw her eyes go wide as it all came rushing back. "The Minotaur…? Uncle Qrow!?" Jaune did his best to hold Ruby down as she tried to stand, mindful not to be too forceful with her in case he did any more damage.

"Relax Ruby," Jaune did his best to sound soothing, but it was hard with a disembodied voice in his head laughing at his pathetic attempt to keep his friend calm. "He's still alive," he looked to where Qrow sat slumped against the wall, breath laboured but Ruby seemed to calm drastically at the sight of her uncle, "he's a little beat up but he should be fine when help returns with medicine."

"You found help?" Ruby's eyes snapped back to him and he nodded, 'Well,' the voice in his head teased, 'it'd be more fitting to say help found you.' Jaune paid the voice no notice as he watched Ruby carefully, grateful when he saw her visibly relax at the news. It was no secret that Ruby was short, but in that moment Jaune swore he had never seen her look more vulnerable, utterly tiny compared to the weight which she carried on her shoulders.

"You should rest for a while," Ruby looked up at him, "that was a pretty nasty hit that you took last night."

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Jaune," Ruby mumbled weakly as she looked down in shame, now refusing to meet his gaze.

"What? You didn't drag me into anything," Jaune shook his head as he inwardly cursed, No, don't start doing this, Ruby. You're stronger than this, don't let a few bad days beat you down. We can still make it through this, you just have to stay strong. "You never dragged any of us into this, we wanted to come. What you did, after losing as much as you did – it gave us the courage to follow you because even after everything you were still willing to keep going. To not give up. We wanted to be like that, too. To help you fight Cinder. Nobody made us do anything."

"But none of us were really ready for this." That quiet exclamation stunned him.

"You can't be serious, Ruby?" Jaune replied softly, wishing Ruby would look him in the eye. "I mean, look how far we came, just the four of us. Are you really just going to give up the first time we stumble? The first time we lose? After everything we've been through to get here...?"

"But this isn't the first time we've lost," Ruby said and Jaune looked at her with surprise. "I mean we've been on the losing side for a while, haven't we? Look around, Jaune, this isn't just a loss: it's defeat. I'm right, aren't I? If we were winning we wouldn't be here in the first place, we'd still be back at Beacon, ignorant of what's really going on."

'She does have you there, Boy Wonder,' Jaune didn't say anything as he found his well thought out response suddenly vanish into thin air. Sighing, Ruby looked back to Jaune, and for what seemed like the first time since she woke up, made eye contact. Resignation and defeat were what Jaune say in her eyes. He could feel his shoulders go lax as Ruby's resolve to forge onward continued to dive bomb.

"We're not the heroes from the stories," Jaune didn't need anyone to tell him that. He'd know his entire life he was no hero. "We acted like we were and look at us now: we're out of our league here and we've been doing this for all the wrong reasons."

"Stopping Cinder is the wrong reason?" Jaune asked, flabbergasted.

"This was never about just stopping Cinder, though, was it?" Ruby shook her head, "This was about revenge. If we carry on like this the body count is only going to get bigger and it'll be our own fault. I could've gotten you all killed who knows how many in the past few days alone."

"But we're still alive, Ruby!" Even to his own ears, it sounded like Jaune was begging, pleading for Ruby to be able to see things from his point of view. "

"But we never defeated Tyrian," It was really Qrow, Jaune finished in his mind, knowing where Ruby was going. "If we can't beat Tyrian on our own, Jaune then how do you expect us to beat Cinder with the powers of a Maiden? We set out on this journey because we thought Cinder could be defeated, that we could defeat her. Punish her for what she did to Pyrrha and everyone else at Beacon."

"Because she does!"

"But that's not what Pyrrha would want," Ruby could feel the tears falling. It took a lot of effort to lift one hand to numbly wipe them away with the back of her hand. "Do you really think this is how she'd want to be honoured? By turning her death into a cold quest for vengeance? Pyrrha would want to stop Cinder," Ruby added, seeing Jaune, who was also crying, open his mouth to interrupt her, "but it would never be about getting revenge – she'd want to stop Cinder because it's the right thing to do."

Jaune opened his mouth to retort but the words died in his mouth. He found himself deflating, utterly exhausted as he realised Ruby was right. Pyhraa would not condone some cold quest for vengeance. Jaune admitted as much before adding; "We can't just give up. Not after everything we've given to get here." In that moment both of them looked to Qrow, brief understanding passing between them as the knew Jaune had left the: 'and will give up' of his statement unsaid.

Ruby shook her head meekly; "I should never have dragged you guys into this."

Jaune just looked at her, hoping she could see he didn't blame her for anything that had happened since Beacon fell - or during it. "You never dragged any of us into this, we wanted to come. What you 're trying to do, after losing as much as you have – it gave us the courage to follow you because even after everything you were still willing to keep moving forward. To not give up."

"Y'know," Ruby sniffed weakly, trying to wipe away the tears again, "when Professor Ozpin let me attend Beacon early, made me a team leader I really thought of it as validation. That I hadn't been fooling myself into thinking I would make a good Huntress. That may be, just maybe, he saw something special in me. He was wrong."

"No, Ruby, he wasn't," Jaune said firmly, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I know he wasn't. Because I saw something special in you too, Ruby." Ruby looked at him, dead in the eye, ready to say something when a creak in the floor caused her eyes to go wide in panic.

"Jaune look out!" Panic rising in his own chest, Jaune half spun as he tried to face the sudden intruder. Perhaps it was Raven, back with medicine for Qrow.

But the woman behind him was not Raven.

She had heavily tanned skin and a prominent scar that cut across the bridge her nose beneath dark, frameless glasses, with wild, boyish white hair that fell to her shoulders. Tall, towering on mechanical legs that attached at the thigh, painted orange and black with clawed feet, rolled combat pants and a white tube top that bore a black version of the roaring tiger skull she wore on her black beanie. Her black jacket was lined with orange coloured fur that formed a collar then fell down like a cap over the back of the jacket. Her belt lined with a dozen kukri, an old-fashioned rifle slung over her shoulder.

"Lights out, blondie." The woman hissed and Jaune felt his nose break as a foot crashed into his face. There was only a white-hot pain as he felt blood trickle down his face and then, darkness. Meanwhile, the fading sound of a horrific scream some ways away echoing throughout the once again populated Kuroyuri.

Lie Ren

Not again. Not. Again. The scream, although distant was still unmistakable even after all these years. Ren could not lose anyone else to that monstrosity. They had to find Jaune, Ruby and Qrow before the Grimm did.

Kuroyuri was a desolate graveyard at first glance, many of the buildings looked about ready to give out but Ren didn't care about any of that. He could barely hear anything over the rampaging beat of his own heart hammering in his ears as he and Nora skidded around another corner. The arch that led into the heart of the village was now in sight.

Just ahead. A few more steps.

What awaited them in the village square was not what Ren had expected: a group of bandits that had somehow gotten ahold of an old, highly outdated Bullhead. Which they were in the process of tossing an unconscious Jaune onto, throwing Crocea Mors on after him like it was trash.

"Who the hell are you!?" Nora shouted at the bandits. The few still on the ground turned to look at them, having not expected a confrontation. One bandit, a woman with mechanical legs leered at them as lifted the up the rifle form of Crescent Rose. With little accuracy or practise, she tried firing off a few shots but it was clear she had no real command over Ruby's weapon.

They didn't have time for this. With each minute they wasted the monster grew closer. Taking StromFlower in hand, Ren mad to rush the bandit as he fired off a several shots bursts. He wouldn't let these people take Jaune and Ruby. The bandit with Crescent Rose swore loudly as she fumbled with the weapon, trying to hit Ren as he zig-zagged his way towards her.

Something did hit him when she fired off the next shot - it wasn't a bullet from Crescent Rose but a bolt of white lightning that caught him square in the centre of his chest.

"Ren!" Heard Nora call his name as his feet came out from under him. His partner had also been moving to attack the bandits, only a step behind him with Magnhild in its hammer configuration but when he dropped he could see all other concerns leave Nora's eyes. No, help Jaune and Ruby! he thought as the redhead skidded to a stop at his side, but when he tried to say as much, could only let out a wheezing cough as his chest tightened.

Across the square, the Bullhead's engine screamed to life with an intense thrumming noise. The bandit with Ruby's weapon scowled, shouting at someone on the ship but given the distance and noise of the engine, Ren couldn't hear what she was yelling about. But when she turned back to them it was with a murderous smirk on her lips.

"Are you sure we don't need to capture these two?" One bandit shouted over the engine as Ren brushed Nora off, scrambling to action before the bandits could take off with their teammates. It wasn't the fight he had expected when he and Nora had run at full sprint for Kuroyuri, but he'd at least been right to expect one. Besides aside from whoever was throwing around lightning these bandits would hardly prove a challenge for some who trained to be a Huntsmen and even then he just had to let Nora handle the one with lightning powers.

The female bandit who had stolen Crescent Rose shook her head, lifting the looted weapon to take aim. "Nope," she shouted back, ignoring the calls of someone on the ship for her to get on already, "Raven just wanted these three. I reckon we earnt ourselves a little fun." A few of the other bandits loitering on the Bullhead made to jump down and join their comrade but suddenly stopped without explanation as the Bullhead engine gave a screech and began to hover just off the ground. Even the women with mechanical legs stopped, lowering Crescent Rose and Ren was sure he could see a clear hint of fear in her eyes.

That was when he heard them growing closer. Hovens falling onto forgotten cobblestones of the ruined road, cracking stonework under the weight of the creature they carried. A second later the arch into the town square came crashing down and the bandits all scrambled to get back on their ship. The woman who had stolen Crescent Rose took the distraction to hastily clamber aboard as well - her instinct to flee before this particular Grimm stronger than her desire to kill Ren and Nora.

Ren didn't want to look back over his shoulder. He already knew what he'd see if he did, but his body defied his better judgement. Standing amidst rubble was the terrible Grimm that had haunted his nightmares, a twisted combination of man and horse, long arms dragging along the ground as the rider was slumped against the half which was demonic steed. The Nuckelavee was peppered with old arrows and broken blades that didn't seem to bother the creature at all. When the rider finally rose, twisting and bending Ren would have sworn in that moment when the Grimm's eyes opened and flared with unlife that the beast recognised him.

"Enjoy," the female bandit jeered, leaning out of the side of the old Bullhead with a mocking wave as the ship took off. No! Ren could see the panic in Nora's eyes as she moved to action, lifting Magnhild as it collapsed into its grenade launcher form to fire at the ship and prevent the bandits from running away. But another bolt of white lighting arced out of the ship and tore the grenades apart before they could cause any damage to the Bullhead and Ren and Nora could only watch the ship vanish into the grey clouds above.

Now it was just the two of them and the Nuckelavee.

Ren met Nora's gaze, his longtime partner looking as about as terrified as Ren felt. Looking over his shoulder he saw the Grimm just standing there; watching them. It was like the thing didn't think enough of them to even attack whilst they were distracted. This Grimm seemed to think itself so above their level that it stood there, silently taunting them to make the first move.

Is this really how it was going to end? Ren thought with a heavy heart as he spared one last glance around himself. No. He had not come back to Kuroyuri to die to the same monster that had killed his family. He would destroy this Grimm and then he and Nora would find Ruby and Jaune along with Qrow and then they would all go to Haven, just liked they'd planned. We've come too far to die here, to something like this.

As if sensing his thoughts, Nora stepped into place next to him, slipping one hand into his as she could as he was holding two automatic pistols. He looked down at her, and although she was clearly terrified, he could see the resolve burning in her eyes. They run from this long enough. Together they could overcome this demon that marred their past.

"Together." Was all Nora said as she squeezed his hand for the briefest of moments.

"Together," Ren repeated as he readied himself and Magnhild once again became an exploding hammer. Then the Nuckelavee screamed and the battle began in earnest as long black arms become a blur and the main square of Kuroyuri exploded with the sound of action.

Song: Take No Prisoners as performed by Megadeath