Good afternoon everybody!
It has been...entirely too long. I apologize for making you all wait so long but hopefully you all enjoy this regardless!
I want to give a shout out to everybody who has left comments, or liked and/or favorited. While I write for my own pleasure, I love that this story is enjoyable to other people, and I definitely love that you guys are spreading this to more and more people. Truly, I appreciate it! I'm happy to see that there are still plenty readers who have appreciated the choices I've made so far, and even more happy to see the people who have taken the time to express to me just how much they are loving it so far.
Now I am actually going to get started on the next chapter right after posting this one, so hopefully the next update will be speedy! You all enjoy!
"What happened out there?" Ironwood asked, concern laced in his voice.
Oscar, Blake, Yang, and Ruby stood in front of him. Harriet and Vine had arrived just moments after they'd killed the Hound, and they were immediately escorted back to Headquarters.
"Salem sent one of those things after the lamp," Oscar shuddered slightly. "One of those…things that Naruto fought."
"Really?" Vine's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Those grimm looked exceptionally strong when Naruto fought them."
"It mopped the floor with us," Yang scowled. "And it didn't even seem like it was meant to fight."
"How so?" Ironwood asked.
"It was smaller," Blake answered. "Larger than an Alpha Beowulf, but much smaller than the ones Naruto fought. It looked like it was also able to adapt its body depending on its needs. I think it was meant to be Salem's hunter. Finding things, retrieving them…"
"Which is why she would have sent it after the lamp," Ironwood nodded. "That tells us something though."
"Salem knows that Naruto is asleep," Ruby mumbled sadly. "She would have never sent that thing into Mantle if she thought Naruto was awake to kill it. Not with how he killed the Sins."
Everybody fell silent for a while.
"Sorry I levelled part of your Kingdom…"
Ironwood chuckled weakly, "I'll take a few unoccupied buildings being destroyed over losing a Relic any day."
Yang nodded shyly and Ironwood continued, "Alright, you guys need a proper nap. Some cots have been set up in the room just across from my office. I want to make sure you're all nearby should something happen. Weiss, Naruto, and Team TRQ are down the hall."
The four nodded and left the office as Ironwood began looking at the projected battlefield on his desk.
"I'm beat," Yang moaned tiredly as they approached the door.
"Little Rose," Kurama grumbled in Ruby's mind, causing her to stop and listen. "I would like to suggest something…"
"Wait," Ruby said before Yang reached for the handle. "I want to see them. Just for a second."
Yang hesitated for a second, "Weiss probably doesn't want to be bothered…but yeah, I do too."
"I think we are going to head in for a nap." Blake said, glancing at Oscar who immediately nodded.
"Wait," Oscar jumped slightly. "Ruby, you should have this."
He took the lamp from his belt and handed it over to Ruby, who looked slightly startled at his decision.
"Ozpin agrees that with you having the most chakra and most of your aura, it'd be best in your hands."
"Fair enough," Yang shrugged. "C'mon Rubes. Let's go see how the rest are doing."
Ruby nodded absentmindedly as she took the lamp from Oscar's hands. The walked the few feet to what would have been Ironwood's office, and gently knocked on the door. The door cracked open, and one of Qrow's red eyes regarded them warily.
"How many Biju are there?" Qrow quickly asked.
"Nine," Ruby said quickly.
"Ten on a bad day," Yang said cheekily.
Qrow blinked, and opened the door to let them in, "Sorry kiddos. Neo can look like anybody, and Emerald's illusions can create sounds. Can't be too careful considering what we got in here."
"It's smart," Ruby's lips twitched. Trust her Uncle Qrow to come up with ingenious ways to mitigate the enemy's semblances.
"What are you two doing here?" Weiss' voice echoed from the desk at the other end of the room, a dull white light from the scroll on the desk lighting up her face.
"We just wanted to check on you guys." Yang pursed her lips slightly. "It's been pretty crazy out there."
"And I get the feeling that quake we felt was you," Taiyang crossed his arms. "Wanna tell us about it?"
"Yeah," Yang glanced nervously at Ruby, who was staring at Naruto's unconscious form. He was laying on a makeshift cot next to Raven, who was polishing her sword. "It was…well Salem sent another one of those things Naruto fought to get the lamp."
Everyone's eyes widened. There was a small pause as they processed the information, before Raven suddenly spoke up, "Well, seeing as Ruby has the lamp, I'm guessing it was unsuccessful?"
"I killed it…" Ruby whispered. "Him…her…whoever it used to be."
"Oh Rubes," Taiyang said sadly. He crossed the room in just a few steps and wrapped his daughter into a tight hug. "Salem killed that person. Whoever it was, Salem killed him—"
"So is mom dead then?" Ruby asked quietly, cutting his words short. Her shoulders shook slightly as she fought down her tears. "Either I killed him, and mom has a chance…or he was already dead and mom doesn't have a chance…"
Her next words sent a chill down Taiyang's spine, "I either killed somebody that didn't deserve to die, or I have to accept that my mom is gone forever."
Tai gently squeezed his daughter. It was all he could do. After all, what does he say to her logic? Does he tell her she did kill somebody, or admit that her mother, and his long lost wife, was utterly and truly dead?
"If you know it wasn't Summer, did you see anything special about it?" Raven asked, not keen on staying on a topic that involved Summer potentially being beyond help.
"It was a faunus. Had ears and brown hair," Yang shrugged. "I hit it with everything I had and I barely saw the top of its head. I'm guessing a guy because his hair was short."
"Ah, the fox faunus," Raven nodded. "He was the only faunus with ears. That's the one that sold out Summer and I. Don't feel too bad about that one, Ruby."
Ruby pulled away from her dad and wiped her eyes, "You said he did it because Salem threatened his family!"
"A family which was most likely already dead by the time we were attacked." Raven shook her head. "We told him enough about Salem for him to know that selling us out wouldn't save them, yet he did it anyway. He was a coward."
"He didn't deserve it," Ruby frowned angrily.
"I disagree," Raven scoffed. "But by all means, continue feeling guilty. You truly are naïve if you thought you could make it as a Huntress without getting blood on your hands."
"Rae," Qrow warned. "Now isn't the time to—"
"How many people have you killed Qrow?" Raven cocked an eyebrow at the man. "Hell…how many did you kill before starting Beacon? Only the gods know how many hands you took at the tribe when they tried getting handsy with me."
"Things were different back then," Qrow frowned. "And I hardly think we were anything to be looked up to before joining STRQ."
"Oh?" Raven smiled sarcastically. "How many people did you kill under Oz's orders in the last…say…year before Beacon fell?"
Qrow clenched his jaw, "Raven. Now is not the time to be trying to prove a point!"
"Avoiding the answer was all I needed to prove my point, dear brother." Raven rolled her eyes. "Ruby…You don't have to enjoy killing in this line of work, but you must be willing to do it. Qrow and I may not be much to look up to. Hell, I doubt either of us have lost any sleep over the lives we have taken. But don't you think for one moment that it isn't necessary at times. I won't shelter you like Qrow or your father will. Ozpin has killed, Qrow and I have killed, Ironwood has killed…your father has killed…and your mother has killed."
"Mom?" Yang asked suddenly while Ruby looked down at the ground. Yang ignored the small flinch from Raven at her word choice. "I may not remember much about mom, but killer and baker of cookies don't exactly track the same to me."
Raven ignored the angry glares from Qrow and Taiyang, "Oh Summer was always the kindest of us, but make no mistake that she would end anybody that threatened somebody she loved. You should have seen what happened to the guys that tried to break into you guy's house when Ruby was about a month old. She told me about it when we were tracking down some of the silver eyes. She crippled one of them for life…the dumbasses broke in through Ruby's window, and that's where Summer found them."
"I did have to pull her off of the guy closest to your crib," Taiyang chuckled lightly, his anger at Raven melting away as the somewhat fond memory played in his mind. "I still don't know where she got that knife from…"
Ruby smiled slightly. It wasn't often she heard any stories about her mom, much less a violent one. "I know it was necessary, and I…I'm willing to do whatever I need to do in order to keep my friends, family, or innocent civilians safe. I just wish I didn't have to."
Raven shrugged, "So do most people I imagine."
"Well, if you all are done," Weiss cut in with an annoyed tone. "I would like a little piece and quiet sooner rather than later."
"Right," Ruby sniffed. "How's it coming along?"
Weiss shrugged, her eyes trailing over the scroll, "As good as I can hope, I think. I think I can get it done in a few hours. I've just never keyed anything to me, so the process is slow. It's just trial and error at this point."
"Right," Ruby sighed. "Well, we are going to try and get a bit of sleep. I mostly just wanted to…well I wanted to see if I could help any."
"Did Naruto ever teach you any sealing?" Weiss said incredulously. "I can almost promise you that this is beyond—"
"Not you," Ruby rolled her eyes. "I had an idea...well, Kurama did."
She walked over to Naruto and knelt down beside him, her back towards the rest of the room.
"What are you doing?" Raven asked curiously.
"Kurama can only give me so much chakra at a time," Ruby began explaining. "Not even a tail's worth of chakra, and even then it could cause problems. But he can still give me chakra. And if Naruto can give us chakra…"
"You're going to give Naruto some of Kurama's chakra?" Yang asked in awe. "How did we not think of that?"
"Because it wouldn't help him in a fight," Ruby smiled slightly. "But since he grew up with basically the same amount of chakra leaking into his chakra system, it might help him flush out this poison a little bit quicker."
"At what cost?" Taiyang asked.
"For somebody who has never had a large amount of Kurama's chakra flowing through her, pain…probably a lot of it." Weiss said solemnly. "Ruby—"
"What is a little pain for one person if it saves thousands?" Ruby said quietly. "Besides, Kurama will be careful."
Ignoring any protests, Ruby raised her ringed hand over Naruto's chest and closed her eyes. Raven, being in the only position to watch what was unfolding, watched in a grim sort of fascination.
A red glow soon emanated from the ruby of her ring, and the black lettering of the brother god's seal slowly bled into view on her hand. Red mist poured out of Ruby's nose with every breath she took. It slowly coalesced around her as her breathing slowly increased into rapid short breaths.
A vein bulged in Ruby's forehead as everyone slowly started to feel a pressure settle on them from nowhere in particular. Raven continued staring in fascination as sweat began rapidly beading on Ruby's face.
Suddenly, Ruby's eyes snapped open and Raven flinched as if she'd just been slapped. Ruby's eyes, while still emitting a silver glow, were slitted and tinted red at the edges.
Ruby groaned as if she'd just had the breath knocked out of her, and her face screwed up as waves of pain coursed through her body. She lowered her hand to Naruto's chest, and laid it as gently as she could, her hand trembling so much she wondered how she had any control over it at all. The pain was unimaginable! To think that Naruto could handle this chakra with ease! The thought of that alone angered her…why was she angry?
"Just a bit more, little red," Kurama's voice echoed through the room in a gently whisper not typical for the demon. His voice was easily heard by all, and Ruby only nodded through gritted teeth.
"I can not control it beyond giving it to you," Kurama said softly. "You must direct it. Push it into Naruto. You know how to control chakra. This is no different."
"I-I-It hurts," Ruby gasped. "E-Every time I try to control it, it b-burns!"
"Of course it does," Kurama said, his voice hardening slightly. "You made this choice, Ruby. I've given you the chakra, now you must use it. You do not have the chakra network needed to hold this chakra. Transfer it, or risk losing yourself. Either your life, or your sanity."
Ruby gasped for breath a few more times before groaning in exertion. The red mist that had been lazily circling around Ruby suddenly kicked up, whirling around her violently as she gained a semblance of control over it. It quickly gathered at her arm, before traveling up and towards the hand resting on Naruto's chest.
The gathered mist circled above her hand for a moment before settling and sinking in Naruto's chest. As soon as the last of it vanished, Ruby blinked sagged in relief. Her eyes had returned to their natural color, and she could feel that no more of Kurama's chakra was in her body.
"Ow…" Ruby muttered in pain as she lurched forward, her forehead landing softly on Naruto's chest.
"You dolt," Weiss' voice tickled her ear as cold hands grabbed shoulders gently and lifted her off of Naruto.
"You know you're supposed to talk to us about things like this!" Yang complained into her other ear.
"It worked," Ruby muttered, feeling the last bit of strength she had ebbing away. "I gave it to him. He has some of Kurama's chakra now!"
"And it might not even help him," Weiss tsked. "It was foolish to hurt yourself like that."
"I'm fi—" Ruby tried to wave her hand dismissively, but the second the cold air around her touched the skin of her hand, she hissed in pain. That hiss quickly caught in her throat as a dull pain hit her in the gut, almost as if Harriet had landed a solid punch to her stomach.
After a second, she gasped for breath, "Ouch…" She said lamely as she caught her breath and cradled her hand.
"You burned it," Weiss shook her head, gently grabbing Ruby's wrist and examining her hand. It was a bright red with small blisters forming all around it.
"My aura will heal it in a few minutes," Ruby mumbled.
"Bed, now." Yang gently slapped the side of her head. "You're too heavy for me to keep carrying you, so get to moving."
"Well I should be…" Ruby started to say. "Wait, I never grabbed my haori! Where—"
"Naruto sealed it in a scroll after your fight with Tyrian," Weiss chuckled at Ruby's priorities. "I'll give it to you when you wake up. I'm not letting you throw an extra few hundred pounds on with how many times Yang has had to drag you around recently."
"Ok," Ruby bit her lip as another wave of pain hit her. "Fair enough."
'I feel his chakra reacting with mine,' Kurama said gleefully in her mind. 'I expect he will wake up within a few hours. Eight at the most.'
"Kurama said he should wake up within eight hours," Ruby smiled lightly, wincing as the simple action sent another bolt of pain through her. "It was worth it."
"That's to be determined." Taiyang frowned with crossed arms. "You guys go get some rest."
"Yep!" Yang quickly said. She began dragging Ruby by her good hand to the door before she could say anything else. "Shush you! You need some sleep you workaholic!"
"Whatever…" Ruby muttered, groaning slightly as another bolt of pain wracked her body.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
Neo wandered the halls of the hastily put together central command in Mantle, disguised as an Atlesian Soldier, of course. Emerald wasn't too far away, just a building or two over, waiting for her signal to infiltrate herself. While Emerald's ego was almost able to rival Cinder's these days, even she knew she had nothing on Neo in terms of subterfuge.
She just couldn't figure out where Naruto was being kept! Nobody knew, and he wasn't in any of the medical bays.
She kept wandering around until she found herself at an intersection nearby Ironwood's office. She wouldn't dare enter there, but since she'd checked almost every other room in this damned place, she figured he had to be in there with the general.
"What's the status on Manta 17 and 18?" She heard voices just around another corner. She heard nothing at first, and she began walking in the direction of the voice. A walking person drew less suspicion than one standing still.
"Hey!" The voice said a little more urgently. "You heard the newest order! We are required to speak within five seconds of seeing each other! One of the illusionists are mute!"
"Sorry!" A female voice finally sounded. They were much closer to the corner now. "I forgot! I was just studying the report!"
Neo exhaled angrily through her nose and pressed herself up against a wall, willing her semblance to blend her into it. She hadn't seen many other people, but the few she had seen had their noses buried into scrolls as she passed them. The last thing she needed was to run across somebody that was actually a stickler for rules.
The two turned the corner just as Neo's semblance settled around her. "Manta 17 needs to refuel soon, and is scheduled next actually. Manta 18 is going to rotate out in approximately thirty minutes to have that launcher looked at. It still has three working launchers, so its on last priority until all the others are refueled."
"Good," The man nodded. "Let's go ahead and move Manta 18 up. The General thinks that…"
They turned the next corner, and their voices slowly faded away. Neo let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was just about to reapply her semblance to her appearance and step away from the wall when a door right next to her opened up, the two people she wanted to see least stepped out.
Neo felt her heart skip a beat and her breath hitch in her throat as Ironwood stopped right in front of her. This wasn't Ironwood's Office! Why was he here?
"This is good news," Ironwood smiled. "Thank your sister for the update as soon as you can."
"This is a much better timeline than we had," Winter nodded excitedly. "It would be much easier to hold Salem at bay for eight hours than the sixteen we were expecting."
"When he wakes up, the game changes." Ironwood smirked. "With Ruby killing that Beowulf creature, I don't think Salem has any more of those with her. She must have left the rest in the Dead Lands. I'd say things are going well, but unfortunately I just got word that Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren have also used most of their chakra. If Salem makes a big push any time soon…we will still have to evacuate."
"Hopefully not," Winter looked down at her scroll. "Team JNPR are reported that most of the Grimm have been taken care of. There is a steady stream, but nothing that even a quarter of our forces couldn't handle. That whale grimm though…it's just floating there. It seems like it's waiting for something."
"Information," Ironwood frowned. "Since I passed the order for measures against Neo, she most likely won't be able to freely move like she normally would. Anybody that people see will have to speak in order to avoid suspicion."
'They don't know that I can use my semblance as an environmental camouflage.' Neo thought to herself. 'Good. That's all I have going for me right now.'
"We will wake up Ruby soon," Ironwood furrowed his eyebrows. "With Kurama, she will be able to sense Neo or Emerald if they are nearby. I just want to let her get a few more hours of sleep."
"I can send somebody that way whenever you'd like me—"
"Other than the ones in that room, only you and I can open it." Ironwood cut her off. "It was a hasty fix, but I had Penny alter the coding. I wanted to make sure that nobody could get to her except us. It would take a bit of firepower for Neo or Emerald to force their way in, and by then they will have two maidens, and all available military…not to mention Team JNPR, rushing to their location."
Neo frowned from her hidden place. Unfortunate, but Ruby couldn't stay hidden forever. Neo would have her chance with the bitch soon enough.
"Let's go check in on the command center," Ironwood turned to walk the same direction the two soldiers from earlier had walked. "I want to get a real time update and see if there are any holes in the defenses to fix. Might as well put Mettle to work."
"Of course," Winter nodded. "After you, sir."
They rounded the corner, and Neo finally revealed herself. With a quiet stomp of frustration, Neo pulled out her scroll and typed out a message to Emerald.
"I can't find him or her. Ironwood said he would be awake within eight hours. Rose is locked up, and the blond is nowhere to be seen. The only room I haven't checked is the biggest one besides the command center. I imagine it's Ironwood's Office. They put a 'talking order' so my cover will be blown if anybody sees me. Fortunately, I've managed to gather that most of our problem children have used up their little power boost.'
She didn't have to wait long for a reply. Emerald was insufferable with anything regarding Naruto. Granted, so was she about Ruby, but at least she knew Roman cared about her before he died. Emerald was still moping over a woman that couldn't give two shits about her.
'He is in there. I can feel it. I'll tell our mistress. I imagine we will be making our final push soon.'
'I'd imagine,' Neo thought. 'I can't imagine waiting until that monster is awake. Even Salem seems scared of him.'
Neo typed out another message, "What do you want me to do? Ironwood made it sound like Raven is here, and since I haven't seen her, she must be with him. Ironwood also said that they will be waking Rose up in a few hours, and that she will be able to sense us with something called a Kurama."
Her response was, again, swift, "I will talk to our mistress, then be ready for me. I'll take Raven and her rag tag team. You focus on Rose. With the blond being out, I doubt I'll need your help."
"With pleasure," Neo grinned. 'Good. I was worried she wouldn't hold up her end of the deal. Although I guess Salem's promise took care of that little concern.'
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"Sir!" A soldier shouted from a terminal in the command center. "That Grimm…it's getting closer. It looks like it's charging directly to the gate!"
"Trying to break through will kill it," Ironwood frowned. "It's already so weak…This must be Salem's final push."
"Are we sure?" Winter asked worriedly. "We guessed she would make her push in another few hours."
"They must have heard about Naruto's new time line," Ironwood growled. "I had hopes that our time line would be better…but we can't risk it. Is it ready to launch?"
Winter's eyes darted to the general momentarily from her scroll. "It…is technically. But we can't hold it in orbit. There is enough dust to get it into the exosphere, but it can't clear to orbit. It will stay up for just long enough to get the message out."
"Launch it," Ironwood bit out with a nod.
"Sir," Winter gulped slightly. "We…are you sure that this is wise?"
Ironwood nodded, "Normally I'd say it would cause entirely too much panic. But the clips we have chosen to show the world…If overwhelming fear give the grimm drive and power, what will overwhelming hope do to them?"
"And Mantle?" Winter asked sadly, already knowing the answer.
"Team JNPR is already on their way." Ironwood smiled with just as much sorrow. "We ended up not needing the seal, I guess. It doesn't seem like Salem has the forces needed to overwhelm us, but she isn't stupid. The second I see the tides turn, I will evacuate us. You have the evacuation blueprints?"
Winter's shoulders dropped, but she nodded, "Yes sir."
"Winter," Ironwood smiled, turning to put his hands on her shoulders. "There is no reason to be sad."
"We worked so hard to defend Atlas and Mantle," Winter shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "It just isn't fair that we would abandon them."
"We aren't," Ironwood said, conviction bleeding into his voice. "Winter, Mantle and Atlas are the people! We will save everybody, then when everything is done, we will come back and build it anew…as one city! We will take this disaster and make it a blessing in disguise. There will be no more fighting between cities."
"You make it sound like we will make a Utopia," Winter sniffed with a smile. "It isn't possible. There will always be problems."
"Yes," Ironwood smirked. "But we will face them all together. We may not make a Utopia, but you can be damn sure that we will make something better than this. Something united…We will no longer be the Kingdom of Atlas. We will be something greater. We will be the Kingdom of Atlantis!"
"Sounds like a fable," Winter chuckled slightly.
"Truth in all fairy tales, Winter." Ironwood sighed. "We will try our best to make an everlasting fairy tale."
"Oh fine," Winter rolled her eyes. "I guess you're not entirely wrong about that."
"Launch Amity," Ironwood took a deep breath. "Let's tell the world about everything. Let's give them all hope."
"Yes sir."
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"You guys ready?" Clover narrowed his eyes at the Monstra slowly descending in a controlled fall, still miles away but rapidly closing in.
"Born ready," Harriet grinned beside him, her eyes crackling with the electricity that accompanied her semblance.
A low rumble reached their ears and the ground under them shook ever so slightly. They all looked into the distance to see Amity slowly climbing into the sky from the Schnee Mines to the north.
"All we have to do is hold long enough for the civilians to evacuate," Vine said while they watched the fruit of their efforts over the past months take flight. "Then we follow behind. The ships will start departing as soon as the evacuation starts."
"Easy enough," Elm chuckled, a bead of sweat forming on her temple. "As long as Naruto makes it out, Remnant will be fine, right?"
"If Remnant can't pull through with him, we never had a chance." Clover said darkly. "But, hopefully with any luck, we will pull through."
Then, the Monstra crashed into the ground.
And a flood of black sludge spilled from its maw.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"Your damnation will come in the visage of an Angel of Death. As that Angel falls, so shall your fate be sealed…"
Ruby woke up with a gasp. She sat upright and looked around, wondering where she was, or where she had been. What she'd heard…
Yang, Blake, and Oscar were asleep in separate cots beside her. She briefly remembered Yang bringing her into this room, but she must have fallen asleep quickly after that. A quick glance at her scroll told her that she'd been asleep for a little over four hours. A glance at her hand showed her hand was healed. No pain in her stomach either. Good.
Four hours wasn't the most sleep, but she felt good as new. Better than even her aura should have made her feel with four hours of recovery, especially with how Kurama's chakra affected her.
'That would be Naruto's chakra,' Kurama said. 'Despite growing up having to deal with my chakra, his own chakra has always been like that of a gentle giant. I let a small amount of it leak out of the ring to help your aura along. Not enough to be too noticeable, but I knew it would help. Like its owner, his chakra seeks to help those who need it. Not many can claim such control over their chakra that it begins to embody their personality, but Naruto is definitely one of them.'
'That's…sweet,' Ruby smiled softly. Kurama just grunted in response.
"I should get ready to head out," Ruby muttered to herself. "Naruto should wake up in a few hours, and we don't know when Salem will be making her move."
As if on cue, the ground rumbled violently, causing Yang, Blake, and Oscar to all bolt upright.
"W-What was that!" Blake stuttered out, her eyes wide and searching for any possible threat.
"Salem is probably up to something again." Ruby gulped slightly. "Whatever it was, it sounded big. Let's go check in with Ironwood."
There was a lot of rustling around as they all gathered the gear they'd hastily discarded in their excitement for some sleep.
"How're you feeling, Ruby?" Yang asked after pulling on her jacket.
"Good," Ruby said with a nod. "Great, even. Kurama said he let a little bit of Naruto's chakra leak out of the ring while I was sleeping, and that helped my aura along. It worked wonders."
Yang frowned slightly, "Yeah…well that was still a stupid thing to do. I hope it was worth it."
"What happened?" Blake asked. Her and Oscar had passed out the moment they laid their heads on their pillows.
Yang filled the two in, and it didn't take long for them to look at Ruby in exasperation.
"You were already exhausted Ruby!" Blake said with a sigh.
"I know, I know!" Ruby threw her hands up. "But look, it sounds like Salem is hitting us hard again! Imagine if we had to hold out for another eight hours or more!"
Sure enough, the distant sounds of battle had ramped up once more.
"Let's just go see how we can help." Oscar said suddenly, cutting the potential argument entirely. Ruby and Blake nodded, and they all quickly ran out to where they knew the central command room was.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
'Things have started up again,' Qrow thought to himself. 'With my luck, it's only bound to get more complicated.'
On cue, the large screen on the wall lit up, displaying a message that a worldwide broadcast was about to be made.
"What is this?" Raven asked, rising to her feet from Naruto's side.
Qrow smirked, "The cranky bastard actually decided to do it?"
"Is this…the message from Amity?" Weiss asked, her attention falling away from the scroll for the first time in about five hours.
"Looks like it," Taiyang shook his head. "What is Ironwood trying to put out there? We are already under enough stress as it is. The rest of Remnant doesn't need to be dealing with that right now!"
"Well there's something different now, isn't there?" Qrow's smirk quickly turned into a grin.
"Greetings, Remnant," Ironwood's voice sounded out. Everybody quietened to listen to the man who appeared on the screen. He truly looked haunted in this message, as if he was saddened to be the one to reveal this information to the world…which he probably was.
"The Kingdom of Atlas…no…Mantle and Atlas have been working tirelessly the past few months in order to establish these few precious moments of communication to impart a warning to all of the world. This world we live in is plagued, and not just by Grimm that you all know of. We are plagued by an even crueler thing that pulls the strings behind the curtains. Salem…an evil, powerful witch that has tormented Remnant for thousands of years. She is immortal, and thus, has never been truly able to be stopped…until today. Remnant has been blessed with a man, allowed to come to this world by the brother gods themselves. I don't have time to explain everything, just that he will be able to stop her, and to show you the power this man not only holds, but that he is capable of nurturing from others."
"Show them?" Qrow cocked an eyebrow.
The screen changed, showing recordings. Clips of Naruto defeating the Ace Ops ran through the screen, followed quickly by his fight with the sins, obviously captured by drones from afar, but very much giving the video a feel of authenticity to it. Then, after a few minutes, the fight with the sins ended and changed to the gates of Mantle where Goliath were bearing down on the group of soldiers protecting the gate. The screen split, showing the battlefield as well as a zoomed in image of a red figure appearing behind the soldiers a split second before a blinding light encompassing both videos completely.
When the light faded away, the exhausted soldiers and Ruby Rose were all that remained, with Ruby herself looking every bit the savior as her bright white and red rose petals flitted around the soldiers. From the ariel view, Team TRQ and Weiss could even see that the rose petals were gentle floating around the soldiers, almost as if embracing them protectively.
"Wow," Taiyang breathed out. "Is that really my little Rose?"
"She looks like Summer," Raven whispered, a rare spark of emotion shining in her eyes.
"Over a dozen Goliath gone in a flash…" Qrow smiled gleefully. 'I guess he wasn't kidding about getting them on a different level.'
As if on cue, Yang and Blake made their appearance, jumping into the fray and tearing through grimm as if they were nothing.
"And I'm stuck here with a scroll?" Weiss whined slightly.
The screen cut to the same field, but obviously quite a bit of time later. Clouds rolled in the sky, and a pink bolt of lightning struck somewhere in the battlefield, only for the figure it struck to light up in the same pink glow and launch an impossibly powerful beam at the large whale like grimm in the sky.
"That man," Ironwood appeared on the screen again. "He isn't from this world, yet he cares for us and puts his life on the line to end the evil this witch has plagued us with for millennia. He bonded with and took on nine students, and taught them how to fight like him, how to protect the world…like he can. Salem has plagued us for centuries, yet we finally have a way to beat her. It is impossible to describe how I feel…being the one to break the biggest secret in the world, yet also tell you that there is hope…But I promise you, we will defeat her. I just ask for all of your support. Atlas and Mantle are under attack. We are fighting with everything we have, and it is entirely possible that we will lose here. We may have to evacuate and regroup. Word will reach you all of the results of our battle soon enough, and when it does, I ask that you give us the support needed to take the fight to Salem. Because after we regroup…it will be our turn! It will be our turn to make sure that what happened at Beacon and Vale…what is happening here right this very moment, will never happen again!"
And just like that, the video ended, and the tv went dark once again.
"Short, sweet, and to the point," Raven nodded. "Inspiring to boot. It seems he is convinced we will be evacuating though. I suppose it'll be Vacuo."
"The fighting has seemed to start back up," Taiyang frowned as a distant explosion reached their ears.
"It picked up quick," Qrow scowled. "We should be helping."
"This is more important," Raven said dismissively.
"I got it!" Weiss suddenly yelled out. All eyes snapped over towards her as she looked over the scroll. After another moment the girl let out a squeal and rolled it up.
"I have to go meet up with my team!"
"How…important is that scroll exactly?" Qrow asked before she could go too far.
"Very," Weiss said firmly, tightening the scroll against her chest. "I need to get it to…my team. This could be the difference between Salem winning or losing."
"Then one of us should go with you," Qrow frowned. "Emerald and Neo could be anywhere, and while you could probably hold your own, you aren't supposed to use a bunch of chakra, are you?"
Weiss bit her lip thoughtfully, "No…I'm not."
"I'll go," Taiyang shrugged. "The closer to my daughters I am, the better."
"Fair enough," Raven nodded. "Qrow and I will stay here with Naruto."
Taiyang again shrugged uncaringly, and motioned Weiss to the door, "After you Ms. Schnee. Let's get that scroll where it needs to go."
Weiss nodded, and the two left the room at a brisk pace.
As soon as they exited the room, Weiss pulled out her scroll and dialed Ruby's number as they continued their brisk pace towards the exit of the building.
Ruby answered quick, and though there was a massive amount of background noise, Weiss still heard her well enough to hear the question.
"What's up Weiss?"
"It's done," Weiss quickly replied. "Where are you guys?"
"Really?" Ruby's excited voice echoed back. "We are at the South West shelter. We are getting ready for evacuation. It should start any moment now. Salem's whale thing just landed outside the wall and it spit out a bunch of Grimm. The fleet is holding the horde back now but they are ordered to depart for Vacuo as soon as the gates appear."
Weiss let out a breath, "Alright, Tai and I are on our way. We will be there in a few minutes."
"Wait!" Ruby shouted over the scroll. "Go by foot. It'll take longer but Salem has the skies covered. The fleet isn't able to focus on the smaller Grimm flying around."
"Got it," Weiss nodded. "See you soon."
With that, she hung up the phone and exited the building, Taiyang following closely behind. They quickly broke out into a jog, hoping to get to their destination as quickly as possible.
"You guys have been pretty tight lipped about that scroll ever since Naruto went out," Taiyang quipped from beside her after a while. "Wanna clue me in on it?"
They ran another two blocks before Weiss answered. "It's supposed to release the seal binding Kurama and Ruby together. Once we are done with that, nothing will be keeping him inside her."
Taiyang's eyes widened, "Oh…Yeah I can see how that would be important."
They rounded a corner, neither taking notice of two figures bleeding into view from a nearby rooftop.
"This is where we part ways," Emerald said dismissively. "Her partner and dad are definitely going to Rose. I've got my own fish to fry."
Neo grinned maliciously. The message was conveyed perfectly even without any words spoken.
Happy Hunting.
Thoughts? Concerns? Flames?
Let me know what you all think! If I'm right, next chapter should have the last bit of what would be Volume 8 in it. Although I could be wrong...might leave yall on anohter cliffhanger. Who knows! :D
On a more serious note, I'm truly excited to get into this part of the fic. Although I find myself coming to a crossroad very soon, I'll ask you all about your opinions on that when we get there. Hope the new year is treating you all well, and have a fantastic week!