You better find a comfortable place to read because this is a long chapter.
OH and some of the scenes are a bit graphic, so if you don't like blood and violence then you might not wanna read this chapter all the way through.
The town was old and decrepit, if it weren't for the people walking among her broken roads Summer would've been sure it was abandoned. She promised to call Ozpin as soon as she arrived, but after 3 days worth of hiking she wanted nothing more than a warm shower a soft bed to collapse on.
Due to the town's small size, Summer easily found the only hotel available. If it weren't for the bar she was sure the building would be locked up and out of business.
Chatter emanated from every corner of the room when she entered. She held her head up high and proceeded to the tiny receptionist. Some of the patrons took notice of her and smiled hungrily. She instantly thought back to the time Qrow scared off the creep for her. An idea formed in her head.
She purposefully brushed aside her cloak to reveal the sword tucked underneath the white cloth, immediately the men turned away in fear. She held back the urge to laugh at them.
'Wait till Qrow hears about this,' she thought amusedly to herself. Even if she wasn't sure of his condition it still felt nice to pretend that they'd be meeting up soon.
"Yer a tough woman," the old man said on the other side of the table. His cheeks were red and an empty wine bottle was on the table.
"I just want a room." Summer said curtly, placing some cash onto the table. "I'm not here to cause any trouble."
"I ain't afraid of people, young lady. I'm only scared of Grimm." The man took the money and stuffed it somewhere under his desk. "Those nasty things have really messed up this town."
"Grimm, eh?" She rested a single arm on the table top. "Care to tell me more about it?"
"That depends on what you wanna know," the man narrowed his eyes at her.
"Locals can be stubborn and defensive about their problems," she remembered Qrow once saying. "I know Oz said we should try to prove our legitimacy to them but I prefer to use bribery. It saves time and it benefits everyone."
"I'm a professional huntress." She slipped an extra few bucks toward him. His eyes lit up at the extra cash and eagerly swiped it off the counter.
'Who knew you'd help me out like this, bird brain?'
"The Grimm wasn't always this bad. We had a few cases of 'em attackin' people, but it was never somethin' serious." The man began, stuffing the money into his pockets. "Lately they've been gettin' bigger, stronger and hungrier. It ain't easy gettin' tourists to come here and those evil bastards don't help."
"When did this start to happen?"
He shrugged while digging around under his desk. "Several months ago I think. We had 'em hunters come to fight but they came back injured, some dead. Others just flat out disappeared."
Summer barely noticed the keys flying at her face, she caught it just before they could hit her.
"That's all I know." He concluded. "Yer room is upstairs, first one on the left." He pointed to a dark entryway at the corner of the bar.
"Thanks, sir." Summer turned to leave when the man spoke again.
"Y'know, you remind me an awful lot of someone who stayed here recently. They were huntin' Grimm as well."
"Really?" Summer looked back with burning curiosity. "Were they a man?"
"Yeah, tall, black hair, red cape and a massive sword." Summer's heart quickened at the description.
"What happened to him?"
The man shrugged," he just stopped showing up one day. If you want my opinion I think he died like all the others."
Once she was finished showering, Summer changed into her sleepwear and cuddled into her bed; it felt like she was in heaven the moment her head hit the pillow. She decided to call Ozpin first before sleep got the best of her. They briefly discussed the Grimm she encountered and quickly came to a consensus that she'd investigate the mountains Qrow was last seen at.
"I need you to be prepared, Summer." Oz warned. "Anything could be up there."
"I know, but I'm not afraid." She answered confidently. While it was true the Grimm she'd encountered so far had distorted bodies she wasn't bothered by them. It'd take much more to make her tremble in fear.
"I'm not just talking about the Grimm. I'm talking about Qrow and what might be left of him." Oz elaborated gently.
Summer turned to her side and pulled her knees up to her chest.
"You may be desensitized to Grimm but you're not immune to the death of a friend. I just want you to be mentally prepared."
"I'll try to be as prepared as I can." Summer said though she was unsure of how well she'd be able to live up to her words.
"Try to get some rest. You'll need your strength for tomorrow."
She was plunged into silence once she disconnected with Ozpin. Muffled laughter from the drunk patrons below filled in the noiseless void. Summer was tempted to call back home before sleeping. Her finger hovered over the call button for several minutes before she ultimately exited the screen.
"They're probably busy." She reasoned to herself out loud.
The laughter from below grew louder. A part of her wanted to go downstairs and see if Qrow was among the crowd, but she didn't want to give herself any false hope.
Her finger navigated to her scroll's photo album and she pressed on the oldest collection of photos. Her eyes were instantly flooded with pictures of her old dorm and team.
She forged through the photos, each one leaving behind a bittersweet taste. She eventually came across the first proper photo she snapped of Qrow. He was in the middle of eating lunch when she successfully captured an image of him. He wasn't too thrilled with the picture but Summer kept it on her scroll despite his complaints.
She scrolled further down the album. More and more silly pictures of Qrow showed up as Summer started to really know him. From their late night hangouts on the roof to random outings, everything was documented and frozen in time. It wasn't long before Summer reached the last picture. It was at their graduation. Her entire team surrounded her for a group picture. She remembered having trouble fitting everyone in when Qrow snatched the scroll from her hands.
"Let someone tall handle this." He had said jokingly. Everyone but Summer laughed at his remark.
A yawn escaped her lips," guess I should sleep." She muttered, placing the device on her nightstand.
She snuggled deeper into her blankets and peered out the window, the moon stared back at her with silver brilliance.
Memories from Beacon flooded her mind, from prank wars to planning the best approach to victory. She could still recall the ghostly laughter of her friends and the pointless arguments they'd sometimes get into. All that joy she'd felt during those days were nothing more than a whisper now.
She suddenly felt very cold.
Summer turned away from the window and closed her eyes. Falling asleep to the blurry days of carefree bliss and ignorance.
She got up as soon as the first drop of sunlight diluted the darkened sky. Summer packed a few essentials, such as extra food and water, before heading out. If she planned to hike up the mountains she'd need to have an early start.
She kept her guard up all the way through the lush forest. She made sure to check in with Ozpin every so often, he seemed more and more concerned the closer she got to Qrow's last known whereabouts. The sun was high above her by the time she reached the exit of the dense forest. Before her was an open, rocky path. The mountains were covering half the sky at this point. Red flags popped up left and right in her mind, she was practically a sitting duck in this environment.
She ducked behind one of the nearby trees and peered down at her scroll.
"This is where Qrow was last," she confirmed with a frown. "He probably would've flown past this area to avoid detection...but still." She peered out from behind the tree trunk. "It's really easy to spot a bird flying through the area."
She examined the barren land one last time before forcing herself out from the refuge of the tree.
"If he's out there I need to find him." She placed a firm hand on her sword and walked forward.
Though the land was quiet and peaceful Summer refused to let her guard down. She kept her ears strained and eyes on high alert. The colossal rocky formation was getting closer. Cracks and crevices gradually came into focus. Summer's heart nearly dropped at the lone black creature scaling up the mountainside. She gingerly lowered herself all the while keeping her eyes locked on the Grimm and hand gripped on her sword.
It was human-like in feature, but its movements were twitchy and erratic. The Grimm also had an unusually long neck and head that laid on its skinny shoulders. The Grimm was walking on a narrow pathway snaking up the side of the mountain. Summer had a sneaking suspicion more were up there.
She studied the nearby terrain and clicked her teeth with annoyance. It'd be foolish of her to take the same path as the Grimm, but there weren't any safe paths she could take around it. Even with her semblance's help, it'd be difficult to reach and safely perch onto the surrounding ledges.
"Dammit, looks like I have no choice."
A sharp cry overhead caught her attention. With one swift movement, she drew her sword, twisted around and fell into a fighting stance. Three griffon-like Grimm were flying quickly toward her.
At least now she had an idea of how Qrow might have been ambushed in his avian form.
"Don't look down, don't look down." Summer chanted to herself.
Getting to the ledge was already hard enough, there was an unusual amount of Grimm loitering near its entryway. After exhausting most of her energy fighting the Grimm, Summer had the ordeal of navigating across a narrow ledge. Even with her small build, the only way she could safely get across was to shuffle with her back pressed against the mountain.
She decided she'd just use her semblance to navigate the rest of the way up if she saw any more flying Grimm. Luckily they seemed to be absent at the moment.
Summer focused her eyes forward and kept shuffling, her breath hitching each time the pebbles under her feet crumbled down the mountain's bump walls. If felt like hours had passed till she saw a small cliff ahead. She hastily hurried the rest of her way to the ledge.
"Oh thank god." She dropped to her knees once she was safely on the cliff. She noted the only cave opening in the mountain's wall beside her.
She shakily looked over the edge and nearly had a heart attack. The Grimms below looked like nothing more than ants. If she had slipped anywhere along the way she would've undoubtedly plummeted to her death. She scurried away from the ledge and looked behind her. The hole in the mountain's wall made her skin crawl. She couldn't imagine anything nice waiting for her inside.
She reached for her scroll and immediately clicked on Ozpin's number.
"Summer, are you alright?" He answered right away.
"I'm fine," she breathed.
Ozpin remained silent as she told him about her new discovery. She decided to change a few details of her dangerous journey to the cave, though.
"I see," Ozpin commented once she was finished. "It seems like there's a high possibility that Qrow is inside...along with Salem if she's there."
"I'll be going in shortly." Summer informed him, her free hand trembling by her side.
"Be careful, Summer. Assuming it's Salem we're dealing with, you'll need to be prepared to take on anything."
"I-I know."
"And remember, call upon the silver eyes if you get overwhelmed. Not even she can escape them without some severe wounds." Ozpin paused for a second. "Good luck. I look forward to hearing from you in the future."
The cave was cold, damp, and straightforward. As far as she could tell, there was only a single path to go down. Summer used her scroll's screen as a dim source of light. She held her sword in a constant ready position and examined every corner, half expecting a Grimm to jump out each time. She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a flickering amber light up ahead. Summer reluctantly put her scroll away and gingerly tiptoed her way to the light source.
Her hands were trembling and her breaths heavy. She expected to come across a chamber full of misshapen Grimm or perhaps the workshop of Ozpin's greatest enemy. Instead, she discovered a hallway. Unlike the path she was on, it was much wider and branched out to three different directions, each lit up with flickering torches.
Summer carefully entered the light and examined her options. She was immediately drawn to the dried brown streak mark on the pathway to her right.
'Blood,' she concluded to herself. She didn't think twice to follow the blood trail.
It was here that she finally ran into some of the most terrifying Grimm she'd ever seen in her life. Some here mixed concoction of humans and animals, others looked like a science experiment gone wrong.
She'd run into them in the halls, find them sauntering out of opened rooms or hiding behind a corner. If it weren't for her years of training and lightning fast reflexes she would be dead.
She continued to follow the blood trail until it led her around a corner where a slender, mustached man was locking up a metal door. Summer suppressed a gasp and retreated behind the corner before he could notice her. She heard keys jingle accompanied with footsteps walking away from her. She swallowed and gingerly poked her head out.
She examined the metal door and then the man, Qrow's bloody sword was held in his hand. As the puzzle prices fell together Summer's panic skyrocketed.
Without a second thought, she burst into rose petals and rocketed toward the man. He noticed her a second too late, she first plunged her sword into his leg. It'd make it difficult for him to walk and look for backup but it shouldn't kill him. Then, while he was still recovering from shock, she hit him hard on the back of the head. He collapsed, unconscious but not dead.
She searched his body until she found the set of keys in his coat pocket. She fidgeted hastily with the keys until she found the correct one. With a click, the door creaked open.
The room smelled of iron. Summer covered her nose before walking in.
It seemed more like a torture chamber than a prison cell. Various long swords and torture devices hung from the walls with a single bloody chair at the room's center. A man was sprawled on his stomach at the base of the chair, blood streamed out from him like a tap. The man was not Qrow.
Regardless, Summer knelt next to the man and gently turned him onto his back. She could still hear his wheezing breath.
He appeared to be a young hunter, most likely a few years younger than Summer. It was evident from the numerous cuts and bruises on his body that he suffered for days, most likely from a sword or whip, before someone plunged a knife into his chest. Some of his injuries were fresh.
Despite her years of combat and training, the man's excessive injuries made her want to vomit. It sickened her to know that someone had the nerve to inflict so much pain on another human being.
The man squinted his eyes open," what...do you want?" He wheezed venomously.
"I'm a huntress," Summer simply told him. "I-I can help you."
The man studied her skeptical you before relaxing. "Thanks...but we both know I'm...a goner."
Summer winced at his words.
The man grinned weakly at her," you're brave to...to just walk into a place like this...unharmed."
"I..." She didn't know what to say. Telling him that she was here for someone else would just be rude.
"Look...there's someone else...here with me." He said as if reading her mind.
"Who? Are they still alive?" She tried not to sound too eager.
"Some guy...named Qrow...I don't know if he's still alive...they said something about taking him...to the chamber...whatever that means."
'There's still a chance,' a voice screamed in her head. 'I can still save him!'
"He...he might ask for me if you...find him alive. Just...tell him they finally...offed me."
She didn't like how easily those words tumbled out of his mouth. As much as she wanted to help him there was nothing she could do.
"Is..is there anything I can do for you?"
"Nah...I'm just happy...I'm not dying alone..."
His breaths grew more strained, more desperate until finally, his body gave up. She broke into tears, gently closing the man's eyes before getting up.
She stepped out into the hall. The mustached man was still unconscious, Qrow's sword laid by his side. Summer knelt down and searched his body again, hoping to find some sort of map or blueprint of the facility. The only thing that seemed worthy of help was his scroll.
She scanned through the scroll's content, through messages and emails until she found what she was looking for. After pinpointing her location on the map, she found the quickest route to the "Grimm Chamber".
She jumped up to her feet, picked up Qrow's sword and proceeded on her way.
"This is what happens when you go against our Goddess, little bird." A scorpion tailed man taunted in what appeared to be an announcer's booth. He was seemingly oblivious to the presence behind him. "I can't wait to see your guts ripped out!"
Summer tightened her grip on Qrow's sword. She was ready to charge at the man when he bent backward and sneered at her.
"Why hello there, little lady. Sorry to keep you waiting." His crazed yellow eyes brightened at her surprise. "Did you come for our poor little bird?"
"Shut up," she raised his sword and fell into a fighting stance. The man continued to laugh.
"Oh that's cute," he pointed to Qrow's weapon. "Fighting with a dying man's sword. How romantic." Summer glared at him.
The man took a step forward, his smile widening," I remember your pretty little face from his scroll, little rose. I bet he'd be happy to know you came here to see him take his last breath."
"Be quiet!" She lunged at the Faunus and swung the blade downward, her opponent leaped out of the way at just the last second.
"Ooh, the little girl knows how to fight." Summer doubled back as blades protruded from his wrists. He took that as a queue to attack.
Qrow's blade was heavier than Summer was used to thus she wasn't able to move as fast as she'd like. Nonetheless, she was able to defend and attack with it effectively.
"Once I defeat you I promise you'll meet the same fate as your lover." The Faunus continued to taunt. "He was a tough one, never betraying Oz even in the most...painful situations."
She thought back to the dying man and the numerous cuts and bruises on his body. Anger and pain flared to life as she pictured the exact same injuries on Qrow.
"Enough!" She threw the sword at her opponent, while it failed to impale him did successfully knock one of his wrist blades off.
He cursed at the unfortunate ordeal and lunged at her with his remaining blade. Summer withdrew her own sword and parried his attack. He leaped back, scorpion tail whipping out of annoyance.
"And the rose has thorns," he scoffed. "You're not bad, little flower, but you're nothing compared to my Goddess."
He bolted toward her again, widened eyes screaming for bloodshed. Summer promptly leaned away from his incoming blade and burst into rose petals, slicing him across the stomach as she flew by.
"Fuck!" He stumbled back, cradling his new wound.
Summer sheathed her sword, scrambled to grab Qrow's weapon and made a mad dash into the announcer's booth. She took quick notice of the door controls on the panel and slammed her hand down on the close button.
"Fucking bitch!" She heard a bullet go off from behind.
Within seconds she fell to her knees, a burning pain ripping from the back of her left thigh. Angry pounds accompanied with gunshots emanated from the other side of the closed, metal doors.
Using Qrow's sword as a support she hoisted herself up onto her good leg. She rested her body weight on the sword and peered out the window of the small booth.
She could clearly see Qrow at the centre of the stadium-like room, laying on the floor unmoving. Surrounding him were dozens of locked metal doors. She couldn't bear to imagine what was waiting for him on the other side of those doors.
"Qrow!" She screamed. He gave no response. She tried again but he remained motionless on the other side.
She felt a part of herself die.
"You idiot," she cried. Gathering as much energy as she could, Summer transformed into rose petals and broke through the glass.
She cried out in pain as she landed, glass shards rained behind her like water. She nearly collapsed, with tears burning her eyes, as pain shot out from the bullet wound and through the rest of her leg. Her heart quickened when she heard a groan accompanied by rattling chains. Summer hastily wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand. When her vision cleared she noticed Qrow was stirring back to consciousness, the shackle on his leg rattled from his disturbance.
"Qrow!" She forced herself up onto her good leg limped as fast as she could to his side.
His head perked up at the sound of her voice. Qrow groaned and sat himself up with a grunt. When he turned to face her she noticed his shirt was ripped and torn, revealing old and fresh cuts adorning his chest and abdomen. It was evident someone had purposefully dragged a blade through his flesh before throwing him in here.
"Summer?" He stared at her incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here? How did you-"
Summer dropped to her knees and hugged him tighter than anyone she'd ever hugged before, she only lessened her grip on him when he winced in pain. She buried her head into his shoulder and allowed the tears to come pouring down.
"I...I thought you died." She bawled. "I-if this is a dream I-I never want to wake up."
"Idiot, you shouldn't have come here. There's a reason why I want to go on these missions alone." He gently returned the embrace.
Despite their situation, she felt safe in his warmth. For the first time since she embarked on this mission, Summer felt like everything was going to be alright.
"And that's why I'm always so worried about you. I-I can't just stay home and let you sacrifice your life for...this."
"We're not the same. Yang and Ruby still need you. Tai also-"
"They need you too." She clutched onto his shirt. "Yang and Ruby have been waiting for you to come home. They miss playing with you...I miss you. You're family to us, bird brain. Whether you like it or not."
He didn't say anything, though she felt his arms tighten around her. She wanted more than anything to stay in the comfort of his arms, to convince herself that this was in fact reality and he was still alive.
She reluctantly broke the hug," there's so much I want to tell you, Qrow." She wiped the remaining tears dry on her sleeves and hoisted herself up. "First we need to get out of here."
She swung Qrow's sword onto the chain binding his leg to the ground. It took several tries before she could successfully free him.
"Thanks for the save, Summer." He winced in pain as he got up to his feet. "But how exactly are you planning to leave? This place is massive."
"I may have borrowed an evil moustache guy's scroll." She winked, handing him his sword back.
"Nice to see you haven't lost your touch."
She pulled out the stolen scroll, searching for the most efficient path out when the sound of creaking metal caught her attention. One of the metal doors were opening. Qrow cursed, the sword in his hand promptly transforming into a scythe.
"Humph, it's about time these little brats learned their lesson."
Summer turned her attention to the announcer's booth. The man she's knocked out earlier was staring back at her with vengeance in his eyes.
"Can't we rip them apart ourselves?" The Faunus, who was out of sight, asked the man.
"The Queen wants us to feed her pet. We'll let it do the dirty work for us."
"We don't have time for this," Summer put away the scroll and withdrew her own sword. "What's in there?"
"I don't know," Qrow began backing away from the now open. "All I know is that it was supposed to kill me."
"Not on my watch."
She mimicked Qrow's actions while keeping her eyes locked on the cage in front of them. A warm breeze emanated from the seemingly empty cell. Summer fell into a fighting stance the instant two red eyes shown from within the darkness. The ground trembled as the beast inside drew closer and closer.
"Fucking hell," Qrow snapped as the colossal creature came into view. "Are you kidding me?"
The doorway was barely big enough for the Grimm to walk through. It resembled a hippogryph, it's eagle-like head nearly reached the ceiling as it straightened itself up. Black liquid oozed from its half-folded wings, leaving inky droplets on the ground.
Summer was trembling on the spot. Their chances of being crushed by this gigantic creature were uncomfortably high. They had to be crazy to fight it. The Grimm let out a high pitched scream, its ferocious cry shaking the mountain they were in.
Summer purposefully inched closer to Qrow until their arms were practically touching," we can't fight this." She said to him once the creature finished its uproar.
"We don't have a choice."
"Yes we do," she stuffed the stolen scroll into his pocket. "There's a map of this place in the photos. I'll keep this thing distracted while you look."
"What?! Are you crazy?"
"I'm not going to make you fight in your current condition," she said, wincing as she pressed more weight on her injured leg. He shot his hand out and held onto her arm before she could crumble from pain.
"At least I'm strong enough to walk. Look, I'll fight the Grimm while you get to safety."
"No, I'm not going to lose you-"
The two were forced to separate as a black talon came crashing down on their former spot. Summer's sword transformed into its rifle form. She took quick aim at the Grimm's eye and pulled the trigger. Her bullet caused the creature to screech in pain and stumble into the wall, resulting in more debris to rain down from the ceiling. She smirked at the hit and transformed her weapon back to its sword form.
"Hurry up and find a way out!" She ordered Qrow just before bursting into rose petals.
She circled around to the Grimm's hooves and sliced one of the legs. She bolted out of the way before the Grimm could step on her. Summer repeated this process several more times. Though her injury still burned like acid and her body was at its very limit, she pressed on. As the creature's thrashing grew more erratic, the coliseum trembled and larger bits of debris came crumbling down.
At one point Summer sliced off the top of the Grimm's wing. Before she could run to safety one of its talon swiped at her, successfully throwing her across the room.
She smashed into the wall, it felt like every bone was crushed on impact. She felt herself sliding toward the ground and braced for impact. Before she could face plant into the rocky surface Qrow caught her by the waist.
"Dammit, Summer, if you die I'll never forgive you!" He gently rested her back against the wall.
"Ouch," she groaned. "I think I broke a rib or two."
"I think a few broken ribs is the least of your worries." He swiftly shot up and blocked the talon coming in at their right with his scythe.
The Grimm howled in agitation. It wrapped its claws around Qrow's blade and threw him across the room. Summer held her breath as she watched him fly helplessly through the air. Fortunately, he was quick to react and transformed into his avian form just before smashing into the wall. Summer exhaled and relaxed.
From there he transformed back and forth, dropping down from the air to slice the Grimm and escaping through flight. The tremors grew intensified alongside the Grimm's anger, bigger bits of debris and rocks came falling down. The Grimm was also starting to leave large indents in the walls and even managed to crush nearby locked cells. It was evident that they were either going to succumb to the Grimm's wrath or the collapse of the arena.
'We're never going to get out of here at this rate.' She thought grudgingly.
Using the wall as a support, Summer pulled her aching body up from the ground. She whimpered in pain, it was like tiny needles were poking at her open wounds. She didn't realize how badly she was hurt until she saw the large red stain on her white cloak. She tore her gaze away from the bloodied cloak and back on the Grimm.
The creature, that was now resting one of its hooves on the ground, cried out one more time. The sheer amount of falling debris forced Qrow to return to his human form. Summer felt some larger rocks bounce off her head, intensifying her already head-splitting headache.
The last spark of hope she had of escaping the facility crumbled.
The black liquid that's been spilling around the battlefield was now stirring, giving birth to new humanoid Grimm. Qrow immediately started to fight against the new horde all the while barely able to defend himself from the giant Grimm's attacks.
At the corner of her eyes, Summe saw a group of humanoid Grimm heading toward her. When she tried to ready her sword she crumpled down, her small movement shot fire into her injuries. She knew she had no chance of fighting them, and Qrow was certainly going to run out of energy soon.
She glanced back at him, he was struggling to break free from the crowd of Grimm. One of the humanoid Grimm snuck up behind him and bashed on the head. He tumbled to the ground, red aura sparking to indicate depletion. The colossal Grimm took quick notice of his downfall and raised its talon up to land one last fatal blow.
A cry ripped through Summer's throat. Then the world turned white.
Last two chapter will maybe come out tomorrow. If not by tomorrow then on Friday.