Coeur Al'Aran was the beta for the original Auburn and helped me immensely during a period when we were both just getting started. Cover Art drawn by confections101 and a link to it is on my profile page. Jefardi is the one who finally kicked my butt into gear to do something about this story I had almost given up on.
Auburn
Alive
Ruby didn't even bother to wait for the others to join before she charged Shirou Schnee. She didn't care how she had to do it, she was going to make him pay for what he did to Jaune.
"Ruby, wait!" It wasn't so much that she ignored Weiss' screams of protest so much as it didn't even register. Her Semblance had already activated and she appeared in the air behind the headmaster.
Crescent Rose whirled and swung in a downward arc. Shirou didn't even turn around. He merely stepped to the side and she stumbled from his unexpected dodge. Years of training kicked in and she spun the scythe backwards to maintain her balance and switched from swinging at him vertically to horizontally.
The katana came up intercept and the Dust dial landed on the red canister. Their weapons clashed and an explosion resulted in Crescent Rose being knocked back. In the same motion, Shirou's attack continued and switched to the green dial. She raised her scythe and blocked the strike with the long shaft. Almost immediately, the weapon's weight doubled and her knees buckled.
While his sword was still making contact with Crescent Rose, Shirou's upper body twisted unnaturally and his elbow stuck out, catching Ruby in the side of the face. Her head jarred painfully to the side and vision flashed white. Before she was capable of recovering, he stepped within her guard and kicked her in the back of the ankle. Her whole world flipped upside down as she spiraled through the air.
She landed smack on her back and let out a horrid cry. When her vision returned, the katana was flying right for her neck. Halfway towards its goal and a white glyph appeared. The katana slammed into it, unleashing another explosion upon impact that rebounded upwards as Weiss' glyph held strong. Shirou's already wide grin grew wider as his attention turned from her to Weiss. "You've been improving considerably since we last spared, my little niece."
She didn't even respond as her sword blasted a bolt of lightning. Shirou's katana switched to his own yellow Dust dial with impossible speed and blocked the lightning. The bolt went flying in a completely different direction where it struck the wall of the canyon and caused a large section of it to splinter apart.
Ruby took the opportunity to roll away and no sooner did she do so than Nora entered into the fray from directly above. "Take this!" Nora whooped as she slammed Magnhild down.
Shirou jumped backwards and easily dodged, Nora's hammer slamming nothing but ground. A pink explosion sent pieces of rock in every direction and caused the whole pillar to buck and teeter. She immediately ran around the explosion and gave chase. "Nora!" Ren landed behind the headmaster and raised Stormflower, pulling the trigger. The dial of the katana landed on bright blue and he waved it behind him, creating a wall of ice that shielded him from the barrage of bullets.
"You okay?" Ruby's attention was torn away from the battle as Weiss jogged up with a concerned scowl.
"I-I'm fine." The younger girl mumbled in embarrassment as she attempted to get back to her feet. She only managed to get to her knees before Weiss grabbed her by the elbow and helped her the rest of the way up.
"We need to attack him together, you dolt." Her tone was firm but not harsh and Ruby found she couldn't bring herself to look at her partner out of shame. She had charged in head first, determined to make Shirou pay, and she had been bested and nearly killed in as few as three moves. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Ah!" Ruby gave a startled cry when Weiss pinched her forearm. "I'm listening, I swear I'm listening!" She nodded vigorously and finally turned to her partner.
"Good." Weiss nodded as she placed her hands on her hips and shifted her gaze back to her uncle. Ruby followed her to see Nora destroy Shirou's wall of ice. He was retreating while Nora kept charging him with close ranged combat and Ren supplied her with cover fire. The two of them were incredible! They were actually forcing him backwards without giving him any room to counter.
"We're going to support Ren with ranged fire. Valkyrie's hammer is our best possible shot at destroying his scroll simply because she doesn't need to land a direct hit. This whole thing depends on us being able to back my uncle into a corner so she can finish this." Weiss raised Myrtenaster up and switched the dial to her light-blue Dust.
"Ice Flower then?" Despite the fact that Ruby had her doubts about this plan she decided not to argue and instead go along with it. She had blundered once already by charging in head first. She just really hoped Nora was capable of handling Shirou with nothing but covering fire for support.
"That's a good suggestion." Weiss apparently didn't share any of her doubts as she created an ice glyph directly in front of them. Ruby hesitated another second. Should she really not say anything? Weiss knew her uncle better than she did but Ruby had never been tossed around that effortlessly before in her life, not while she had her scythe in hand anyways. She just didn't feel comfortable letting Nora fight in close combat by herself. "What're you waiting for?"
Weiss's words spurred her into action despite herself and she mounted the blade of Crescent Rose into the ground. Readying the bolt-action rifle, she aimed the barrel at Shirou while being careful to keep it within Weiss' glyph. It was difficult to get a clear shot as he continued to dance around all over the place while dodging Nora's hammer and Ren's gunfire.
Finally, he paused and she fired several shots, each one echoing with a loud bang across the canyon. The shots passed through Weiss' glyph and turned bright blue as they were filled with the energy from the ice Dust.
Shirou glanced sideways and Ruby could almost swear she saw him smirk. He skipped backwards and dodged her first couple shots and they struck the ground, creating spikes of ice each time and limiting the amount of area he could flee.
Her eyes narrowed and she continued to fire, her and Ren continuing to push him into a corner with their combined gunfire. Finally he landed just shy of the edge of the pillar and his sword created a wall of ice, effectively trapping him but at the same time protecting him from their barrage.
"Valkyrie, now! Knock him off the ledge if you have to!" Weiss commanded.
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" Nora sprinted for the wall of ice and raised her hammer. When it came down there was another pink explosion that rocked the pillar and sent shards of ice flying as the smoke billowed, completely obscuring their view.
Weiss let out a sigh of relief and Ruby could actually see her visibly relax as silence settled over the area. If Ruby didn't know any better… she would say her partner had been afraid, terrified even. Was that why she hadn't even once engaged Shirou in actual physical combat? Even when she had saved her, she had done it with a glyph.
"My, my, my. That was quite the idea you came up with, little niece." Weiss' shoulders went rigid, Shirou's mirthful tone calling from within the crystalized smoke. "It's too bad that you made it painfully obvious what you were attempting."
Ruby's eyes flung to the source and widened in shock as Shirou calmly strolled from the smoke. He held Nora by the throat and had her hoisted above his head, her feet dangling a solid foot off the ground. She was weakly grabbing at his arm, only a small gurgling noise managing to escape her mouth, her hammer lay on the floor just behind him.
"Nora!" Ren and Ruby called simultaneously and raised their weapons to fire.
"Nuh, uh, uh." Shirou shook his head turned her just enough to obscure Ruby's view. "You wouldn't want me to use poor Miss Nora as a meat-shield, now would you?" Ruby scowled and lowered Crescent Rose. He was right of course, she couldn't risk hurting Nora.
"W-what are you going to do with her?" Weiss took an uneasy half-step forward and this time Ruby could see the actual fear in her eyes mixed with the uncertainty. She really had no idea what it was that her uncle might do to their teammate.
"Hmm... decisions, decisions." Shirou tapped his sword on the ground, making a loud shrill tink each time. Ruby felt disgust well in her stomach and could almost feel the urge to vomit at the gleeful way he spoke as he got seconds closer to suffocating her. "I could always just stab her in the heart. Make her death nice and quick. I was going to do that to Mister Arc earlier, but unfortunately the other students voted that idea down."
"Just let her go!" Weiss' voiced cracked as it turned pleading and she took another step forward, hand extended. Ruby could do nothing but look back and forth between the two of them.
Ren, meanwhile, stood completely still, his emotions almost apparently in check. Didn't he care that about his partner? Weren't they childhood friends? If no one else was going to do something then it was up to her. "Why are you doing this to us? This isn't how Huntsmen are supposed to act! Don't you feel anything?"
Shirou let out a chuckle that caused Ruby's very skin to crawl. "You glorify the idea of Huntsmen far too much. You think their life is all about honor and chivalry? It's anything but that and I've got news for you; you signed up for this life. I'm doing you all a favor by showing you just how brutal this job really is."
Nora's hands slipped from Shirou's arm and fell to her sides as she lost the strength to struggle. "Well, I guess time's up. It's a shame, I really liked this girl too." The dial on his katana switched to the red canister and he finally released Nora's neck.
Before she even hit the ground, he flipped his sword and swung it, catching her with the blunt end. Upon impact a cone-shaped explosion enveloped Nora and she was sent rocketing off the pillar and towards where Sun and the wounded were, her body leaving a trail of smoke as she travelled.
"Nora!" Ruby flinched as someone roared her name so loudly it overshadowed the noise of the explosion.
She didn't even recognize the voice until she saw Ren close the gap between himself and Shirou at speeds even she wasn't capable without her Semblance. His magenta eyes were alight with rage so fierce that Ruby didn't even think the stoic boy was capable of. She felt bad for even questioning if he cared for his partner before now.
He swung both parts of Stormflower and they collided with Shirou's sword, creating an explosion that formed away from both of them. The katana was battered aside from the strength of Ren's blow and before he even fully recovered, the younger man pivot on one foot and brought his other leg high in a spinning kick.
Shirou blocked the strike with his forearm but grimaced and stumbled back. Ren had... he had overpowered him in a physical exchange! "Weiss- We have to help him! We can still gain the upper hand!"
Nora could still be okay, she had to be. Sun and Neptune already leaning over her. It was up to them to defeat Shirou now for her and for Jaune.
She took a couple running steps towards the two fighting men but paused when she didn't her partner join. She turned back around to see Weiss still standing completely still, her eyes staring straight ahead, but clearly not seeing anything that was happening.
"Weiss!" Ruby ran back to her and grabbed her hand, startling her back into reality. She glanced down at the younger girl and then she glanced past her to where Ren and Shirou were still battling. "Help us fight him." She pleaded. "I know you're scared, but-"
"W-who says I'm scared of him?" Weiss recoiled indignantly and the denial shown in her eyes.
"Then prove it Weiss. Help me. Help Ren. Or did you forget what he did to Jaune?" She felt bad for pushing her partner like this but she needed her right now. Without her, they didn't stand a chance against Shirou.
"I didn't forget... it's just that…" Weiss' eyes darted back and forth as she tried to think up an excuse. Ruby was hardly a patient person and her partner's indecision was starting to annoy even her. She had never imagined a situation like this where it would be her getting frustrated with her. It was always the other way around.
"I'm going." She declared, cutting off Weiss' excuse. "If you aren't going to help then you should just get off this pillar. Ren and I will handle this until Blake comes back." Without waiting to see how she would respond, Ruby turned around and activated her Semblance.
She appeared next to Ren and right in front of Shirou, already swinging Crescent Rose down. The headmaster jumped back to dodge her swing instead of countering like he had before. Neither student pursued and instead Ren raised Stormflower. Gunfire erupted from both guns.
Shirou created another wall of ice to shield himself and Ruby utilized her Semblance once again to sprint around the wall to the left. She stopped hard and spun Crescent Rose from a low angle. The katana was already up and blocked it. Electricity surged through her body and she saw he was once again using the yellow Dust canister. How was he able to switch between those so quickly? Her body locked up, muscles convulsing and going numb from the electric shock.
Ren ran around the other side of the wall just behind Shirou, Stormflower already in position to shoot him at point-blank range. Shirou's katana switched to the dark blue canister and he had already spun around while swinging his sword overhead before Ren had even appeared.
His magenta eyes widened in shock and Ruby saw his Aura activate as it began to shield him. The katana met his Aura shield and it seemed to just phase through the Aura like it wasn't even there. He could do nothing as the katana cut into his left shoulder and gouged a deep wound all the way down to his hip.
"Ren!" Ruby screamed in horror. She could only watch as he coughed blood and slipped to his knees. That shouldn't have been possible. Ren's Aura did nothing to protect him. The only thing that made sense was that the dark blue canister was filled with Anti-Aura Dust. It was supposed to be incredibly valuable and hard to acquire... but then again, if anyone could get their hands on it, it would be a Schnee.
If she wasn't still stunned from the shock his sword had given her earlier she would've used her Semblance to dash away. Instead she could do nothing as Shirou turned back towards her, smug expression on his face. He had seen through every move they were going to make. No matter what they had tried he was always one step ahead. It was stupid that they even thought they ever had a chance.
Shirou stepped forward and raised his katana to point directly at her throat. She was going to die. If his sword was really flowing with Anti-Aura energy right now he would cut through her without resistance. Her eyes locked onto Ren's as he slowly began to fall backwards. She could see all the anger and frustration now combined with regret at not being able to avenge his partner.
She wasn't going to let it end like this. Shirou stabbed and her convulsing muscles screamed in protest, but she managed to swing Crescent Rose high enough to block the strike. She stumbled back, but by some miracle managed to keep her footing.
"You certainly are a tenacious one." He looked down on her with crystal-blue eyes. She despised the look in them. They were filled with hatred, hatred at the entire world around him. She finally understood exactly what kind of a person he was. Life had clearly done something cruel to him and in turn he was determined to make life cruel for others. She hated that kind of thinking. It was because life was cruel that people needed to be there for each other! This was why she wanted to become a Huntress. She would never accept him as a Huntsmen. He was not the ideal she was striving for.
"I'm not going to lose to someone like you. Huntsmen have a duty to protect people." She declared as strongly as she could. Feeling was returning to her body again as the numbness faded. She just needed a couple more seconds and she would be fighting capable again.
Shirou let out a snort. "Keep spouting lines like that and you'll end up exactly like Mister Arc in short order."
Anger surged through her body at his words and she raised Crescent Rose in preparation to charge. The moment before she could and Weiss called out. "Ruby, you dolt! Don't take his bait!"
A glyph appeared directly above Shirou's head and Weiss jumped over the ice wall and landed on it upside-down. She pointed Myrtenaster at the top of his head and lunged. He skipped backwards and she slammed into the ground, burying her rapier halfway into the hard rock surface.
"Weiss!" Ruby couldn't believe it, she had actually jumped into the fray herself. The Heiress turned to her and she gave an apologetic but determined smile.
"Get Lie Ren out of here. I'll hold my uncle off long enough for you to come back." She charged at him not even a moment later. Ruby almost ran after her. She knew how hard it was to fight him on your own, but she also knew Ren needed immediate assistance. He had collapsed and was now unconscious, blood flowing freely from the large, gaping wound. The young girl burst into roses as she grabbed him and took the wounded boy to safety.
She would make this quick.
She wouldn't leave her partner alone for long.
Weiss did her best to calm her erratic breathing as she faced her uncle one on one. Myrtenaster trembled in her grip and she fumbled with the dial on the hilt.
"You're looking kind of sickly there, dear niece." He chatted amicably, causing her eyes to narrow. "Maybe I should take your temperature? Would hate to have you come down with a cold." Unlike her, he stood completely relaxed and the katana hung limply at his side. She knew better than to think he was full of openings. It was when he took that stance that he was at his most dangerous. His eyes could already see everything she could possibly do before she would even do it.
If she had any chance of defeating him she was going to have to overwhelm him with the sheer versatility of her rapier. The only problem with that was his sword was equally versatile. Add to that he had years of physical combat experience on her combined with his unfair Semblance.
"If you aren't going to entertain my witty banter with anything more than a glare then I'm assuming you mean to actually fight me. In which case, I would be more than happy to make the first move. It's not like this is a practice spar from the old days, this is a real life and death battle." He took a step towards her. Weiss' eyes widened and she had to keep her mouth clamped shut lest she let out an undignified shriek.
Myrtenaster thrust forward and a red Glyph formed directly in front of Shirou's path. A pillar of fire rose and she flinched internally at the blunder. She had used the wrong Dust canister and had unintentionally pumped too much Aura into it, wasting her valuable resources.
To further her chagrin, the pillar of fire was almost immediately encased in ice that was then shattered by Shirou's katana. Not only had it been a waste, it had been completely worthless in so much as hindering him.
"You're not even going to be fun to fight if you don't put up a better struggle than that." Her uncle sighed and she could almost feel his disappointment wash over her. It wasn't even disappointment at her, but at the simple fact that she wasn't going to amuse him like this. "Hopefully your partner comes back quickly. I was really looking forward to breaking her."
Her body reacted before her brain had even fully processed what he said and she lunged at him, flame Dust enveloping her blade. Shirou's smirk returned and he blocked her thrust, ice Dust cancelling out her fire and the two weapons merely clanged loudly off one another.
Weiss glowered daggers at him as she stepped to the side and thrust at him from his right. His katana swung from below and knocked her sword upwards. She immediately activated a Glyph above her hand that forced her sword to thrust at his eye.
He tilted his head to the side and her strike sailed over his shoulder. He was now completely within her guard and his sword swung at her midsection. Another Glyph appeared and blocked his slash.
They both then jumped backwards before stepping forward, her in another thrust aimed at his heart and his aiming to knock her rapier aside.
She anticipated such an action and just before his sword met hers she created another Glyph directly between them. His sword struck the glyph and she smirked victoriously as her rapier continued on uninterrupted.
At least it should have but ice sprout from the edge of Shirou's blade and wrapped around the Glyph. It latched onto her sword, halting it. She growled in frustration and pumped more flame Dust into her sword to melt the ice and immediately drew back.
She created a Glyph that launched her backwards and she landed a couple feet away. Her uncle didn't bother to press his advantage like she had expected and instead he remained where he was. Same stupid grin on his face. It infuriated her to see it.
"What?" She snapped at him.
Shirou chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh nothing. I just don't think I've ever seen you react so strongly before. Has my little niece finally found someone she cares about besides her big sister?"
"Shut up!" Her grip on her sword tightened so much she could feel the blood flow to her fingers cease to circulate.
"I wonder if that love extends to your other teammates? Does it just eat you up inside to know that because of me your precious leader died?" If he appeared amused before he looked to be having an absolute riot now. Red crept in from the edge of her vision and an angry buzzing began to fill her ears.
Shirou chuckled and talked over the incessant noise in her head. "If you end up surviving this, I could probably arrange it so you got made the leader. I bet you would just love that. You probably thought of him as pretty useless anyways, knowing you."
"You're wrong…" Weiss mumbled under her breath.
"I'm sorry." Shirou extended his head forward and cupped a hand over his ear. "I didn't catch that."
"You're wrong!" She bellowed and created a red Glyph in front of her that immediately launched half a dozen fireballs from it. Once again, Shirou created a wall of ice that intercepted the flaming orbs before melting to a puddle at his feet. "What do you know about how I feel? I haven't seen you in years!"
He didn't know anything at all. Jaune Arc... he was anything but useless. He was someone she respected. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized she actually meant that thought. That blundering, blond idiot had earned her respect. Why was it she didn't realize that until after he had already fallen to his death? Why was it her Uncle of all people that made her realize it to begin with?
"Hang on, Weiss!" Ruby bounded across the gap and landed next to her. "Sorry I'm late, I was checking on-" Ruby's words died in her mouth as she stared at Weiss' face so intently she wondered if there was something amiss. Had her uncle landed a cut without her noticing? "Weiss… are you crying?"
Huh? She didn't understand. What was Ruby talking about? Her hand darted up to her face and she felt something wet just below her eyes. She pulled her hand back but didn't see any red. Was she really... crying? And for Jaune of all people?
Ruby's confusion turned to wrath as she spun on Shirou. "What did you say to her?"
"I'm hurt that you assume it was me." Shirou placed a hand on his heart in mock-pain.
"Who else would it have been?" She unhooked Crescent Rose and unleashed several Dust rounds. As each one reached him he cut them in half with a simple swing of his katana.
"Ruby, enough." Weiss rubbed her eyes dry and placed a hand on her shoulder. She just remembered the most important thing about all this. Her uncle was a master at weaving words to make people angry. It was how he fought. It was what amused him the most. If they were going to have a chance against him they needed to remain calm.
Who was she kidding? She couldn't even look at him without trembling in either fear or anger. And Ruby? She let her emotions dictate everything she did. Calm was pretty decisively out the window. That really only left one option. They needed to be faster than he was. If she combined her Glyphs with Ruby's Semblance they might just have a chance.
She held a hand to her mouth so her uncle wouldn't see what she was saying." Ruby, I'm going to charge in first. Once I give you the signal, I need you to charge at him with all you got. We're putting this all on one hit." Weiss bit her lip before she continued, unsure if she really wanted to say the next line. Ruby was nodding along to the plan so far. She sighed in resignation. "No matter what happens. Don't charge until I give the signal."
Ruby gave her a nervous glance. "W-what do you think is going to happen?"
Silently, she turned away from her partner. She would honestly rather not think about it. "Hopefully, nothing." She raised Myrtenaster to eye-level and sprinted forward. She moved with such speed she appeared to just glide across the surface and closed the distance between her and her uncle in only a second.
"You're really going to try this again?" Shirou stepped to the side as she thrust forward. She sailed past him and stopped hard. His katana swung at her exposed back and she ducked under the strike. While still doubled over, she twirled Myrtenaster around so it was pointed backwards and stabbed behind her.
Her strike flew towards his pelvis and he was forced to twist out of the way to avoid it in time. She spun on her heels and tilted her rapier towards him once more and thrust at his chin. His katana swung down and intercepted the strike, knocking both of their swords aside.
Just after this exchange, she felt the Aura that she had been previously melding reach its potential. She was ready to put her plan into action. Her dial switched to the white canister and she tilted her sword so it was pointed straight up. A dome of small Glyphs surrounded Shirou and herself.
A Glyph formed beneath her feet and launched her upwards. She flipped in the air and landed in a crouch on one of the Glyphs above. Energy flowed into her from the glyph and with more power than before she thrust and towards her uncle. He bent sideways and barely managed to dodge her as she passed by. But she was just beginning. She flipped and landed on another Glyph in the dome, the same thing happening as before, that Glyph sending her flying back towards the centre.
Shirou raised his katana and she grazed the blade. She landed on yet another Glyph and grinned when she spun around to see he had lost sight of her. With each successive kick-off she was gaining momentum and he was beginning to lose track of her now. She kicked off and he turned around just in time to block.
When she landed on the next Glyph she finally realized something was wrong. While it was true she was gaining velocity her sword was starting to feel like a lead block in her hand. Her eyes widened as they locked on Shirou's Dust canister and saw it was set to green. He was using density Dust to weigh her down!
It was too late to stop now. She grit her teeth in irritation as her Glyph ejected her back towards him. He smirked widely and she knew he had her right where he wanted her all along. Their swords clashed, doubling the weight of hers. With so much added density she began to sink. Before she was able to fly past he grabbed her by the back of the neck.
She was helpless to do anything as he forced her head down and smashed her face-first into the hard rock at their feet. Her vision flashed white and red as she struggled to maintain consciousness and still hold onto Myrtenaster. Legs flailed haplessly behind as she tried to return to a standing position and her right hand attempted to push herself off the ground. Her uncle continued to push down on her neck, keeping her from doing either. "I do kind of regret doing this. Just felt like you should know."
"L-liar!" Weiss growled and glared at his feet out of the corner of her eyes. Most of her vision was obscured by the earth but it didn't actually matter anymore. "You're enjoying this."
"Maybe a little." He thought he had won. She was about to show him not to underestimate her. He didn't know that just outside the dome of Glyphs she had placed a trail of more Glyphs leading right to them starting at Ruby. If she combined her Semblance with the boost from them she would undoubtedly be too fast for even him to block. Even better, he was using one arm to pin her while he kneeled on the ground.
"Ruby, now!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She couldn't see her partner but she heard her Semblance as it activated. Not even tenths of a second later she heard her scythe arching through the air, aiming to dismember her uncle. She didn't feel the least bit guilty about the fact that they were about to permanently maim and put an end to his career. Maybe he would think twice before being a pompous jerk next time.
Her thoughts of victory were cruelly shattered as Ruby let out a cry of anguish, the young girl collapsing to a heap in front of Weiss' vision. The momentum from the attack continued to carry her forward and she tumbled and rolled another couple yards before finally skidding to a stop just short of the edge of the pillar. Crescent Rose clattered and landed next to her and she immediately began struggling to her feet. Her silver eyes locked with Weiss' and she could see the shame she felt at having not been able to fulfill her role.
Weiss wanted to call out to her and tell her not to feel ashamed. Ruby had performed her part splendidly but her uncle was simply just too far skilled for either of them. She couldn't call out to her though a combination of immense pain she was feeling and the simple fact that she was practically eating the dirt beneath her right now.
"I think you underestimate Prediction Line just a little too much." Shirou lifted her face off the earth and tilted her head back so she could look into his eyes. As always, the pure hatred she saw in them frightened her to the core. "You really think I wouldn't see Miss Ruby well before she even appeared? I mean, did you honestly believe I placed you exactly in this spot by coincidence? You didn't think it might have been because it was the perfect place for me to strike her with my hilt before she could so much as swing at me? I barely had to even move. Her own momentum caused most of the damage. Just look at her."
He tilted her head towards Ruby and she saw her partner collapse back to the ground before giving a small heave and throwing up the contents of her stomach. Damn it all. She felt self-disgust well up in her stomach as she looked at the sorry state her plan had put the poor young girl in. She had been far too stupid to think any plan she thought of had a chance of besting him.
"Well, at least you made this entertaining." Shirou sighed dejectedly and before Weiss could prepare herself he slammed her face back into the ground. She groaned into the earth as he finally released her neck and got back to his feet. She didn't have the strength to even try to move. Her Aura had protected her from some of the damage but that did little to mitigate the dazed feeling she got from being slammed twice into the ground.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Still, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you out at least until morning." Shirou switched the dial to the Anti-Aura Dust. "Can't have you trying to interfere any further." She tried to glare back up at him but she couldn't raise her gaze above his knees. "I will have fun breaking your partner while you're out." Weiss froze at his words. "The young optimistic ones are always the most fun to watch as they slowly give into despair. It's too bad you won't be awake to watch it happen."
"...Uncle!" Now he was going too far! If he thought she was going to just stay down while he tormented her partner and friend than he had another thing coming. She would never allow him to do it. Despite barely being able to move, her hand reached forward and grasped the cuff of his white pants.
"Oh? Still got some fight left in you after all?" Shirou asked mockingly and she grit her teeth in anger. Never in her life had she wanted to murder him so badly as she did right now. Even after all the things he had done, she usually understood his reasonings. Right now... she couldn't understand him at all and she didn't want to understand.
She struggled to her knees but just as she finally got to one her uncle's other foot swung out and struck her in the gut. She gave a ragged cough and collapsed back to the ground. Yet her grip on his pant-leg remained firm. She couldn't stay down. She wouldn't stay down.
Ruby needed her right now. If she went down, he would destroy her. Weiss would rather die than let him take another one of her team.
While still clinging to her uncle her other hand fumbled for the red canister on Myrtenaster. Her uncle may have been tough but even he wouldn't survive if she detonated the remaining flame dust she had left. True she would get swallowed in the explosion as well but if it was to protect Ruby… she would gladly make that call.
Fortunately for her, she never had to.
A pair of sneakers landed directly in front of her face, their appearance causing her to shriek and release the grip she had on her uncle's pant-leg.
Clang
Metal struck metal as the owner of those sneakers crossed swords with her Uncle. She never got the chance to see who, someone else picking her up and the ground flew away as she was carried off from the immediate battle and right next to her partner.
"Weiss, Ruby. Are you two okay?" She recognized that voice... it was Blake! She turned to her black-haired teammate as she gently sat her on the ground next to Ruby.
"You... you're back!" She looked like she had fought an army of Grimm. Her clothes were littered in holes and stained with blood. Was she really okay? If she was just going by her expression alone then she would say she looked fine, confident even. What the heck had happened to her while she was gone?
Blake smiled at her and Ruby. "You two just focus on recovering until you're ready. Leave him to us for now." Us? Who was this us?
Ruby stumbled to her knees and Weiss turned to see her staring with wide-eyed disbelief ahead of them. She followed her gaze to see who it had been to save her from her uncle and was now engaging him in combat.
They landed on scraggly blonde hair and her expression immediately mirrored her partner's. There was just no way... it was impossible. Yet there he was.
He was covered in blood and not a small amount of it either. There was a big gaping hole in the back of his orange shirt. A welt was visible through his blond hair and a fresh pair of scars on his right forearm. But he was undoubtedly very much alive.
Jaune Arc was alive.
Yang grunted as she grabbed a Beowulf by the head and snapped its neck. She had run out of Dust shells just a few minutes ago and was really starting to feel the strain from not having them. It wasn't just her either and that was the more apparent problem.
All around her the other students were beginning to get sluggish as they continued to do battle against the never ending onslaught of Grimm that continued to descend into the canyon. Just how many hundreds of these damn things did they have to kill before they gave up already? Was that whistle really so damn annoying that they would risk utter annihilation to stop it?
An Ursa landed on the vine directly in front of her and she gave it a feral grin as it roared viciously. No rest for the weary she supposed and sprinted to meet it head on. It might not have been the best strategy given her current circumstances but she didn't know any other way to fight.
It swung one of its mighty claws at her and she met it halfway with a punch of her own. Her fist smashed into its paw and forced its whole arm to bend backwards at an unnatural angle. Fortunately, her Semblance was nearly in full effect right now so she didn't need her Dust shells. It was also draining her Aura really quickly. She couldn't fight like this for long.
The Ursa roared in pain and stumbled back. Milo then flew over her head in javelin form and speared the Grimm in the throat. It toppled backwards dead. "I totally had that one!" She groaned as Pyrrha ran past the side and pulled Milo from the corpse.
Her partner gave a short glare, having none of it. "You're fighting too reckless, Yang. I can't risk something happening-" Her breath hitched. "happening to you too." Yang grimaced. Pyrrha was clearly quite affected by what happened to Jaune down there. It seemed like she even blamed herself.
Yang couldn't say she understood, but then, she also hadn't been here.
"Pyrrha!" Sun's excited voice crackled through the champion's scroll and Yang turned to it questioningly. Her partner looked equally confused as she pulled it out and clicked the mic on.
"Sun? Are you okay?" She asked in hurried concern. Yang kind of doubted any Grimm had made it down that far. There were simply too many students up here for the Grimm to bother descending any lower. Had that nutty headmaster done something?
"He... he's back! Holy shit, I can't believe it!" Sun sounded like he was practically jumping around while talking. Yang arched her eyebrow as she met Pyrrha's eyes. They were filled with shock and trace amounts of hope.
"Back? What're you talking about?" Her voice quickened and breath became short.
"Jaune Arc! He's freaking alive and he's fighting that nutjob again!" No way. Yang couldn't believe it. Pyrrha didn't look like she could either as she collapsed to her knees and her scroll clattered onto the vine at their feet.
"Pyrrha!" She rushed to her partner's side and knelt down. Fortunately, there were no Grimm immediately on them as the rest of the students fended them off. "Hey, are you okay?"
"He... he's alive." Pyrrha choked out and she saw tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes.
For once, Yang didn't even know what to say. The elation on her partner spoke for itself and there wasn't anything to add. Besides, she didn't exactly get time to think on it when she heard - or rather felt - the force of something massive flap its wings.
She and everyone else tilted their heads to the sky to see something so absurdly large it temporarily blocked out the moon and cast them into darkness. "That... can't be good." Yang mumbled as she slowly got back to her feet.
Whatever it was, it was now descending down towards them and its shape was beginning to become much more clear. It was some sort of lizard-like Grimm with wings that spanned wider than the gap of the canyon. A long barbed tail swung behind it and it opened its serpent-like mouth to let out a roar so powerful it shook the very earth as it dive-bombed them.
"Grimm Dragon." Pyrrha whispered darkly as she also got back to her feet.
"What's the strategy, partner?" Yang shared a nervous glance with some of the other students as panic began to settle in. This Grimm rivaled the Chimera in size and if she had to guess, probably in power too. Ordinarily she figured they would be able to take it just fine with this many of them but this was hardly an ordinary circumstance.
They were all about spent on Dust ammunition which meant they couldn't hit it with ranged fire and there were still dozens of the smaller Grimm still flooding down on them at a time. Once this thing landed, all Hell was about to break loose. She normally preferred some excitement in life but this was starting to become a little ridiculous.
"I'm thinking." Pyrrha's grip on Milo and Akouo tightened as she stared up at the Dragon that was getting closer every second and Yang could practically hear the gears in her head as they whirled while trying to think of a plan. Once again the Dragon opened its mouth and an orange light flickered in the back of its throat.
"Whatever strategy you think you've got, I know I have a better one." Yang grabbed her partner by the elbow and yanked her towards the edge of the vine.
"W-what?" Pyrrha gasped in shock and struggled to keep up with her.
"Isn't it obvious?" Yang asked before sucking in as much air as she could so she could yell at the top of her lungs. "Everyone get the Hell down!" She jumped off the edge of their vine and pulled Pyrrha with her. They began to fall into the darkness of the canyon beneath them.
It didn't take the others more than a second to scurry after her once the Dragon released a powerful breath of fire that burned the entire top row of thorny vines.
"We've got no choice but to head to the bottom." Yang yelled as she landed in a crouch on another vine. Wild orange flames above them lit up the whole canyon and she could practically see all the way towards the ground level thanks to them. With a loud crash, the Dragon smashed into the burning vines and sent some of them tumbling down after them.
"What about the injured?" Despite Pyrrha's protest she began running down the vine they were standing on with the rest of them.
"There won't be any injured if that thing gets to us!" There would just be a whole lot of dead. Half of them her ass, if Shirou's game didn't end soon they were all going to die.
"Come on, Captain Atlas…" She mumbled under her breath.
He had made the impossible happen once by coming back from the dead.
Was it too much to ask for him to do it again?
Chapter End
AN: The Grimm Dragon was both in the original and wasn't. I wrote this whole thing before Volume Three aired and came up with my own Grimm that I called Wyvern and while it was aesthetically a little different, it was meant to be a Dragon. Now that the Grimm Dragon is a thing, I just changed it to be that.
Next time is the finale to this game of life or death.