AN: Well, it has been a hot minute, hasn't it? I have excuse here, this chapter has been done and up on Spacebattles for two months.

My new years goal? Get Grave a recommendation on TV Tropes.

- X LINE BREAK X-

Jaune sat, leg jumping up and down.

Where were they? He hadn't heard anything from either Velann and Darmus or Thoras in the past month. What had happened to getting him a weapon? The Mak'Rogahn was today.

"Jaune, calm down. If worse comes to worse, you can borrow Miló."

"He won't have to."

"Ruby!"

The silver eyed Highlord walked forward, Crocea Mors in hand.

"Sorry this took so long to get back to you. It isn't an easy process reducing the scale of runes, and once Darmus was done I wanted to add my own set, which took even longer, but now it's done."

Ruby handed the blade to Jaune, who drew it from the brown scabbard.

Two sets of patterns were inlaid on the blade, one was in gold that seemed to glow with an inner light, geometric angles danced along Crocea Mors. The second set was

… cruder, a deep red, the lines made a set of arcs.

"Darmus gave you a lot of basic stuff, blade is sharper, tougher, lighter, just an all around improvement. He's working on giving some to the shield similar ones, hence the temporary sheath."

Jaune swung the blade, noticing the lack of weight, and the new pommel.

It ended in a half moon, like his emblem, with a yellow gem held in it.

"What's that?"

"Some Lighting Dust, if things go badly in a fight you can break it off and detonate it. Plus the pommel itself is weighted, so you could probably brain someone with it if you tried hard enough. Channel Aura into your hand and run it along the blade."

"...Ok."

Jaune hesitantly moved his hand towards the edge.

"The flat of the blade."

Jaune sighed in relief, and did so.

The red runes proceeded to glow brighter, and the whole blade shimmered.

"Jaune!"

Looking up, Jaune saw a book flying at him, and did what came naturally, he swung Crocea Mors.

The sword cleaved through the book like a hot knife through butter.

Then he registered the heat.

Looking at the singed edges of the book, he glanced down at Crocea Mors, shimmering with heat.

"Fire runes across the whole thing, the more Aura you pour into it the hotter it gets."

"Should we be worried about damaging Crocea Mors?" Pyrrha asked.

"It doesn't get that hot. I actually stole this from an old Paladin I worked with a couple of times, Thoros. He used to coat his swords in oil and light them up, completely wrecked the blade, but I won't argue the results."

Ruby stepped up, and pulled Jaune into a hug.

"Ruby."

"Listen to me very carefully, I wouldn't have put you in this scenario if I didn't think you could win it, and I did everything in my power to sway it in your favor, but I think someone else is trying to make sure you lose."

"Why-"

"Because two days ago, you were set to go into the ring against me in a private match watched by the teachers at Beacon. Yesterday, it got changed to a match against Cardin in the Vytal arena before the first match of the tournament. It took everything Ozpin and I had to get you Crocea Mors. Hell, we'd both be in hot water of they found out I was here. Someone is trying to make an example out of you. Don't let them."

"Are you sure I can do this? You said it yourself, I don't have much training."

"Neither did Donovan Lancaster, and while I'd rather see the bastard burn, there's no denying he's one of the best damn warriors I've ever seen. You can do this."

Ruby broke the hug, straightening up.

"Good luck, now I need to be going, Team RWBY has the first match and we need to plan."

As Ruby walked towards the door, she seemed to fade from sight.

Jaune looked at his upgraded sword, before looking at Pyrrha.

"How long until the first match?"

"Three hours."

"Then we better get started training."

Pyrrha nodded, before grabbing Miló.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Yang sat on her bed, waiting for Ruby to get back. Blake was, as had become customary for her, sprawled out on her bed, asleep.

Weiss was looking down at Myrtenaster, a look of worry on her face.

The door creaked open, and Ruby stepped in.

"Blake! Blake! Wake up!"

Blake slowly sat up, stretching, before turning her head towards Ruby.

"Hm?"

Ruby pulled out an envelope, "This, is who we will be fighting in a couple hours."

"Oh," Blake sat up straighter.

Rubu quickly slit the envelope, "Team RWBY will be facing Team… SSSN? How do you pronounce that? What color is SSSN?"

"Dunno."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough, consisting of… Sun Wukong, Scarlet David,Sage Ayana, and Neptune Vasilias."

"I know the first one."

"Really? Who is he?"

"The blond haired Faunus who helped us at the docks."

"Who?"

"The 'degenerate'?"

"Not ringing any bells."

"How-"

"Twenty years, Blake. Penny's lucky I recognized her, and from what little of that I can recall, she blew up a Bullhead. What do you know about him?"

"He uses a bo staff that can split into a pair of nunchaku or shotguns."

"Right then, we'll deal with that when we come to it. Weiss, will you be able to support us with Dust?"

The white haired (ex)heiress didn't respond, rotating between the chambers of Myrtenaster.

"Weiss? Everything alright?"

"I'm almost out."

"Of Dust?"

"Yes. I must have used too much during training."

"Then we'll have to head out a bit earlier to pick some up."

"We'll be lucky if we can, Dust has been running low for the last month."

Weiss worried her lip, before speaking, "I could ask-"

"-Your father? Yeah, not going to happen."

"Ruby, I can't fight to my full potential without Dust, I refuse to give Team RWBY any less than my best."

"Well, I refuse to let you degrade yourself by going and begging him. Even if you did, there's no way he could get it here in time."

"I don't want to be a problem."

"Weiss, you're not a problem because you don't have access to Dust. Listen, do you have anyone you can call to try to get you some that isn't your father?"

"Yes, my sister, and the family butler, Klein."

"Try to call them, meanwhile me and Blake are going to try to find some, Ok?"

Weiss nodded, and Ruby gestured for Yang to follow her out of the room.

"I want you to stay with Weiss while she makes the calls, ok?"

"You don't think that she'll call her dad, do you?"

"I hope not, but, better be safe than sorry."

"Ok."

"Thanks."

Yang walked back into the room, where Weiss was futzing with her scroll.

"Come on, let's go make those calls."

-X LINE BREAK X-

"Doctor Polendina? The patient that General Ironwood asked you to look over is here."

"Yes, yes send him in."

Geppetto looked up from his current design, waiting for the door to open.

James had personally asked him to look at this case, the first one since Penny had been 'born'.

The door opened, and Geppetto's new patient limped into the room.

The blond haired young man was leaning on a hand carved cane. Blue eyes flickered around the room.

"Doctor Polendina?"

"Yes. And you are Anduin Wrynn?"

"Yes."

"Right, let's see what's wrong, up on the table."

The young man moved to it, and Geppetto's eyes softened. He hated seeing people like Anduin, couldn't be older than twenty, and it was clear he had been using that cane for a while.

Geppetto wheeled himself over to the side of the table as Anduin rolled up his pant leg.

"Pretty bad, right?"

"I've seen a lot worse."

Both statements were true. Geppetto had seen much worse during his time with the Atlas military, but Anduin's leg was pretty bad.

From the mid thigh down to just above the ankle, a mass of scar tissue made up his leg, the knee probably wasn't capable of bending anymore.

Crushed limb. Crash? No, something else.

"Why wasn't this amputated?"

It was a valid question. The injury that caused this would have had to be horrific.

"We weren't close to an experienced doctor, and they didn't want to risk me bleeding out."

Barbaric, they're lucky this didn't get infected.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Five years ago."

"And they didn't amputate at any point!?"

Of all the irresponsible things! An injury like this had to be keeping Anduin in constant pain.

"What were your parents thinking!?"

Five years. Five years. He ought to give them a piece of his mind!

"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father wasn't exactly the best at things like this."

"Wasn't?"

"He died. Three years ago."

"Ah."

Geppetto busied himself with examining the leg.

"Well, I have good news, and bad news."

"Let's get the bad news out of the way."

"There's no saving your leg. This long, and with this much damage, there's nothing we can do."

"I figured as much."

Well, he had a better head on his shoulders than most people sent Geppetto's way.

"The good news is that General Ironwood is pushing for you, so we'll probably have you in physical therapy by the end of the month. After that, I honestly don't know, it changes from person to person, but probably somewhere in the range of a couple months."

"Ok."

"Good. Now lie down. I need to get some measurements of your leg."

Geppetto grabbed a tape measure from his desk.

Time to do what he did best. Help people.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Jaune tightened his grip on Crocea Mors, standing across from Cardin.

"Ready to lose?"

"Not on your life."

Jaune waited.

One.

Two.

BZZZZ

The minute the buzzer went off, Cardin was on him.

Jaune brought his sword up to deflect the mace.

Compared to Lam'Guld, Cardin might as well have been a gnat. The mace was forced back.

Cardin grit his teeth, before swinging the mace even faster, harder.

Jaune stepped into the blow, letting his Aura take the hit, and drove the moon shaped pommel into the top of Cardin's skull, right above his right eye.

The mace impacted, but it was dulled.

Cardin staggered back, clutching the spot, waiting for his Aura to heal it.

Jaune wouldn't give him the chance.

The noise of the crowd was nothing but a quiet roar as Jaune stepped into Cardin's guard.

Aura was a great thing, but it didn't make you invincible, it could heal small wounds without a problem. Bigger ones, those were different, it would allow you to ignore broken bones and other structural damage, but the minute it was gone those came rushing back. Those took about a day to heal, faster than someone without access to their Aura, but a death sentence on the battlefield. It was one of the reasons why Huntsmen were assigned to teams, so that if it happened they had someone to recover them. It was also why Jaune chose his next move very carefully.

Part of his training had included human anatomy. The Knights were, at their core, killers. Created to crush the life from anything that crossed their path, and Lam'Guld had managed to drill a bit of that into his head.

Jaune had learned, he wasn't good at all out battle, one where they was no time to think or to improvise. But what he was good at, was tactics.

From his very first fight against the Deathstalker in the Emerald Forest all those months ago. Jaune had always been better when he was allowed to hang back, and think of a plan.

And he had a month to come up with this one. If anything, he was lucky he didn't have to face Ruby, because there was no way this would have work on her.

Crocea Mors lashed out, cutting through the skin of the wrists. Cardin's Aura quickly healed them, but Jaune's goal had been achieved. If everything else went according to plan, he had already won.

Cardin drove a foot into Jaune's gut forcing him back.

Jaune glanced up at the board displaying their Auras. Cardin was at 90%, he was at 95%.

Considering the rules were that they were going until one of them was unconscious, it shouldn't have been as important, but to Jaune, it was a countdown to his victory.

Jaune let Cardin steady himself.

"Was that supposed to stop me?"

Jaune smiled, "No, just testing your reflexes. You're a bit slow."

Cardin growled, before unleashing an onslaught of blows.

Not one of them hit Jaune. Compared to Lam'Guld, Ren, or Pyrrha, Cardin was just too slow.

Each strike sailed past Jaune, a few light steps was all it took.

Cardin stepped forward, and Jaune used it to his advantage.

A step and a half turn and he was behind Cardin, and Crocea Mors found its mark.

The wound healed, and Cardin spun. This time Jaune didn't have time to respond, and the mace crashed into his head.

Jaune felt the blood trickle down the side of his head and everything went black momentarily. The wound quickly staunched itself, But Cardin was already on him.

Crocea Mors danced, the runes lightening it to the point that the only thing slowing it was his own speed. A brilliant web of blue, gold, grey and red, blocking every attack from Cardin.

What had Ruby said about Cardin's weapon when they had fought near the beginning of the year? Titanium, with the ability to channel Aura to the tip. Strong enough to shatter a Deathstalker carapace. Jaune glanced up at the screen. From 95% to 70% in one blow. Cardin had stopped holding back. Well Jaune still had some tricks up his sleeve.

Jaune finally understood why the Knights had treated his gift like a joke. Most of them had no honor. Every underhanded tactic was allowed under their doctrine.

It wasn't something Jaune agreed with, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to use some underhanded tactics.

Jaune stepped forward catching Cardin's mace with Crocea Mors, and drove his closed fist into Cardin's nose.

Cartilage snapped under Jaune's knuckles, and Cardin staggered back, clutching his newly broken nose, letting Jaune catch his breath.

Jaune wanted to avoid using the runes Ruby added unless he had no choice, not only did they take a second to activate, but they used up some of his rapidly dwindling Aura.

Jaune unleashed his own assault on Cardin, slashing at him again and again.

Each blow ticked away at Cardin's reserves, but then Cardin made his move.

A foot lashed out, and Jaune's knee gave a sickening crack.

Jaune clenched his teeth, that wasn't good.

The mace smashed into Jaune's sternum, with a howling sound, and sent him flying.

Crocea Mors flew from his hand, and Jaune struggled to get up.

"Give up, you can't win."

Jaune looked up, past Cardin, and his eyes found his friends.

Yang and Nora were leaning over the side, yelling something that was lost in the din. Blake, Ren, and Weiss were in further back. Worry clear in their form. Ruby stood furthest away, her back to the wall, watching the match with an impassive look.

Then he saw Pyrrha, beautiful, kind, Pyrrha. So far out of his league that they might as well be on different planets, halfway down the steps, like she was ready to jump in and stop the match. Even from here, Jaune could see something glistening in her eyes.

A tear?

Jaune pushed himself up, looking at the screen again.

30% to 10%, it would be over quickly if Jaune lost that last bit. Cardin was between him and Crocea Mors. Cardin swung his mace, and Jaune threw himself out of the way as it howled its dirge.

Coming up from the desperate dive, Jaune dodged another blow.

It was all Jaune could do to get out of the way of each strike. He couldn't get to Crocea Mors. This was a losing battle.

Jaune growled. He wasn't going out like this. He may of snuck his way into Beacon, but he had fought for his place there, spent night after night training with Pyrrha.

Jaune dodged the mace again. What to do?

Glancing at the screen, trying to think 10% to 10%, how would he- wait.

Dodging another blow, Jaune looked again. 9% to 10%

He dodged two more. 7% to 10%

Cardin was reinforcing his strikes with Aura. Jaune dodged, again and again.

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

Cardin's Aura gave out with a shattering of black, and with it, the worst injuries returned.

Cardin's left leg gave out immediately, and the mace dropped from his hand as the tendons Jaune had severed earlier in the fight made themselves known. His nose started to become more inflamed immediately.

Walking forward, Jaune stopped before the head of team CRDL, and kicked him in the gut.

Powerless to defend himself, Cardin doubled over.

Another kick, this time to the head, and he was unconscious.

Jaune walked over to Crocea Mors, and picked it up.

Silence.

Not a single sound.

Then, two heavy gauntlets came together. A discordant clap. And the calm broke.

Thunderous applause split the air, and he could see all his friends rushing down to meet him.

Pyrrha reached him first, tackling him into a hug.

Quickly after, Nora joined in, dragging a reluctant Ren with her.

Yang came next, enveloping the four in a massive hug, while Weiss and Blake stood to the side.

Finally came Ruby, walking forward in her armor.

"Before we celebrate too much, why don't we get Jaune checked out, he's low on Aura and I'm worried about that head wound."

"Way to kill the mood, sis."

"Listen, I'll pay for drinks after we're done for the day, but we don't need him keeling over concussed, that would ruin the mood worse than I ever could."

Jaune allowed himself to be led hand first over to the medical station by Pyrrha. As they all moved towards it, Jaune couldn't help but smile as his second family joked and laughed.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Dudiir stepped off the ship with the Prophet. Resisting the urge to glare at the elves around them.

They weren't like the ones that had helped them after the Exodar crashed. These were the ones who attacked Tempest Keep.

Blood Elves, they called themselves. Fitting, considering that their leader had killed so many of his brothers and sisters.

The Prophet walked forward, meeting with the one eyed elf standing before them.

"Prophet Velen, I am Regent Lord Lor'themar, with the death of prince Kael'thas, I lead the Blood Elves," Lor'themar swooped into a low bow, "While I know it will never be enough, I extended the deepest apologies, from myself, and the Blood Elves as a whole, for the pain Kael'thas and his followers brought to you and your people."

"Do not degrade yourself by bowing to me like this, Regent Lord. You did not know what your prince had been doing, and, in the end, he was able to do what many other could not, and refuse the corrupting influence of the Fel."

"Yes, and he shall be remembered fondly for that. Nonetheless, not only did he cause many Draenei deaths while working with Illidan Stormrage, he also sent us one of the Naaru, and it shames me greatly to say we have not treated it well."

Dudiir stepped forward, "What did you do to him you-"

A single alabaster hand raised, silencing the Anchorite.

"You will forgive my student, he is young, and has a tendency to not think before he speaks."

Lor'themar nodded, "Would you like to see him?"

"Yes. That would be very helpful. Come, Dudiir, let us go see how M'ure is, shall we?"

Dudiir followed behind the prophet and Regent Lord. Quietly seething in rage. How [I]dare[/I] they? The Naaru were the most beautiful creatures in the universe, and they had hurt one! Why was Velen taking it so calmly?

Stepping into the area, Dudiir looked down at M'uru. His rage burst out, years spent watching the Naaru on Tempest Keep, his only passion, told him something was wrong.

"No, No, No, No! What did you do!"

Rushing down the steps, Dudiir looked up at M'uru. His Light had darkened almost completely!

"You monsters! How could you! You took one of the most pure, kind, beings in existence and tore the Light from it!"

Righteous indigestion welled up in Dudiir's chest, and be grabbed his staff, turning to bring the Light down upon these butchers.

Then M'uru spoke, a calming influence on the Draenei.

Calm yourself. We knew this would happen, and I was willing to face it.

"What- Velen."

Dudiir turned to his teacher, standing their calm, "You let this happen!? Why!?"

"Because it would help free the Blood Elves, and one life, even if that life is a Naaru, is worth paying to save a race from Kil'jaeden's grasp."

Velen stepped forward, looking up to M'uru, "Are you prepared for the last step?"

Yes.

Gently, Velen drew Light from M'uru, and the Naaru darkened completely. It took all of Dudiir's self control to not cry out as it happened.

One thousand years, it could take that long for M'uru to gain his radiance back.

Turning to a young woman who had been waiting there, Velen held out M'uru's light.

The man standing beside the girl spoke out, "Aveena, you don't have to do this."

The girl held the light close to her heart, looking down at it.

"But, I do. Compared to saving a whole race, my life isn't so big. Goodbye, Kalec, my love."

Aveena stepped into the muddy waters M'uru had hovered above, before the last fragment of the Naaru's Light entered her. She glowed with the brightness of a sun, before sinking into the water, which swiftly cleared itself, and released a pillar of Light.

"The Sunwell, it's been revived…"

"Come Dudiir, it is time we take M'uru and return home."

Kalec had left the room, and Dudiir heard a mournful roar from the sky.

"Today is a day of joy, and mourning, as I knew it would be."

Dudiir followed the Prophet back to the ship, the darkened form of M'uru behind them.

-X LINE BREAK X-

The first sign the Scarlet Crusade had that something was wrong was the silence. The undead of Acherus and Naxxramas had been toiling night and day, gathering bodies and bringing them to the two dread citadels. Now there was silence. Not even the horses made a noise. The survivors would learn that they had been the first to be killed, made into horses for the new Death Knights.

Then the fire hit, a sickly green, the color of rot ate building after building. Killing the inhabitants.

The guards rushed out weapons drawn, ready to kill the undead abominations, only the stop.

Standing before them was a giant, easily standing twenty feet tall, with a sword half that in hand.

"I thought, that I ordered your disgusting kind to be eliminated. Instead you survived, and have diluted the Vrykul blood. I,Ymiron, The Dragonflayer, will help my God finish what I started so long ago. Staring. With. You."

An arrow was loosed, only for the giant to catch it, snapping it in two with the smallest amount of pressure.

Ymiron swung his sword, bifurcating several crusaders in one swipe, their armor nothing compared to the Vrykul king's strength.

Despite this showing, the zealotry of the remaining crusaders pushed them onward to face the giant. Their cause was righteous, these monsters had corrupted their land, slaughtered their families, taken their heroes.

They would burn the Scourge with the flames of the righteous. If not today, not here, then soon, their brothers would avenge them.

And so, one by one, they threw themselves at the Dragonflayer.

-X LINE BREAK X-

In another part of New Avalon, more crusaders were attempting to shoot down the Blood Queen.

Lana'thel's bat-like wings held her aloft, like a cruel parody of an angel. She rained down corrupted blood upon the crusade, watching as it ate through their skin.

Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention.

A young woman, hiding in the shadows. Poor thing must have been terrified, watching so many people die.

Fading into the shadows, Lana'thel appeared behind her. Placing a hand over her mouth, the San'layn Vampyr bit into her neck.

The nameless woman struggled briefly, before slowly giving in.

When Lana'thel released her grip on her new child a moment later, her precious one swallowed air a few times, attempting to quench her thirst.

"You know what you must do now, dear, [B]feed.[/B]

The Childe rushed out of the shadows, tackling one of the crusaders to the ground and tearing at his throat.

Lana'thel stepped forward, the shadows following her, wrapping around the area unnaturally, blocking out Ruby's flames and creating a second night.

"Come now, dear. Let us be at least slightly civilized."

As the night of the San'layn gathered, all the crusaders could see was the green cat like eyes of Lana'thel and the glowing red eyes of her new child.

"There is still so much more to eat."

And then even those faded, leaving pitch blackness.

The crusaders prepared themselves. They would hold out for Grand Crusader Dathrohan, or High General Abbendis. This was not their time, they would live to see the undead forced out of Lordaeron, to see the the blue and gold flag fly above the keep, and Calia Menethil sit the throne.

All the blood was torn from one of their bodies, and then the slaughter began.

-X LINE BREAK X-

The spikes of ice slowly grew, impaling the crusaders in it's path, unaffected by the heat from the raging flames.

Such was the power of an Archlich.

Kel'thuzad hung above the ground, weaving a grand tapestry.

Spike of ice lifted bodies into the air, a grisly monument. Blasts of Light were casually ignored.

A group of scarlet civilians attempted to flee, a quick gesture with two fingers saw walls of ice grow to stop them. Another saw ice rain down, cutting them down.

Another set of Crusaders charged into the fray, into the slaughter. Blades of ice so small that they didn't notice them until it was too late, lay in wait. It took another slight gesture to see them slashed to pieces.

Fools, fighting something they couldn't hope to beat. With Medivh and Antonidas dead and Khadgar on Outland, Kel'thuzad was the single strongest mage on Azeroth. Dalaran had elected that fool Rhonin to lead them, and the Proudmoore girl Arthas was still so fond of didn't have the skill to stand up to him.

Yet another set charged in, only to perish as Kel'thuzad froze them and shattered them into the wind.

By the night's end, New Avalon would be nothing but a message, and testament to the might that five members of the Scourge could level upon those who drew their ire.

More cannon fodder came, and Kel'thuzad crushed them between two masses of ice.

Lambs to the slaughter.

Kel'thuzad didn't know what Arthas was doing, but he was willing to bet what the rest were.

Ymiron would be be looking for someone strong enough to fight him, Lana'thel would be feeding, and Ruby would be turning any who survived her flames into undead for her little pet project.

Kel'thuzad didn't trust her. She had betrayed them once, and they lost Anub'arak because of it. Letting her build an army was asking for something to go wrong.

Another wave of spikes.

But maybe Kel'thuzad worried too much, he prided himself on his skill at breaking people, and he had no doubt that he had broken her. Just look at her, she was too scared to refuse Arthas anything he demands. Not telling her that Arthas had been angry to learn her fate had been the coup de grâce, a false guillotine hanging above her, that if she stepped out of line she would be under his blades again in a second.

And then the two of them had to go and ruin it.

Once Ruby was under Arthas's aegis, she had gotten more and more defiant.

Frozen in ice to suffocate.

Kel'thuzad was certain that it was the girl's fault that he hadn't had any support when he had been attacked.

Flesh torn off in a blast of ice wind.

He would have his revenge. That was something Kel'thuzad swore.

-X LINE BREAK X-

The crusader ran forward, blade drawn.

"For Lordaeron, for Terenas, for Uth-"

The metal wrapped around his throat in a vice grip. Despite the flame raging around them, it was eerily cold.

The void sucks at your soul. It is content to feast slowly.

A quick move, and the crusader's neck snapped. His soul, though, would be used for something greater.

The girl, her hair as grey as steel, sacrificed it to the Twisted Nether.

The flames that came from that dimension were different, completely uncontrollable, but all the more destructive.

Ruby let them loose, listening to the the screams of terror with a mad grin.

There had been a time where she couldn't bring herself to listen to the screams of the dying. What had changed?

Ruby brought the hand not holding her scythe, up, rubbing her forehead.

What had ever happened to Crescent Rose? The last time she had seen it was when her and Arthas had fought.

'What did it matter where it was? It was nothing but a piece of broken junk now.'

Something about saying that caused Ruby to start to hyperventilate.

Oh, Dust. How would Yang react if she saw what Ruby was doing? Or Dad, or Uncle Qrow, or Weiss, or Blake?

Ruby staggered. She hadn't thought about Remnant in a long time. Maybe, Ruby thought, rubbing at her forehead harder, her and Arthas would find a way to get there and add them to the Scourge when they were done with Azeroth.

Something about that made her feel sick to her stomach.

Another Crusader ran forward, and Ruby rammed the blunt end of the scythe into his skull. He collapsed, groaning.

Ruby moved along, trying to focus on anything other than the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

Eventually, she reached the center of town, a collection of unconscious guards behind her.

Collapsing into a bench, Ruby waited for Arthas.

-X LINE BREAK X-

Arthas stepped into the room of the keep, Frostmourne held in hand.

Three crusaders charged, only to join their comrades in the blade.

Walking further into the room, Arthas rammed the blade into a vault door, and started to cut.

The vault was made of steel, intent to hold the Scarlet Crusade's most sacred items. It could keep an Orc out for a month. But nothing stopped Frostmourne. There was not a single item in existence that could withstand the might of the Frozen Throne.

Eventually, the door gave way, and Arthas walked in.

Beneath the Helm, the blue-green eyes of the fallen prince roamed the vault.

It had taken months for him to find this item, using the San'layn to spy for him. He didn't have much longer.

"Halt!"

Arthas sighed, turning to the the new man.

"And you are?" Arthas really didn't care, he just wanted this over with.

"Scarlet Lord Jesseriah Mccree, this is my village."

"You might want to look outside, 'your village' doesn't exactly exist anymore."

The Scarlet Lord charged forward, wings of light flaring behind him.

Arthas took his head off in one move.

As the body fell, the Lich King scoffed.

"I killed Uther, and Anasterian. Why do people think they could beat me?"

Arthas grabbed the item, before teleporting it to Icecrown Citadel.

Turning, Arthas went to clear up the leftovers.