Blake leaned into the hug. She had lost track of the time, only that the sun had started to rise.

This was nice.

"Blake?"

"Hmm?"

"You good?"

"Bit longer."

Blake was enjoying this.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard you talking with that, uh, thing."

Ruby looked startled, before closing her eyes.

"It wasn't a one sided conversation, was it?"

"No?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Damn it, Xe'ra."

"Its name was Xe'ra?"

"Use female pronouns, it's what she does."

Blake idly wondered if giant wind chimes had biological genders, or if they chose which gender to identify as, or both, before deciding that train of thought wasn't going to go anywhere worthwhile.

"Don't become the Lich Queen."

"I have no plan to. Personally, I'm of the opinion that they can take this whole plan and shove it up their-"

BANG!

Blake jolted out of the hug, startled.

Yang sat up, blinking sleepily.

"Wuh?"

"What in the world?"

Ruby didn't respond to either questions, sliding off her bed and throwing open the curtain.

"Blake, we'll have to finish this conversation at a different time."

Ruby walked over to the dresser, throwing outfits at everyone.

"Sis, what's going on."

"Look out the window, it's not subtle."

Blake was the first to the window, her agility coming in handy.

"Oh no, not again."

A pillar of smoke rose from Vale, causing Blake to throw all modesty aside, and throwing off her pajamas in favor of the clothes Ruby had thrown at her.

Yang and Weiss followed suit, and they were on Ruby's tail in seconds.

Ruby seemed to be moving as quickly as she could without using her Semblance. Suddenly, a blur of light blue and black rushed past them, stopping even with Ruby.

"Highlord! I made it."

"Zaala, what's wrong."

"Da first responder's called. It ain't good."

"Grimm?"

"Worse. Fel."

Ruby didn't stop, instead redoubled her movement, petals started flowing in her wake.

"Do we know where it came from?"

"Dere's a crashed ship."

"So we should prepare for the worst. Go find Archmage Khadgar, tell him we might need those reinforcements sooner than expected, and tell him to meet me at the impact sight."

Zaala broke off, and Ruby looked behind her.

"If you all don't catch up by the time the first ship leaves, I'm going without you. This is too much of a risk to wait.

Then she was gone.

Weiss let out a groan of frustration.

"I'm getting really sick of her doing that."

Then she shoved open a window, and jumped.

"WEISS!"

Rushing to the window, Blake and Yang stared down at their teammate, who was standing on a glyph.

"Coming?"

After the two other members jumped onto it, Weiss lowered the Glyph to the ground diagonally, bringing them to stop right outside the dock.

"-Your men are refusing to allow mine into the area?"

Ruby was standing with Ironwood, Tai, Summer, and Qrow.

"There's Fel there. Best let the professionals deal with this one."

"Fel? Are you sure?"

"That's the reports I got, might be something else, but when there's a Legion shaped ship crashed into the city, I'm inclined to believe that it's Fel. Now, is there room on that ship or not?"

"There is. Is your team coming with you?"

Ruby turned her head slightly.

"Yeah."

"Get on."

As they piled on the transport, Ironwood asked Ruby something.

"What can you tell me about Fel? I want to make sure my men know what to do."

"It's corrosive in high amounts, if anyone touches it, the best you can do is hack the offending digit off, otherwise it will never stop."

"Anything else?"

"Water doesn't work on Fel Fire, though enchanted water will. Have them blockade the area, me and Khadgar will deal with it."

Ironwood nodded, before relaying the orders through his scroll.

"There's something else."

Ironwood watched Ruby.

"We don't know what's on that ship."

"Nothing has come out of it."

"That doesn't mean anything, plenty of species of Demons could survive the crash, biding their time."

Ruby locked onto the three students, "Listen to me very carefully. If we crack open that ship and there are demons waiting, run. Don't worry about me, or mom or dad, or Qrow. Just run, assume we all died if you have to, but run and don't stop until you're looking Ozpin in the face and telling him to gather every Huntsman on the face of Remnant at Beacon."

"That bad?"

"I'm not going to mince words here. This may be the last time you ever see me. I'm letting you come along, because if the Legion is here, you're going to have to grow up, very fast."

"We're not children-"

"No, you're not. And I need to stop treating you as such. You are three wonderful women. But you aren't ready for what the Legion will bring."

"Ruby-"

"No matter how good you think you are, no matter how good you know you are, you will never be ready for the Burning Legion. We weren't."

Ruby closed her eyes, breathing.

"I never told you about the Broken Shore, did I?"

"No."

"Four hundred of Azeroth's best went there. Fifty of us dragged ourselves out."

"I've died before. Felt the cold bite of steel and my own blood in my mouth, as I looked up at a man who I would one day love."

"Illidan killed you at one point?"

"No."

"Then, Arthas?"

"Yeah."

Blake saw Tai closed his eyes, fire blasting from his nostrils.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Not the point. The point is, I died there, and I've never suffered a defeat as bad as the one the Legion gave us on the Broken Shore."

"Not the point- no we are talking about this! Illidan, I could get over, because you're thirty five years old and can make your own decisions, but Arthas? What were you thinking?"

"Listen, dad, if we get out of this, I'll gladly sit down, tell you all the details, as few as there are, and let you rant about the stupid shit I did in my twenties-"

"Oh, she was in her twenties, that explains it."

"Shut up, Qrow. -and I'll do it gladly, because we'll be alive."

"They scare you." Blake realized that with a shock.

"Not the rank and file, not even Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, but… I saw something on that island, just for a second, and it will never leave me."

"What was it?"

Ruby became very interested in her hands suddenly.

"Sargeras, the fallen titan. Pray you never see him. That you never so much as get close to him, because if you do, you will know what it means to be powerless. We could have gathered every fighter on Azeroth, and had he gotten through, he would have slaughtered us like gnats."

There were those words again.

Ruby's eyes locked onto Blake, "I saw a god on that island Blake, and it is the single most terrifying thing I have ever seen."

Ruby seemed to grow quiet, staring at her hands again.

"What happened on the Broken Shore, it wasn't a battle, hell, it wasn't even a fight. It was a massacre, pure and simple. It took everything I had to drag Varian's corpse to the coast."

The speaker crackled on.

"We'll be landing in two minutes, then it will be a ten minute walk to the barricade."

Ruby nodded, before standing up, running through an gambit of exercises with her flames.

When the ship landed, Ruby was the first one off, heading towards the quarantine before anyone else was off.

By the time they caught up with her, she was crouched over a pool of green goo.

Reaching out with her right hand, Ruby touched the longest finger on that hand to the substance.

Recoiling back with a hiss, Ruby grabbed a knife from one of the Knights and slashed through the offending digit at the second knuckle.

The severed finger fell to the ground, hissing as it was eaten away.

"Yeah, that's Fel."

"Ruby!"

"Relax, either I'm never going to need it again, or I'll regenerate it. Digits are easy."

Just then, a raven flew down, landing next to Ruby, before exploding in a gust of smoke and feathers.

Ruby looked amused as two arms burst from the smoke, sweeping outwards to part it.

The grey haired Archmage stepped forward.

"Still dramatic as always."

"Easier to get rid of the feathers this way. Now, what are we looking at?"

"Well, suddenly I don't feel so special anymore," Blake heard Qrow mutter sarcastically.

"It's Fel alright, Khadgar, and quite a lot."

"I'll work on clean up," Khadgar raised a hand, and a purple teardrop shape formed.

"Clean this up, would you?"

The teardrop floated over to one of the bigger puddles, draining it out.

"Now, what do we do about that?"

Ruby and Khadgar were both looking at the pillar of jagged metal crashed into the heart of the park."

"I'll go crack it open."

"Are you sure that's the best idea? We don't know what's waiting."

"Which is why I'm going to open it, the last thing we need is for the Legion to have time to get ready."

As Ruby rose, Weiss called out, "Wait!"

"What?"

"Crescent Rose."

"What about it?"

"Give it here. If they can't break it, then even if you," Weiss gulped for air, before continuing, "Even if you die, you can come back, right?"

Ruby nodded, before unholstering the giant scythe and handing it over to Weiss.

Ironwood stepped up, handing her a contact.

"What's this?"

"Camera, that way, we can see what's going on."

Ruby nodded, before slipping it into her eye, blinking a couple of times.

Then she turned and trudged through the green haze to the black metal monument.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby slipped into the dagger shaped ship, the Warglaive in hand.

Was this how the world ended? A single ship deployed into the heart of Vale?

If the Legion was here, on Remnant, in Vale, then they would take the city in a matter of days. Whether through might of numbers, or through precision strikes to eliminate Ozpin and the Council, replacing them with Dreadlords. Then all it would take is a single list of commands to turn off the CCT.

Ruby wrapped her newly-maimed hand around one of the edges, throwing herself higher.

Internal gravity was off. Faking it?

The best case scenario was that this ship was dead, no way to open portals, no engines. The worst was that this was a trap, that a group of imps would leap out any second to attack her.

Ruby gathered her plagues at the tip of her finger. Times like this she wished she hadn't locked Apocalypse up.

She had rarely used the Nathrezim blade, but having it recognize her as its master allowed her to access the stored plagues of hundreds of Dreadlords.

Best birthday present Arthas had ever given her.

What had she been thinking, admitting to that relationships existence?

You're welcome.

Oh, she did it.

You were going to have to admit to it at some point.

Not if Ruby could have helped it.

Turning the corner, Ruby let herself fall onto the side of the wall.

Poking her head down, she took in the command center. No demons.

She couldn't have been this lucky. She was never this lucky. Whether it was being stranded on another world through means she still wasn't certain, or leaving to fulfill a promise just in time to not be there to save a friend, Ruby had the worst luck.

There was no way that she had somehow managed to get the one Legion ship that was uninhabited.

Clicking her fingers, the plague crossed the room. Demons would still need to breathe.

A coughing came from one corner, and another from directly below her feet

Plunging down, Ruby swung the Warglaive, launching a ball of fire above her.

Something moved, leaping from one corner of the room to intercept Ruby's swing.

Ruby smashed into a pair of familiar blades and her eyes widened.

"Vandel?"

"Ruby?"

The Highlord landed, looking at the demonic elf in front of him.

He had a few more scars, but otherwise hadn't changed.

"If you're here, did we land on Azeroth?"

"Remnant."

"I haven't heard of that world."

"Good, then that means the Burning Legion doesn't know about us."

"Those your people out there?"

"Some of them, we're working with the rest."

The Slayer nodded, before punching the floor.

"Jace! Turn on the emergency systems."

The lights flicked on, alongside the artificial gravity.

Ruby looked around as she landed on the ship's floor.

She saw now, that it had been Akama who she tried to disembowel.

Hearing the thud of leather boots on the floor, she looked up.

Green Fel webs faded from the wall as Kor'vas walked down towards them.

Fire licked the edges of her skin, toughened by the Aranasi soul she had taken into her.

"Ruby."

Ruby inclined her head, before turning to Vandel.

"So, what's with the whole silence?"

"We didn't know where we are, we decided it was best to go silent until Altruis and Belath got back from scouting."

"Yeah, well, you scared the crap out of me."

Vandel walked over to the command station, sending an order off it with the press of a button. Ruby leaned against it.

"Before we crashed, we were being attacked by Kil'jaeden. He said that Lord Illidan had died."

Ruby closed her eyes, "So he did die."

"You didn't know?"

"He was still alive when Malfurion dragged me through the portal on Argus."

"Do you think there's any chance he's alive? Kil'jaeden is the Deceiver."

"Kil'jaeden wouldn't lie about this, there one thing he likes more than lies, and that's puppets. If Illidan were alive, Kil'jaeden would hang this over our head."

Ruby pushed up, sighing explosively, "I'm glad."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to think about what Kil'jaeden would be doing to him if he had survived. I just hope he dragged Argus into the pits of hell with him."

"He would have liked that."

"Yeah."

Ruby started to walk towards the lower deck.

"Where are you going?"

"Grabbing Jace. I don't know how long Altruis will take and you're going to need someone who isn't a misanthropic ass with you during the negotiations."

"The Illidari doesn't negotiate."

"You do when you crash your ship into a city-state."

Vandel looked out the balcony, apparently noticing the collection of armed guards with guns pointed at the ship.

"On second thought, grab Jace, I'm going to tell Altruis to hurry up."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

-X Line Break X-

Qrow took another swig, an eye on the match.

It wasn't very interesting, his nieces easily dominating their opponents. How did they make it past the first round?

His other eye was on his brother-in-law, who was quietly stewing in his rage. Dark embers crackled on his skin, occasionally blazing forth into wisps of fire.

Tai had been like this since the ship, waiting for RWBY's bout to finish to confront his second born on what she had meant.

Summer, while no doubt unhappy, had managed to keep a much more level head. She had always been good at that.

Qrow had bit his tongue, staying out of it beyond one sarcastic barb, but he knew his feelings on the matter.

Learning this had been like watching Tai's history repeat itself in Ruby.

The cynical part of Qrow, the part he buried deep inside, under as much alcohol and sarcasm as physically possible, made him wonder if this could have been avoided if he had been more open about his sister. Had been truthful about how much of a mess Raven was.

Ruby thought the Illidari were misanthropic? Raven made them look like girl scouts. At least they weren't running around slaughtering villages.

The realistic side pointed out that the answer was probably no. The way she said it meant this had to have happened during the time when Ruby was under Arthas's thrall.

That thought alone sent Qrow's skin crawling.

Summer slipped out of the room as Yang eliminated her opponent, no doubt waiting to ambush her daughters.

The BW pair were waiting with them, curious about what Ruby had to say.

Winter's sister leaned away from the rage fueled Semblance of Tai.

"Tai, calm down."

He didn't blame the guy, but he didn't want for this to descend into a screaming match like it had often done between Tai and Raven.

A deep rumble came from the dragon's chest, and he glared over at Qrow, eyes having contracted into slits.

Well, that didn't work.

Ruby eliminated the other team's sniper with a well placed shot, and her and Yang walked off.

The camera followed them into the hall, where Summer was waiting for them. Together the pair made sure Ruby didn't run off.

When they entered the room, Ruby had an uncomfortable look on her face.

"So- Uh- what do you want to know?"

"Why?" the question barely sounded human.

Ruby walked over to a chair, slouching into it.

"I don't know."

"How 'Don't you know'?"

It was clear Tai wasn't buying that.

"Because I never thought about it. Never wanted to."

"Why's that?"

The question came from Summer, and was calmer because of it.

"The way I've always looked at it, I have two equally shitty routes it could end. One, that Arthas implanted these feeling in me, probably subconsciously, or two, I somehow found it in me to love a complete monster."

Yeah, that thought had passed through the scarecrow's mind. He could understand why Ruby didn't want to contemplate on either option.

If she had discovered that those feeling weren't her own, she probably would have turned out even worse than she was now, if they were hers, well, Qrow couldn't, didn't want to, wrap his head around Ruby loving someone like Arthas either.

Maybe it was because the Arthas Ruby mentioned sometimes, the prince of a kingdom, destined for greatness, was just a story to the Qrow. It made him wonder if that Arthas had ever actually existed, or it was a act like Raven.

"You've got a lot of problems, kiddo."

"My life's a mess Qrow."

"Then I guess it's up to us to fix it, huh?"

Ruby gave a wane smile, "I don't think it will be that easy."

No, probably not. But that didn't mean Qrow was going to give up. It was like he said, Team STQ was good at fixing broken things. They had all been one at one point and they all fixed each other.

Tai finally stood, the flames gone, and bundled Ruby into a hug.

"It doesn't matter. He's gone, and you're home now."

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"I gave up."

"On what?"

"Getting back. Didn't think it would happen."

"That's not your fault."

"I should have tried harder."

"But you didn't, and you know what?"

"What?"

"Because you didn't, you brought back a lot of help."

"Mh."

"And you know what else? You brought back Summer. Sum, get over here and join in, Yang, Qrow, Weiss, Blake, you all too."

Qrow sighed, before joining in the hug.

Damn it, why did Tai have to be so sappy?

-X Line Break X-

Cinder sat with a new scroll in hand.

She had delayed this call long enough.

"Cinder."

Cinder gulped, suppressing her fear, "Salem."

"You were supposed to call two weeks ago," the clipped response came, the only sign of the anger the Half-Maiden could detect.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy-"

"Trying to salvaging the sinking ship of your plan."

Cinder did flinch at that, he was there?

"Hush now, Watts, I have faith that Cinder can still get us what we need."

"She has been foiled at every turn, Salem. By nothing more than a group of meddlesome fools, no less."

"I haven't-"

"Do not lie to me. I have ears everywhere, a dagger in every hand. I know you have been failing."

"Understandably, no amount of preparation would allow any of her to prepare for forces that didn't exist three months ago."

"They're able to create fields that block Dust!"

"If you are only useful with Dust in hand you are no help to us. You haven't even begun to crack into the Vault or kill Ozpin, if Salem ordered it I could have Braun Schnee's head-"

"Stop with the boasting, Doctor, we all know that is a lie. Braun's guards only exist to look pretty. Your 'daggers' would be sent back shattered."

"Then I would do it myself!"

"You would be strung up, Watts. Don't underestimate Braun because he sits in his mockery of a throne room. Politics is the point where Braun is by far the weakest, when the time comes to strike, that is where we will eliminate him."

Cinder stayed out of the debate, hand inching towards the disconnect button. Maybe they had forgotten about her?

"Cinder, if you touch that button, I will feed the finger to a Grimm."

How-?

"I know everything you do Cinder, it's why I'm not angry at you. You have tried your best, that is clear. Still, Watts is right, you must infiltrate the Vault. We need one of the Maidens, you must obtain that power if we are to move on."

"What about Ozpin's little cabal? And the one the girl is forming?"

"Send the psychopath, he'll deal with the silver eyed girl, seeing as Cinder can't."

Oh, please no.

"I'm not sending Maiden is your primary goal, only eliminate Ozpin if you have the chance."

"If she doesn't eliminate him, they'll hunt her down."

"Not if Cinder's distraction works."

"Nothing about her plan has worked so far. If this fails they'll make getting to the Maiden harder."

"Then she won't fail."

Cinder felt pride glow in her chest. No, she wouldn't.

"Good luck."

The scroll disconnected with a click, and Cinder looked over the files Adam had sent her.

Soon, she would prove them all wrong.

-X Line Break X-

Darion stared down at Hearthglen, Iydallus unnaturally quiet next to him.

One.

Two.

Three.

Mark.

Ashbringer flew through the air, striking the patrol man in the chest. The corrupted blade pierced the armor, burning the Scarlet Crusader alive before he had time to even scream.

Gayle eliminated his partner, tearing out his throat with her teeth. The twice born undead dragged the body over the edge.

Darion climbed up, picking Ashbringer from the pile of ash, kicking it, Darion scattered the last evidence to the four winds.

Good. The longer before anyone realized they were here, the less likely they were to lose a member.

The rest of the team joined the two of them on the edge.

Darion tightened his grip on Ashbringer. The heavy armor weighed on him, it would be hard to sneak in it, so they probably wouldn't be able to maintain stealth for too long?

"What's that smell?"

Darion froze as one of the patrols walked by the walls.

"It smells like," the crusader breathed in, "Smells like an abomination."

Crap. How could he have forgotten to account for the stench of Flesh Golems? Five minutes into his first mission and he was already making mistakes.

Koltira stepped off the edge, plummeting several feet to land in between them with a thud.

"Huh?

"What?"

The white haired Death Knight didn't hesitate, decapitating the two women with Byfrost.

Nodding up to them, Koltira hid the bodies, and then jumped, being caught by Thassarian and Malag.

Once the High Elf was back Darion took stock.

What to do? Burn every building? Possible, but it would give them away. Reaching into the bag they had been given before leaving, Darion examined one of the vials.

The Plague. They could try to poison the food, but that would take to long.

What had Ruby said during the lessons? The newer strands of the Plague were extremely volatile. Maybe?

"Thassarian, I need to take Koltira and Orbaz and slip this into the forge and barracks kitchen."

Darion handed two of the three vials to Thassarian and Koltira.

"Where will you be?"

"We're going to retreat back to the camp, I have an idea.

Orbaz opened his mouth to speak, but saw cut off by a nod from Thassarian.

"We'll meet you there."

-X Line Break X-

On the other side of the world, a motley crew had gathered.

Lilsalia jumped on the balls of her feet. She was going to help kill a dragon! How cool was that?

Lady Jaina Proudmoore had given a pair of elven swords to the twins up front.

She really didn't look good, bags sat under her eyes, and her hair was the color and consistency of straw.

"Jaina, are you alright? Maybe you should sit this one out. You've done enough," the blue clad one asked.

The sorceress shook her head, "No, I'm fine, the sooner this raid is done, the sooner I can rest well again. I just don't like the idea of this dragon so close to Theramore, and she has Anduin."

The druid that stood beside them rested a hand on her shoulder, and the bags receded.

Lilsalia slotted poison into the injectors on her blades. Technology was amazing.

She was, however, disappointed by the fact that she wasn't the only Rogue there. A Blood Elf holding a pair of green daggers stood with the group at the front.

They trudged through the cave, occasionally killing whelps.

"How fortuitous. Usually, I must leave my lair in order to feed."

Looming ahead of them was a great dragon, black scales coating the body.

This was going to be so fun!

The red clad twin charged forward with a roar, swinging his sword at the beast.

It opened its mouth, flames burning in its maw.

Before it could breath, a chunk of ice formed in its mouth.

The blade cut into the beast's scales, and it roared through the ice.

The blue clad one followed up with a second strike as Lilsalia and the Blood Elf jumped from cover, slipping their daggers into the beast's hide.

Lilsalia grinned as the dragon's hide hissed. Venoms, weren't they great? And there was one for almost any occasion on Azeroth!

The dragon brought its teeth down upon the ice, shattering it.

"You dare!? My children, feed on their flesh!"

The Broodmother took flight as more whelps burst from eggs.

Lilsalia fought off the angry dragons, while Lady Proudmoore assaulted the dragon's wings.

"Broll!" the red twin called out, and the Druid seemed to catch the point.

Shifting into a bear, the Night Elf threw him up, where he lunged at the the dragon.

Magically enchanted metal, dating back to the War of the Ancients, if Lilsalia's archeology degree wasn't failing her, sheared through the tendons of the wing.

The dragon fell with a roar, the red one falling with her.

As she stood, he lay gasping on the floor in pain.

"Miserable wretch, I shall finish what I started at Alcaz Island, but first," she turned to one of the cave ledges, "Kill the boy."

"ANDUIN!"

The young boy held in the grasp of the two dragonkin was forced to his knees, one raising an axe.

The dragon's head weaved to the blue, "Surrender Stormwind to me, and I will allow him to live."

The blue twin started to lower his sword, until the last voice anyone expected called out.

"NO!"

The dragon's head swiveled around, glaring at the boy.

"Father, don't give her what she-"

"Silence him."

The hand roughly covered the boy's mouth, but the damage had been done, both of the twins raised their swords with renewed vigor.

"End him."

The axe was raised, but before it could be lowered, the Blood Elf span between them, digging her daggers into their chests.

The Broodmother roared, turning to swing at the Blood Elf, Lilsalia threw another envenomed dagger at into the hand, which combined with the shots from the three seventh Legion gunmen they had brought with them, distracting her at the opportune moment.

A massive guillotine of ice formed and crashed into the extremity, severing it.

"Broll!"

The Blood Elf threw the boy, who was caught in the Druid's arms and carried away.

Releasing the loudest roar yet, the dragon turned, unleashing a spell on the red twin.

His brother moved to push him out of the way, but both held fast. The spell struck them both.

"Varian!" Three voices cried out.

"Father!"

"Disappointing, I had hoped I would be able use the weak willed one. I guess I will have to use Bolvar instead."

The dragon roared again, however, as an arrow put her eye out.

Spinning around, Lilsalia saw that Anduin had snatched a bow and quiver from one of the Dwarves, it was one the perfect size for an eight year old like him.

As the dragon stepped forward, rage clear, something parted the smoke.

He wore a ornate set of armor, with a scar like the twins, a sword glowing with a light at its heart in hand.

"Impossible."

The new sword lashed out, cutting away the other limb, before decapitating the dragon.

...Cool!

Lilsalia watched as the man walked away from the dead dragon, picking his son up.

"Broll, can you make sure that the head gets back to Stormwind? I want it to hang above the gates."

The druid nodded, changing into a bear and assisted the soldiers in dragging the head along.

Lilsalia unstoppered several bottles, filling them with blood, before following after the triumphant group.

She was still getting paid for this, right?

"Come, Anduin, let us return to Theramore, I wish to be on the first boat to Stormwind."

...Right?

-X Line Break X-

"What are we waiting for?"

Darion ignored Orbaz, eyes locked on the town.

"Your plan failed, Mograine. I'm taking control of this operation, and will inform the Lich King of your failure."

Orbaz stood, only to be forced back down by Thassarian and Koltira.

Light was starting to dawn, and Darion squinted into the early morning haze.

Had it failed?

Then the screaming started.

Green smoke started to flow from the two buildings Darion had marked. The Ashbringer's son watched as a chef ran out, coughing and hacking, as his skin melted off of him.

"Now."

No other word was needed, everyone followed Darion over the wall, weapons in hands.

-X Line Break X-

Gayle drove her hatchet into the throat of a Hearthglen citizens. While the rest of her allies laughed at the slaughter, Gayle did it in complete silence.

She understood now. They had forsaken him. There was no need for the Light in the Scourge.

A crusader ran forward, trying to save his charges. Gayle drove the hatchet into his skull.

The Scarlet Crusade had hounded her for years. Hounded all undead. Did they not realize that Lordaeron was a land for the dead now? All that remained were fools trying to eke out a living.

Tearing the hatchet out, she turned to the remaining population. Their leader's move had been brilliant.

The plague had spread through the barracks, killing the majority of the defenders, and the one in the forge had stopped the survivors from retrieving weapons.

The last bastion was the keep, where Hearthglen's leader was hold up.

The High Elf was weaving a new plague, getting ready to wipe out what remained of Hearthglen in one go.

"Malag, Koltira, with me, we're going to finish Galvar Pureblood. The rest of you," Darion gestured with his chin, "kill these wretches."

The citizens cried out in fear as the three walked away, and one stood, attempting to run.

A thrown hatchet put an end to that.

Gayle sat, waiting for the plague to be ready.

-X Line Break X-

"Hand over the Demon."

"I don't think we will, what about you, Pitwick?"

"No."

"If you don't-"

"You'll what? You only got onto Avernus because we allowed you to, Warden. All it would take is a word from me, and nobody would ever see you again."

"I defeated Illidan Stormrage. I can kill you easily."

"You killed him after a months long campaign to weaken his forces, while his best fighters were gone, and he was weakened. We, however, have all our forces right here."

"I will break you if I have to."

"But how many people would die in the effort? How many people would you send to their deaths for one man?"

"For one Demon."

Maiev glared down at the two through her helmet. She had spent the last hour trying to convince them to hand over the last Illidari.

"What, exactly, makes what you are doing any better than Illidan? He sent hundreds to die in his battle against the Burning Legion, and now you are ready to do the same for one of his people?"

Maiev's hand twitched, and she desperately wanted to draw her umbra crescent.

"Illidan is a criminal. Anyone who worked with him must face the consequences."

"How's Malfurion going to take it when you attempt to arrest his mate for working with Illidan?"

"That is different."

"Why's that? Oh, right, because you've left from the Night Elves. How does that feel, Betrayer? To know you threw away everything you care for in your obsession?"

The Warden wanted to hoist the little shit up and throttle him. What did he know of what she had done?

"My duty was to make sure that Illidan Stormrage never harmed anyone ever again, I have done that."

"And now what? You're fighting a crusade against ghosts that aren't there. Will locking up every Demon Hunter cause the damage you have done to magically fix itself?"

"It will stop the Burning Legion."

Maiev was grasping at straws, she knew that, he knew that. Maiev had played just as large a role in Naisha's death and the Watchers' destruction as Illidan. Tyrande had let him out, but Maiev couldn't accept that.

At the end of the journey, Maiev had realized how rash she had been, throwing away everything for a chance at revenge. All that remained was to force Illidan and his kind to serve their eternal sentence, it was all she could do.

"This doesn't have to be difficult. Hand the demon over to me, and we shall never see each other again."

"Or force your hand, and you'll give us so many new recruits, including yourself. I'll warn you once, Warden. Walk away. Let this one go, or you shall learn that no one can escape the might of the Scourge."

"You have to the end of the week to hand him over."

Maiev walked out of the room, to where her hippogryph was waiting.

It was a bluff, she was aware of it. The Scourge had no supply lines to cut off. They didn't need food or water. If they needed to, the Scourge could weather an assault from more forces than Maiev could comfortably muster.

Maiev sighed, letting one Demon go couldn't be the end of the world.

-X Line Break X-

Darion smashed his gauntleted fist into the crusader's skull, again and again.

He had been stuck in Acherus for too long. The Necropoli had large hallways, allowing the Death Knights to draw their Runeblades with ease.

The keep didn't have that. The halls were cramped, forcing Darion to rely on his fists and spells. The massive blade of Ashbringer couldn't be drawn.

The bone gave way, the Saronite gauntlets splattering with blood.

Standing, the red haired man grabbed the sword the guard had used. It was smaller, easier to manipulate in the confines of halls.

Working with his two allies, Darion fought his way through the keep, killing every crusader they found.

Stepping into the great hall, Darion dropped the sword, drawing the jagged blade of his father. Malag and Koltira doing the same.

The green runes glowed as he looked at the high table.

The crusaders standing there were ready.

"Darion Mograine," the man at the center looked down on them, "this crusade was founded on the ideald of your father, your brother helped lead it for years. Then you come along, assisting a shade in the form of your father to murder Renault, and join the monsters they hated. How do you live with yourself?"

Darion didn't respond. He had no reason to.

"Speak, monster. I wish to hear your confession before I send your damned soul screaming into the Twisted Nether."

"My father was betrayed by Renault," Darion would amuse him, who was he to deny a dead man his last wish, "slaughtering those who helped my brother seems fitting."

"Your father was murdered by the Scourge, Darion! If you truly wish to have revenge on those who killed your father, strike down the monsters next to you and lay down your weapon," the man's eyes softened, "You're just a boy Darion. I'll make it quick, then you can rejoin your family in the Light."

"No."

The man, who must of been Galvar, closed his eyes.

"Very well. Then may whatever judge there is have mercy on your soul."

Then his men attacked.

Darion caught the hammer of one of the guards on Ashbringer's hilt. A Light infused fist hit Darion in the face.

Darion faltered as the fist burned his face, and the paladin jumped on that.

Darion was knocked to the ground, Ashbringer skidding from his hand.

The Paladin's hammer glowed as he brought it down, and Darion closed his eyes, preparing for the strike.

A great flash of Light lit the room, and the paladin was sent flying.

Scrambling to grab Ashbringer, Darion stood up.

Another guard came at him, and Darion swung. Amal'thazad's lesson came to him, and the guard froze. The blade shattered the man, and Darion faced the other five.

Galvar was fighting Koltira, the High Elf easily parrying each blow.

Malag was fighting three of the others, using his lessons from Thorval to stay up.

That left the last one, Darion unleashed the power of the fallen blade, a wave of corrupted ash trailing in the sword's wake.

The peerless blade cut the other man's hammer in two, before easily sinking through the armor and into the flesh.

Darion didn't wait for the man to finish burning before he yanked the sword out, moving to assist the Draenei.

By the time the last one fell, Koltira had been forced to throw up a Anti-Magic Shell, struggling to halt Galvar's Light fueled assault.

Darion felt something deep inside him click, and the runes on Ashbringer blazed forth, before fading out spent.

Strength beyond compare flowed into Darion, and the blade lashed out in a series of blows too fast to comprehend.

Galvar's Light weather the first two blows, but flickered with the third, the fourth ending to lord of Hearthglen's life.

Darion staggered forward, tired. Malag caught him before he fell.

"We need to find Taelan's grave."

Using Ashbringer as a crutch, Darion walked out of the keep.

-X Line Break X-

Ruby watched as the eyes flickered open.

"Mistress?"

"I'm right here."

"You brought me back?"

"Yes."

Aggra turned her head to Ruby, something glistening in her eyes.

Fear.

"Thank you."

"What's wrong?"

"Monsters."

"What about them?"

"They were there, when I was gone. They did… things to me."

Ruby frowned, confused, "What were the like?"

"Big, and dark, and evil," the orc looked at her, "don't let me go back there. Please."

Ruby helped the orc sit up.

"The Alliance?"

The orc's head shook, "No. While I was gone."

"Do you mean… while you were dead?"

"Yes."

"There were monsters."

"Yes."

"And were 'Big, dark, and evil'."

"Yes."

"Huh."

What had Aggra seen?

"Can you be a bit more descriptive?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They were so big, and everything was dark. I only knew they were there because of the laughter and pain. Don't let me go back there. Please, mistress, don't let me go back."

"I'm not going to let you go easily."

"Good," the response was sincere. Whatever Aggra had seen really had her spooked.

Suddenly a knock came.

"Come in!"

One of the Death Knights walked in.

"The king calls for you."

Standing, Ruby stretched, walking towards where Arthas was.

"Ruby."

"Yes?"

"A message from Scholomance came. Hearthglen lies broken."

"So they succeeded."

"Yes."

"I told you they could do it."

"I never doubted you."

"Yes you did."

Arthas released a short chuckle.

"So, we're going through with it?"

"Yes, I'm already having the necessary supplies gathered. They should be ready by the time they return."

"My lord?"

Turning, Ruby blinked as she stared at the new Death Knight.

"Arthas?"

"Yes?"

"That's a panda."

"Yes."

"Huh."

All thoughts about what had scared Aggra had faded for the moment.

-X Line Break X-

AN: Ah, Gravewalker Gie, thank god you exist to give a welcome moment of levity from the pile of atrocities and war crimes that is the Death Knight starting zone. We got biological warfare, multiple counts of stockholm syndrome, and a frankly depressing amount of civilians slaughtered. Is it any surprise Ruby ended up as an PTSD ridden insomniac who outright refuses to accept that she helped save the world enough times by her own free will that she's made up for it by all but the harshest metric(AKA her and Garrosh's opinion on the matter)? At least it's almost over, right?

So, since I've rallied myself and started to write the next actual chapter of Grave in six months (Chapter 32) I figured I should also catch the Fanfiction copy up with Spacebattles, so you can expect a steady stream of Grave every couple of days for the next few weeks, and I've begun work on Fur and Fire, the first of a Grave spinoff telling the tale of Ruby (and another RWBY character that got dragged along, people who have read most of my other works can probably guess who, and probably a fair few Grave readers) if Ruby had been dropped in a different part of Azeroth and been tied to a different class.