Sapphire trembled. It had been a long while since anyone checked on her, and she needed it. She was huddled in the corner beside the door, camouflaged and pretending to keep a look out. All she could see was Robin's blood misting in the air as her body scattered. She heard Blake murmuring.
"We have to go, now. They're leaving, and we're taking advantage of that."
The words echoed in Sapphire's head.
"No," she answered.
"It isn't your decision," Blake pointed.
"It's my decision if I stay," she snapped back.
Her legs shook when she stood.
"They're going back to their blood circle. That's why they took her body. They need it for their ritual."
She gestured to Kale.
"That's what the bandits said, right? Right?!"
Kale nodded.
"We know where they're going to be! We know how to make them visible!"
Blake pointed at the sky.
"Mistral's airfleet can level the entire valley, but only if we tell them to."
"They're intelligent, right?" Sapphire pointed out the door, to the mountains.
Blake nodded. Sapphire scoffed.
"Then they'll be gone as soon as their ritual's done. Robin gave us everything we need to kill them. If we run away now, they'll just learn from their mistakes. They'll get away, and they'll keep killing. If we leave now, our friend died for nothing."
Sapphire didn't stop shaking. She couldn't.
"We have ten hours," Belladonna finally said, "until the sun sets. Grimm magic only works at night, and we held them off until day. I'm sorry. If I had known they were after her body, I would have been more aggressive about controlling the area."
"You can make it up to me if you help us kill them," Sapphire answered.
Mud moved to her side and nodded, a fierce pain souring his face.
Kale stood and joined them.
"We didn't come here to be afraid. We came to be Huntsmen," he said.
Blake sighed and nodded.
They brewed more of Robin's potion, following the steps they'd watched her make hours ago. They slept. There was no decision to. They were walking to the mountains, and suddenly found they couldn't go on. Mud erected the tent and dragged his friends into it. Belladonna spoke in her sleep.
"You should be here, Yang."
They woke, ate, and marched through the afternoon. They watched the sun set together. No one spoke. They knew the area they were attacking. They moved through foliage in formation. Their targets were a hundred meters ahead, unmasked. Whatever had hid them from aura had worn off in the fight. It was here that the group stopped for the last rest, to tighten their strings and dry their grips.
This was also when Raven Branwen arrived. She stepped from the foliage and stopped in surprise.
"Blake Belladonna," she noted. Her mask was eerily familiar. It was the bone face of the Balefires. Belladonna glared up from her kneeling, and strangled her boot as she tightened it.
"What are you doing here?"
"Hunting," Raven hissed. She surveyed the students, then added, "Let me guess: They killed one and ran."
"We're short on time, so talk fast," Blake hissed.
Raven placed a hand on her sword. Everyone raised their weapons.
"I'll help you," Raven announced, "because I liked Robin."
"And what do you want in return?" Blake guessed.
"Did Robin have time to solve my riddles and brew you those potions?"
Belladonna scowled as she handed one over. Raven smiled at it, turning it in her hand.
"She was a clever one. Wait here. I'll drive them into you."
She turned away from them, and readied her sword. Then she charged, quiet and swift.
Their weapons arrayed, and the sound of bladecraft and kiais started a stampede. Sapphire shouted, "NOW!" and Dust leveled the forest before them in a storm of elements. The Grimm died like smoke hit with air. Three vanished in an instant. The fourth ran past them for its life, but tripped when Mud's chain wrapped around its leg, and then died when the pistol whipped around and triggered against its heads. He'd modeled the weapon after Gambol Shroud. Fighting side-by-side with Belladonna, his friends saw their steps as almost identical.
Kale brought his mace onto another's ankle. The creature's last words were in the human tongue.
"The world ends in darkness/I have seen it."
One Grimm remained. Its wild sprint reached the mountain and began climbing. Its powerful legs and agile claws gave it the advantage. It was reckless ambition that drove the humans. The grenades they'd salvaged from Robin's pack sent them soaring up to the peak just as the monster slid down its other slope. But the damned thing had made quick work of falling. It was out of weapon range.
Sapphire made to charge again. Blake held her back.
"Wait."
She pointed.
In the darkness of the night sky was an out of place cloud. On closer inspection, they saw Winter's Kiss engraved on its hull. The Grimm wasn't looking up. It saw nothing, but a growing light around its form. And the cruiser casually annihilated it with laser fire.
Belladonna's scroll rumbled. She answered it, panting, and smiled at an old friend.
"Sorry, Mrs. Schnee, can I put you on hold?"
"Seriously?"
She snapped it shut. At her side, Mud pointed.
"Did you just-"
Kale caught up to them, and looked at the cruiser with a happy realization.
"We got it?"
"We got it," Sapphire nodded.
They turned to look down at their battlefield. Embers and lightning danced and glowed over the ruins.
"If it's alright..."
Sapphire gestured to the scroll. Blake flicked it open and handed it over. Sapphire took a moment to breathe. She said, "Mrs. Schnee, my name is Sapphire Pond. I... I'm a huntress. My friend died in the battle, and I would appreciate if your crew could receive her."
She knew, from the stories, that Weiss would understand. She had walked the same path, and had the scar to prove it. Her eyes were a piercing steel color, her face tempered and serious as only a veteran's could be. She nodded.