She sat in the corner of a large, dark room, her face buried in her knees and her arms curled up and over the back of her head, shielding herself from her assailant's taunts.
"Nora," his voice teased. Every time she heard his voice, every time she saw him fleeting in the corner of her vision, he became more and more real. Fighting hadn't worked, neither had running. She could only hope to wait it out, but he was persistent, crowding out her thoughts and replacing them with his own.
"Go away!" she pleaded, "I know you're not real!"
"But I'm right here, Nora."
"Leave me alone," she moaned.
"What if I don't? What are you going to do?" He taunted her. "You're all alone. No one wants you, you're better off dead."
Suddenly, an invisible force clenched at her throat. She recoiled in terror, the feeling subsiding after only a moment. As dark, guttural laughter emanated from the shadows of the dark room, chills skittered down her spine.
"Nora." She felt his prickly breath on her neck. Jumping up, she turned to face him, but there was nothing behind her.
"You're pathetic." His voice hissed from the shadows.
"Stop toying with me and show yourself!" She growled, equally scared and angry. An unseen force pulled her to the ground, and she scrambled back to her feet before his massive form materialized in front of her and cuffed her across the face. She swiped back at him, only to watch him dissipate away.
"You're worthless." From behind, he jerked her backwards, laughing as she stumbled to regain her footing. She watched the shadows dance and undulate around her, not knowing where he would come from next.
"What can you do?" his voice grew more sinister with every passing moment. "I can see you shaking, you know you're helpless."
"Why won't you leave me alone?" her voice trembled. Rage and horror overwhelmed her. She felt him brush her shoulder and threw her fist in that direction, but met only empty air as his presence circled her from the encroaching shadows.
"I'll leave you alone, but you have to do something for me first."
"You're not real!"
"Then make me go away."
Furious, she drew Magnhild and shot randomly into the growing darkness, brilliant blasts momentarily banished the shadows. Vicious laughter confirmed the futility of her effort as the shadows grew darker and stronger. Its tendrils lapped at her surroundings, swallowing it all in a blanket of pitch blackness as the glowing red eyes of amorphous demons, manifestations of her fear, peeked from their dark cover, impatiently waiting their turn.
He charged at her from the darkness and slammed her against the wall. Scrambling back to her feet, she extended Magnhild into hammer form. She swung at him, but her hammer slipped right through him and into the floor. A hard blow landed on her back, knocking her down again. Before she could recover, the darkness rushed at her from all around and completely consumed her.
'Where am I?' She froze in fear, as her eyesight adjusted to the dark room. 'No! How did I get here?' Her big sister lay nude and motionless on the floor, a tall, dark figure towering over her in the dark. The man slowly made his way over to where little Nora now stood frozen in fear in the doorway to her sister's room. His heavy steps shook the floor and the strong scent of alcohol tainted the air.
"I thought I told you to stay in bed, you little bitch." He slurred in a deep growl, now standing directly in front of her. Without hesitation, he clubbed her with his massive fist, sending the small child to the ground. Desperate to get away, she tried to clamor to her feet, but his heavy boot stomped down on her back, pinning her painfully to the floor. He pulled her skinny arms back and tied a cord around her wrists.
"If you dare make a sound, I'll kill, you. Understand?" he grumbled, winding another cord around her ankles. He pulled her back into the room and threw her on top of her sister's cold body. Kneeling over her, he sliced away her nightgown with a small knife, making no effort to keep the blade from cutting into her skin. As he fumbled with the fabric, she boldly kicked him in the groin, and he screamed and doubled over in pain. Sickened by the sight blood oozing out of her chest, she tried to get up, but she couldn't free herself in time.
Like an angry bear he reached back at her. "You piece of shit!" Seething with anger, he grabbed her bound legs and in one swift motion snapped her right ankle to the side. She screamed and writhed in agony as her ankle flopped outward at an unnatural angle. A large hand grasped her throat. "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut!" he snarled, and as his paw crushed her windpipe, she gasped for air. She tried to scream, but no sound would come out. Her terrified eyes met her attacker's as she choked and sputtered before her vision finally faded to black.
Cold water shocked her awake. Her lungs were desperate for air. Her body violently trembled, recovering from the cruel memory. She weakly rolled over and got to her knees, steadying herself with one hand and cupping her aching throat in the other as she gasped for breath. She could barely see anything through the heavy rain. 'It's okay.' She thought as she tried to calm herself. 'It's okay, it's over.'
The rain faded away, a gentle mist left behind. Unable to make out where she was through her blurred vision, she fought back the panic to get her breathing to slow to a normal rate. Little by little, the shaking stopped and her vision cleared. Once she was able to take slow, deep breaths, she finally relaxed.
Sopping wet, she looked around realizing she was in a room in a destroyed building, with no memory as to how she got there. Nothing made sense anymore. When she pulled herself up to her feet, terrible pain awakened in her ankle and she screamed as she immediately fell down again, instinctively grabbing her inured right foot.
Her eyes widened as she realized that her ankle wasn't broken, yet phantom pain paralyzed her. It was then that she noticed the red marks on her wrists where the cord had been wrapped.
'What is going on? That was years ago.' Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to ignore the imaginary pain and tried to stand up again, only to collapse back on the floor. Despite knowing she was fine, her ankle continued to insist otherwise and refused to bear her weight. Bracing herself against the wall behind her, she made one last attempt to coax her noncompliant ankle to function properly. 'This is ridiculous!' With a scream of frustration she fell back to her knees and pounded the floor with her fist.
"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut!"
Looking up, she saw him walking towards her. She tried to make a run for it, but stumbled back onto the floor. "Get away from me!" she yelled.
"Mommy and Daddy aren't here to save you this time."
Her body trembled; primal fear gripped her and wouldn't let her move. 'No, I'm not a scared little girl anymore.' Despite her inner protest, her body wouldn't budge. She watched helplessly as the beast closed in on her, growing taller, darker and more sinister with each lumberous step. 'Nora, you're a huntress now. Snap out of it!' Fear's intangible restraints broke away. She drew Magnhild and fired two rounds at the beast approaching her. Her grenades hit their mark, the explosions ringing sweetly in her ears.
"Nora, run!"
"Hazel?" Nora called, recognizing her sister's voice.
"Nora, run! He's going to kill you!"
"Hazel, where are you?" She frantically scanned the smoky room for her sister. Someone grabbed her arm, scaring the breath out of her. She looked up to see Hazel right beside her, familiar light brown hair in matted snarls down her back, and her white nightgown torn and bloodied. Ugly, purple marks adorned her neck. Nora's sister pulled her up to her feet. She grimaced in pain, but with her sister's support, she found her footing.
"You need to run!" her sister urged, disappearing into the haze.
"Hazel!" Nora ran in the direction she last saw her sister, biting through the sharp pain in her ankle as the shadows crept in around her and the creatures of the darkness were unleashed. Knowing she couldn't outrun them, she turned and extended Magnhild into its hammer form. With a battle cry, she smashed the nearest creature.
Another jumped on her from behind, but she threw it off with strength fueled by desperation. Smashing her hammer down where it lay, she watched it dissipate into the mist, allowing the ground to take the impact. She fired another round, using the recoil from the explosion to propel herself backwards.
"Nora!"
She turned and saw her sister slipping through the wall, beckoning her to follow. Collapsing Magnhild, she blasted through the wall and leapt through the falling rubble. Crashing to the ground outside, her ankle finally gave up its charade, and as adrenaline fueled her exhausted body back to its feet, she sprinted into the night after her sister's fleeting form, refusing to lose her again.
Ren and Jaune walked down the hallway hoping to find any sign of their missing teammate. Broken walls and splintered ceilings and floors only said she had been there, but not when or where she had gone. Ren sighed, trying not to let worry distract him. He felt Jaune's hand gently placed on his shoulder.
"Hey, we'll find her. Don't worry." Jaune tried to sound reassuring, but Ren could hear the uncertainty in his friend's voice.
A scream ripped through the silence, startling the two boys. Recognizing it as Nora, they ran after the sound which came from down the hall. Peeking inside the doorway to what used to be a large meeting room, Ren's heart skipped a beat as he saw Nora struggling to stand. She let out a frustrated roar as she fell back to her knees in a great deal of pain.
"Nora," Ren called, carefully approaching her, not sure of how she would react.
She looked up at him, her face was pale and her eyes wide. She stumbled trying to back away. "Get away from me!" she yelled, her body visibly trembling.
"Nora, it's okay," Ren calmly said, pain sinking into his chest as he watched his friend frozen in fear.
"Ren," Jaune whispered from behind him. "This isn't good, she doesn't recognize us."
Without warning, Nora shot two grenades at them. Jaune stepped in front of Ren, blocking one of the grenades with his shield. The two boys were blown back by the blast, and the other grenade exploded overhead.
"Hazel?" they heard Nora frantically call. "Hazel, where are you?"
"Who's Hazel?" Jaune asked, getting back to his feet.
"Are you guys all right?" They turned to see Pyrrha and the others rushing towards them.
"We found her," Jaune pointed through the smoke to where Nora was forcing herself to her feet. "We need to move, she's hurt."
"Hazel!" Nora yelled, breaking into a run.
Pyrrha and Ren ran after her, the others following behind. Nora changed direction and madly charged straight at them. Pyrrha tried to use her semblance to snatch Magnhild, but was interrupted as Nora heaved the heavy weapon at her. She met the mighty hammer with her shield, Akouo, but the force of the blow knocked her across the room and into the wall.
Ren jumped onto Nora from behind, but in a show of brute force she flung him onto his back. He rolled out of the way as Magnhild crashed into the spot where he laid a moment ago. She fired another round, using the recoil to propel herself backwards and to avoid getting caught in Weiss' glyph.
"Nora!" Ren called, scrambling to his feet. Ruby and Yang ran after her, but ducked for cover as Nora blasted through a wall, allowing herself out of the building and disappearing once again. Ren raced outside after her, but there were no clues as to which way Nora had fled.
"Damn it!" He yelled as he fell to his hands and knees. The others caught up to him.
"Is everyone all right?" Ruby asked.
"I don't think Nora is," Jaune said. "She looked pretty beat up."
"She can't be that bad if she thought she could take us all on." Yang added.
Ren slowly stood up, letting out a defeated sigh.
"Ren," Weiss' icy voice chilled him. "What is it that you're not telling us?"
Her question piqued everyone's interest and he felt all of their gazes on him. He saw Jaune tense, a look of worry on his face.
"Something isn't adding up." She continued. "She's had this sugar problem plenty of times before, but she's never acted like this. She could have killed someone just now. She could have killed you."
"Weiss is right." Ruby added. "She doesn't recognize us at all; I don't even think she realizes where she is or what's going on."
Ren held his breath, not sure what to say. He bowed his head so he wouldn't have to look at them. "I don't know."
Weiss grabbed him by the collar and looked the defensive boy straight in the eye. "Why are you lying to us?"
"Weiss, hold on," Pyrrha interrupted, "Let's not jump to conclusions."
"Pyrrha." Jaune grabbed her shoulder and when she turned to face him, gave a small shake of the head. Without needing another word he turned back to Ren.
Ren sighed. Gently but firmly, he grabbed Weiss' hand and removed it from his collar. "I don't know." He said, straightening out his wet jacket. He didn't know what else to say. He loathed being the subject of interrogation, especially in front of an audience, and he racked his brain for a way to get himself out of this mess so he could get back to finding Nora.
"You can stall all you want," Weiss lectured, refusing to back down "but we're not going to be able to help Nora until we know exactly what's wrong with her."
"There's nothing wrong with her! She's just a normal person that-"
"That has some serious issues." Weiss finished his statement for him.
Ren's silence spoke volumes.
"So you don't deny it then?" Weiss stated more than asked.
Checkmate. He sighed, dropping his head in defeat. "No."
"Alright then. Start talking." She ordered.
Ren was sweating. He wasn't ready for this. This was none of their business. If he had to, he would find her by himself. Meeting Weiss' gaze for one brief moment, he took a step back and turned to walk away.
Or so he had tried, but one of Weiss' glyphs ensnared him around the waist mid pivot.
"One way or another, Ren, I'm getting the truth out of you."
Instinctively, he tried to tug himself free of the odd force. It was as if it weaved through the fabric of his being rather than circle around him. It was a weird, uncomfortable sensation. His heart was pounding and he felt a hole in his stomach. He closed his eyes to calm himself and took a deep breath. "And if I refuse?"
"Then we'll be here all night and we'll let Ozpin and Glynda handle this in the morning. That way they can see firsthand what kind of hazard she is." Weiss said.
"You and I both know you can't sustain this glyph for long."
She drew Myrtnaster and spun the dust chamber. In one swift motion a wave of ice engulfed him almost entirely. "You're right. This is much easier." She let the glyph fade away and sheathed her weapon.
"Weiss," Yang finally spoke up, "Don't you think you're going a bit too far?"
"Yang, think about it for a second. He's been leading us along this whole time, and despite being fully aware of how dangerous this situation is, he is perfectly okay letting us think it's just another one of her sugar episodes. Something is very wrong with Nora, and we don't even know if he knows how to stop her. If we keep doing this, someone is going to get hurt or killed. No one here can take a hit by Magnhild without ending up dead, not even you."
"I have a way to stop her, I need you to trust me." Ren pleaded. He felt like his head was spinning. Despite being encased in ice, he was still sweating and his pulse picked up again. He closed his eyes once more, but wasn't given the silence he needed.
"You want us to trust you?" a tinge of aggravation slowly crept into Weiss voice. She circled him until they were face to face again. "Ren, you've been lying to us this whole time. We did trust you, and you took advantage of that. Had you come clean with us at the beginning, we wouldn't be wasting time sitting here trying to pry the truth out of you. We might have even been able to stop her by now."
"I'm trying to protect her!"
"You're protecting her from the wrong people. Until we know what's wrong with her and how you plan to resolve it, there's nothing we can do to help her. Chasing her like this is only making her act more dangerous. We need to come up with a plan, and to do that, you need to tell us what's going on."
"Ren," Ruby's calm voice was a startling contrast to Weiss. "She's right." Some of the others nodded in agreement.
At this point, he had no choice. Weiss had choked off his options one by one.
"Alright," he surrendered. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "But if you want the whole story, someone needs to get me out of this or I'll freeze to death before I'm finished."