A/N: Took me long enough to write this one chapter. My sport is starting to pick up and I've got midterms coming up. I'll do my best to keep updating. This story will wrap up soon. Feedback appreciated.

Chapter 7: One More Chance

Piercing howls echoed throughout the forest as their seemingly weakened target suddenly disappeared before them in a blur. They looked around for her for a brief moment.

Then a maelstrom of ice crystals, sharp as swords, came raining down on the hapless Beowolves as they moved around to avoid impalement. And Weiss watched from above, a sullen expression clouding her face as she stood on an Air Step platform. Typically, her Air Steps last for short bursts, which don't use her Aura up considerably, while in this case, she was standing on a near-solid platform, taking up an unsafe amount of what little of her Aura she had left.

Gradually, the attack was subsiding, and even with the heavy casualties that Weiss inflicted, there were still enough Beowolves to tear her apart if she stopped. Even one could certainly do the trick.

Weiss collapsed to her knees on the platform, which was now beginning to flicker out. Even if she survived the fall, if there were any Beowolves she had missed, she was through. Her thoughts came back to her, the flashbacks, the memories of a life she may no longer have in mere moments.

Breathing hard and trying to focus for as long as she possibly could, she tried her best to word out her apology to her absent teammates. She needed to do it, even if they couldn't hear it.

"Guys…I…I'm sorry…my fault…all mine…"

The platform gave out, and the shards stopped falling. Instead, a barely conscious Weiss was falling.

Time went by in slow motion. Weiss had no idea how many were left, where her teammates were, or even how high she was. All she knew was that she was falling and was going to die. And yet, a small smile graced her lips.

'They'll be okay, at least.'

Weiss closed her eyes and waited. Waited for the end as she fell.

She hit the ground with the crunch of snow beneath her, crushed by her momentum. Weiss let out a yelp of pain. She wasn't dead, but her body was filled with excruciating pain. She winced and moaned in pain as she tried to move, but to no avail. She heard the howls. She hadn't gotten all of them. They were coming for her. She didn't say anything. She waited for them. She waited for them to just tower over her, rip her apart, do whatever that Grimm do to the people they kill.

This was it. Weiss could see it now. The Reaper was right above her in her mind, scythe in hand. Her story was over….

Except a different scythe-wielder showed up.

A flash of black and red flashed above her, followed by the sound of gunshots and slashes in succession.

"Ruby."

Weiss' smile faded. She didn't want to be seen like this, but she was being saved. Ruby was saving her, of all people. She didn't feel deserving of it.

A flash of yellow flew past her, followed up with additional gunshots. Yang just joined in. Weiss was about to close her eyes again when she heard footsteps next to her and a panicked, yet familiar voice.

"Weiss, are you alright? C'mon, say something!"

She opened her eyes and turned her head. Blake was right next to her, evident worry in her face and her amber eyes holding back tears. Weiss smiled against her will, hoping Blake would calm down a little.

"Yes Blake. I…I'm alright."

Blake exhaled deeply as she wiped the tears forming in her eyes. She gave a small smile in return. "We were so worried…please don't do this again." Not wanting to talk about this ordeal just yet, Weiss tried to switch the conversation to something more pressing. "Can't you at least help me up?" Blake rolled her eyes, implying some sarcasm. "Sure."

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were finishing off the Beowolves that weren't killed by Weiss' attack, remnants of which were still strewn all over the clearing.

"Yang, is it me or are there a lot of these things?" Ruby yelled out to her sister in between shots. "Weiss took a lot of 'em out too. It's like going against an army or something!" was the reply. Both were fighting as hard as they could, but the Grimm just kept coming. Professor Goodwitch was right about the Forest of Forever Fall; it's infested with Grimm.

Ruby looked back to check on Blake and saw her carrying Weiss and slowly walking out of the battlefield. 'Weiss is walking, so that means she's alive. She's alive…' Ruby beamed and turned back to face the horde of Beowolves with renewed vigor, now that she knew her best teammate could still be by her side. She hacked and slashed her way through the hapless Beowolves, not paying attention to the gap she exposed in her line of attack. A Beowolf came in and scored a direct hit on Ruby, knocking Crescent Rose out of her hands and sending her flying into a bed of broken ice shards, where she lay, writhing in pain. Yang watched it happen at a distance.

"RUBY!"

Yang's voice pierced the night in a way no bullet or weapon of any kind could, and by itself could've frightened off the Beowolves, as they howled in pain from the stinging in their ears. Blake and Weiss looked back to see Yang running around, blasting everything to get to Ruby, lying face down in a bed of shards. Both girls were speechless, terrified of the sight. Weiss' eyes went wide with shock and dismay.

"Oh no…"