Yang had never run so fast before in her life. It was a pretty bad idea, what with her body still hurting from the crash and the fight at the bar, and she knew it. But she didn't care in the least. Ruby's words were on a loop inside her head – something about contacting Beacon and creepy cultists and sacrifices…

Ruby was in trouble. She needed help.

Yang reached the edge of town and kept going, sticking to the left of the road, where Qrow had parked the plane. She didn't remember exactly where, though, and she couldn't see it right now, as it was, well, invisible.

"Uncle Qrow!" she called, but her voice was hoarse. Yang coughed and rubbed her throat. "Damnit…"

She slowed down to a halt and looked around more calmly, even as every part of her screamed for her to keep running and find Ruby. That wouldn't help, though. She needed to clear her mind and act rationally, or else something bad would happen to her and then she would be of no help to Ruby.

She walked alongside the road for a while, straining her eyes for any signs of the Quinjet, but the scenery was as normal as could be with its grassy soil and trees. At least it wasn't completely dark anymore. The sun was coming up on the east horizon.

Yang wondered if Qrow had ever lost the Quinjet before. And then she wondered if she had lost him, if he had abandoned her. She had sort of encouraged him, after all. She was still angry with him, but now she regretted lashing out like that. They should have been focusing on the job, on Ruby, and not screaming at each other.

"Family. Ugh," Yang ran a hand up her forehead and through her hair, and in that moment, something caught her eye. Just a little distance away from the road, a section of the grass was pressed sideways against the ground, as if something big was there – except there was nothing – except there was something.

Yang walked up to the area and reached carefully with her hand. Her fingers hit something metallic. She grasped it, then kicked with her right leg, producing a resounding noise. "Hey! Open up, old man!"

A few seconds passed, then the Quinjet's cloaking deactivated, and the hangar opened. Qrow looked down at her, not as pale as before, but still looking a little shaky. "I'm not old, you infant."

Yang ran inside and shook him by the shoulders. "I know where Ruby is. We need to help her," she said, then let go and walked to the cockpit. "Come on, she can't be far."

"Wait, what? How do you know where she is?" Qrow followed her, looking baffled. "You haven't been drinking, have you? Because if you have, I'm making it clear right now that I had no influence in anything that led to such bad life choices."

"No, I haven't been drinking!" Yang kicked him in the shin, and he hobbled over to the pilot's seat. "Ruby called my cellphone. She said she was in trouble and that she was in… Anesburg, I think."

"Amesburg. That is close," Qrow sat down and closed the hangar, then initiated take-off. He tapped on the control panel, pulling up a map. "What sort of trouble?"

"I think we were right about those weird cultists being involved in her disappearance," Yang said, sitting down. "She sounded like she was being chased."

"Doesn't she have superspeed?" Qrow noted dubiously.

"Well, I think she would have used it if she could, uncle," Yang made to glare at him, but her face twisted into a grimace instead. Now that she was sitting down and the urgency of the situation was not on her shoulders alone, the pain was catching up to her. She leaned her head back and rubbed her forehead.

Qrow looked at her worriedly, then set the plane on autopilot and headed to the back. He returned with a first-aid package, from which he took a roll of bandage and a bottle of alcohol. "You got into a fight."

"Junior. He had a baseball bat and he caught me off-guard," Yang said grudgingly. He started bringing the bandage towards her head, but she pushed his hands away. "I don't need help."

"Oh, quit it with the tough act. I changed your diapers, you twerp," Qrow paused. "Alright, that's not true, but the sentiment is," he pointed a finger at her injury. The blood had stopped dripping, so she assumed it was healing already, but it still hurt. "I told you you're not invincible, but you set out to prove me wrong anyway. Now look who's laughing. Hah!"

Yang wanted to protest, wanted to bring up their argument and how he wanted her out of the mission, but frankly, she was too tired to care anymore. She leaned forward a little and nodded drowsily. Qrow took it as her giving up finally and started wrapping the bandage around her head.

Yang closed her eyes.

"Hey, kid."

Yang glared at him. "Oh my God. What?"

"Did you mean all that?" he asked, not stopping what he was doing. "Do you feel like I wasn't there for you enough?"

"What? No. That's not…" Yang blurted out. She hadn't expected that at all. If anything, she thought Qrow would be hoping she would forget about what had happened. "I don't…"

"No. I get it," Qrow said. "I'm the cool uncle, but sometimes you need more from me. And there's nothing wrong with that. You deserve more," he finished wrapping the bandage and opened the bottle of alcohol. "I wish I could, Yang. I wish I could."

He pulled back the bandage near the injury and poured in a drip from the bottle. Yang hissed and slapped his wrist.

"Sorry. I'm bad with this stuff," Qrow smiled humorlessly. "Way things tend to go with me, I either get out scot-free, or I end up in a hospital bed. Not much in-between."

"You're weird, uncle," Yang muttered. "Like, seriously weird."

"That's nice," he put back the bandage and bottle and closed the package, then stood up and patted her in the head. "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

"I'm not sleeping!" Yang exclaimed vehemently.

Qrow gave her a look that argued just the contrary. Yang huffed, sinking in her seat. Her eyelids were feeling heavy. It was getting difficult to hold her head straight. The noise of the Quinjet soaring through the sky got duller and duller...

Ruby... Needed to get to Ruby…

"Ruby?"

The sun had come and gone, and she could still hear them from the other side of the door. Tiny, shallow sobs, one after the other. Shaky intakes of air. Earlier, she had heard things being broken, and when that was over, it became clear it hadn't helped at all.

It was heartbreaking, so much that it had dulled her own pain. All that Yang could think about now was the other little girl in the house, and how she was hurting.

"Ruby, I'm coming in."

She opened the door and entered the room. As expected, the floor was littered with broken toys and ripped books and clothes. The bed was an absolute mess. And somewhere within those linen covers was her sister.

Yang climbed onto the bed and felt around with her hands until they closed around an arm. She pulled down the covers and revealed a pale face and two bloodshot eyes.

"Ruby. I'm here. It's okay."

"N-no! It's not okay! G-get out!"

"It's not okay now. But it's gonna be. I know how it hurts, but-"

"S-shut up! You don't know! You don't know anything! You're not… you're not…"

Ruby never finished. She collapsed onto Yang and buried her head on her chest, crying her eyes out. Yang bit her lip, barely holding herself together.

"You're not alone, Ruby. Dad is still here. I'm still here," she wrapped her arms around Ruby. "I'll always be with you. Whenever you need someone to talk to, or to shout at, or… or anything… I'll be there."

And, just like that, it stopped. Ruby looked up, and the way her silver eyes peered into her would engraved in Yang's mind for forever.

"…You promise?"

"Get up, Sleeping Beauty."

Yang woke up and immediately glared at Qrow. She rubbed her leg where he had kicked her, then stood up. She wobbled in place for a moment before regaining her balance. Her head still felt a little light, but the drowsiness was gone completely.

"We're landed near the town," Qrow said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good," Yang lied, walking to the back of the plane.

As the hangar lowered, Qrow joined her. "Sure, and I'm a responsible adult," he rolled his eyes. "Just try not to take a baseball bat to the head this time."

"Can't promise that."

There was only one promise she was keeping today.

Ruby dived into an alley and hid behind a trash can, just in time to avoid being seen by a passing car. The cultists were doing rounds around the town, and she had come dangerously close to being caught several times already.

She had hoped they would have thought she had run away from town, but they must have come to the same conclusion as her. On the open road, there was no way she could outrun them, much less evade their search. In the town, she at least had places she could hide in.

That wouldn't last long, though. She was one person, and they were many. She had seen at least twenty when she had made her escape from their lair, but she was sure there were a whole lot more she hadn't seen. Eventually, they would find her. It was only a matter of time.

Luckily, time was all Ruby wanted. She had gotten the message out already. The cultists' operation wouldn't be a secret for much longer, and Beacon would come down on them hard. Her survival didn't matter in the larger scale – but she would rather live, if that wasn't too much to ask.

She peeked over the trash can and saw nothing. Carefully, she stood up and looked at the rest of the street, and immediately pulled back. There were a lot of robed people walking around, searching everything in sight. Some were examining the houses and local stores, as if they were considering going inside. Ruby hoped they chose not to that, as she doubted they would be in any way polite about it.

"It'll be fine," she said, tiptoeing backwards in the alley.

She heard glass shattering, then people shouting in fear and anger.

Ruby looked up, wishing very much that she could will herself out of existence. "Why do I say things?"

She walked out into the street and shook her arms above her head. There was probably a better way to go about this, but she couldn't afford to plan ahead. She knew how crazy these cultists were. The last thing she wanted was for them to decide to make the whole town a sacrifice – because that sounded exactly like something they would do.

"Hey!" she shouted. "You're looking for a girl?!"

A few meters ahead of her, a group of cultists stood in front of a small market store. The glass on the front was laying in pieces on the ground, and the people Ruby assumed to be the owners were standing inside with panicked expressions.

"Well," Ruby gulped. She turned around stiffly and pointed. "She went that way!"

Ruby took off in that direction, and soon heard the cultists giving chase. Keeping just on the edge of activating her Semblance, Ruby turned and entered an alley, then came the other side.

Unfortunately, she immediately crashed onto another cultist, and they went rolling on the ground together, stopping in the middle of the road. Ruby jumped to her feet before him and spun around. Cultists were edging in from every direction. She had done a splendid job of drawing their attention, but somehow, she wasn't very proud of herself.

"Alright, guys. Let's all take a moment to think about the decisions that got us to this place! Remember, not all decisions are good," she said, eyes darting from one cultist to the next. "For example, I decided to run out like a freaking idiot, and look where that got me! And you guys decided to join a cult that worships extradimensional nightmare creatures. I'm not judging, but, you know," she gestured pleadingly. "We can all make up for our mistakes."

"Punishment for all heathens!" one of the cultists yelled, and they all ran at her.

"Yep, that's what I thought."

Ruby looked around, frantically trying to form a plan, but there was no time. Out of pure instinct, she threw herself towards one of the cultists, tackling him shoulder-first. The man was caught off-guard and toppled to the ground. Ruby nearly fell along with him, but managed to put a foot on the ground and get some distance away from her.

There was little hope of her getting away, though. A jeep came speeding around the street corner in front of her, bringing more cultists to block her escape. Ruby hissed in frustration.

"You guys are the worst!" she yelled. "I'm just trying to be a good influence on the world!"

"The words of the deceiver shall not be heeded!" a cultist screamed, coming to grab her.

"What does that even mean?!" Ruby swatted his hands away, stumbling backwards. Her back hit something, and suddenly there were hands on her shoulders, holding her in the place.

Ruby shrieked and kicked backwards, hitting her holder's knee, but now she was completely surrounded. She raised her hands in a fighting stance and spun around, keeping a threatening expression on her face. The cultists, however, didn't seem worried at all.

"I'm warning you," she said meekly. "I… I know kung-fu?"

Yang walked into Amesburg, cracking her knuckles. She didn't like what she was seeing – nothing. Eerily nothing. From the corner of her vision, she saw Qrow draw his pistol and keep it waist-high.

"What do you think are the chances Ruby is doing just fine?" she asked. Maybe she was just expecting the worst. After searching hopelessly for a week, reuniting with Ruby without a problem seemed like a far shot.

"Low," Qrow said. "I don't like to deal in chances, though."

"I guess that's smart," Yang paused briefly. "So, do we just go around town looking for her? Or do you have some super high-tech locator thing?"

"What?" Qrow looked at her weirdly. "You think Beacon is from the future or something? No. We're just gonna have to be thorough. If we're lucky, she'll come to us."

Just as he said that, a jeep came around a corner and sped past them, tires screeching. Yang stumbled back, having nearly been run over. She centered herself and raised her head, and saw another jeep coming their way.

"Wait," her eyes widened. "Is that-"

Qrow pulled her away and raised his pistol, then took a shot. The bullet pierced a tire, and the jeep started to spin. It slid on the road past them, sparks flying, until it came to a complete halt. The doors opened, and robed cultists started to come out, half of them wielding firearms.

On the back, Ruby sat up after the crash, looking around confusedly. "The heck?" her eyes landed on Yang. "Oh my Gosh! You found me!"

Beside her, a pair of cultists stood up, grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her off the jeep and away from Yang and Qrow. Her wrists were bound by rope behind her back, and there was a strange metal collar around her neck.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, taking a step ahead, but Qrow grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"Don't move, you dumbass," he muttered. "You think they're just gonna let you walk up to them?"

"No. But that's not a problem," Yang tore away from his hold and marched forward.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled. "No!"

The cultists stopped backing away and started shooting. Yang raised an arm in front of her face, and the bullets bounced off it harmlessly. Her body coursed with power as her Semblance absorbed their impact. And then, when they paused to reload, she ran, eyes blazing.

She tried to get to the pair holding Ruby first, but the others covered them as they ran away. Yang kicked one cultist away, then hit another with her arm, slamming him against the fallen jeep. She grabbed another by the arm as he tried to punch her and swung him around, then threw him on the floor.

Yang slid back, raising her fists. There were still ten cultists standing in her way, but she could take care of them easily. But as she was about to go to work, she heard Qrow shout. "Yang, watch out!"

She turned around and saw another jeep coming her way. She ran to the side and threw herself to the ground just in time. The jeep spun around, and the cultists inside stuck out from its windows and started shooting at her.

Yang kneeled on the ground and turned her face away. The bullets were starting to sting a bit now. Her rest hadn't been enough to restore her Aura fully, and now she was paying for that. She wasn't sure how long she could hold out like this, but it couldn't be long. She had to do something soon…

She turned her head to look at the cultists and nearly shouted when she saw Qrow standing beside her. He had his arm in front of his face too, and though he was deflecting the bullets too, he seemed to be having a much worse time doing it.

"Uncle?" her eyes widened. "You have an Aura?"

"Yes. Congratulations, you're very perceptive," he said dryly. "Remember how that truck chase ended earlier? Pew pew, kaboom, all that bad stuff?"

"Yeah? That's what got to do with anything?"

"Just hope things turn out better this time."

Qrow lowered his arm and took his pistol in both hands, then started shooting. Every bullet he fired found its target, taking out cultists after cultist without fail. The ones that remained continued to shoot, but suddenly they seemed to be missing a whole lot more than before. In fact, Qrow didn't suffer another hit, and he was an easy target, standing tall and unmoving.

And then Qrow did miss a shot. Except he didn't miss, exactly. The bullet hit the jeep near the back and pierced through. He grimaced and lowered his pistol. "Goddamnit."

A moment later, the jeep exploded, and cultists were sent flying in all directions. A smoke cloud rose high above the road, blocking Yang's vision. A charred arm landed right in front of her.

"…Well," Qrow said. "At least that doesn't belong to either one of us!" he didn't sound nearly as positive as he must have intended.

"Ruby!" Yang got up and ran, entering the smoke and flames head-first. She covered her mouth and nose with a hand, powering through, and emerged at the other side.

Ruby was there, struggling in her captors' hold. As Yang watched, she managed to kick one of them away, but immediately received retribution from the other, who hit her in the jaw with the butt of his pistol. Ruby's head snapped to the right, and she spat blood onto the road.

Yang's world turned red. Her body moved on its own as she reached Ruby and punched the cultist in the face. The effect was the same as if he had been hit by a truck. His feet left the ground and he was sent flying meters away, only to fall with a harrowing cracking noise, and he lay still.

The other cultists started to rise, and Yang started to turn – but before she could do anything, Ruby herself moved, kicking him in the chin with all her might, knocking him out cold.

Yang froze. "Wow."

Ruby spun around to face her. "Wow yourself!" she shouted. "You didn't tell me you were a superhero too!"

They looked at each other, and for a moment, the world seemed to stop spinning. Ruby's shoulders and head dropped, as if exhaustion had suddenly hit her in full strength. Yang nearly collapsed. This was it. They were here. There they were. It was hard to believe.

Yang stepped forward and hugged her. Ruby buried her head in Yang's chest and sobbed.

"I'm here for you, sister."

*airhorns* It's about damn time.

A short chapter, I know, but it was all it needed to be. Padding just makes good things bad, most of the time.

We're nearing the end, folks. If you're wondering, this is 8 chapters long, like The Red Huntress. And the bonus after-credits scene (omg what a spoiler). Thanks to everyone who has been reading, and special thanks to the reviewers! (I haven't been replying much lately, but know that I really appreciate reading your guys' thoughts)

-Zeroan