Is anyone else extremely disappointed in canon Raven? My gosh, she goes on and on about strength, but preys on those who can't defend themselves, and she's hiding from Salem. She's a coward...At least it's 100% confirmed that she and Qrow are actually birds...I've got to figure out if I can keep that with what I have planned or not.

Also, Qrow, find Heather Shields and bring her back to her adorable baby girl! DO IT!

Also also, YES! RUBY YANG AND WEISS ARE BACK TOGETHER! GIVE ALL THE HUGS! ALL THE FEELS! RT did that well. Just Blake's missing, but something tells me the team RWBY group hug is going to be after Yang punches Blake in the face.

Now, the chapter many of you have been looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

Summer stared at Fort Castle and tried to keep her heart rate down. The place was lit up like a concert hall in downtown Vale. The Nevermores must not be concerned about keeping a low profile. Anyone within a dozen miles would be able to see the beacon in the night. Then again, they would probably kill or capture anyone that got close. For once, Summer fell into that category.

She took out her Scroll and looked at the most recent pictures of her girls. Ruby fell asleep on Yang's lap just that morning, and Yang did the same soon after. Summer caressed her girls cheeks on the Scroll. She bit her lips as a dark thought crossed her mind. "If something happens to me, please take care of each other you two. Love each other. Have each other's backs...I love you two so much." She closed her eyes and shut down her Scroll. She had to concentrate. This was the most important mission of her life. She couldn't fail.

The Nevermores knew she was coming. Was it better to spring their trap the way they wanted, or did she go in the way they least expected? Both had their advantages. Which one would be better?...Which would they least expect, and thus have the least weapons pointed at her?

Her mind made up, Summer teleported closer to the old fortress. She ended up in the tree line about a mile away from the outer wall. All around her, divots from decades old artillery shells and other explosions littered the ground. Some trees grew in the holes. Jagged metal stuck out of others. It was amazing this place wasn't scavenged any more.

Summer peeked out from behind a tree and looked at the outer walls. Large horizontal slits lined the wall, most likely housing all kinds of weaponry, or at least they did at one point in time. On either side of the main gate, large vertical slits housed the largest cannons ever constructed. The slugs those things fired could punch clean through anything Atlas could throw at it. Hopefully those were offline, not that they were a threat to Summer, but no criminals should have that kind of power.

"Okay, Summer," she breathed, "This is either the best or worst plan you've had. Just go in there and take them out. Freeze the hole place." She took out her Scroll and checked the reception. She didn't even get one bar. Vale would learn about this place when this was over.

She gripped Sun's Light's hilt and stepped out from behind her tree. She walked toward the gates, not looking back. Several spotlights spun and shone directly on her. Several shouts came from the wall, but as of yet, no one fired on her. Still, Summer felt numerous guns pointed right at her. She paid them no mind. If she wanted, she could freeze all those slits in foot thick ice with the swipe of a hand. But it was best to save her secrets until the main fight.

The gates creaked and swung inward. Summer took another deep breath as she strode forward. Might as well scare these guys. She couldn't show any fear. Movement along the courtyard walls caught her eyes. Several people carried massive guns, even though some of them looked like Faunus War antiques. No weapons pointed at her over the walls, but that would come. Hopefully some of these guys had to reposition.

Summer stared up to where she thought the old general would stand during a battle. One man in black armor stood behind a podium. That had to be the guy in charge. "Well, I'm here!" Summer threw both her arms up. "Alone! Do What you want with me, but do not hurt my family!" She hoped no one noticed the slight shake in her voice.

The man behind the podium laughed, and it echoed through speakers all around the courtyard. "You stupid girl." His voice boomed all around Summer. "I was never going to let your family live."

Summer stiffened and let her arms fall to her side. "What?!" She reached into her cloak and grabbed Sun's Light's hilt, but didn't draw it. She let her Aura build up, but kept it from leaking out through her eyes.

"If your kids turn out like their parents and uncle, they will come searching for answers. I can't have that. Don't worry though, they won't be taken here. We don't take human prisoners. Their deaths will be quick."

That did it. Summer drew Sun's Light and switched it to sniper form. "Cowards!" Her Aura built up even more to the point of bursting.

"Maybe. The difference is, this coward will survive and profit." With those last words, the Nevermores along the walls sprang up and aimed their weapons at Summer.

Big mistake. They gave their positions away.

Summer let her Maiden's Aura burst forth. The area directly in front of her lit up even more from the light from her eyes. A gale blew from behind Summer, and a blizzard would soon follow. "Like hell, you will!" She fired one shot at the man behind the podium, then teleported up there before any shots could be fired at her.

She turned around and faced the north wall. She stuck two fingers straight up and ran them along the wall. A thick ice barrier formed as her fingers passed, blocking that much more turret fire. Summer repeated the action on the south wall. With most of the heavy firepower made irrelevant, she could focus on individuals.

Summer returned her attention to who she thought was the boss. She hauled the guy to his feet. "Call off your men."

"I can't do that," The bastard laughed. "Besides, it's already done."

Summer's heart plummeted, but she tried not to let it show. "Well too bad for you." He had an active Aura, so her next action shouldn't kill him. Summer heaved the man in a circle before throwing him into the court yard several dozen feet below.

Gunshots came from her left and she felt her Aura on that side drain. Summer teleported away then faced her assailants. Three men with V4s. Piece of cake. She teleported again and elbowed the first man in the gut. She switched Sun's Light back to sword form and sliced at the other two. Both of them fell to the ground with deep bloody canyons on their chests.

Summer hesitated as she stared at what she just did. She hadn't killed anyone after her first time. Summer shook her head and turned away. She couldn't dwell on that. It was them or her baby girls.

A grenade fired behind her. Summer dove out of the way and once again switched Sun's Light's form. She fired three shots at the grenadier as the grenade exploded. All three shots connected and spurts of red came out the guy's back.

Something connected with the back of her head and knocked her on her face. Summer rolled to the side just as something slammed into the ground where she just was. Judging from the divot, it was from a high caliber sniper rifle. She rolled again and fired a few shots in that direction. But there was no one there.

Summer jumped to her feet and switched Sun's Light to a sword again. Either this sniper was good at hiding, or he was a Huntsman. She listened for anything else. Several footsteps came from her right and she faced them. Five guys with assault rifles and shotguns ran at her from the south side. She gave each of them one bullet a piece, and four of them fell. Summer aimed at the chest of the last guy and fired once more.

Something slammed into her side and sent her flying over the wall. Summer teleported, kicked her legs beneath her and landed in a roll. She stared up to where she got knocked off. A man in purple and red robes held an over large sniper rifle and aimed it at Summer.

She didn't give him a chance to fire. Summer grew an ice wall beneath the sniper. But instead of flinging him back like intended, he flipped forward in to the courtyard. In the air, he fired a shot at Summer's outstretched arm. It connected and Summer drew her arm back into herself. That thing took a lot out of her Aura.

The sniper landed next to the boss, who had since obtained a katana. Summer recognized that blade, the same one she saw get on a transport in Bullworth. This guy was going down.

"Let's see if you can hit what you can't see." Summer held her hands out to her sides and summoned a blizzard. The wind picked up to hurricane force and snow appeared out of nowhere. The temperature plummeted to the point where frost formed on the concrete before the snow touched down. Normal people wouldn't be able to see a foot in front of them, but Summer saw threw her own blizzard as clearly as freshly cleaned glass.

Summer ran forward and smashed into the boss. She stabbed one of his arms while he was down. This time, no Aura blocked the attack. She pulled her sword out and searched for the sniper. The guy wasn't where he should have been. Was he a teleporter too? A speedster? A…an invisible man? Summer switched up what she was looking for, air pockets in the snow. She saw one that looked incredibly human shaped.

Engaging the sniper normally would lead to a longer fight. Instead, Summer pointed Sun's Light at the man and used it to channel her Aura. Snow from all over rushed at the sniper and new ice formed around him. His feet froze to the ground facing away from Summer. He tried to turn around, but the ice rose too fast. In seconds, the sniper was completely frozen in foot thick ice. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

As Summer looked around the courtyard for any more targets, she noticed how much the blizzard was draining her Aura. Not using her Maiden Magic to this extent in years drained her more than she thought it would. She cut the flow to the blizzard, but the snow currently in the air didn't stop moving.

She faced the front gate. That could be an an opportunity. She held her hands out in front of her and an ice ball formed and grew to the size of a Goliath. When Summer was satisfied, she threw it at the gate. Ice met metal and stone, and the gate broke outward. Let the Grimm in. For once. they could be Summer's ally.

Summer looked up to the walls. Her ice barriers were holding, and dozens of riflemen stood on the wall that held the podium. Summer drew Sun's light and aimed up at them. Some of them would fall in one shot, others would have Aura. None of them would leave Fort Castle as free men.

As she pulled the trigger the first time, something big slammed into her back and exploded. Summer flew forward and skidded on her face on one of the few patches of bare concrete. That one hurt. She felt her Aura was about to break. She couldn't take another one. What was that? A grenade? Rocket? She pushed herself off the ground and faced where that shot came from. One man stood on top of the wall over the gate and was frantically reloading a rocket launcher. She raised Sun's Light and fired a shot. It connected and the man stumbled out of sight. His weapon fell off the wall and into the courtyard.

Summer returned her attention to those lining the wall. It was so nice of them to be lined up like that. She swept a hand over her head and the men on the wall were blown into the courtyard. Some crumpled on landing, never to rise again, others rolled over and struggled to get off the ground.

A few of them grabbed their weapons and pointed them at Summer. Before they could do anything, Summer teleported behind them and knocked their legs out from under them. She froze them in place and turned around-

-just in time to see a shotgun pointing at her head. It fired and knocked her to the ground. Summer felt her Aura break. She couldn't take any more hits like that, or else she'd never hear Ruby and Yang laugh again.

She swung Sun's Light at her assailant's legs, but she didn't cut through. Summer looked up and stared at the boss, bloody shoulder and all. How did his Aura come back so quick? He must have been one of those with weak Aura overall, but it grew back quickly, like Barty.

The boss lifted his katana and swung it down. Summer rolled out of the way just in time and sprang to her feet. "Why won't you die?" the boss growled. He hefted his shotgun with his good arm.

Summer sidestepped the shot. "I could ask you the same thing." She charged and swung Sun's Light at the man. Her sword cut clean through the shotgun. The boss tried to parry with his katana, but Summer knocked that away as well. She kicked the man in the stomach then brought her weapon's hilt to his forehead. He crumpled to the ground, hopefully for the last time. Even though Summer didn't see his Aura break, he shouldn't get up from that for a while.

She turned around, looking for anyone still standing. No one moved in the courtyard, and there wasn't any movement that she could see. Maybe they- "AHHH!" Summer screamed as she felt something tear into the right side of her face. She dropped her weapon and covered the spot with both hands.

Summer pulled a hand away and stared at her red hand. Why was it off center? She closed her left eye and saw nothing. Her heartrate sped up. She just lost an eye. No depth perception. She couldn't teleport.

Another gun fired and something slammed into her back. She screamed again and fell onto her face. That hurt more than anything before…but not as bad as she expected. She tried to get her feet underneath her, but she couldn't. In fact…she couldn't feel her legs at all.

Oh no…Raven please get here soon. Summer crawled away from her spot and toward the gate. The hole she opened earlier might be her only chance of survival. If she could get through there, she might escape.

She didn't make it a dozen feet before someone stepped on her back. Summer's arms couldn't keep her upright and she faceplanted in the snow. This was it…My babies...

Someone kicked her over and she stared up at the boss. He held Sun's Light in a shaky hand. No one held her weapon without her permission. She would train her girls with it if they wanted. Sun's Light was not to be handled by criminals. She rose her left hand and she drew on whatever Aura she had left to try and freeze the bastard. Before the temperature dropped a degree, her blade was thrust into her shoulder. She grunted, and that arm fell to the ground. She didn't have anything left.

"How does it feel to be killed with your own weapon?" The boss boasted.

Summer caught a tremor in his voice. Maybe she didn't completely lose after all. She turned her head to the side and spit out a gob of blood. "How's it feel to have most of your operation to be dismantled by one Huntress?" She smirked. Maybe she had some fight in her after all.

The boss growled and pulled Sun's Light out of Summer's shoulder. "Any last words, witch."

Now Summer's resolve left her. She leaned her head back in her snow. The blanket beneath her was extraordinarily comfortable. "Yang…" Her Phoenix flashed before her eyes, smiling and laughing at something her mom said. "Ruby…" Her baby girl took Yang's place, always wide eyed and happy, attached to either Yang's or Summer's side. "I'm sorry." She faintly saw Sun's Light coming for her eye…

Everything went black. Summer couldn't breathe, but nothing hurt. In fact, she didn't feel anything at all. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew something was. She could still think. She remembered everything. Was this purgatory? Or had the light at the end of the tunnel not come into view yet? This was…strange. Shouldn't something be happening?

All at once, her feeling came back. Cool grass caressed her face and arms. Summer slowly opened her eyes. They told her the same thing her skin did. She was lying in a grassy field…somewhere. Nothing on her body screamed in pain. She moved her legs from side to side and felt them skimming on the grass. Summer closed her left eye, and could still see. She sighed. It was all a dream. But…why did she pass out in a clearing?

Then she heard intense crying, and it sounded very familiar. "Ruby?" Summer pushed herself off the ground and stood up. She looked around the area. From the look of it, she was on Patch, not too far away from the house. She ran in that direction as fast as she could. Her baby girl needed her…

Wait. What was Ruby doing out here anyway? Tai take her on a field trip? Summer heard thunder and looked up. She stopped in her tracks. Not only did she see massive thunderheads rolling toward her, the sky was completely white. Besides the storm, there were no clouds? Why was the sky white?

Summer shook her head and kept running. Another voice joined Ruby's crying. "Daddy! Daddy!" Yang's voice echoed. "Something's wrong with Ruby!" Summer stopped again and put her hands on the side of her head. Why did Yang's voice come from everywhere…Why did Ruby's crying come from everywhere?

Then Summer saw double. She was both standing in the forest and staring up at the ceiling in Ruby's and Yang's room. Her view shook from side to side while her head didn't move. "Ruby," Yang's voice soothed. Summer's second sight stopped on her oldest. "Ruby, what's wrong?" Summer's view shook again, but the cries only got worse.

What's going on? Summer thought. It's like I'm…in…Ruby's…head… Summer's legs gave out from under her. She covered her mouth with both hands and didn't even try to hold back the waterfalls streaming from her eyes. She was the Winter Maiden. When she died, whoever was last in her thoughts became the new Winter Maiden. Ruby fit all the criteria.

Summer was dead. She was in her baby girl's head. Ruby was the new Winter Maiden. Ruby had a target the size of Amity Colosseum on the back of her head.

"No…No. No, no, no, no, no…" Summer burst off the ground and ran to the house. The rain started and the wind howled. It's not like it mattered. She was already dead. The house appeared through the trees. Summer prepared to body slam the door, but she just passed right through it. She tested her weight on the stairs, and found that those were actually there. She took the steps a few at a time and ran through the open door.

Tai was standing in the center of the room, holding Ruby in his arms. Ruby was still crying her eyes out, and it hadn't gotten any better since Summer realized what was going on. For the first time since then, Summer paid attention to what her second vision showed her. The door was open, but Summer wasn't standing in the doorway.

This time, Summer tried to hold back her tears. She walked toward her baby girl. Tai was trying to sooth Ruby as well, but nothing he said calmed Ruby down. As Summer stood behind Tai, she tried to put a hand on his free shoulder. Her hand just passed right through him. Still, Summer wanted to hold her baby girl. She tried to caress Ruby's cheek, and actually felt her baby girl. Ruby's crying diminished, but didn't come close to stopping.

Can she… Summer leaned forward and kissed Ruby's forehead. Her baby girl's crying quieted even more. "I'm here, Ruby. I'm here. I'll always be here. I'll always be with you. I love you so much. Never forget that. Mommy loves you." Summer kissed her Gem between each sentence, and added a few more on the end for good measure. She sung one of Ruby's favorite lullaby's while she rubbed her baby girl's back. Summer's second vision faded to black as Ruby closed her eyes.

Unlike what Summer expected, Tai and Yang still stood in the room. Tai laid Ruby on her bed and tucked her in. Yang hugged Ruby, then climbed into her own bed on the other side of the room. Tai walked toward the door.

Summer looked at her hand, then the hall outside her girls' room. She needed to let him know. Take from me, not Ruby. Take from me, not Ruby. She stuck her hand toward the hall and concentrated on the emblem on her hip. The same one formed as frost on the wall. It took way more energy and concentration than she expected. The question was if it actually happened in the house.

Tai stared at the emblem, then looked down both sides of the hall. "Summer? You're home. He closed the door behind him.

Summer ran through the door and wiped her emblem off the wall. That somehow worked. She used a finger to write out 'RUBY.'

"What?" Tai looked around again. "Summer, where are you?"

Summer wrote 'MAIDEN! PROTECT!' under 'RUBY.'

Tai's eyes widened. "Summer, this isn't funny anymore. Where are you?"

Summer wiped what she wrote off the wall and fought back tears again. Then she wrote, 'I LOVE YOU ALL. GOODBYE.' She backed away from the wall and collapsed against her girls' door. That took way too much out of her. Hopefully it was from her and not Ruby.

Tai backed away from the wall as well. He ran down the stairs and pulled out his Scroll. A few seconds later, Summer heard Tai yell, "Qrow, where's Summer?...What do you mean Fort Castle? What the hell's going on?"

Summer couldn't bear to listen any longer. She pushed herself into her girls' room and stumbled to Ruby's bed. Ruby wasn't sleeping well. Her eyes ran laps under her eyelids and her lips trembled. Summer caressed Ruby's face again. "Sleep, Gem. You're safe. Everyone here loves you." Ruby stilled and a small smile formed on her sleeping face.

Since Ruby was the only one who knew Summer was there, she crawled into be next to her baby girl. She tried to pull the covers up, but fazed right through them too. Summer raised her arms and slammed them down. What were the rules here? She could be on the bed, but not under the covers? Summer shook her head and tried to hold her baby girl close. She was part of Ruby now, but she was still her mom. She needed to care for her as such.

Raven gripped the stick in front of her and fought back the tears in her eyes. They had to be lying. There's no way Summer could be dead. She was too strong. Screw that. She started pushing all the levers in her stolen Bullhead. One of them increased the speed, which is exactly what she wanted. She looked at the radar, trying to see if the transport carrying the 'witch' was anywhere in sight.

A blip appeared on the screen. Raven pushed the stick in that direction and increased the speed again. There's no way these sons of bitches could kill the Winter Maiden, especially not Summer. She had to be unconscious, or she was faking it. As soon as Raven got there, Summer would spring up and take all those bastards out. Yeah, that was it.

The blip on the radar approached closer to the center. In fact, it was almost right on top of it. Earlier, Raven found a switch that controlled all lights on the Bullhead. She flicked that off and stared out the windshield. As far as she could tell, there was nothing there. Why were these things painted…wait, the stars were fading in and out. That had to be it. The longer she stared, the outline of a Bullhead became more defined.

Raven stood up and drew her sword. She was moving at the same speed of that Bullhead, and she was at the same height. She had one shot at this, and she had to make it count. She swung her sword and a portal opened. She didn't see the other side, so that was a good sign.

She jumped through and immediately smashed one guy into the cockpit bulkhead. Someone yelped beside her and Raven punched the guy's teeth out. Her portal closed and there was no one else in the crew compartment.

"We've been boarded!" Someone from the cockpit yelled. "It's the-" Raven slammed her sword's hilt into the back of the pilot's head. The guy fell onto the stick and the Bullhead nosedived. Raven threw a left hook at the copilot's head and knocked him out as well. She pulled the pilot and the stick back to level out the Bullhead.

Something hit the floor in the crew compartment. Raven stiffened and prepped for another attack, but none came. She turned around and searched the space. Two Nevermore bastards lay unconscious on the floor. A red and white tarp…

No. It wasn't a tarp. It was Summer's cloak. Raven brought a hand up to cover her mouth. The dam behind her eyes burst. "Please don't be as bad as it looks." Raven knelt down at her partner's side and flipped her over. Her breath hitched. It was much worse than she thought. There was no doubt about it now.

Summer Rose was dead.

"Roc, come in," the radio in the cockpit chirped. "Roc, who boarded you?"

Raven stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She walked to the cockpit and took the pilot out of his chair and set him on the floor. She sat in the chair and strapped herself in. Patch was a few hours' flight away. She turned the Bullhead in that direction and increased the speed. The sooner Summer got back home, the better.

"I say again, Roc, who boarded you?"

Raven picked up the radio and pressed the button on the side. "The one you call Geist. You killed Summer Rose, and that's a big problem. You see, I owed her a debt that I could never repay. That now carries to her children." Raven squeezed the radio as she tried to keep her voice calm and level. "If anyone associated with the Nevermores so much as looks at Ruby Rose or Yang Xiao Long, I won't stop hunting you. You already had the police and Huntsmen of the world looking for you thanks to Summer, but now you have Ozpin and the other headmasters to worry about too. You'll be lucky if they find you first."

Raven finally let her rage leak into her voice. "If any of you so much as scratch those two girls, I will hunt every last one of you to the ends of Remnant. I don't care if you're at the bottom of the fucking ocean. I will find a way to you and drown you all. There won't be a safe space anywhere for you. Not the wilds, not the lost kingdom, not your mothers' basements. You're all marked men. But don't do anything stupid, we won't have a problem in the future. Geist out." Raven slammed the radio back into its place. She would have crushed it, but she needed to listen in to anything else the Nevermores said.

Raven leaned back in her seat and the tears ran freely again. The others needed to know. She drew her Scroll from a pocket and punched in Qrow's number. Unsurprisingly, he picked up at the first ring. "Please have some good news."

"I wish…Summer's…" Raven's throat constricted. She couldn't say it. "Summer's…gone. They killed her."

Qrow stayed silent for a while, then sighed. "We figured. Weird frost has been forming around here. It looks like Ruby is the new Winter Maiden."

Raven let out a laugh. "That sounds about right. Summer would think of her baby girl last."

Qrow sighed. "I suppose I should break the news to Tai."

"I'm on my way in one of their Bullheads. I don't know how to land, so I'm going to have to ditch this somewhere."

"Well…see you when you get here." The line clicked and went dead.

Raven carefully set her scroll on the dash, then screamed. "It should have been me!" She stood up and punched the bulkhead at the back of the cockpit. She repeated the same line over and over, punching the wall with each repetition. The metal dented inward. Raven threw one more punch and her fist plunged right through. Her legs gave out and her arm hung in the new hole. "It's my fault...I should have been there. I should have used my portals. I should have helped you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." The water from her eyes splashed onto the floor. Qrow was probably doing something similar on his end.

She wiped the tears from her face with her free arm and tore her right arm out of the hole in the wall. Summer wouldn't want to see her like this. Raven looked around the cockpit and the crew cabin for a first aid kit. It wouldn't bring Summer back, but it would help clean her up. If Tai let Ruby or Yang see her like this before whatever he was going to do, Raven was going to do her best to make it so those two would see their mom as she really was, not what those monsters did to her.

Rest in Peace, Summer Rose. You will be remembered...and I hope we find out what happened to you in canon sometime soon.