Chapter 21: Teutoburg Forest
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Anticipation was no stranger to Cinder, but it gripped her with a ferocious strength today. She had thought the day she had taken what was rightfully hers from the Fall Maiden had been a day of excitement and jubilation, and it certainly had been. She still felt delightful tingles when she thought back to that day, but it paled to the expectations in front of her now. So much had been done with just half of the Fall Maiden's power, the White Fang had been brought to heel, the CCT had been compromised, and James Walker had been reminded of his place. And soon she would be complete.
Oh, there had been setbacks. Walker and the Schnee woman should be dead, but now that she had been given time to calm down, she could savor the fruits of her victory properly. Walker was done, he would never fully recover from the injuries she had inflicted on him, and the few days he had left would be spent quaking in fear of her, as he should. He and the Legion had ruined her plans for Beacon, but the Fall Maiden was within her grasp once again, and with Adam and Caesar drawing Ironwood's attention, she had an opening for the Winter Maiden and the Staff of Creation. This was who she was. She took setbacks and turned them into opportunities. She always had.
Right now, she was strolling through Ironwood's base at a leisurely pace, Emerald beside her, Neo in front of them, still disguised as an Atlas soldier. Emerald was using her illusions to render herself and Cinder invisible. She could only manage to fool two people at most, and even then she was pushing herself. It didn't matter though, with Neo that was more than enough. She was taking them on a rather roundabout path, one that felt like it was taking the better part of half an hour, but kept them from encountering more than two guards at a time. It was taking so much time, but it would be worth it in the end.
Finally, they reached their destination, coming to a halt directly outside of Ironwood's office. Two armed guards stood at attention, their eyes snapping onto her at once. "State your business, Private," one said gruffly. "General Ironwood isn't here right now. If you have a message, leave it with me. Otherwise-" Cinder didn't have time for this. Forming a pair of swords, she flung them idly at the necks of both guards. Their deaths were quick, neither was still alive by the time they hit the ground. Her aim had been perfect and her act near-silent, both swords were lodged perfectly in their throats.
Emerald grunted next to her, expanding the illusion to cover the two fresh corpses. Next was the door, doubtlessly locked. Not that it mattered. Grasping the metal, industrial-grade knob in her hand, and watched with satisfaction as it began to glow with heat. A little pressure from her was all it took. Within seconds, a fist-sized hole had appeared in it, liquid steel sloping onto the ground. Casually, she reached through and opened the door from the inside.
Stepping inside with her accomplices, she looked around. Part of her had expected the Fall Maiden to be right there, tucked away into the corner of his office. Ironwood was so very simple and predictable like that, yet she was disappointed. But she was close, so close, she could feel it. "Where is she?" she growled, looking at Neo. The short woman was unimpressed, eyes narrowing as she gave an unconcerned shrug. "He would never let her go far. There's something in here, start searching!"
No sooner had she given the order than a soft knocking filled the room. Emerald had her ear pressed against the wall and was gently rapping her knuckle on it. Methodically, she dragged her ear to the side, continuing to tap as she went. "What are you doing?" Cinder asked impatiently.
"I think I know what he did," Emerald said absentmindedly, more focused on her search. "Before you took me in I found a couple of setups like this. Rich, crazy, oh sorry, 'eccentric' old folks who couldn't just settle for a safe or a padlock. They thought they were being fancy and clever, even though there's a clear difference between a solid wall," she stopped, tapping one area three times and smiling, "and a door with empty space on the other side. Like right here." Spreading out, she began to run her hands over the wall. "There's probably a hidden keypad around here somewhere, assuming it doesn't get activated from the computer. Which defines Ironwood more, paranoia or arrogance? That might help us narrow it down."
Cinder had no time for elaborate lockpicking. Stepping forward with fists clenched, her gaze focused on the piece of wall Emerald was investigating. The former thief was wise enough to realize what was about to happen and to get out of her way. Pressing the palm of her hands against the wall, Cinder didn't settle for merely melting a portion of the wall, not now that they were out of sight. No. She unleashed the full reserves of the Fall Maiden's power, streams of amber energy flying from her eyes. This time, the wall didn't melt. Instead, she blasted forward with fire and energy. It took mere seconds for the hidden door to be blown off of its hinges, impacting the far end of the hidden chamber she had unearthed, leaving a dent. They would hear her. Let them. Nothing they could do would stop her now.
The room was small, a panic room designed for a lone person. There was little in it aside from basic survival supplies, lights, and exactly what she had been looking for. Sitting in the corner was a giant metal tube with a see-through core. A tan-skinned woman was resting inside, her eyes closed. A soft sigh escaped Cinder's mouth, catharsis washing over her. Her long, tiring journey was finally over.
"You should know that you suffered because of his Ozpin and his constant need to meddle," she said. The woman in the tube wasn't conscious, but it didn't matter. Cinder wasn't saying anything she would live to remember. "Meddling when he gave you a power you were never worthy of, when he ripped you away from your death just so you could endure pointless suffering, and when he drafted you into a war you were always doomed to lose." She held her hand out. Glass fragments flowed together into her bow, solid and glowing with inner heat. It always felt so warm when she used it, so comforting.
"This was always how this was going to end." An arrow formed in her other hand. She knocked it. As she let it loose, euphoria washed over her. Her aim was true. It was finally all over.
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Jaune wasn't sure how he had been able to keep the contents of his stomach down during the crash. After their bullhead had been hit and the gaping wound had sucked Pyrrha out, their descent had been rapid and unstable. The best the pilot had managed to do was bring them down in a controlled crash that ensured they didn't land upside down or explode on impact. It was still rocky, Jaune spent most of it being thrown against his straps with such ferocity that he wasn't sure how they didn't snap. Finally, it came to a stop, Jaune slumping back into his seat, feeling like his organs had all been rearranged. "Out, everyone out!" one of the Atlas soldiers said. "They'll be coming to finish the job, form a defensive-" but he never got a chance to finish. A hailstorm of bullets tore into him, his armor crumbling as if made of paper as he tumbled to the ground, unmoving. Jaune looked on in horror as dozens of different wounds bled on the unmoving man, his jaw slack, helmet askew, and half-lidded eyes looking up without seeing.
Frantically undoing his straps, Jaune scrambled up against the wall of the bullhead. The side door had been ripped off, exposing the inside of the aircraft to the gunfire that was now taking it. Nora and Ren had gotten out of their seats before him and hastily stacked up behind him. The other Atlas soldiers were ducking for cover even as the bullets continued to swarm in. They claimed another life, a rifleman who had nearly cleared the cone of fire before half a dozen rounds took her in the leg. Collapsing, she barely had time to scream before her chest was peppered, rendering her limp.
Risking a peek out at the tundra, Jaune saw two figures in the distance, one of whom was in full plate armor and holding a massive, six-barreled minigun in a sawgrip. He was the one currently opening fire on the downed bullhead, the muzzle flash from his weapon a solid beam of light. Even with no more visible targets, he did not relent. Switching focus, he began to pump rounds into the side of the bullhead, where the Atlas soldiers were taking cover. And over the roar of it all, he spoke.
"Profligates! Know that it was Gaius Magnus of Dry Wells, conqueror of the 87th tribe, that ended you!" Pausing, he reached down to his neck and pulled a pair of tinted goggles up over his eyes. "Tiberius! The Thunderclap!" The second man, clad in lighter armor but with a full helmet made of gray metal that hid his eyes behind a thin, black visor. Tiberius raised his hand. A blinding ball of light appeared in the flat of his palm, one Jaune barely had a second to look at through squinted eyes before it flickered. What followed made the original orb feel like a dying candle. The orb began to radiate with the force of a star, swallowing up everything until there was nothing in Jaune's world but all-consuming white light.
His eyes were on fire from the intensity and his body reacted out of instinct. Slamming his eyes shut, he clamped his hand over his eyes and looked away, his eyes still burning. Even then, the burning white intensity of the light still hung in the usually empty void he saw when his eyes were closed. All around him, he could hear his team and the soldiers crying out in pain and confusion. They had all been blinded like him. For a few seconds, he tried to force his eyes open, only for his eyelids to fight him and automatically slam shut to protect the sensitive organs. Eventually, he managed to force them open enough to half see what was going on around him, the other half of his vision still clouded by white.
Before he could act, however, a deafening boom echoed outside of the bullhead, coming from the direction of Gaius and Tiberius. A wave of force, with strength on par with a punch from Cardin, slammed into his back. He smacked into the ground, face first, as the minigun roared to life again. As he clambered back to his feet, he saw the Atlas soldiers had been knocked off their feet too. One had been forced out of cover and right into Gaius's kill zone. Within seconds, the sheer force of the fire had reduced his head to a barely identifiable blob of red mush.
Nausea gripped Jaune. He didn't know how things had gone so bad, so fast. They had been in the ground for twenty seconds and they had been separated from Pyrrha and lost three Atlas soldiers. He couldn't register what the surviving soldiers were doing, but the cries coming from their half of the bullhead sounded as if some of them were wounded. They had to do something. Pyrrha wouldn't even have been injured from a fall like that; she needed their help. And they couldn't do anything pinned down like this.
Hastily, he peeked around the edge of his flimsy cover. Gaius had not ceased firing for a second, even as the barrels of his gun began to glow red hot. Tiberius, on the other hand, was standing by Gaius's side, holding a boxy gun at the ready. "Ok. Nora? I need you to lay down some grenades, get them to shoot at us, or stop shooting altogether. Ren? You and I are going out there. We're gonna split up and hit them from the sides. You go left and I'll go right. We'll catch them in a pincer. Keep your eyes down and don't look at the one with the light if you can. Ok?"
He spared a quick look at the two of them. There was a hint of unease about them, Nora, in particular, was glancing nervously at Ren. There was no way to tell if they felt uncomfortable about his plan, the situation, or simply that they were worried about Pyrrha. It felt so wrong doing this without Pyrrha, like one of his arms was tied behind his back. An arm that he could talk to and would know what to do. How had he gotten himself into this situation?
He was broken out of his borderline spiral by the two of them nodding. Well, he wasn't prepared for this situation at all. But Ruby had said it best: he was a leader, he couldn't afford to be a failure. "Break!" Sword out, shield up he took a deep breath before he rounded the damaged entranceway and charged. Instead of making a direct beeline for Gaius, he took a diagonal, parallel line towards the legionary. His goal wasn't to reach the guy just yet, he had to get lined up with him from the side.
"Kid? KID! What are you doing, get back here!" one of the Atlas soldiers shouted, but he ignored it. If he lost his nerve now, he wasn't sure he'd be able to get it back.
He was only a few feet out when the minigun whirled to face him. Firmly gripping his shield, Jaune was almost knocked off of his feet as the steam of lead crashed into it. Muscles tense, feeling like he was trying to push back a tidal wave, he pressed on. As he ran, it quickly became apparent that the spread on the minigun was wider than his shield. He was keeping his head down and protected, but his shield couldn't cover his whole body at once. Already he could feel stray rounds biting into his Aura at the fringes of his body, eating away at his durability. Between that and how sword his shield arm was rapidly becoming numb, he knew he had to act fast.
Around that point, pink explosions began to dot the snowy tundra, surrounding both legionaries. Buffeted, they struggled to regain their footing before another one struck, this one hitting Giaus in the chest. Blown off his feet, he lifted his head up in simmering anger as his gaze settled on the dropship. "Aw, what's the matter, big boy? Not afraid of losing to a girl, are you?" Nora called out as she continued to fire. The nervousness Nora had displayed back in the bullhead was gone, she was angry. Jaune had never understood how she was able to do it, to get mad when most people got scared. He had always admired and even, at times, envied her for that.
Finally, he managed to reach his endpoint. Gaius and Tiberius formed a straight line in front of him, Ren having just stopped on the other side. Gaius, still on the ground, let go of his minigun and spread his hands wide. "Thunderclap! At the woman!" No sooner had he spoken than Tiberius raised his hand. Panic shooting through Jaune, he slammed his eyes shut and looked away, hiding his head behind his shield. Even with all this, he could feel the rays of light forcing their way through his eyelids, causing his eyes to water. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as painful as the first time, and as it faded, he was able to open his eyes and see with only minor adjustment. From Nora, however, he could hear screaming. At least he could before the deafening boom from before cracked across the landscape again.
Squinting, his eyes still a little sensitive, he saw that Gaius's hands were stretched out and pressed together as if he had just clapped them. There was an audible groan and the wreck of the bullhead shifted as if caught in the gale of a tempest. Nora disappeared from sight; Jaune wanted to swallow from nerves. Forcing himself forward, Jaune let out a desperate battle cry as he bore down on Gaius, bringing his sword down on the older man's head. For a brief second, he hoped beyond hope that this would be enough, that a quick blow to the legionary while he was on the ground would nip the fight in the bud.
His hopes were dashed as Gaius, with a well-trained flourish, drew a short, curved blade from his side and brought it up to block the slash. His heart sinking, Jaune barely dodged a quick swipe the Gaius made as he rose back to his feet. A grin appeared on his smoothly-shaven face. "Atlas sends their fledglings to fight me? Did all the men die in the crash? Or are you that desperate for glory? You should've bloodied yourself on a recruit, boy. Only fools try to mark their first kill on a Centurion of Caesar." With that, he gave another vicious swing.
Within seconds, Jaune was on the backswing, frantically trying to keep himself from being cut to ribbons. Gaius was a big man, well over six feet tall and with a well-built body, but despite that, he was deceptively light on his feet. He darted from side to side, his curved sword slashing and cutting at Jaune's sides. Sometimes Jaune was quick enough to get either his shield or sword between himself and the latest step in the assault. Whenever this occurred, however, Gaius barely seemed to notice. He simply moved onto the next strike, each one of which was just as powerful as the last.
Jaune's heart was starting to beat frantically in his chest. The Legion was only supposed to have had Aura for a couple of months, they weren't supposed to be masters with it yet. Except he himself had only had his Aura for about that long himself, and not a lot of training before he had gotten it. The gap between the two of them wasn't as big as he would've liked. If anything, the gap favored Gaius.
A slash from the side came rising up to meet him, Jaune heaving his shield in response. The two clashed and Jaune thought he earned half a second of respite. He did not. Gaius's grip on his sword was light and the angle was at a curve. With ease, he slid it across the surface of the shield as if skipping a rock on a lake. Before he could comprehend what had happened, Gaius had reached the top of the shield. The blade left it and, swiftly and precisely, slashed at Jaune's throat.
Agony erupting when he had been struck, only not dead thanks to Aura, Jaune grew desperate. Defense wasn't working, Gaius would be content to just take him apart bit by bit, something he was proving to be more than capable of doing. So, with as much strength as he could muster, he swung his longsword down in an overhead swing. Surely, he could at least get a single hit in; he was certain of it. Gaius proved him wrong. With a single half step back, he parried the strike easily, batting it away as if he had swatted a fly. Disbelief and terror seeped into Jaune, so much so that he didn't see Gaius's free hand until it crashed into his face. With a particularly powerful left hook, Jaune was knocked off his feet, face smarting and head swimming.
"You have spirit and courage boy, I'll give you that. But you were sent out well before your time." Jaune struggled to get to his feet, but Gaius was already on top of him, his blade flipped into a reverse grip. "Know that your death helps pave a path for civilization's future." With that, he plunged down.
Just as he was about to find his mark at Jaune's throat, a pink explosion caught him in the side, staggering him. Whipping around, he regained his balance just in time for another grenade to catch him in the gut. Nora was out of the bullhead now, her face twisted in anger, firing as she ran. Mercifully, the Atlas soldiers that were still alive and unharmed had been given enough breathing room to fall back in formation and had spread out in and outside the downed VOTL, a couple having climbed out to put the aircraft between them and the legionaries. Like Nora had covered him and Ren, the soldiers were now covering Nora, laying down a solid wall of suppressive fire.
"Persistent," Gaius said under his breath, swinging his sword and managing to deflect a few of the rounds out of the air, but the majority of them were worming his way in. "Tiberius!" But he received no response outside of a roar and a stream of gunfire. Ren had reached Tiberius and was moving in to engage him in close quarters, firing his SMGs. The other legionary was strafing around Ren, keeping him as far away as possible, firing his own gun as he did. He was thoroughly occupied.
"Very well," Gaius said. "If that's how it must be." Spreading his arms wide, he inhaled deeply before bringing his hands together in a clap. For the third time that day, a deafening boom cracked across the landscape. Snow billowed up in a ripple that surged towards the bullhead, catching Nora in the process. Her teeth grit, she braced herself, crossing her arms in front of her, just in time. The blast forced her back a foot or two, but she was able to remain standing. However, the soldiers were not so fortunate, all of them caught and swept up in the power of Gaius's Semblance. Some of them did not raise where they had fallen, instead howling and clutching at their ears.
Nora spared a single glance back, worry crossing her face for a fraction of a second before she continued her forward advance. But Gaius had not been idle. In the short time that Nora had been immobile, Gaius had grabbed his fallen minigun, completely ignoring Jaune in the process. Bringing it to bear, barrels already spooling up, he opened fire. Roaring to life, the massive tool of destruction spat hundreds of bullets at Nora, the legionary's aim impeccable as he did so.
"Brother, where is the centuria!? There should've arrived by now! They waste precious time!" Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune saw Ren and Tiberius closing in on each other. Tiberius's SMG had exhausted its ammo and he dropped it to unsheath a shortsword just as Ren reached him. Ren was able to fire off a few bursts at point-blank range before Tiberius lunged at him and he was forced to use the blades of his weapon. After that, the two of them devolved into a melee brawl, green clashing against steel. Unlike his brother, Tiberius was not cool and collected as he fought. His moves were wild and erratic, clearly putting everything he had into each blow. And as he fought, he let out bloodcurdling screams, peppered with curses and threats.
Meanwhile, struggling through the barrage of rounds that were threatening to drown her, Nora did something drastic. Switching her weapon to its hammer mode, she jumped up and planted her feet on the hammer before firing a blast out of the head, propelling her forward. Jaune heard a deep intake of disbelief from Gaius, but he didn't hesitate, bringing his gun up higher to compensate. Shot after shot streaked through the sky as Nora zoomed closer, heading directly for Gaius. Body tense, the older man ceased firing and drew his machete again, slashing as Nora came close.
His blade never made contact with anything. Instead of swinging at Gaius, Nora fired again. One of her grenades detonated in the head of her warhammer, the exhaust forced out directly into Gaius's face. As he clutched at this face, Nora soared onward, well past him. Recovering quickly, he aimed his minigun again, only to hesitate where he saw Nora's destination. "Tiberius! Tiberius, behind you!" His movements going from calm and collected to frantic, Gaius began firing again. Or rather, he tried to.
Having gotten to his feet, Jaune threw himself at the man, realizing what Nora was trying to do and attempting to buy her some time. Hacking into the legionary's side, the first blow he had managed to land, he followed up by slamming his shield into the man's face. The stumble Gaius suffered was enough to cause his shots to go wild and leave Nora uninterrupted.
Heeding his brother's warning, Tiberius glanced behind him and saw a new attacker speeding towards him. Holding his hand up, the beginning of his ball of light began to form. Before it could fully form, though, Ren pounced. Hooking one of his SMG's blades around Tiberius's arm, he pulled it down before the ball could form. Flickering, the ball vanished as if a switch had turned it off. Capitalizing on his opportunity, Ren slashed down with his other gun and caught Tiberius in the face before bringing both weapons up again and jamming them into the side of the neck from other sides, sliding underneath the strange helmet he wore.
With a tinkling noise of something breaking, Tiberius's bright yellow Aura broke. Roaring in anger, Tiberius thrust his sword and caught him in the chest. Roaring in jubilation, Tiberius began to tear into Ren, his sword a flurry as he landed strike after strike. Working himself up into a frenzy, Tiberius lost all sense of cohesion, howling like an animal as he did everything in his power to kill Ren. The Huntsman in training, caught completely guard by this sudden onslaught, was given no time to recover. It looked as if it was taking everything he had just to stay on his feet; any defense he attempted was shattered by the ferocity of his assailant.
But, in the depths of his rage, Tiberius had forgotten about Nora. "Get away from him!" she roared as she swung. The blow struck home, right into the man's temple. Even from this distance, Jaune could hear a wet snap and see the man's head twist farther than any head had the right to. He slumped wordlessly to the ground.
A powerful elbow from Gaius landed right in Jaune's jaw, forcing him back as Gaius turned and stared where his brother had fallen. For the briefest of moments, he was unmoving, his gaze fixed on his brother's body. Barely audible, a soft whisper escaped his mouth. "No…" Then a roar, a deep, primal roar, erupted from his man's throat. With unprecedented viciousness, he swung his gun up and unleashed a hellstorm on both Ren and Nora, both of whom were caught up in it.
Not sure how much damage they would be able to take before their Aura broke, Jaune acted without thinking. Moving to thrust, he was halfway towards Gaius when the man spun on the spot in response. Instead of using his sword, he instead heaved the entirety of his mini-gun and swung it like a club. The air was forced out of Jaune as the underslung drum barrel jammed into his stomach, forcing his mouth open wide in an involuntary gasp. Rightening the six-barreled gun, he resumed firing, pounding bullets right into Jaune's face. As he fired, he roared.
"This accursed world has done nothing but waste Legion blood! Blood that is becoming more and more scarce by the day! And now my brother dies? To a child who can barely hold his sword, still suckling at his mother's teat!? You miserable little whelp. You doom a nation with your ignorance, the only nation that has the strength to survive. Only the strong who follow Caesar's will can make sense of the chaos, of the madness. In defying him, you welcome anarchy and barbarism. And I will not permit it! I will not let the Legion die and welcome the madness back!"
After what must've been at least a hundred rounds, Jaune was able to get his shield back up. Everything hurt and he knew that his Aura couldn't have much left. "Ren! Nora!" Nora had been able to take down Tiberius by themselves when managing to catch him in a pincer. Surely the three of them together could do the same to Gaius. At least, that's what he hoped. Using the same precision he had done for the entire fight, Gaius switched targets, firing on the duo that had begun to advance on him. He caught Nora in his stream of fire, and to Jaune's horror, he saw pink Aura flickering around her, about to break.
Moving quickly, Ren shoved Nora to the side, taking the brunt of the fire while returning the favor with both of his SMGs. Gaius barely so much as flinched before returning fire, Ren yelping in pain under the force of the minigun and now his Aura flickering. A desperate idea occurred to Jaune. He couldn't touch Gaius no matter how hard he tried, but maybe there was something else he could do. Staffing to the side, Jaune gave a short, quick swipe, shield up for the retaliation he knew was coming. This time, he didn't aim for Gaius. He aimed for the drum barrel of his gun.
He hit it just right, carving through it and severing it from the minigun entirely, hundreds of tiny bullets spilling out and peppering the snow. His arm jerked as he tore through the metal, but it was only a speed bump. He had done it. As good as Gaius was with his sword, he was much less of a threat without his minigun. A small speck of pride ignited in his chest. Seething in rage and caught off guard by Jaune's unorthodox attack, Gaius turned his attention back go him. Except for this time, when he jammed down on the trigger, the barrels of his minigun spun without letting out a single shot.
"You are not worth my time," Gaius said through grit teeth. Heaving the minigun up over his head, he threw it at Jaune. Jaune barely had time to block it with his shield, but even then the massive hulk of metal hit with so much power that it was ripped out of his hand. "You lack the mettle to survive true hardship, to stand before the horrors of the world. Your entire decrepit world does. The power of gods in your blood and you hide behind walls. If you did not face a mere fraction of the Legion, your kingdoms would burn by now." He lunged forward.
Half a dozen different, desperate ideas flitted through Jaune's head. Going for his shield, trying to parry with his sword, maybe trying Mr. Walker's unarmed technique, each and everyone flashed before him. He never had a chance to act on any of them. Gaius was halfway towards him when a streak of crimson flashed by his head. Before he could comprehend what it was, it bore into Gaius's shoulder. Whatever it was, it robbed Gaius of all forward momentum and sent him flying back as it embedded itself in his armor. Furious, his movements now almost primal, he made to get back up. Only, before he could, another crimson blur sped past Jaune, this one much larger.
"I will not-" but whatever Gaius would not do, Jaune never found out. A figure was on top of him, a bronze shield in both hands raised over their head. They brought it down. A horrible crunching noise filled the air and Gaius's Aura shattered, dark blue appearing and then vanishing, as his voice was replaced by wet gurgling. The figure raised the shield and brought it down one more time. Another crunch echoed out. The gurgling stopped.
Jaune stared in confusion and horror. The figure kneeling over Gaius was panting and heaving, clearly exhausted. After a moment, the panting subsided, the person's breath returning to normal. And then they began to cry. It was a slow start, a long, strangled sob that sounded as if it was being fought every step of the way. But soon after, a dam burst and the figure slumped off of the body of Gaius and onto the ground, weeping uncontrollably as tears stained the snow.
Confused, Jaune slowly took a step forward. The person was covered from head to toe in bright crimson blood, both their armor and skin stained with the stuff, much of it having started to dry. It was hard to identify anything about them under it all. Even the long flowing red hair was caked with dark red crust now. A hair he recognized. A shield he recognized. And a voice he knew. It couldn't be. "Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha's head snapped in his direction. Her eyes were red, lined, and tears were streaming down them. "Jaune." She got to her feet, slowly. "I...I made my choice. I had to see it through." She swallowed. "Even if it hurt."
"Pyrrha, what are you talking about? How did you-" as he spoke, Jaune looked in the direction Pyrrha had come from. His voice died. There was a patch of trees not far from there, no more than half a mile, and the edge of the forest was strewn with corpses. Some were riddled with bullet marks, others were bleeding from open stab wounds, one or two had misshapen heads, but every last one of them was dead. "Did...you do that?" he whispered.
Pyrrha sucked in through her teeth. "Yes. There were a hundred of them. They would've attacked the main formation if I hadn't done anything. They would've...would've killed so many people." And then she broke. A fresh wave of sobs consuming her, she threw herself at Jaune, wrapping her arms around him like a vice. "I t-tried to get them to stop. I tried. But they wouldn't stop f-fighting. Even when there were only f-five left, they just screamed that they'd die before facing dishonor. W-why? H-how can someone be like that?" After that, everything that she said descended into wailing that Jaune couldn't hope to make out. He had only seen Pyrrha cry one time before this, and on that one occasion, she hadn't been anywhere near this emotionally devastated. Where the Legion really that relentless?
Over her shoulder, he spotted Ren and Nora coming to a stop just short of them, both of them bewildered. Awkwardly, he gestured to the bullhead, hoping they would understand him telling them to go help the soldiers. Mercifully, they did, running off with concerned looks back. Ren's worry was careful, barely visible, while Nora's was blatant and naked. With that out of the way, he returned the hug as best he could. Pyrrha's sobs doubled as he did so, burying her face into Jaune's shoulder. He wanted to say something, but his words failed him. What was there to say? What words could possibly make this better? All he could do was hold her as gently as he could.
He barely registered the green streams of energy flowing out of her eyes.
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"Where is it!?" Outrage flooded Cinder. Her arrow had landed directly in the heart of the old Fall Maiden, a certainly fatal wound. Nothing had happened. The same rush and sense of elation she had felt when she had gotten the first half of the Fall Maiden's power, the woman giving a final exhale, or the vaguest hint that anything had happened, there was nothing. How? She had done everything right. She had squeezed Walker for the information, he had told her that Ironwood kept the Fall Maiden close, that they were going to be moving her off of the continent, so why was the Fall Maiden already dead?
She rounded on Emerald and Neo, glaring in anger at both of them. Neo idly folded her arms and gave her an unamused expression, as if daring Cinder to try something with her. Emerald, on the other hand, took a step forward. "Cinder, it's gonna be ok. We were able to take out a full Fall Maiden, just you, Mercury, and me. They put the power in someone else? It's not a big deal. We just need to do what we did the first time all over again. I've seen what you can do with what you have now, they won't stand a chance against you. I believe in you." She made to put her hand on Cinder's shoulder in what she naively believed would be a comforting gesture.
Cinder slapped the hand away. Emerald flinched back, acting as if the slap had been to her face. What a child. "Your belief? What good is your belief, exactly? Are you going to believe that we will stumble across her as soon as we walk out that door? That we'll conveniently overhear a conversation regarding where she is? Spare me your empty platitudes. Show me results or don't waste my time." Emerald lowered her head, meekly stepping back. Irritation coursed through Cinder. She didn't have time to deal with this, why was it so difficult for people to just do what they were told?
"Get us out of here," she said, striding towards the door. "Push the bodies inside, no need for them to realize we what we did until we're gone. We're making contact with Watts as soon as we get out of here." Guards would investigate the noise she had made, but she would be gone by the time they pieced together what happened. As she passed through the doorframe, her temper flared. Setback after setback plagued her. First, her plan to commandeer Ironwood's army had been thwarted, then her well overdue revenge on James Walker had been interrupted, and now Ozpin had been one step ahead of her? She flexed her fingers, flames spouting from them. Very well. If they all wanted to be coy and pretend that they were clever, then it was time for something drastic. She would make them pay. She would remind them that they were all nothing.
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Author's Note: Finally managing to get my ass in gear and write on a decent timetable. I don't know if I'll be able to crank out the next chapter in just a week, but I'll be doing my damndest to try. And say hello. Say hello to Pyrrha Nikos, the Fall Maiden. I've been waiting to drop that bombshell for a long time, and it feels oh so good to finally be able to do it.
I would like to thank my legacy Patrons, SuperFeatherYoshi, xXNanamiXx, RaptorusMaximus, Davis Swinney, Mackenzie Buckle, Ryan Van Schaack, ChaosSpartan575, and LordofNaught for their amazing support.