The blonde man pushed the fallen beam out of his path with his left hand, in his right he held a small figure with raven-black hair, she clung to him with tiny hands and had buried her face in his shoulder. Hiding behind him and clinging to his trouser leg was a second child, a few years older than the first but still no more than five.

Clear of the debris, he stooped down and swept her up as well in his other arm. She buried her face in his other shoulder, mirroring her sister. He crossed the room carefully, avoiding the shattered glass and wood that now carpeted their living room.

The picture outside was in no way prettier. As he stepped outside a wave of hot air like a sauna hit him, followed by the scent of burning. The island on which he lived was on fire, the city across the bay was on fire, the rolling hills and valleys were on fire, all the way to the horizon all he could see was fire, and flame and ash.

Even the very sky was on fire. Massive chunks of rock crossed the heavens in seconds, in such numbers that during the day he couldn't see the sun and during the night he couldn't see the stars. Not that you could tell the two apart anymore anyway, it was mid afternoon yet it was as dark as any night, baring the burning of course.

A bright flash from below caught his attention and he shielded his and his daughter's eyes. It took almost a full minute before he could see again, and the sight before him when it returned almost brought him to his knees. The island town, which had been burning but otherwise intact, was gone. "Summer," his voice was hoarse and the ash in the air scratched his throat but speaking was all he could do not to cry.

Above another rock screamed past, knocking him out of his rumination. He turned away slowly from the crater that had once been patch, and took his two daughters back inside.

The bunker the family was living in was, in reality, their hastily remodeled basement. The blond man had listened when warned of the catastrophe to come, and had made preparations for living down there. The two girls sat on hastily assembled beds, with admittedly old and springy mattresses. The elder had a book of fairy tales, and was telling them to her sister, he noted. She was good like that.

He was in the space that could generously be called a kitchen: a table with a gas camping stove. a chopping board, and a microwave that remained powered by what he could only describe as a miracle. He stood with his back to his daughters, chopping the same apple into smaller and smaller pieces and blinking tears from his eyes.

Again he was interrupted from his thoughts, although this time not by another impactor but by instead a knock on the trapdoor.

Outside he found three people, a black haired man, a bespectacled man with hair stained white from the soot and the blonde woman he was carrying. He stepped aside wordlessly and the white haired man went down. The other looked at him and put his hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Summer?"

Yang watched the newcomer carefully, her sister was asleep next to her and mom and dad were nowhere to be seen. Mom had left earlier yesterday to go into Patch to help people. She was a medic, Yang had used to tell her friends, it's her duty to help people!. But Yang hoped she'd return soon.

Dad had left to talk to someone outside, at the same time the new man had come in. She could faintly hear the conversation, but not what was being said. So she watched the new man carefully from behind her book. He had laid the woman in his arms down on a bed and sat down next to her, and had taken to polishing his glasses.

He looked up at her and their eyes met and she brought the book up to hide herself. He chuckled quietly, "Miss Xiao Long, Your caution is remarkable but rest assured I mean you and Ruby no harm. I merely wish to look after my friend here."

She perked up a little and put the book down, "You know me?"

"Your dad talks of you often, he is so very proud of the both of you," he said, with a polite smile, before turning to the blonde lady he'd brought in, who'd begun to stir.

Yang cradled her sister close and listened, the conversation outside had stopped now, and all she could hear was silence and the distant thuds of impacts. 'Better than the screams,' she thought to herself. In the first couple days of the fires she could hear the screams from the city across the strait, she had begged mom and dad to make them stop, and mom had left and come back with headphones. She hoped mom would be back soon.

Her dad, though, had just come down the stairs and following him was her uncle. "Uncle Qrow!" She said, with quiet enthusiasm.

"Hey, pipsqueak," he said back, in equally hushed tones, "How's you and Ruby?"

"Missing Mom," she said, "Is she with you?"

A strange look crossed Qrow's face, one Yang had never seen before. "Fraid not, kiddo."

Oh. Oh well, Mom must still be out helping people. Yang would wait, Mom was so amazing that Yang was sure she'd be back. No way she couldn't be. Yang would just have to wait.

It took another hour for Yang to fall asleep, eventually falling backward onto the mattress and passing out. Taiyang and Qrow gathered around the white haired man, and the other blonde who was still out cold. "What's happening out there?" Tai asked.

"It's bad, Tai," Qrow said, before taking a swig of his flask, "whole world's burning. Atlas got the least of it, lucky bastards."

"As usual," Tai muttered, "anyone out there got any idea how much longer?"

Qrow chuckled, or scoffed, "No one has any idea, full stop. Most everyone is dead or missing, a full blown invasion would be less chaotic."

"Let us not tempt fate," the other said, "initial estimates say we should see the frequency of impacts decrease over the next few days."

"That's good to hear, Oz," Tai said, "I don't know how much longer they, we, can take of being cooped up down here."

"Indeed," Oz said, "although I doubt times will get any easier soon. We're in for an unpleasant future Tai."

"And the bloody Mistrealians think they've found the blasted thing that shattered the moon to begin with, crash landed near argus apparently, Atlas will probably want their hands on it mind and the whole thing will devolve into a shitshow that'll distract everyone from rebuilding." Qrow groused.

"They found it?" Tai asked. "What is it? How did it survive crashing into the moon? How did it shatter the moon?"

"Lotta questions there Tai, Summer really has worn off on you," Qrow caught himself, "Sorry. Word on the very fragmented, and on fire, grapevine is it's a starship, if you can believe that. Dunno how it survived, but it's apparently split open now in a valley in northern mistral. Came down on some farm, Brunswick or something. As for the moon, well it hit it really fast. Like really fast, Tai. My contacts started on some science talk about relativistic speeds before I lost contact."

"Relativistic? That's near lightspeed right?" Tai asked.

"So I've been told," Qrow said, taking a swig from his hip flask.

Tai stumbled into his living room, coughing as he inhaled a lungful of soot. Behind him, Qrow had Ruby in his arms and Yang clinging to his leg. Oz and Glynda, the blonde lady Oz had carried in who had woken up almost a day later, were behind them.

It was dark outside, Tai noted, although it was almost noon. Tai stopped. It was dark outside. No excepts, no buts, no nothing. The fires had died, and the sky was just dark, not dark with trails of fire, just dark.

It was then he heard it. At first, he'd thought it was more screams like before. Then it struck him for what it was, cheering. It was over, the nightmare had passed, and now it was onward to dawn. He didn't join in. None of them did. Taiyang Xiao Long fell to his knees, staring at the white clothed figure walking up the garden path, and finally allowed himself to cry.