Frostflow Park, once a landmark of natural-born tranquility amidst the bustle and industrial trappings of Mantle was quickly becoming the central hotbed of the invasion. Scores upon scores of grimm rampaged through the trees, chasing down fleeing civilians as both tried to reach the second set of evacuation ships. The massive carriers did finally manage to make it into the air unscarred, resulting in a chorus of cheers from the volunteer defense crew that was barely functioning to hold off the encroaching tide of living darkness. Despite it all, morale was high- high enough that the human and faunus fighters holding down the area near the landing zone and fighting elsewhere in the park had agreed to place their trust in a single teenage boy and his radical idea to get one last round of evacuees up to Atlas.
It was all or nothing- an immediate, massive success, or a slaughter.
"The next round of ships are on their way down!" Jaune called while he slashed his sword horizontally through a beowulf's open mouth as it lunged to bite him. The momentum of the beast's leap carried Crocea Mors straight back through its neck, and the grimm exploded into a cloud of ash while Jaune whirled to face the opposite direction and raise his shield. "Hold the line! We can do this!"
Daisuke soared over Jaune's head, landing an inverted shot on rolling boarbatusk that was speeding across the field and aiming for the boy. As the faunus landed, he reloaded his overlong shotgun and snapped it closed once again while giving his younger companion a nod.
"We likely can… but we need a concentrated effort to push them back. I can block their progress with your help, and Raven can funnel the grimm farther back to where Ironwood's automatons are sweeping the tree line. Can you boost me?"
"For a few seconds," Jaune warned. "I need to save my aura for our exit…"
"It should work exponentially," Raven encouraged as she arrived on the scene and flicked her blade free of burning soot. "Neopolitan is keeping the advance slow by stalling out grimm far from here, and Corsac is ready to strike against anything trapped in Daisuke's Semblance. Do what you're going to do, and I'll play my role."
Daisuke watched Corsac flit about the battlefield around them, seemingly breaking down into a streak of red lightning as he bounded from focal point to focal point. With a nod, the faunus leader closed his eyes and took a deep breath while a gentle green wind began to circulate around him.
"So, how does this work? You touch me, and that's it?"
"I touch you, and you focus on drawing my aura into yours," Jaune instructed as he laid a hand upon Daisuke's shoulder. The next wave of grimm was approaching rapidly, but he was confident that they wouldn't be a problem in a matter of seconds. "Burn as much of it as you need to in order to force them back. I'll cut you off if it gets to be too much."
Daisuke took another deep inhale before flicking his arm downward, triggering the bladed fan mechanisms within his firearm to snap open. Slowly but surely, he raised the implement skyward as the winds around him began to intensify, whipping up into a small tornado. Upon focusing his efforts, he could feel Jaune's aura mingling with his own, and he tapped into the new resource to channel power to a level impossible to reach alone. With a bit of effort, the whirling winds bent and extended, forming a roiling, horizontal barrier all around the landing pad and growing to nearly ten feet in height. In only seconds, a barrier locking off the third round of landing ships had been erected, and the grimm attempting to advance on the waiting citizens were cut off.
As Daisuke began to lengthen the wall, ghostly flames burst from the corners of Raven's eyes. The tips of the nearby trees began to bend toward the part as the Maiden began to take control of the wall of wind. A howling noise began to resound through the area as the visible viridian wisps accelerated, moving fast enough to act more like thousands of ethereal knives rather than a wall of repelling force. Corsac blinked over to the group and crouched low while Jaune slammed his shield down into the grass and plunged his sword into the top of it. With a quick twist of the blade, a bubble shield erected itself all around the group, and Raven lifted a shaking hand upward.
"Now!"
On cue, Jaune clapped a hand back onto Daisuke's shoulder while the faunus and Raven threw their arms forward. The turbulent wall of wind flew forth and around their bubble, speeding across the field and ripping the advancing wave of grimm and most of Ironwood's automated soldiers to shreds in a massive storm of dust and ash. Several trees collapsed, their trunks exploding into shards of bark and littering the area with debris as the clearing near the landing area widened. For a moment, as the torrent of wind fizzled out, the area was oddly calm. Discounting that wanton destruction of foliage and scattered robotic limbs, the area seemed almost peaceful. Jaune retracted the bubble shield and snaked his arm around Daisuke's shoulder as the other man almost collapsed, breathing hard.
"You good?"
"I'm… good," Daisuke confirmed as he pulled down his mask, revealing his rather boyish face. He raised his voice while the third wave of transport shuttles began to land all around them to another round of cheers from the nearby civilians. "Let's just get these people on board, and th-"
A furious, inhuman scream interrupted the conversation as a winged figure appeared high above the tree line. Neopolitan was sprinting toward them from what was left of the forested area, only to be followed by another girl with an identical appearance. Another and then another appeared in tandem as the flying grimm swooped down into a dive and let loose a fireball for one of the runners, blowing a massive, burning crater into the grass and annihilating the girl. The other figures kept moving toward the landing zone at high speed as more images split off, taking slightly winding paths to try to separate themselves.
"That's Cinder…" Jaune seethed. "At least it isn't Salem herself, but…"
"…then what of Harriet?" Corsac asked immediately. "Were they not entangled with each other all this time?"
"She just became a Maiden," Raven said tersely. "She isn't used to her powers. Cinder is. Get everyone onto the ships, I'll hold her off!"
Jaune looked toward the woman as panic began to set in on his features.
"But I'm going to need you in order t-"
"Make sure the pilots understand the plan and get moving!" Raven yelled. "We don't have time for a debate! Be ready for my return! Qrow is aware of what to do!"
"This way!" Jaune ordered as he waved an arm and began running for the ships. "We have to trust that she can handle this and Harriet's okay!"
Raven didn't bother to watch Jaune, Corsac, and Daisuke begin their exit as she kicked off the ground and began to hover, her eyes blazing. Another sprinting image of Neopolitan was incinerated as a plume of smoke and flame climbed into the sky and Raven rolled around it, barely avoiding being blinded by the pillar. A single huntress was left running for all she was worth below, and Raven took a sharp inhale as she began to rapidly ascend toward her opponent.
"Cinder!"
The hybrid grimm turned her attention toward Raven while swirling fire continued to gather in her hands. Her wings were slightly torn and chunks seemed to be missing from her body. It was immediately clear that Cinder hadn't escaped Harriet unscathed, but she still seemed to be in fighting shape. The woman's mandibles separated into a threatening hiss as she raised her arm and threw it forward to let loose a hail of fiery projectiles straight for Raven.
"Things will end differently this time!"
Raven narrowed her eyes and drew her unenchanted crimson blade to bat away several of the burning orbs. Within seconds, she was upon the other Maiden and went for an overhead slash. Cinder's claws came up just in time to catch the blade, holding it in place as black tendrils emerged from her wrists to wrap the steel and keep it immobilized.
"You did this to me!" Cinder accused, her bisected mouth clicking as her talons began to superheat with an orange glow. "I'll never forget what you stole down in the vault!"
Raven didn't bother to dignify the statement with a response, instead depressing a switch at the base of her katana to disconnect the blade from the hilt. As she separated from Cinder, she slammed the guard back against her rotating sheath and drew a new, icy blue blade embedded with dust before thrusting it straight into Cinder's stomach while the grimm's hands were still clasped around the steel. Cinder let out a scream of pain as she finally separated her hands, keeping Raven's first blade in a tight grip. As a freezing sensation began to spread through her core, she grasped her enemy's shoulder with her free hand before raking the disconnected katana straight down into Raven's left arm in a fit of rage.
At first, Raven wasn't aware that she had even been hit as she concentrated on pulling the frozen sword upward through Cinder's chest. Upon taking another raking slash to the chest and feeling her grip weaken, she realized that her blade was no longer making progress through Cinder's torso. A sudden, searing pain shot through her shoulder and into the center of her chest as her left arm stopped obeying her entirely. Upon looking down, she found the limb hanging limply at her side, her first, dark red blade wedged firmly into the muscle deep enough to reach the bone. Raven once again disconnected her sword before pressing a palm into Cinder's chest and manifesting a blast of wind to separate herself from the woman as she began to plummet toward the ground, her vision darkening.
Cinder, half-frozen and falling, began to beat her wings furiously as she tried to make a midair charge for Raven. Several points of light suddenly manifested between the two women and a streak of red shot up through the air along the path, colliding with Cinder in midair and pushing her back. Corsac hung suspended for a moment as he whirled his staff, wind and fire gathering at the opposite ends where the two mounted sais were embedded. He hurled the weapon straight for Cinder as he began to fall, impaling her through the palm while she reached out to try to throw more burning bolts in the faunus' direction. Corsac barely managed to get a hand on Raven as they fell in tandem nearly fifty feet above the ground.
Another rush of wind rose up to meet the pair as Daisuke stood beneath them, summoning up a makeshift midair landing pad to slow their fall. The two were gently carried to the ground to meet Jaune and the White Fang leader, their hands linked while they focused to bring their falling allies safely to the ground.
"Neopolitan's on board and the transports are nearing capacity! The pilots are ready to go!" Jaune called as Raven was deposited on her feet. The woman wavered, barely able to stand on her own as she tried to blink away the dark spots in her vision. Though her dark red clothing made it difficult to tell exactly where else she was wounded besides the blade wedged into her arm, Jaune could tell that she was critically wounded from the brief exchange with Cinder. "Open your portal!"
Raven gasped for air as Jaune placed his hand upon her shoulder. Without a second thought, she drew another, bright yellow blade and slashed at the air, allowing Jaune to superpower her Semblance. A portal large enough to reach as high as the remaining trees and nearly as wide as the clearing opened, and the transport crafts began flying low for the escape route. Qrow Branwen and the landing pads before Atlas Academy stood on the other side, and the remaining grounded civilians began running for the opening as quickly as they could.
"Get through!" Daisuke yelled as he aimed his shotgun upward and began to loose shells in rapid succession. "She's coming!"
Raven limped backward while watching her descending rival, ice shards falling from the grimm as she began speeding toward the ground enwreathed in flames. One of Daisuke's slugs impacted the woman and sent her briefly backward, buying precious seconds as the second of three transports slipped through the portal.
"I have to be the last…" Raven reminded. "Corsac, Daisuke, leave now!"
The faunus' gun began to click as he squeezed the trigger once again, and he quickly backpedaled through the portal to safety as whirling snow from Atlas surrounded the party. Corsac followed suit, running full tilt while Cinder righted herself and the third transport managed to break through the other side. Raven stumbled backward as Jaune helped to shoulder her toward the dimensional door with Cinder right on their heels. They were a half second too late as Cinder landed and gripped the blade embedded within Raven's arm, pulling hard to stall the huntress and Jaune.
Raven let out a cry of pain as she, too, gripped the steel and tried to fight Cinder off. She leaned to the side as the metal began to heat up and Jaune lashed out with Crocea Mors, scoring a hit on Cinder's clavicle and opening a long wound toward the center of her chest. Cinder lost her grip on the katana with one arm, but it wasn't enough to stop her as she yanked downward, wrenching the implement down and through Raven's arm only a few inches below the shoulder. Raven fell backward as the limb separated entirely from her, and Jaune was quick to release his grip upon her shoulder to force the portal to dissipate instantly behind them.
Cinder fell to her knees, Raven's severed limb in her grip. She clenched her claws around the burned, bleeding limb and began flexing her other unoccupied talons into the dirt. Cinder was breathing hard and stared at the spot where Raven had been only moments before, her mind completely blank. The ice clinging to her had all but melted away as her body filled with a burning sensation amid the pain of the twisting bone and ichor already warping to fill in her wounds. It was an indescribably painful process that she had felt one too many times in such a short duration, and the agony only served to deepen her hatred for her fellow Maiden. With a tortured, furious scream, the half-grimm woman channeled a massive dome of flame outward, engulfing the entire clearing in fire while shaking with fury.
There were no thoughts save one in Cinder's mind as she once again took to the air and began to soar over the collapsing infrastructure of Mantle.
She was going to find anyone associated with Ironwood's evacuation efforts who had not yet made it out of the city, and they were going to die.
Author's Note:
Only a few more scenes to go before things really blow up.
-RD