"Come on, Yang," Ruby encouraged as she stared out at the streets in front of the election hall. Clover's swords were in her hands, her fingers clenched tightly around the hilts of the blades. Try as she might, Ruby couldn't slow her breathing back to normalcy. A panic attack was coming on despite the lack of imminent danger, and she once again felt herself on the verge of tears. "Where are you…?"

With a shuddering sigh, Ruby moved to hold both swords with one hand as she awkwardly pressed against her earpiece with two fingers.

"Yang? Come in?"

There was no response over the communication line, and Ruby transferred her sword back into her free hand with a huff. She had no idea how long it had been since she and the blue-haired huntress had made it outside. Minutes or hours could have passed, but all Ruby knew was that she kept seeing evacuation ships rise above the towering buildings surrounding her in all directions. It was the only thing keeping hope in her heart until she turned around to check on her companion.

May Marigold had been propped up against the side of the steps leading up to the hall after Ruby had helped her outside, but something was wrong. The huntress' head had slumped forward and she wasn't moving. Ruby sheathed her swords immediately and ran the short distance back to her charge before crouching down to feel the woman's neck for a pulse. May's skin was cold and clammy to the touch, and there was no rhythm within her veins. Ruby let out a panicked whimper as she desperately grabbed May's wrist to check for a pulse once again, only to find a similar result. She was gone.

It was the final straw that whittled Ruby's defenses down entirely. Another failure, another life lost, and another crime at the hands of Salem. Ruby's eyes were streaming, and before she could stop herself, she had wrapped May's body in a tight hug as her own heaved with sobs. She could barely hear the crackling flames engulfing the election hall over her own wailing, and she didn't catch the approaching footsteps behind her, either. There was no resistance as Ruby was scooped up into a hug, and she immediately pressed herself up against the warm, familiar comfort paired with a single cold, metal limb the moment it was offered.

"Ruby!" Yang cried as she squeezed her sister tight. "What's going on!?"

"She…" Ruby began, trying to get the words out through sobs as she pressed firmly into her older sister. "I-I… I don't even know her name…"

"It's… it's okay. It's going to be okay," Yang reassured as she stroked her natural hand through Ruby's hair.

"It's not okay!" Ruby protested. "None of this is ever going to be okay!"

"I know that!" Yang replied, raising her voice to match Ruby's volume. "I know, alright!? But we can't just give up and break down! We have a job to do, a-"

"And what if that was me?" Ruby asked as she pulled back and pointed toward where May was slumped over. "What if, one day, I was the one who didn't make it? If someone was too slow to save me, or I ended up fighting something I can't handle? Would you tell Weiss and Blake that it's okay? Would you j-"

Ruby was sent reeling by the sensation of her sister's hand colliding with her cheek to the point that she almost fell over. The younger huntress stared up at her sister in shock as Yang glared back, her mouth a thin line and her eyes blazing.

"Don't you ever… ever suggest that I would just gloss over something like that," Yang threatened as she balled a fist. "Of course it wouldn't be okay! I would be devastated if I ever lost you!"

"Then how can we just…" Ruby began, searching for the words as she rubbed her cheek. "…I don't know, Yang! I feel like I don't know anything anymore, other than the fact that I have to do more! I have to push harder! I can't just keep failing and letting so much suffering and death happen all ar-"

Ruby's eyes widened as Yang raised both arms and pointed the mounted guns upon the gauntlets in her direction. A pair of blasts rocketed forward from the limbs and spiraled through the air around Ruby only to impact something that let out a bestial roar. Ruby whirled to find the source of the noise close behind her in the broken entranceway of the election hall. There stood the Hound grimm, smoking holes in its shoulders and a mixture of saliva and blood dripping from its bony teeth. The wounds closed near immediately as grimm material warped and twisted into the gaps, and the beast crouched low as though it was about to pounce.

Something new awakened within Ruby as she eyed up the massive beast. All of her guilt and sadness zeroed in on her target in the form of rage, and a singular thought clicked within her mind. Ruby Rose drew her newly-acquired pair of swords and took a single deep breath, Professor Ozpin's words in Oscar's voice echoing within her mind.

Nothing around her was as it should be.

With an impassioned yell, Ruby's eyes flared with a silver flash brighter than ever before, engulfing the Hound in a wash of blinding light. The effect was persistent and intense enough that Yang had to raise her arms to shield her eyes as Ruby advanced, her eyes radiating raw, unknowable power in the direction of the beast. Neither of the girls could even see the election hall throughout the spectacle, and the giant grimm seemed to disappear entirely within the searing glow. Ruby blinked several times, triggering three additional flashes of colorless light before she stared ahead, chest heaving and mouth agape in disbelief.

The Hound was still standing at the top of the steps, though it had taken a few steps backward and recoiled slightly, its hind legs tensed while it endured the strobing assault. With a low growl, the beast launched itself forward faster than Ruby could react, clearing the steps as it crashed straight into her and tackled the girl to the ground. One of Clover's swords flew from her grip and spun through the dirt as Ruby desperately impaled the other into the hound's shoulder, trying to get it to create an opening to wriggle away. The beast's massive paws were pinned atop her cape and stomach, and before Ruby could manage anything else, the grimm's jaws opened and it lunged for her neck.

Another duo of quick blasts from Yang's gauntlets found their way into the side of the grimm's jaw, knocking it sideways and causing it to stumble off of Ruby. The young huntress was quick to engage her Semblance and rocket away to her fallen sword, which she scooped out of the dirt before ducking low into a crouched stance. Once again, her eyes ignited and she let off a dazzling flash only for the Hound to completely ignore her efforts as it advanced upon Yang.

"Stop it!" the blonde yelled as a trio of long talons erupted from the fronts of her bracers. "I can't see shit when you do that, and it's not working anyway!"

"It has to work!" Ruby protested as she began to circle around to her target's back. "I'll cut it out for now, but after we weaken it a bit…"

"We'll explore our options when we get to that point!" Yang cut in. "Stay mobile!"

The Hound finally made a move to attack, bringing a paw the size of Yang's head down upon her. With a twist for extra momentum, Yang punched upward, spearing her claws through the beast's palm and firing off a shot at point blank range to tear a hole into its flesh. The Hound was quick to retaliate with a sideways swipe that Yang barely dodged by jumping backward as Ruby leapt into the air from behind, plunging her sword into the black fur of the beast. Yang rushed forward and yanked the other blade from its shoulder before tossing the weapon up to Ruby, who was balancing unsteadily while driving the other implement in deeper. The huntress managed to catch the blade and impale it close to the other one, eliciting a roar from the wounded grimm as it reared up onto its hind legs.

Ruby was quick to drop off the Hound's back as it turned and swept a claw behind itself where she had been only moments before. Yang immediately rushed in and landed a flurry of punches against its stomach, retracting the claws as she did so. A series of mines slid out from within the gauntlets at each blow, sticking to the grimm's fur and beginning to gently beep in tandem. With her combination finished and the Hound's attention back on her, Yang leapt up and kicked off the massive monster's chest to send herself flying backward and into a crouch.

"Clear!"

Yang reached across her body and depressed a button on the inside of one of her gauntlets as a crimson streak flew around the Hound and zipped to her side. While Ruby reformed and skidded to a stop, the embedded mines went off in sequence, blowing apart the chest cavity of the grimm and sending it reeling backward as it struggled to stay upright. Sprays of ash, fur, and bone erupted from its stomach, obscuring the view of the damage as it hunched over, its shoulders quivering unnaturally. With a sudden, jerking series of movements, the Hound returned to standing straight up, only to reveal that the blown open section of its chest was anything but empty.

Deep within the grimm's chest cavity was what appeared to be a person trapped within sinewy ropes of black. Their skin was discolored in seemingly random patches and their features twisted in pain as they struggled to force their eyes open. A raspy, rattling sound emerged from the imprisoned figure as black liquid streamed from their opening mouth, followed by a shrill scream. With their eyes finally open, Ruby and Yang briefly saw something that shook them both to their cores.

The victim's eyes were the same silver as Ruby's own, and they were soon engulfed in a blinding flash that mirrored her ability… to an extent.

Something about the blinding light that emanated from the bound warrior's eyes felt wrong, and it carried with it an echoing, ringing screech as though a flashbang had gone off right next to Ruby and Yang's ears. The girls both covered them to no avail, and the pulse of light was quickly chased by flecks of darkness dancing in their vision that almost seemed to tunnel holes of pure abyss into their eyes. The black patches remained for a several seconds as the two girls shrank down in agony.

"What… the hell…" Yang began, clenching her teeth so hard that she feared they might crack.

"I-I don't know!" Ruby yelled back, the ringing in her ears refusing to subside. "I… I can't…"

The blinding light began to subside as the Hound's chest slowly reformed and more grimm material snaked over the eyes of the person inside. A sudden, unexpected red glow washed over the area, painting the beast in menacing light that brought Ruby and Yang an immediate, unexpected comfort. As the Hound fell back onto all fours, two others moved to stand at the girls' sides.

"That… is a big grimm…" Taiyang said as he clanked the butt of his trident into the ground.

"We've taken down worse, back on Team STRQ," Raven mused as she turned her body slightly, preparing to draw Omen.

"Your… your arm…" Yang said, her tone full of shock.

"Later," Raven commanded as she sank lower into her stance and the Hound bared its teeth at her. "We bring it down, and we get up to Atlas. On your orders, Yang."

"There's a person in there," Ruby said fearfully as she drew her borrowed sidearm. Clover's swords were still embedded within the grimm's back, though they looked to be coming loose as the grimm started a slow advance. "Th-they have silver eyes…"

"What?" Taiyang asked as he shot his daughter a worried look.

"They're long gone," Yang said bitterly. "Focus, Ruby. If you three can pin it down… I can annihilate it. Trust me."

"I do," Raven replied.

"We surround it and overwhelm it," Yang ordered. "Get in there and fight!"

The blonde rushed forward, her fists raised as her family moved in alongside her and the beast began running at full tilt to meet them.

Author's Note:

Next week is a direct continuation of the fight… and the final Season of the Witch chapter.

I think.

Maybe.

25 more Season of the Witch chapters later…

-RD