AN: hey. so, uh, this is it. im putting this on top this time, just to make sure y'all can really stew in the ending. wouldnt wanna pull you out before the broth is done, y'know? sorry if its a bit jarring, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

so yeah. darkening horizons. something i started when i was still in high school, ignored for three years, then proceeded to finish in less than six months. honestly, i love it. maybe its just because im a happier person now (sorry if my content may not make it seem that way lmao), but i really do. one day, i was just going through earlier stuff to make sure i keep my continuity good, and i said to myself, "huh... i'd read this," and that really stuck with me. to actually enjoy something that i created, even if it's glued together from the scraps of another intellectual property. i mean, yeah, i do have some regrets, but hey, i started this thing when i was an angsty teen who didnt even know herself, and now im just... me. so i write. i could say i do it because i hate rwby, or that canon wr is a sinking ship that im desperately nailing boards to, or that im trying to make a more interesting world than the show did, and i guess those things are true, but its not why im committing the words to paper. or code, i guess. i just do it cuz i love it. i love writing dialogue, i love writing action (even if i could definitely be better lmao), i love expanding the world, and i love writing things that i know i would find painful and gutwrenching. i just love it. love. me, it, you, i love it all, and its wonderful to have that joy in my heart again. fuck. crying lol.

oh and im not *done* done lol. i just mean this part. volume 0. my ass, lol. idk what dumb fuck part of me thought of starting it at 0, but its kinda late to change it now lmao, so i guess this shit's gonna end at volume 1. unless it doesnt, lol, ive honestly been winging this shit. is it obvious? i dont even know how my outline got so twisted so quickly, but i havent touched the thing since 2019. im gonna start working on a new one now, though, and hopefully ill stay with it. and if i could change how this story went, most of it would be in the earlier half. i really wish i'd written more pre weiss-slice stuff, just some fun fluff to give whiterose some more time to breathe. and i didnt even do my boardgame scene! so sad about that tbh. expect one in the next part, no matter how dire shit gets. i will fucking do it.

anyway, im taking up too much real estate on the screen. sorry lol and please ask me anything! ill answer what i can when i wake up. so goodnight, and have a good read

A sea of black, tides of Grimm unbroken, crashed against the Hunters, flooding the tiny island of security they had carved for themselves. Every Huntsman and Huntress fought on all sides, slaying Grimm by the dozen, the creatures packed so tightly that any attack would strike more than one. But for every one they killed, three took its place. Swiping claws rent Auras. Long teeth snapped around arms, legs, shoulders, drawing screams and blood all at once. The shattered moon watched from above, bathing them in its pale glow.

The din of violence was deafening. Beasts yelped and roared and shrieked, Humans and Faunus shouted and screamed and shot. The sound was all-encompassing, smashing against ear drums and drowning out all competition. That's why, when the Hunters found their arms buckling under the Grimm's nightmare strength, their weapons and armor chipping, their Auras fighting to resurge as their bodies accumulated gashes and bites, they couldn't see anything but the fight directly in front of their eyes.

That is, until they were blinded by light.

Grimm hissed and reeled, Hunters covered their eyes. The battle shrank back long enough for one sound to roar above the fight below:

Engines. Roaring, bellowing engines displacing enough air to create a gust across the clearing. Two of the ships hovered overhead, both of them beaming huge, blinding spotlights into the sea of Grimm from their noses. The rest of the craft was obscured by the glaring light, so the Hunters couldn't see the side doors slide open, nor could they see the long-barrelled machine guns swiveling out of the sides.

Fire blasted out of the sides of each ship, brightly traced rounds blowing chunks through Grimm flesh. Ichor and body parts flew in every direction as the guns roared, and the battle began again. This time, though, the Grimm fought desperately, individuals making reckless strikes before scampering away, the Beowolves' once-bolstering courage fading as each Alpha was rapidly shredded by heavy fire. Their group cohesion faded to nothing in the span of seconds, the Beowolves deciding at once to cut their losses and run back to the dark canopy of the Emerald Forest. Only the Ursas had hides and plates thick enough to shrug off the heavy bullets.

The remaining Grimm charged their lumbering bodies towards the scattered group of Hunters, roaring, paws throwing dirt with each step. Their targets, each one ragged and bleeding in at least one place, wearily hefted their weapons again, muscles shaking as the steel grew heavy in their hands.

Before they could reach the Hunters, though, something dropped from the aircrafts— six somethings, shrouding themselves in plumes of dirt and dust as they struck Remnant.

If Ruby weren't exhausted, she probably would've had a coronary once the dust settled. As it was, she could only stare with a tired eye and an open mouth as six figures in full-body suits of mottled gray armor drew varying weapons. A white saber, a shotgun with a glowing blue bayonet, a simple one-handed war hammer, a meteor hammer with a long chain and two flanged heads, a pair of glowing blue push-daggers, and— Ruby's panting breath hitched as a multitude of glowing blades fanned out of and around one of their backs. She knew precisely who that was.

But before she could shout to her friend, all six moved in sync. Saber-person blasted a field of ice under the Ursa's lumbering paws, making them slip and tumble as the long-chained hammer came crashing down on their heads. Bone plates shattered like glass as the flanged heads crashed down, only to come back just as quickly, the chain wrapping around the arms, the legs, the waist, and even the neck of its user to masterfully control the range of the weapon. Push-knives and shotgun pellets met those that didn't die from the flail-like implement, and the entire other half of the clearing…

The one with the war hammer just watched as their last person flew about the clearing, brightly glowing legs propelling them as their blades shot out and swept about, impaling skulls and bisecting the large creatures before they could reach the Hunters.

"What the fuck, dude," the hammer-wielder mumbled, their voice completely garbled as it came through the helmet, "I'm literally useless."

The one with a saber briefly looked to their teammate before addressing Ruby's group, hand gesturing to the aircrafts. "We're getting you out of here!" They shouted over the engines, their roar only growing louder as their altitude lowered.

Ruby moved to speak to the armored person, but another one crashed into her from the side, scooping her into their arms and laughing giddily. The solid, angular helmet had no visor that Ruby could see. Instead, a seam opened in the middle, hissing as the entire helmet pulled back and folded into itself behind the ginger head of its wearer. It was Penny, as Ruby had guessed, with the widest grin Ruby had ever seen.

"Salutations, best friend!" She yelled over the air rushing past their ears. She looked like she was going to pull Ruby into a crushing hug, but stopped suddenly after a cursory glance. She halted mid-air, her hold gentle as she carefully set Ruby onto the ground. "You are very wounded."

Ruby tried to brush the android's worries off, but her own cough interrupted her, ribs flaring in pain with each hack. And now that the adrenaline was draining away from her, the pain was starting to take hold. Her shoulder burned with sharp, ripping pain, and her face felt like it was on fire again. Every muscle screamed at her, demanding that she collapse. Penny, thankfully, caught her before she could meet the ground. Ruby groaned.

Penny stared at the girl in her arms. When was the last time she had seen her? Her internal query was returned in less than a tick: she had last seen Ruby during her summer break, when Penny had been permitted to visit the girl's home in Patch to assist her with building an advanced scope for Crescent Rose.

But her memory was not congruent with Ruby's current state, and being in physical contact with the girl allowed her to initiate a scan of her entire physiology. It returned after a few ticks, much too fast for the girl in question to even notice, and the results were extremely worrisome. There was a purple dent around a fresh, circular scar in her left shoulder— what Penny surmised to be a puncture wound, followed by a severe muscle tear. Her left side was covered in small, fresh scars, her legs were littered with bleeding slashes, and there were canine bite marks on her right calf and her waist. Worse still, her eye… the organ was almost completely deflated in its socket and fully severed from the optic nerve— dead weight in her skull, essentially. With so much damage to heal, her Aura could take a day, if not longer, to fix her and replenish itself, and that was if it wasn't in use. With so much intense, repeated stress on the scraps of her Aura, there was no telling when she would be back in fighting shape. Regardless, her eye would never be coming back. All in all, her diagnosis was quite grim, especially considering she barely had more blood in her whole body as Zwei did in his.

Seeing her friend's dour countenance (and intense state of disrepair), Penny attempted to lighten the mood with some topical and relevant smalltalk. "So how's that scope?"

Ruby clammed up, and the dark expression that overtook her made it clear that Penny had made a grave mistake. Before she could apologize or ask further, though, Weiss Schnee pulled Ruby out of her arms with considerable effort. She regarded Penny with a sneer as she defensively took hold of her partner, completely disregarding her own state of exhaustion, her numerous bleeding wounds and bruises, and the difficulty of doing such an action with a single arm. Penny's processor cycled for a couple ticks, considering the fresh information and debating on whether to inquire, concluding that she had already made one social faux pas— asking Weiss about her missing arm would surely be another.

More importantly, that was not the only piece of new information she had gathered. In the brief time where she was still connected to Ruby as the Schnee heiress was tearing her away, she had registered several things. One: their Auras were somehow connected, or bonded, or perhaps even nested in one another. It wasn't something Penny had ever seen before. Two: something was different between them. Ruby's heart rate increased when Weiss took hold of her, her dopamine and norepinephrine levels rose significantly, and she became noticeably more at ease. Even out of her contact, and her sensors by extension, she could see the way Ruby leaned on her partner, wrapping both arms around Weiss' to steady herself and not letting go, even when her footing was sure.

Penny's processor cycled. One tick, two ticks, six ticks, twelve ticks— a total of twenty-two ticks passed before she moved, her hand slowly coming up to her chest. It… ached? An empty tang entered her mouth. Heat rose in her face. A strange hollowness crept up her throat. She did not recognize this bodily response. Her stomach was twisting. She did not have a stomach.

Fortunately for Penny, the landing of the Mantas was loud enough that it drew their attention away.

Ruby looked behind her, to the landing craft, and couldn't stop her grimace. From below, the spotlight was too intense to get a good look at them, but now she understood why Winter had been late— she could barely recognize the Mantas she had once seen on an 'Engineering Weekly' magazine. These were adorned with deep scratches, one leaned heavily left with hydraulic fluid leaking from its torn paneling, and the other was missing an entire wing. Worse, she could see a distinct, large hole in one of the cockpits, with a sizable red stain on the white copilot's seat.

Saber-person sheathed their eponymous weapon, addressing the gathering with their unrecognizably warbled voice. "Who is leading this group?"

Ruby perked up to reply, but Weiss gave her a look that said not to. "We don't know these people," the heiress cautiously whispered.

Ruby stared back incredulously. "But they rescued us," she muttered, then added, "they're obviously Atlas people."

Weiss pursed her lips, disappointed. "That's what worries me."

Qrow approached the person before Ruby could nominate herself, scowling at them. "Certainly took your sweet-ass time. When's the rest coming?"

Saber shook their head. "Get in the transports. We need to leave immediately, before the Nevermore returns."

Qrow sneered, effort visible as he forced himself to hold any snark or questions at bay. As the person had said, time wasn't on their side. "Got any medics?"

The person nodded, gesturing to Penny.

Qrow squinted at her, but couldn't quite pin down how familiar she was. Ignoring that, he turned to his students.

Ozpin stared up at the stars, broken. The fact that his eyes had actually stayed in his head was, quite frankly, a miracle, especially when everything else had become a pulpy fertilizer, doomed to enrich the soil alongside the ashes of the institution he had worked so hard to craft. It had been such a lovely place— easily his greatest accomplishment compared to his other cycles, but it came crashing down like all the rest. He had hoped that, if he didn't make himself the head of a nation, this time, perhaps she would spare the civilians, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be. He could only hope that the legacy he had left would be able to tithe them over until his next cycle, however long that would take.

At least he could be grateful to that bumbling ape, Ironwood. The man had about as much forethought in his thick skull as a Boarbatusk, and Ozpin was still expecting him to come riding to his rescue like a knight in shining armor, but the fact that he had been able to scrape together enough brains to hold himself back and actually listen was a true miracle. Ozpin would sigh if his lungs hadn't exploded out of his chest upon impact with the ground. Perhaps he was being too harsh. James was just a man, after all, simply a hot-headed one that managed to get himself higher than most humans of his background and personality do. It was admirable, really. To accomplish so much in such a short span of life, all with the knowledge that it was about as permanent as the puddle that breaks your back.

Ugh, the idioms had gotten to him, again. Bringing those upstairs was sure to land him in even more hot water than he already was, especially with how badly he'd misplayed this round. He'd have to make a pretty good case— and even then, they might finally transfer him. Ha! As if, though picturing Salem's reaction to somebody else besting her did have its appeal. Chances were they'd stick somebody else with him. Like he needed the 'help'.

Dust, he was stalling, bad, some part of him just hoping that a student like Jaune would appear to fix him. Pitiful as it was, he didn't want to go. Perhaps he'd let himself get too attached, but who wouldn't? It was a pleasant life— building young minds, creating people who would go and save more lives than he ever could on his own, and doing it all with a lovely human at his side. Glynda… she really deserved better. He didn't consider himself a creature of regrets, but what had happened to her certainly was one of them— she was truly one of the best. Kind, but still stern and strictly logical. And extremely pleasant to look at.

Hm. Definitely too attached.

Wind tousled his blood-soaked hair. Grass tickled the back of his neck. The cool night offered him a last look into the nebular eyes of the Sea Feilong above. Ozpin became ashes, mingling with the smoldering remains of what he'd built.

Cinder gasped, desperately gulping down air as the slab of masonry was pulled off of her chest. Unfortunately, her savior was none other than Arthur Watts, his unsavory mustachioed visage making her regret not dying in the spire's collapse.

"Ah, there you are," he offered her a gloved hand, "you look like a dog."

Cinder stared at him, not taking his hand.

"A dead one." Arthur added, nodding towards his outstretched hand.

Cinder stared, his hand remained empty.

"That some kids beat up with a bat?" He finished, tone lifting slightly.

Cinder stared emptily, scowling. "Watts."

Arthur sighed— at least she hadn't become a vegetable. He wiggled his arm. "Let me help you, you idiot."

Cinder's scowl became a pained grimace, her eyes screwing shut as her brows furrowed with intense effort. Regardless, she did not move. After a long moment of that, she dropped back, breathless. Panic began to creep into her face. "I— I can't—" even speaking seemed to be an effort, "what the hell?"

Arthur's hand dropped to his side as he stared at the woman. "You can't… what?"

Cinder strained again, but to no avail. Her breaths came fast and shallow, her eyes widening.

Arthur's eyebrow rose as understanding slowly crept upon him. He stared at the girl, whose neck kept straining before flopping back uselessly against her bed of rubble. Arthur's mustache quirked slightly, followed by a burst of deep belly laughs. "Ha haaa! You're— aha, you bloody idiot! Hahaha!"

Cinder tried to punch him, but her body wouldn't obey. "What the fuck are you laughing at," she seethed.

Arthur wiped a tear away from his eye, holding his stomach as he doubled over from laughter. "You absolute dumbass! Let me guess— Ozpin waxed his floors with your dandy asses?"

Cinder bared her teeth, seething through them. "I killed Ozma."

Arthur wagged his hands, feigning intimidation. "Woah-ho, you killed him? Wow! And how did that work out for you?" He laughed through his last words, nearly losing himself to the peals of joy again.

"I can't…" Cinder hissed through her grit teeth, staring daggers at the man who had 'saved' her.

Arthur stood straight, twirling his mustache with a satisfied expression. "You pushed yourself too hard against Ozpin, leaving yourself no Aura to spare when the tower fell. Is that right?"

Cinder nodded silently, worry growing in her chest as Arthur thoughtfully stroked his facial hair.

"So that means the others must have fallen first, since they were more-or-less intact when I found them, if unconscious."

"And what about me?" She asked angrily, trying and failing to tighten her fist.

Arthur chuckled, then began to double over with laughter again.

"Stop fucking laughing!" Cinder shouted.

But Arthur didn't stop, he just spoke between his guffaws instead, "you're paralyzed! You broke your spine, dumbass!" His arms wrapped around his waist as the laughter wracked him.

"Y-you're…" she tried to pull herself up, but her body just wouldn't obey. It took every ounce of her strength to just wrench her neck up, but that was it. She dropped back against the rubble for the umpteenth time.

Arthur kept laughing.

Cinder scowled. "Shut up."

He kept laughing.

Cinder could do nothing but glare murderously, and even that was undercut when tears welled up in her eyes.

Their wounds bound, everybody was ushered into the Mantas, with RWBY squeezed into one with Cardin and Dove. Ruby eagerly awaited her uncle in the open bay, Harbinger in her arms in its more convenient, shrunk form. Weiss stood just behind her, hand on Myrtenaster's pommel. She turned to get a better look at the group of Atlesian operatives, eliciting a yelp from behind.

"Hey, watch it!" Cawed the barely-conscious Cardin from the floor, where his slumped form had been ungraciously poked by the rapier on Weiss' hip. She almost scoffed, but the way Ruby was eyeing her gave her pause.

Weiss looked down at the boy. His whole body was a bruise, and every inch of skin that hadn't been covered during his trampling bore wretched claw marks. Okay, she got it, he'd been through exactly what they had and Ruby's sideways glance told her that a little apology wouldn't kill her. Weiss couldn't help but (begrudgingly) agree. "Sorry, Cardin. I didn't notice you were there."

Cardin actually recoiled, as if the notion of an apology from the Schnee was purely mythical. He seemed at a loss for words, and averted his eyes. Leaving the man speechless was much more satisfying than rudely disregarding him would've been, Weiss realized. Perhaps being nice wasn't so awful, especially when she was rewarded with a small smile from her girlfriend. The bond thrummed warmly.

She must've gotten a sappy look on her face, because all her goodwill towards Cardin was sucked away when he made a gagging noise. Weiss whirled around on the boy, hot words ready to brand the smug ass.

Ruby suddenly gripped her hand, yanking her towards the front again. Weiss' excuse was already on her tongue, expectant of a reprimand from her leader, but an iron weight sank into her stomach instead.

The one with a war hammer was waving their hands wildly, shouting for them to take off at the top of their lungs.

A Deathstalker loudly crashed into the clearing, splitting entire trunks with its monstrous carapace. It was gigantic, even for a Deathstalker, its age marked by the dozens of spears, arrows, axes, and swords lodged between its numerous plates. The bony protrusions covered almost every inch of its inky black body, with each off-white plate sporting pock marks, gouges, cracks, and menacing with long, jagged spikes. Its claws snapped with raucous, cataclysmic force that even had the helmeted Atlesians reeling from the penetrating sound, and aside from its eyes, the only part of it that wasn't completely armored was its massive, grotesquely barbed stinger, which glowed with a sinister purplish-red light.

Ruby called to her uncle, preparing to toss the weapon to him before he began rapidly shaking his head. "Fuck that!" He shouted, limping towards his niece's transport as quickly as he could. "We're getting out of here!"

Saber-person nodded at the older man, drawing their namesake as they stepped towards the creature. Their allies followed, weapons at the ready, including Penny, whose helmet wrapped around her head once more. The colossal Grimm casually trampled their bonfire, crossing the clearing with ease on its huge, pointed legs. Even more Grimm— Beowolves, Ursas, Boarbatusks— spilled out behind it, some crawling over its carapace just to have a shot at the Hunters.

Once more, the clearing was alight with violence.

The operatives, to their credit, didn't seem to flinch. Hammer blinked about the battlefield, vanishing and reappearing in rapid succession, each time bringing their weapon to bear. The modest war hammer put in much more work than Ruby expected, easily cracking plated skulls with both its blunt end and its beak. Their teleports were highly strategic, targeting unsuspecting Alphas and charging Boarbatusks.

Penny seemed focused on the Deathstalker, fighting it in tandem with Saber, but neither seemed capable of piercing the creature's impossibly thick armor. That was, until Penny's blades came together like a flower around her outstretched hands, spinning rapidly as they glowed. They spun, faster and faster, the whirring sound so loud that it could be heard over the oppressive roar of the Manta's engines. Ruby watched with rapt interest, even as her uncle hobbled his way up the boarding ramp and into the craft with his niece.

A single green spark flew between Penny's hands, and that was the only warning Ruby had before it happened. A painfully bright green beam of concentrated energy blasted out of the android's hands, striking the Deathstalker directly in the center of its head. The beam bored through the creature's immense plate, tossing white chunks into the air with every passing moment of contact.

But that was as far as the girl would get. The arachnid Grimm refused to bow to the android, its stinger lancing out with much more speed than it had any right to. Fresh off her attack, Penny couldn't escape.

Before the stinger could land, though, a massive white glyph appeared in front of the android, a huge pair of gauntlets shooting forth to wrap around the lance-like tip.

Ruby's eyebrows shot to her forehead. "Woah, Weiss! When did you—"

"That's Winter?" Weiss screeched right by Ruby's ear, interrupting her partner and making the poor girl wince.

"You seriously didn't notice?" Qrow shouted back, right next to Ruby's other ear.

With the stinger locked tight in the summon's gauntlets, they had free reign to attack the towering Grimm. The meteor hammer broke away from their part defending the rising Mantas, leaving it up to Shotgun alone, though the masked Atlesian seemed overjoyed to have more work, judging by their jaunty body language.

Chained spheres of dense, flanged metal smacked into the ancient Grimm, striking its plate time and time again. Meanwhile, Penny focused her strikes on the creature's intimidating stinger.

Winter was forced to remain still, her own movements directing the arms of her summoned Arma Gigas. She strained to hold the stinger at bay while maintaining her summon, evident by her shaking, buckling knees and desperate stance.

Ruby felt useless, stuck in the Manta, so exhausted she could barely keep her legs under her. She wanted desperately to leap into the fray, even if she knew it would mean certain death. She felt like a coward, hiding up here. Thankfully, her uncle and her girlfriend kept their hands on her shoulders, knowing she was itching to do something stupid. She nervously wrung her hands around Harbinger's grip.

The downpour of Grimm intensified, forcing Push-knife and War Hammer to join their shotgun-wielding ally in defending the aircrafts. Several Beowolves managed to slash at the transports, opening fresh tears in the plating before Shotgun came by, bayonet slashing wildly at their inky hides before impaling one. They let loose into the stuck Grimm, shot after shot blowing chunks out of its hide until a clean hole had been created and the violent operative had to be physically redirected by Push-knife.

Ruby watched the exchange with growing worry. These were the strangers she was entrusting her life and her team's lives to? Sure, she could expect that kind of uncontrolled outburst from Yang, but that was in their first year. Just what kind of people were rescuing them?

Her internal questions were cut short by the screeching trumpet of the Deathstalker, triumphant as its massive tail finally shattered the Arma Gigas. Penny had only just started to work on the thick, bulbed stinger when it was yanked free, its wild swipes forcing her to retreat.

But the Grimm's victory would be short-lived. The Mantas finally spooled to their fullest, and the boarding ramps slid back as their landing gears rose. The crafts rose out of the Beowolves' reach. Without further worries, the operatives defending the crafts pulled back to Winter.

The Deathstalker was the last remaining threat tall enough to easily strike at the escaping transports, and it seemed to realize that. Its ten-eyed gaze fixed onto the rising Mantas, the creature charged towards them. The huge Grimm easily forced the puny operatives to clear out of the way as it sprinted to the crafts, but that wouldn't stop them. The Atlesian team operated with a synchronicity that made Ruby insanely envious, especially when Winter's voice rang out above the din.

"Chisel Driver!" The woman called, saber raising over her head and drawing a massive glyph. It was multi-colored, and contained more complex glyphwork than Ruby had ever seen her partner (successfully) achieve. Dust of various types visibly poured out of Winter's suit, the glyph greedily sucking up every single grain.

Ruby would've surely squealed if she had the energy. "They have attack names!" She shouted gleefully, looking back at her partner and the rest of her team with a big-headed smirk, "I told you it was a real thing!"

Qrow and Weiss shared a beleaguered look, each holding a nugget of information that they didn't dare tell the exhausted girl: Winter was a huge nerd, just like her.

Regardless, the team of operatives moved with practiced precision. The hammer-wielders imposed themselves between the crafts and the Deathstalker while Penny flew overhead, with Shotgun and Push-knife keeping any pioneering Grimm off of their asses. Rapid hammer-blows struck at the Deathstalker's exposed eyes, making the creature loudly hiss and reel. With the creature stunned, Penny cast her blades out from their halo around her back. The swords shot between the creature's long legs, precisely criss-crossed as Penny threw her hands out, gripping the filament wires that linked her to her blades. She pulled the barely-visible lines taught, tangling the creature's legs as the glyph disappeared from above Winter and reappeared above the Deathstalker's head.

Winter flicked her saber, casting the final glyphs in a single move: a set of five glyphs between the Grimm and the primary glyph, pitch black and rotating at a blinding speed. With the set finished, Winter pulled her saber back like she was ripping it out of a wall, causing the whole ensemble to brightly spring to life.

The ground erupted around the titanic Grimm, dirt and dust flying up in huge plumes and forcing the hammer-wielders to scramble back as rocks and stones of varying sizes ripped themselves out of the ground, flying up and smashing together in the center of the brown-glowing glyph. The umber tone flashed and faded into a brightly swirling mix of purple and orange, the various Dusts working to heat and compress the collected stone in unison, forcing the loose collection of rocks to smash themselves into the shape of a smooth, red-hot spike, hovering over the divot left behind by Penny's beam attack. Purple and red gave way to a violent mix of green and blue as wind swirled around the spike, making it spin rapidly while long blades of water shot from the glyph and sheared its rough edges into one smooth point.

The process was so quick, so complex, but executed so perfectly that Weiss and Ruby could do nothing but stare. Even the most wounded in the transport pulled themselves up to peek outside of the Manta's open sides, desperate to catch a glimpse of the beautiful chaos outside.

At last, the primary glyph faded with a final burst of yellow, creating an explosion that forced the spike forward. It shot through the black glyphs with pinpoint accuracy, each one further increasing the massive object's intense momentum until—

Crack!

The spike drove deeply into the crater left by Penny, the ensuing burst of wind rocking the Mantas and forcing the injured Hunters to huddle close or risk being thrown from the crafts.

Huge white chunks flew around the spinning, drilling spike of compressed earth as it dug into the creature's plate, the blow forcing the arachnid Grimm's legs to collapse under it. Even after all that, though, the creature refused to die. Its claws and tail snapped and flailed wildly, pushing the Atlesians even further away. Penny visibly strained, buckling as she struggled to keep the creature's legs tied down.

"Jia!" Winter shouted as she rushed to the front of the Deathstalker. Her ally, the one with the meteor hammer, nodded and jumped back, spinning to wrap themselves in the weapon's long chains. Winter took their place, working with the other hammer-wielder to beat the creature back and take pressure off their android.

At the back of the beast, Push-knife and Shotgun made an executive decision: abandoning the wave of Grimm at their team's heels in favor of assisting with the ancient Deathstalker. They quickly ascended the creature's tail, deftly using the multitude of ancient weapons lodged in its carapace as handholds. When they reached the top, they dug in deep, lodging their blades as far as they could into the thick, bulging sac of the stinger.

The Grimm screeched, but Jia wouldn't let it thrash again. They leapt high in the air, launched by a pitch black glyph, their chained weapon unwrapping from their body as they spun. The chain weapon's orbit became wider and faster with each passing moment until the operative became nothing more than a blur, and when Jia finally brought their flail-like weapon to bear, their modulated cry could be heard over the whole clearing.

The flanged heads smacked hard into the wedge of compressed earth, creating an ear-splitting crack.

The plate split down the middle, its owner seizing as the spike finally sunk into the carapace. The stinger thrashed rapidly, throwing Shotgun and Push-knife high. Its claws shot out, grabbing Jia and Winter in each pincer. It shrieked as it clamped down, cracking the operatives' suits and making them hiss with the escaping pressure.

The trapped Atlesians could see the piercing, vivid hatred in its glowing red eyes, the years, centuries of slaughter it had endured— would endure. They were not the first! Its carapace was a tapestry, a monument to the failures of the fleshlings of the world, marked with the weapons of hundreds of legendary warriors, heroes, and armies of every color and creed— it was beyond the reach of pesky humans, or Faunus, or whatever obscene golem dared pin it to Remnant! Their existence would be but a flash compared to its eternity! It would outlive them all!

"Winter!" A cry from above, a pitiful noise of anguish in whatever the weaklings had convinced themselves was a 'language.'

Another glyph appeared above. Ha! They failed once, they would fail again!

A massive, gauntleted fist shot out of the glyph, driving into the wedge. The spike sank deeper, and the Grimm seized with finality, its pincers opening wide. Winter and Jia dropped, plummeting to the ground.

Penny's blades pulled away from the creature's limp legs, shooting up to wrap their filament wires around the flying Shotgun and Push-knife. War hammer blinked twice, taking Winter and Jia into their arms before teleporting a third time, appearing directly behind Ruby and Weiss, who yelped as the new presence nearly pushed them out of the craft.

War hammer collapsed to their knees, panting heavily as they fumbled at their neck. After finally finding the button, their helmet split and folded back into itself, thick black dreadlocks spilling out and falling past their shoulders, nearly shrouding their thin, soft features. Trails of blood trickled from their nose and down their dark skin, forced out quickly as they panted desperately. "Blood and fucking Dust," their voice was low, and much more masculine than their face, "you guys need to learn how to dodge. I'm gonna get an aneurysm if I have to do that shit again."

Winter, who had caught herself and Jia before their savior dropped them, responded quickly. "Oh, please. More than half of your blinks were totally unnecessary."

Jia nodded. "You're too much of a show-off, Arthur."

Arthur's head rocked back, ignoring that every eye in the transport had turned to them. "Shut the fuck up, dude, I will kiss you."

Jia visibly recoiled, making Arthur snicker until Winter raised a hand, silencing them both. She nodded, seemingly speaking to somebody else in her helmet. After a moment, she addressed the pilot, commanding him to take off and get the doors closed. Unfortunately for Ruby and Weiss, that meant holding on to the handles for dear life as the bay door lurched, refusing to shut even as they took off. The winds battered them, but they didn't dare ask to stop. Thankfully, the craft contained communication devices for everyone aboard, save for Jian, who opted to remain helmeted.

Winter pressed the button at the neck of her damaged suit, folding the helmet back to reveal the face that Qrow had apparently expected from the moment she had saved them. In retrospect, Weiss recognized that she should've noticed sooner. It was her sister, after all.

Her white hair was in a tight bun at the back, with only a few sweaty strands having come loose and plastered themselves to her face. "Good evening, students of Beacon," she addressed the group, tinny voice much too even for a group of students who had been through too much, "can anybody tell me what happened?"

Everybody remained silent, turning at once to the oldest person in the transport: Qrow.

The professor gave a dumbfounded look, like he was about to argue against his volunteering, before he realized that he was, in fact, an adult that was responsible for the students. He gave a resigned shrug, speaking after a moment. "The school exploded."

Winter stared at him, rolling her hand to ask for more.

Qrow frowned. "Well, how the hell am I supposed to know what happened! One moment I was slacking in my office, the next moment the alarms came on and I felt a damn explosion!"

Ruby piped up, slightly too loud in everybody's headphones and making them wince. "Uh, hello! I'm Ruby, I was in the library when it exploded."

Winter was suddenly extremely close to her, making the girl shrink into herself. She stared at Ruby with an intensely blue glare and a frown, sizing the girl up from head to toe.

Ruby gulped, flushing with embarrassment, "s-sorry, uh, haha, we've actually… well I, uh, I-I guess I've, uh… seen you before… you probably don't remember, haha…" she stuttered, extremely anxious, even with Weiss giving her a comforting nudge.

"So you're the Ruby my sister gushes over so much." Ruby went bright red, mouth clamping shut as Winter spoke. "And where's your weapon?"

Weiss placed herself between her sister and her girlfriend, the latter of whom supported her against the wind. "A horned Faunus maniac nearly killed us, multiple times. And he was probably the same person who blew up the school. I was in that library with her, she saved my life and the lives of everybody else in there."

Winter backed up, hands on her hips. "Oh? And where are they now?"

Weiss grimaced. What happened to the people Ruby had saved between saving them and Ruby waking up had gone strictly unsaid. Weiss didn't have the heart to tell her partner that most of them had retreated to the front of the school, where they would be promptly executed by that psychopath. She'd only heard about Goodwitch's death because one of the stragglers ran into her during his retreat. "We got separated, it was Yatsuhashi that helped me carry her out of the rubble."

Winter hummed, unsatisfied and clearly about to deride Ruby again when Blake spoke up.

"Yang and I were at the gym when it exploded," the Faunus turned briefly to make sure her partner was okay, then continued, "we fought someone who we'd fought last year, a girl with pink and brown hair. Last time we saw her, she was working for Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. I knocked her out, but had to carry Yang off on my own. I don't know what happened to her after."

Winter raised an eyebrow at Blake, eyeing her exposed cat ears. The Faunus cast an 'uh, is she racist?' look towards her Schnee teammate, receiving a wince and an apologetic nod in return.

"Well, you're all coming with us," Winter said, turning back towards the pilot, "you'll be debriefed when we arrive in Atlas, from there we'll determine your accommodations."

Ruby blinked. "You're… taking us all the way to Atlas?"

Winter nodded, barely offering the girl a sidelong glance. "That's what I just said, yes."

Weiss felt her partner stiffen, then felt a weight growing in her own gut. Back home… oh Dust, father would know. He would know, and he would take everything. Weiss whirled on her new girlfriend with panicked eyes, but whatever she had to say was dwarfed when she saw what was coming behind Ruby, past the stuck-open bay door.

A Nevermore, its bright red eyes locked directly on her partner. Before Weiss could shout, the beast dipped low, revealing the thing riding it. Tall, horned, with his nodachi jammed into the Grimm's upper back for support. Ruby took notice of her partner's terrified look, turning just in time to see Adam flying towards her, launched by the massive Grimm. His arms shot forward, extending an impossible amount to reach into the open bay.

The bond surged, warmth jolting across it. For the third time, it was Weiss who moved through a slow world.

Weiss appeared in front of Ruby suddenly, materializing from a cloud of pale petals. The black arms wrapped around the Schnee's waist, pulling her out of the transport and into Adam's embrace. Silver met cerulean.

Winter leapt after her without hesitation, but Ruby wasn't looking.

Her eyes were wide, reaching out to the girl she'd only just kissed. Something was on her lips, but the wind took every sound.

Ruby watched her girlfriend fall away— she'd only just become her girlfriend. She'd only just kissed her. She'd only just confessed. All in one day— just one day. It wasn't enough. It was too much.

Silver met cerulean.

Falling, falling.