RWBY: A Thorn in My Heart

Chapter 29: Faith

Darkness enveloped Ruby's vision as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes and head ached, the former throbbing violently as she felt an urge to take off the her cloth rub them. Sadly her arms felt so weak she couldn't even lift them a few inches. She soon forgot her pain and focused on the sounds soon overtaking her senses. It was various people yelling things like "What the hell!?" or "It's not her fault". As she focused past her headache, Ruby could just recognize one of the overlapping voices amongst the argument

"Blake" she said meekly, her tone raspy as she struggled to raise her head. The cat girls ears twitched as her excellent hearing made out these words and looked towards her wife's bed.

"Ruby? Everyone shut up Ruby's waking up!" Blake roared.

"Good, she can help us kick these guys asses." Yang grunted, her eyes red with rage. Harriet gritted her teeth and glared at the fire warrior with an angry look saying "just try it" while Marrow rushed in between them to try and deescalate the conflict. Blake ignored their fighting as she rushed to Ruby's bedside and tenderly placed her hand underneath Ruby's head to raise her up.

"Would… you all… JUST SHUT UP!" Ruby yelled, making everyone jump in surprise, their skin feeling like ice was placed on them. Ruby then finally found the strength to lift her arms as she rubbed her eyes, still painfully pulsing from their strange power usage.

"Now… someone tell me what all the yelling is about, my ears are killing me almost as much as my eyes and head." She demanded, barely opening her eyes. Blake looked sorrowfully at her wife. She hated to have to tell her about Weiss's arrest, especially since she could tell her wife's eyes were in pain and this could make her feel even more stressed. However, Blake knew Ruby could tell when she kept secrets from her and would get even angrier than the news itself for that reason. Before she could so much as open her mouth to answer, Yang beat her to it.

"These jackasses are trying to arrest Weiss. They don't even care it wasn't her fault." Yang said, mindful of her volume to avoid hurting her sister, who could rubbed her head as it ached. She took heavy breaths as she processed this information, not sure if her pain was from her headache or this news.

"Your friend just totaled a street in Atlas, nearly killed some reporters and Marrow I might add on live tv, and you expect us to let her off the hook?" Harriet bluntly asked, sarcasm infecting her tone as the answer felt obvious to her.

Ruby clenched her bed sheets hearing this; not only were the police now against her friend, but surely the people were going to lose faith in Weiss now. Panic and uncertainty filled her head as she struggled to process this situation.

"What should I… What can I do for her?" Ruby thought. There seemed to be no right answer to this mess they were in.

Yang seemed to think her fists would be an obvious solution to this problem. Before Blake and Sun could stop her from attacking while injured, Yang threw her arm back and charged at Harriet, ignoring the pain in her neck as she prepared to punch the daylight out of this woman. She didn't care if she was also arrested or broke another bone in her body, she had enough of this arrogant cop's crap. The corners of Harriet's eyes flashed as she charged her speed semblance, ready to counterattack before a fish hook grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her out of the way of Yang's now fiery fist, which imploded the section of the floor that Harriet stood previously. Harriet and everyone looked down and gulped, seeing a large hole with burn marks around its edges that showcased the bottom floor, and a few nurses and scared patients wrapped in gauze. As much as she hated to admit it internally, Harriet was relieved she didn't take that attack head on or her head would likely be smashed right through that hole. She soon gritted her teeth as she laid eyes on the rapidly breathing blond brawler, whose hair turned fiery as she ignored the damage she caused and fixed her gaze on Harriet, more upset she missed than about Weiss anymore. Before she could grab her cuffs to arrest Yang, she froze at the sound of a man's voice.

"Stand down Harriet that's and order!" the voice said. She darted her head around to see her captain Clover alongside Winter Schnee and a little girl wearing a blue hood much like Ruby's.

"I don't know why you're here causing a ruckus when the General ordered you and Marrow to clean the streets up of Grimm!" He said, admonishing Marrow and Harriet as the former rubbed his head nervously while the latter simply glared at him.

"The Schnee betrayed Atlas and this hot headed bitch just tried to kill me! Why do you think were arresting her!" she yelled.

Tired of hearing her speak of Weiss like that, Yang prepared to lunge at her again before being held down by a large amount of clones of Blake.

"Yang knock it off before you get us ALL arrested!" Blake yelled at her partner, whose hair started burning a few clones who winced in pain.

Hearing even a clone of her friend cry in pain because of her, Yang instantly gasped in terror as she collapsed to the floor with her hands shaking, horrified by what she did.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean…" she stuttered, tears drizzling down her face then evaporating from the heat of her semblance. This reminded her of the night her sister was raped. Ruby wasn't the only casualty because of Yang's temper and incompetence (in her mind) that night. Yang turned her fire fists off as she gently caressed the neck of one of the remaining Blake clones. Even though the wound was long healed, she still feel like she could see the blood exuding from the slash of Adams blade on Blake's neck.

All because she had lost her temper over Ruby's near dead body, Yang charged into the base and attacked blindly everything in sight like a 5 year old brat throwing a temper tantrum at school. Had Blake not taken Adam's attack, Yang would be dead right now, and a part of her felt like she deserved to be after all the people she let down or hurt because of her pig-headedness.

Harriet, also a hot-head, ignored Yang's crying as she was determined to cuff her after this fiasco.

"Stay!" Marrow yelled as he pointed at Harriet, aware of her intentions. She froze in place, groaning in frustration as his semblance bound her in place.

Marrow then removed Weiss's cuffs before looking at a solemn Ruby, his heart stinging with regret for the pain his partner put her through with all this after what Ruby's own partner was going through. He honestly didn't hate Weiss, despite her status as a Schnee, nor see her as a traitor as he was aware of her efforts over the years to improve her companies treatment of his kind. He then looked over to see the little girl by Winter, smiling as he noticed something about her. He didn't dwell on that thought long as he then saw how angry his captain and Winter were with them so decided it was time to go before Harriet caused another fight.

"Now come along Harriet you heard the captain's orders." He sternly said as he walked out the door, ignoring a disproving glare from Winter as Harriet's feet moved her forcefully as she remained paralyzed, unable to move her arms or mouth, which would certainly curse him and the others for putting her through this. Clover reeled in his fishhook line, something that puzzled Ruby. It seemed like a ridiculous weapon for a huntsman to wield. Clover saw her expression and found it amusing, having seen it many times from people who met him at first before seeing it in action. He simply gave her a smirk and a Luke Skywalker goodbye finger gesture before departing, ready to finally stop wasting time with this ruckus and get back to work.

"Once your well rested, meet my unit by the dust mines for the mission. We'll cover for you until then." He kindly said, earning a sigh of relief from Ruby and Blake, who felt grateful Weiss and Yang avoided being arrested.

Winter walked slowly with the little girl by her side to Weiss's bedside. Ruby and the others gasped upon seeing the girls face to be Nala's.

"I thought Weiss wanted to keep her hidden." Blake said confused.

"No need seeing is how her reputation is already in shambles." Winter bitterly said as she eyed her nieces cloak. It really was now just to avoid extra media hounds from noticing them. Winter gripped her swords hilt as she felt anger boil her blood. First she had to babysit her disobedient faunus niece, then she fails to cover up the attack from Weiss, and now her sister had a tumor within her that the doctors informed her they couldn't remove. This day just kept getting worse. Nala tenderly released her hand from her enraged Aunt as she slowly walked up to her mother's side, her lip quivering as she saw the emaciated face her mother had.

"Is mommy gonna die?" she whimpered with a scared tone. Winter gasped a little at this question, while she repeatedly said this in her mind it was a possibility to steel herself, Nala's fearful question shattered her as she choked; unable to utter a word which worsened the little girls fears.

"I-I don't want Mommy to go!" Nala yelled softly as she held her hands to her eyes and cried.

Sun knelt down to his daughter and picked her up, letting his shoulder become soaked with her tears.

"Don't worry kiddo, papa's here. Mommy's gonna stay here with us too. Pietro said Ruby could help her." Sun softly said as he tearfully glanced at Ruby, who shook her head as snapped out of her solemn state hearing these words. With all this turmoil happening, Ruby had honestly forgotten about her powers and Pietro's solution. She turned her head to the old man.

"So how do I save her!?" she quickly asked.

"Like I said before you need to focus on your happy memories and… WAIT STOP!" he yelled as Ruby forced herself out of bed and paused midway to Weiss's bed. She looked at the old man in confusion, then rubbed her eyes as they pulsed in pain.

"That's why. If you use it too frequently those eyes of yours are gonna short out like Maria's did. Then not only can't you save her, but you'll go blind like she did." Pietro sternly said. Ruby felt her heart sink hearing this explanation. She looked at Weiss's tumor, still bulging on her stomach as black stripe marks started slowly spreading until a nurse used Aura to cease the infection.

"But Weiss needs me or she's gonna turn back." Ruby started to say before Blake held her hands over her wifes eyes and mouth.

"Not in front of Nala!" Blake urgently whispered into her ear. Ruby froze up hearing this; naturally she shouldn't talk about Weiss becoming a Grimm when Nala was crying and scared her mom would die.

"I don't want to lose you or have you lose your dream either." Blake softly said as she slowly lifted her hands and brought Ruby face to face with her. Ruby teared up as kissed Blake softly and hugged her. Disappointment with herself for her selfishness, even if kind, Ruby wanted nothing more than to go home with her right now and rest with Thorn and dad but knew her mission had to come first. If she went blind from her powers then it was all over, her dream and her chances to save Weiss whom she felt sick to her stomach seeing wither in pain from her condition.

"Just hang on a bit more Weiss, once I am rested your gonna be alright." Ruby said, assuring an unconscious Weiss she would protect her, though internally Ruby was doubtful. With her partners reputation all but destroyed, maybe it was better Weiss remained unconscious so that she wouldn't have to deal with the scrutiny to come.

Dark Continent: Cinder's Base

Whitley opened a champagne bottle with glee as he poured drinks for Cinder and her team. The television replayed Weiss's chimera form attacking team RWBY and Weiss being revealed on all channels. Their goal had been completed, even if no one had died to add to the ritual count, Weiss's career was over and the anger and panic was great fuel for Cinder's grimm to attack atlas.

"I'll admit, summoning so many portals beyond the force field is exhausting, but with the people powering them up, I don't even have to do that. The Grimm will be strong enough on their own." Cinder gleefully said as she opened a portal for them to view a flock of Nevermores and hounds they carried in their talons attack the streets of Atlas, devouring people whole or slashing their innards open from their stomachs and necks.

"Why not just do this earlier, with your amazing ability a mere force field shouldn't stop you?" Whitely asked, Emerald once more clenched her fist as she growled at him, her glare obviously showing her murderous rage at his impertinence, but she was cut off by Cinder, who held her down with shadow hands.

"Easy my love, it's a fair question." Cinder softly said, causing Emerald to sigh as she powered down her robot arm and was released.

"The answer is simple, we need bodies for the ritual and those Grimm are mindless and will leave none, unless I control them directly. It takes a lot of aura out of me to maintain that control and summon so many portals, but if they are strengthen naturally, the Grimm can force themselves through the barriers gradually." She explained. Whitely then remembered Winter telling him years ago Atlas can't maintain the shields at full strength indefinitely; they had to recycle them randomly to avoid burning them out and during that period holes could be made. Hence why huntsman are stationed in mantle and Atlas where the shield generators are to protect people in those rare attacks.

"Now that the chaos is ensuing my White Fang will take advantage of this distraction and steal some more dust. Mercury you head there and make sure those beasts don't fuck this up." She ordered Mercury, who nodded as she summoned a portal to the mines and he exited. She then turned her eyes to Emerald, who stood up straight at attention, knowing Cinder's hatred of sloppy posture when speaking.

"Emerald, take Whitely to the streets, you'll create an illusion of him killing those Grimm while I capture the bodies." She ordered Emerald, who rolled her eyes with displeasure at being partnered with the spoiled heir, before wincing in fear once Cinder gave her a sharp glare showing there was no room for argument.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" she quickly agreed.

"Good girl, once you make Whitely here the hero of Atlas, he can get us access to that special package we need." Cinder said as she grinned madly. Whitley rubbed his arm nervously hearing this plan, something that the Witch didn't fail to pick up on.

"What, having second thoughts? Don't tell me you don't want big sis to die now huh." She mockingly question.

"No, I'm just not sure I want to lose my house is all." He nervously said.

"Not to worry, I'll make sure your fortune survives the attack and you can just buy a new crib elsewhere. Now go!" she said before summoning a portal for them to leave through. Emerald grabbed the heir's arm, before he shrugged her off.

"I'll go myself!" he yelled at her before she frowned at his attitude and threw him into the portal, tired of dealing with him.

"God I can't wait to kill him!" she yelled in frustration, happy he couldn't hear her right now as she left Cinder's office.

Meanwhile…

Qrow and Ironwood were examining the situation on the streets from his office.

"Damnit, this is sure a big mess." Qrow bitterly remarked.

"One your nieces friend seems to have caused I'll remind you." Ironwood said, earning a fierce glare from Qrow in return.

"Yeah! And I'll remind YOU that she was freaking possessed by a Grimm. We never saw something like this before, you think anyone knew how to handle that back there!?" Qrow yelled.

Ironwood merely slowly blinked and gave him a serious look.

"Yes, they should have just killed her." He said with a deadpan tone.

Qrow gave a death-glare in return. The general knew how much Ruby's friends meant to her, so it was an insult of the highest caliber to her and as such to him to suggest such a thing.

"I get how you feel, but we are huntsman, we must put our personal feelings aside for the greater good. If your nieces team couldn't do that perhaps I made a mistake granting them their licenses so soon." Ironwood said.

Qrow ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar, he was beyond livid at this point.

"Yeah and if your best friend or partner were infected by a Grimm when you were young would you be able to move? Can you honestly say you'd have the strength to fight right away?!" Qrow yelled.

Ironwood remained silent from this question, knowing there was no right answer. He could see though that Qrow's anger arose not just from his question, he was thinking of someone other than his niece or her friend. He fully braised himself to get punched for saying what the answer really was.

"Your talking about Summer are you?" he asked.

Contrary to his expectations, which shocked the General, Qrow merely released him and took a few steps back, breathing heavily. That question shook him to his core. It was no secret to Ozpin's inner circle of trusted friends that Qrow blamed himself for Summer's death. He was her partner, and was there the day they lost her to Cinder. After witnessing her death firsthand, it made sense he was a very defensive on the subject of killing partners, even if before the hardened huntsman would agree about it logically.

But logic no longer had any meaning to the Branwen man, only family. He knew it would compromise his duties as a huntsman, but he didn't care as all he had left in life to him after losing Summer was his niece. He wasn't about let her down by allowing Ironwood or anyone to kill her partner and he had to make that clear.

"Look, we never could have expected to be in a situation like this. Right now there are Grimm out there killing people or could be doing what they did to Weiss. Lets get out there and take care of that problem then talk about this one later!" Qrow said in a demanding and angry tone.

"My Ace Ops unit are handling that as we speak, for now we have to focus on the civilian riots near the SDC." Ironwood calmly said as he motioned the screen to change to that of a large group of protestors outside the Dust Company gates. They were brandishing signs with Weiss's face or the SDC logo crossed out, calling for her to resign or be arrested. Some were even beginning to climb the large fence as guards bashed them from the other end, which only aggravated the crowd further. Ironwood and Qrow knew such a large gathering of hate and anger was nothing more than fuel to the Grimm, who were heading towards that crowd as we speak.

"My unit can handle most of them, but eventually a few grimm will get past them and attack the crowd. We need to figure out how to handle them." Ironwood said. Qrow merely sighed in acknowledgment to the war veterans point.

"Man I could really go for some shots right now." Qrow joked, though with a severely depressed tone that didn't convince the general it was a joke.

"Drink on the job and I'll have you shot instead of the Grimm." He sternly said, though Qrow merely rolled his eyes in annoyance, not taking the threat seriously.

"If I could just get to the Dark continent I could slit that bitches throat and put an end to all this." Qrow said as he eyed a Nevermore screeching on the screen. He always hated that Grimm in particular, seeing as how he could transform into a qrow that looked like one. He was almost shot a dozen times because of that resemblance, to his extreme disgust. The Nevermore was then shown trying to pluck with its giant black beak Harriet and Vine, who simply evaded their vain attempts with Harriets speed allowing her to grab Vine. Vine then wrapped his aura arms around the beasts neck and snapped it, causing it to disintegrate. Clover then used his fishing rod to snag the teeth of a Ursa that tried to sneak attack them and pulled with all his might. The grimm went flying away from the huntsman, to Qrow's surprise, it seemed like the Ursa would get away from that attack and head towards the protestors. But just before Qrow could voice his concerns, Clover smiled as a truck sped by from around the corner and ran over the beast, making it road kill as its head was crushed completely.

"God it's great to be lucky, I should try the lottery." Clover said with a cocky smirk.

"Don't captain, you'll bankrupt Atlas." Marlow joked as he stabbed a frozen in place Hound, evaporating it into black dust.

A Nevermore then opened its jaws wide as it flew towards him, fully intending to eat the dog man. It's attempts were vain as Marlow simply raised his finger and exerted his Aura again.

"Heel!" He yelled as the bird grimm, which plopped to the ground before him and bowed forcefully. Suddenly, Qrow got an idea surging through his head as he saw Marlow's act.

"Think I could use your scroll? I need to call my sister. I just got a really fun idea." Qrow said with a mad grin that made the general's skin crawl. He had seen that look on Qrow and his niece many times and it meant a crazy destructive and expensive plan was in mind.

SDC Gates

"Come on, you can't hide her forever!" A middle aged man yelled as he threw a tomato at the gate.

"Give us the president, she needs to pay for betraying us to those beasts!" an old woman yelled, drawing the attention of a bat Faunus man near her.

"I heard that you old hag! Who you calling beast!?" the bat man yelled.

The older woman merely smirked. "Grimm, Schnee's you filthy faunus fit right in with them. We should throw all you off Atlas." The bigoted woman ranted.

"Don't go ripping on the Schnee's. You racist pigs probably attracted the Grimm that infected her and turned her into a monster!" he countered. His comment caused the older woman's face to redden as she fumed with rage and tackled him, inciting other people in the crowd to start assaulting each other. Most fights were between Faunus and humans, but a few were between the humans and some local police sent to quell the unrest and soon it became a full on fist fight between the protestors. Soon some people started throwing trash cans into local businesses, looting the dresses, jewelry, televisions and dust weapons in the stores. Amongst all the chaos, in the corners of a dark alley, two hooded figures observed the pandemonium and grinned. It was Emerald and Whitely, who nodded to each other as they prepared the next stage of their plan. Emerald took a scroll out of her pocket and dialed it.

"Cinder, its time those idiots just got the "motivation" they needed." Emerald said with a smirk as her eyes finished glowing red. The older lady never tackled the faunus man, that was just her semblance causing an illusion, but she knew all people of different races ever needed was one little fight or a few dirty comments to start fighting on their own, it was just in their nature.

Cinder confirmed she was ready on her end and conjured up some portals in front of the rioters, whose skin went pale, as they stood frozen with fear at the sight of what she summoned.

From portals a half dozen scorpion Grimm emerged. These were colossal in size, almost comparable to a freighter truck as their red and yellow eyes menacingly focused on the fear they sensed from the crowd. Snapping their pincers and waving their stingers towards them, the arthropod Grimm slowly surrounded the crowd, cutting off all exits as they soon screamed in fear for their lives.

"Okay brat, its time you got off your ass and did something!" Emerald grunted as she patted the boys back to his annoyance. He wanted nothing more than to slice her insolent tongue out with his sword, but knew he needed her illusions to win the crowd. Their was no way he could kill even a single scorpion, he was lucky enough to kill Adam that night as Cinder put it. Had the bull faunus had his blade, it would not have likely gone Whitley's way given his semblance.

"Just shut your mouth and keep up the illusion!" he shouted as he ran towards the crowd, as Emerald placed her finger to her mouth and hushed him. They couldn't risk exposing her presence in case huntsmen were around. Whitely ignored her gesture and continued his run.

"Sorry sister, but your era is over. Soon the company will belong to a new "hero", one who the people will realize was always better than you!" He bitterly thought. In his mind, he was robbed of his birthright the moment she was born, the only thing keeping him from cutting her throat all these years was the camera's around their home and Atlas making it impossible to get away with it. Now he had the perfect chance with all Atlas preoccupied with the Grimm.

At that moment, Cinder took a deep breath in her office. Summoning past the portal had taken its toll, but she simply shot her arm up full of that drug Emerald gave her and felt a huge surge in energy as her aura flashed orange.

"Whoa now that's the rush I needed!" she yelled, filled with power and ecstasy from her Aura doubling. With a flash of her eyes and a grin, she clenched her shadow hand's fist as she plunged it into the ground and summoned into Ironwood's security room a massive Nevermore.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THA….!" Was all a guard could scream as the bird devoured him, to Ironwood and Qrow's shock. Ironwood soon roared in frustration, Cinder had ambushed his troops again. The bird Grimm then expanded its wings and summoned a flurry of quills that shot rapidly towards all directions. Qrow barely had enough time to summon Harbringer and perform a mad twirl of its blade in scythe form to repel the quills sent towards them. The others weren't so lucky as all the employees and guards in the security were stabbed in the gut, eye, or throat by those quills and toppled over, dead. Cinder smirked as she summoned more portals to collect their bodies. Ironwood reached into his pocket to grab a scroll and contact for backup.

"Attention all units! We have a code…." He started saying before noticing the bars were cut off. He looked over to his left to see the cause; the quills destroyed their communications hub and the security camera's.

"Son of a bitch! This is what she was after!" Ironwood screamed.

The Nevermore soon caught sent of his frustrations and turned its head towards him. With a large deafening screech, the corvid charged at Ironwood with its mouth wide open. But before it could eat him, Qrow pushed him out of the way and allowed himself to be swallowed by the bird.

"QROW!" Ironwood exclaimed. Cinder couldn't help but laugh in amusement at his despair. She had just deprived him of one of the best huntsman in the world. She couldn't help but summon a portal, despite the strain it was putting on her and stick her heard through it as her bird departed through the portal.

"Checkmate, you old fool, hahaha!" she laughed as she felt extreme joy seeing him charge at her in vain as she closed the portal quickly.

Atlas Hospital

Yang's Aura flashed as her eyes turned red from a surge of energy she felt as her neck brace was burned off.

"Ho Yah, glad the crick in my neck is gone!" Yang yelled.

The nurse was less than impressed by her grandiose roar.

"Hey hot-head! don't go burning another hole in the floor or we'll triple your bill!" she yelled, Yang wincing as she looked at the hole she previously left being covered by a wet floor sign. She then looked down to see her having left charred footprints in the ground beneath her, and blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry" was all she could utter as the nurse groaned in annoyance.

Ruby's Aura had also fully recovered, and though her eyes had finally settled down with some medicine, she still felt a little light- headed. Blake had assumed another vertigo bout Pietro told her the use of her silver eyes put strain on the body that was not an aura based injury and as such wouldn't recover from Aura.

Ruby still couldn't help but look over Weiss, still unconscious as her daughter was placed under her arm, sleeping in the bed with her.

"I know what your thinking, and I won't stop you this time, but just know its gonna hurt even worse than last time since you haven't fully recovered." Pietro warned her, but Ruby's fierce glare showed she had made up her mind to help Weiss, even at the risk of her sight.

"It's my fault for pushing her to this point, she has been through much worse than my eyes right now. Her daughter needs her more than I need to be a huntress." Ruby sternly said, fighting to keep her fear from infecting her tone as she tried to convince her friends and wife, who gave uncertain gazes to her. Blake clutched her hand softy and drew her attention, her eyes glistening, as it seemed like she would cry. But Ruby didn't cease her stern look, showing her wife she was adamant about this.

"Ruby… do what you think is right, I'll be here for both of you no matter what happens." Blake said as she sighed, giving up trying to think of an argument to convince Ruby to avoid the risk. She knew if she lost her sight and dream job, Ruby would likely relapse into her depression, a fear she nearly had realized several times in the span of a few days. Ruby then gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, perking her ears up as she gasped from being startled by her wife's now tender smile,

"Having you around always made everything better for me, thanks." Ruby said as she wrapped a hug around Blake's neck, causing the latter's body to grow limp as she felt her spirit melt like butter and returned the hug. She realized in that moment she had to have faith her wife would be okay. Ruby placed her faith in her many times before, so Blake needed to return the favor. She then nodded to her wife, reassuring her she had her full support.

With that last obstacle gone, Ruby walked over to Weiss's bed, placing a hand tenderly on Nala's head as the little girl woke up, her eyes red from exhaustion crying brought on.

"Auntie Ruby?" she innocently asked. Ruby's heart fluttered as she heard this cute nickname.

"I don't get why Raven hates that, Auntie is soooooo cute!" Ruby thought to herself. But she kept herself composed and simply smiled, trying to be an adult and assure her friends daughter her mother was going to be okay.

"That's right, Auntie Ruby is here and she's gonna make your mommy feel better. Just keep your eyes close and be next to your daddy for me okay?" she said as she eyed Sun, who instantly grabbed his daughter by her waist softly, as she gave a confused look to Ruby and Sun.

"Why does Auntie Ruby want Nala to close eyes?" she asked her father, who gave a grin to his daughter, fighting his fears to reassure her.

"She's going to use her superpowers to save mommy, but we can't see it or it will hurt our eyes." he said, his forced childish tone making it easier to convince Nala as he covered his eyes with his hand and made faces, causing her to giggle as she did the same. With that everyone else covered their eyes as Ruby fixed her gaze solely on the tumor on Weiss's stomach. She remembered her son,

"My sweet little rose." She said before her eyes flashed again. The pain was excruciating for her eyes and head, which felt like they were being ripped apart. After a short scream, Ruby soon bit her lip as she fought the pain.

"For… WEISS!" She yelled as her eyes still shined, ignoring a call to stop from Pietro.

Inside the tumor, Hazel opened his eyes to a black void.

"W-Where… Where am I?" he asked.

"Your heart daddy, or at least what's left of it." A girls voice behind said. Hazel gasped as he feared to turn around after recognizing the voice, it seemed like a cruel trick of fate.

"G-Gretchen?" he softly said, tears streaming down his face. He slowly turned around, giving up his fear's as he felt overwhelmed by the desire to see her again. Before him was indeed the image of Gretchen, who simply smiled as she hugged his chest, causing him to sniffle into her head as he returned the hug.

"Huh, usually this where you say "ew daddy gross get off me!" hehe" he chuckled, but his daughter soon broke off the hug and gave a small frown, causing his heart to shudder as he returned the frown.

"What's wrong?" He asked, despite knowing the answer all along in his heart.

"Daddy, I just had to see you one more time before you go." She said solemnly. Hazel realized he was finally about to meet his end. He had actually hoped for this for years since losing her so he could be with her in heaven. He knew though, deep down, he couldn't go where she went, not after all the people he's killed. His only other regret being he couldn't get revenge on Ozpin for what happened to her. A slap to the face from Gretchen snapped him out of these thoughts as he eyed her glowing body, soon starting to fade.

"Don't waste what little time we have left dad!" she yelled before hugging him again.

Hazel soon felt his body grow weak as he noticed his legs beginning to sparkle white and flake away too. Revenge, remorse, fear, all these feelings meant nothing in that moment as he felt her warmth in that hug and wanted nothing left in this world more than to just hug her in return as a bright light enveloped them both.

A Hero Emerges

Weiss soon screamed as she opened her eyes, feeling the mass on her stomach evaporate, and the pain in her body returning in full. Despite that, it was a good sensation as she could finally feel something after Hazel's semblance disappeared with her tumor.

As her eyes finally ceased the flash, Ruby gasped for air as her vision was fuzzy.

"Not yet, let me just… see her please!" Ruby groaned to herself, fighting her exhaustion and loss of sight to focus her eyes, which squinted as she focused on Weiss. After a few moments of throbbing aches from her eyes, and a bit of spasms from Weiss's now healed body, both girls fully opened their eyes to meet one another. Weiss saw Ruby trembling, struggling to stay upright.

"Why did I think you'd save me when you can't even walk right you dunce." Weiss joked as she warmly smiled. Ruby gasped as she felt a rush of happiness and excitement and hugged her friend, ignoring her groans of soreness.

"WEISS YOUR ALIVE!" Ruby screamed, causing her friends to remove their hands from their eyes as they likewise jumped on Weiss, hugging her tightly despite her protests. After they ceased, Weiss felt tempted to summon some dust to punish them, but decided against it when seeing Ruby lay on her bed, fully asleep right way from exhaustion and felt she had been through enough. She soon ceased any annoyed thoughts as she fixed her eyes on her daughter, who grabbed her hand with both her tiny hands.

"Mama, you better?" she asked. Weiss covered her mouth and cried, feeling overwhelmed by mix feelings of happiness and regret as she embraced her daughter.

"I am now sweetie, I am now." She cried.

Weiss then gave Sun a stern look, fighting her tears, as she gestured him to come closer. Sun knew it was futile to disagree with her and reluctantly came near her, despite the awkwardness he was feeling. He soon was startled as she grabbed his shirt and forced him into a hug with her and Nala. Yang and Blake cried as she saw they saw this touching scene and decided to leave the room with Pietro and Penny sword to give them space. Only winter stayed behind, as she needed to tell the family something once they finished their moment.

"So what now, do we stay?" Sun asked, his question Weiss could tell actually implying if they could be a regular family. Weiss smiled as she tussled her daughter's hair and looked Winter. Though internally she was conflicted, as much as she wanted that to be, she remembered her sisters argument now at least wasn't the time to be a family when SDC and Atlas needed her. She had to improve relations for faunus and humans or they'd never accept them. Right now at least, they could be that family no matter what.

"Tell you what, once my missions over you and Nala come back from Mistral with a ring then well talk." She said with a smirk. Sun sported a massive grin at her proposal, he had wanted this for years and could almost jump like a kid right now if not for the fact he didn't want to stop hugging Weiss and Nala right now.

At that point, Winter couldn't help but intervene on the discussion. Despite not liking the fact her sister was involved now with a faunus, she had a much bigger issue right now.

"Speaking of missions Weiss, your Atlas one and SDC's might have already failed I'm sorry to say." Winter said with an empathetic tone, knowing her sister would take it hard.

Weiss and Sun merely looked confused, no one knew about their relationship and maybe it would bring about better relations even if they did at this point.

"Why is that? I worked my butt off 5 years treating my employees better and improving my company. And why would my Atlas mission fail before it even starts?" she asked her older sister, who frowned as she had a hard time spitting the words out.

"Two reasons, one you were almost arrested after you rampaged through Atlas and destroyed a block." She started, Weiss now quivering in fear as she remembered her attack on her friends. Her heart was wracked with guilt as she could remember seeing what was happening but was powerless to stop herself. It was like all her dark thoughts and desires overtook her body and mind.

"Second, and this one is probably worse." Winter continued, her explanation tempting Weiss to cover her ears as she thought she couldn't stomach something worse than that. Winter then took out her scroll and showed Weiss a video from a couple hours ago. Whitely was standing before a crowd with a dead scorpion Grimm behind him at the SDC.

"Whitely has become a "hero" to the people of Atlas by somehow stopping a horde of Scorpions." She said, with a disgusted tone especially when mockingly saying hero. Weiss couldn't blame her, it was unreal her spoiled brother who could only manage files be competent enough to beat Grimm, let alone save anyone but his own butt. Little did anyone know, Cinder had already weaken it and teleported the remaining scorpions away while Emerald casted an illusion of him defeating them all with unrealistic skills. Nonetheless, the job was done and Winter confirmed the horrible result it meant.

"The company is receiving pressure from the people of Atlas. They want to replace you with Whitely as president and have me arrest you." Winter sadly said.

Weiss and Sun could only look in horror as they continued hugging their daughter, who didn't understand what was going on right now.

"Are… Are you gonna?" Weiss fearfully asked. Winter shook her head, giving her a sigh of relief from her sister and Sun.

"But I can't protect you from the people, officially that is." Winter said.

"Officially?" Weiss asked confused.

"The General doesn't want that to avoid worsening the situation. There is hope though." She said.

"No one knows you're here beside your team and the Ace Ops. Its captain is a friend of mine and agreed to have them to back off. Once your injuries are healed make for the mines with your team and help the ace ops capture the white fang. Some good publicity may turn things around for you. I'll get in touch with the general and try work things out with him." Winter finished explaining, earning a nod from Weiss, who couldn't resist pulling Winter into the hug. Despite her initial unease, Winter couldn't help but smile and soon join the hug with her family.

"I can always count on you huh big sis." Weiss lovingly stated.

"You doubted me?" Winter jokingly said.

"Not even for a minute." Weiss said as she cried tears of joy, not wanting this moment to end.

Meanwhile, in the dark continent, Cinder laid in her chair as she watched the news report. She was satisfied with her mission's results. Everything was going according to plan. She conjured up a fire wall with numbers written on it.

"Only 10 more strong huntsman, and Monstra will be reborn." She said evilly.

She only wished Qrow weren't already digested by that Grimm she summoned or else he would have made a perfect sacrifice.

"Dumb bird just had to have a snack huh? No matter, once my partner gets ahold of the SDC, our package will make summoning Monstra and destroying Atlas a breeze." She said to herself. As she continued her monologue, she failed to notice her Nevermore flying outside giving off gurgles and twitching its head almost nervously as it eyed her fire wall intently.

Qrow nooooooooo! Is this the end for him? Is Weiss gonna lose her wealth and be homeless? Will Ruby go blind? And what is this package Cinder is eyeing for with Whitley's help? So many questions will be answered soon. Next chapter 30: Seek and Destroy