Author's Notes:
-Hello my dear readers. Happy belated new year. I am happy to say that with this chapter, we have reached the end of volume 4. My gods, this volume is long. Will the other volumes be this long? Probably not.
Here are the arcs that we've been through.
Ch. 91-96 On the Edge of Death (Ch. 95- End of Jaune's Purgatory)
Ch. 97-100 Coup de Khan
Ch. 101-106 Dark Revelations
Ch. 107-120 Out of the Darkness (Ch. 119- Mistralian Councilman Massacre Begins)
Ch. 121-125 Facing the Truth and Final Departures
Ch. 126-135 Arrival at Aslolis (and Anima)/Against the Dead Inside (End of both Massacres (Council/Huntsman) in ch. 135)
Ch. 136-140 Demons from the Past
Now, you might be wondering where "The Quickening" part of this comes from. That is because the chapter title is based off an official remix of Awake and Alive by Skillet. Quickening, by definition; "To cause (a body or soul, for example) to become alive; vitalize." Not... that other definition.
Don't overthink it.
-Useless fun fact; I was supposed to use the original version of "Awake and Alive" for ch. 137, but ultimately felt like it didn't fit with the theme. I'll probably end up using it later in v5.
-Speaking of which, this story will be going on hiatus to plan out v5 (and so that I can try to get my life together.) Hopefully, once I've come up with an outline and determined everyone's fates, chapters will come out quicker, cleaner and more coherent as a result. (But feel free to give advice or constructive criticism anytime.)
Now, with all that said... It is time to see how this ends.
As the three fights raged on, two people were shown within a home in Atlas. An admirable huntsman and general, and a youngish yet clever cleaning maid. Both stood within a storage room in an estate, the dim lights above them stable.
Merla smiled as she breathed out a sigh of relief. "We did it."
"Indeed we did." the General responded. "It may have taken several weeks, but the Ironwood family estate has been cleaned top to bottom."
The maid thought to herself, Maybe I should tell him?
"Merla?"
At this, she snapped out of her thoughts. "Hmm?"
"Thanks again for your assistance."
"Oh." She blushed a little before smiling brightly. "You are most welcome."
He paused for a moment to take in her smile. Bright enough to light up the whole world. "I have a surprise for you."
"Well I do like surprises. Most of the time anyway."
"Follow me then."
She followed him out of the room and through the hallway. As Merla walked away, the camera focused on an image of a ten year old James being shown with his parents. In the photo, James was sitting on his father's lap, smiling brightly.
The maid soon found him in the kitchen with two bowls, two spoons and two ice cream scoopers. From the freezer, he got out two different ice cream containers; one chocolate cherry cordial, and one mint chocolate chip.
She smiled as she saw them placed onto the blue stone countertop. "Chocolate cherry cordial? So that's why you were asking me about ice cream flavors late at night."
"Normally I try to avoid dessert before dinner, but I think this warrants an exception." He handed her one of the scoopers he got out. "Have as much as you like."
And she accepted. "Thank you."
With this, she opened one of the containers and got to fixing her bowl. Ironwood did the same, and after putting both containers away, he joined her at the dining room table. The lovers sat across from each other, contently enjoying their respective treats.
"Mhm. This is amazing."
Ironwood smiled.
A few bites later, she asked, "May I try some?"
"Of course."
She took a bite out of his mint chocolate chip, and much to Ironwood's surprise, took a little from her own bowl so that both flavors were on her spoon. Then she put the spoon into her mouth, smiling even brighter.
"Mm. Surprisingly good together."
He pondered aloud, "Hmm. I had not thought of combining them together. May I try?"
She nodded. "Sure."
Ironwood repeated the pattern, taking some from Merla's bowl before taking some of his own. He tried the two ice creams together, blinking in surprise.
"You're right. Somehow they compliment each other. They work."
"Just like we do."
Ironwood chuckled. He soon added, "Well spoken."
The two lovers ate their ice cream, smiling all the while.
When the two were done, they found themselves cuddling on the couch. Merla sat on his lap, contentedly sighing with her eyes closed.
You should tell him. she thought.
Ironwood stroked her head, his hand coming close to her bun. "So tell me, what should we do with the rest of our evening?"
"Well, before we do anything..." She shifted her body so that she could see him. "There's something I want to tell you." Merla began. "James... all my life, I had never thought of love or lust or romance. Part of it was because I was so focused on trying to get ahead and achieve my goals. Part of it was because I feared that I wasn't worthy of love. I know now that last part isn't true- I found someone who accepts me for who I am, who wants me to succeed, who sees me as more than just a servant girl or cleaning maid and who truly cares about me. I will admit that I admired you as a noble warrior and hero, but I never imagined myself feeling so much more." She threw her arms around him and whispered into his ear. "James, I... I love you."
The general was left astonished as she looked at him in nervous curiosity. He blinked, showing some small semblance of vulnerability. "Merla... I love you too. When I first saw you, I knew nothing about you. You took me by surprise. At first I thought you were only a pretty face. But you're so much more than that. You see me as I truly am- the metal half that I have hidden away from most of the world. I've often feared that I was less human because of it. But with you, I have felt more human than I ever have in a very long time. I never thought I'd feel such feelings after the incident, but yet... you have captured my heart. You're everything to me."
He softly kissed her. With that same softness, she returned it. A soft moan was heard as his hands crept up her back, and the left one took out her hair tie, letting it cascade down like a waterfall.
"You little thief," Merla said with a chuckle.
The two stared into each other's eyes before she kissed him again. The couch cushions slid off as she tackled him down.
I should do something special for his birthday. Merla thought as she made out with him. But what?
Meanwhile, a woman moved through the Mistralian forest. The woman had blue fish scales over her pale body, black wavy hair flowing loosely, and blue eyes. She wore a long ocean blue skirt and a purple tank top, with chest armor covering part of it. She wore a natural light purple oyster shelled necklace with a short satin chord and carried a blue satchel on the left side of her hip. On her right side was the collapsed form of a weapon.
I've been traveling for weeks. Man, they move fast.
She sighed.
How am I going to find her? To think, Urdina, or me and Aoi, were once thick as thieves.
Urdina took out a picture showing herself, Aoi Morris and another woman. Aoi and Urdina appeared to be about twelve years old. The second woman was older and taller than them and had the same blue eyes and black hair they had, only hers was much shorter. The second woman wore a black dress and a bejeweled hair pin on her left side. Her name was Skyla Morris.
How did it come to this? She accuses me of being a traitor... simply because I did not join the White Fang. Mother was more peaceful than her successors, but some would still call her the villain. She wasn't the best person in the eyes of the law, and she has one major regret. How did I get to be in such a messed up family? A villainess, a heroine and a tormented mother caught up in the middle?
The huntress looked above her at the broken moon.
"Thank you moon, for being my guiding light." Soon she noticed another source of light. "Finally. The city of Wind Path."
She put away the picture and looked at the city below, noticing one area to be brighter than all the others.
"I hope I'm doing the right thing."
With this, the heroine went forward.
Back in Kuroyuri, the fights raged on. A small amount of blood dripped around Pyrrha's shoulder but she didn't slow down. She pushed forward, spinning her lace to block incoming dust waves from her opponent's sword. Any other dust waves were blocked by her shield.
This woman killed my parents... My mother and father... How can I face her?
After seven swings, Alva realized her strategy wasn't working and switched to a series of punches aimed towards the face. The Mistralian Champion lifted Milo and Akouo up, guarding her face as her opponent increased speed.
"Stop hiding yourself, coward!"
Pyrrha breathed, not letting her opponent's words get to her. For a moment, a ring of water was shown forming around her eyes. She jumped back holding tears just as Alva spin-kicked around her, seeing that she was feet away from being knocked down.
Her father's image appeared in her mind.
Father... give me your courage.
Jaune wasn't doing much better against Kiaran. Despite Jaune's best efforts, he could feel that half of his aura was gone. He dodged many of the punches Kiaran made towards him and all of the gunshots aimed for his head, but it was not enough to stop him from being beaten up.
This guy's beating at my aura even worse than Cardin ever did! Little less than half left...
He lifted his shield, but still felt knocked back. His back hit the wall of an abandoned building.
Ruby ran from Tyrian using her semblance for a few seconds as she retreated to a rooftop, and Qrow prevented his advance.
All the while, Nora's vision began to blur as the venom took hold. She stood in a tired haze as the Nuckelavee attacked.
The fight continued and Ren ended up pinned to a building by one of the Nuckelavee's extended arms. At this, Nora reawakened her senses as she realized what was at stake.
"Ren!"
Conjuring strength from nearly nothing, she struck the ground with her hammer, launching herself in between Ren and the Nuckelavee's would-be fatal strike with its other hand. Magnhild was pinned to the building above Ren, with an exhausted Nora dangling from it.
Nora tried to fight back tears. "Ren, there's something I need to tell you."
Ren struggled to get free. "Nora... you don't have to..."
"Yes, I do." The tears fell. "Ren, I love you."
Ren gasped.
Is that true? Or is it the poison speaking?
Before he could think over it, the Nuckelavee howled, damaging the eardrums of those nearby.
Nora's grip on her hammer slipped, causing her to land unsteady on her feet as her hammer was thrown aside.
Ren used StormFlower to give himself leverage to pull the Nuckelavee hand off of him. He repeatedly went after the creature, exhibiting reckless behavior, his eyes plagued with wild fury.
Jaune noticed, even as he struggled to evade Kiaran's gunshots. "Ren! Knock it off!"
He was kicked down, but Ren ignored him. Groaning, Jaune sprung himself back up and appeared to retreat. Kiaran pursued him, and Jaune took advantage of his lack of stamina.
At that same time, Ruby analyzed her surroundings. Qrow fired gunshots at Tyrian from afar, only for him to deflect them onto nearby buildings. She looked back at the Nuckelavee, swinging its arms to try and catch Nora trying to retrieve her weapon.
Those arms are a lot of trouble. Ruby quickly thought. I could probably pin one of them down with my weapon, but that would still leave the other arm free. I could try to get Qrow to use his weapon to get the other one, but that would leave both of us weaponless against Tyrian.
And Nora's out of aura...
Why do I feel like a coward?
From behind another building, Jaune placed his sword into his shield and pressed in the side, turning his weapon into a single large sword.
"And what do you expect to do with that?" Kiaran asked.
The knight spoke no words and instead lunged forth, trying to bring the sword down on his head. He held up the sword with his sword, his aura preventing his palms from being sliced.
Realizing he was getting nowhere fast, Jaune activated his semblance. Channeling super-charged aura to his arms, he brought the sword down, striking Kiaran down, his aura breaking in a blue color, and killing him instantly.
The line of blood was shown from the base of his skull going to his groin and created a pool of blood around him.
Alva quickly realized that something was wrong.
She turned around to see that the love of her life, dead before her eyes.
"Kiaran! NO!"
Pyrrha struck her in the arm, bringing her spear down in a long cut, causing Alva's aura to flicker in a flash of red.
"How dare you!" she howled.
The spartan warrior quickly realized her intent and ran after her.
Jaune soon found himself in a bad position, not realizing that Alva was advanced until she was mere feet from him.
The screen went black as a red slash was seen across it.
Pyrrha had swung her lance and stopped Alva's sword from reaching Jaune's neck.
"I'll hold her off!" Pyrrha ordered. "You take care of the Nuckelavee!"
"But..."
"Go!"
At this, he ran to help his friends, leaving Pyrrha to face Alva alone.
As Jaune approached the Nuckelavee, he saw Ren using his semblance to hide himself and a barely standing Nora from the Grimm. Jaune attempted to strike the Nuckelavee in its hide, but used its long arm to knock Jaune away.
Tyrian noticed the near silence as Pyrrha struck Alva down, her aura flickering red as she screamed in pain.
"Well, it seems the Nuckelavee has already destroyed them." He held the charm with his left hand. "Mighty Nuckelavee, bring the red-hooded girl to me!"
With this, the Nuckelavee switched targets. But Ruby was ready. She fired her scythe at some of the buildings, causing rubble to fall down and pin the Nuckelavee's arms.
"Now!"
Nora stood from afar, firing off a series of grenades from her launcher, landing a killing blow to the head of the horse before immediately stepping back to a wall just as Jaune arrived.
At that moment, Alva's flickered in a flash of red as she was struck in the lung. She was knocked down and began to choke. Pyrrha didn't notice the blood on her spear as she slashed at her chest several times.
With the knife his father gave him long ago in hand, Ren approached the trapped Grimm.
Ren thought, For my mother.
He cut off the Grimm's left arm.
For my father.
He cut off the Grimm's right arm.
"For all those that you've slain."
He struck a gash into the flailing torso.
"For myself."
He swung with the knife, beheading the Grimm, causing it to die in a pillar of black smoke.
Tyrian witnessed the scene in horror. "No, Mighty Nuckelavee!"
Ren pocketed the knife and breathed out a sigh of relief and soon Ruby fired shots at the pillars of a semi-destroyed building.
Qrow kicked him right into the falling pile, and a near-deafening scream was heard as bones snapped and broke. Using his left arm to push the debris away from him, Tyrian emerged from the wreck, only to see a red flash pass by... and that his amulet was gone.
Ruby took the amulet and threw it to the ground, cracking it before crushing it with her boot.
"No, that was a gift from the Goddess!"
The spartan warrior, the valiant knight, and the lotus ninja all approached Tyrian, who was holding his broken right arm. Ruby stood by her uncle as Nora steadied herself against a wall.
"It's over Tyrian," Pyrrha told him. "Surrender and face your fate."
Tyrian seemed unnerved, but proceeded to laugh in malicious glee. "You may have won the battle, but don't think for a moment that you've won the war. Your Little Valkyrie is poisoned, and will drop dead in a matter of time." He turned to the spartan warrior. "And in a way, the Trojan Alliance was right about you. You used your lance to kill Alva, did you not? You truly are a metal bending murderess."
Pyrrha softly gasped in sorrow as realization set in. "No..."
What have I done?!
Tyrian laughed madly as Pyrrha fell into despair. But before anything else could be done, Nora fell unconscious and a horrified Ren rushed to catch her as she fell. With the heroes distracted, Tyrian used his good arm to throw a smoke bomb and in the smoke quickly ran away.
Ren held the Valkyrie in his arms.
"Nora, please... Don't leave me!"
Qrow grimaced. "It's too late. We'll never get to civilization in time."
Pyrrha clenched her fists, and looked at them sadly. "Damn it. If only I had my aura..." More tears came as she looked at the red bag that contained Floating Array. "I could spin those swords and create a beacon..."
If only I had been faster... Ruby thought.
A bullhead appeared and from the entrance appeared with two pilots, one male, one female from the entrance.
"Guys! I think I hear something!"
In the courtyard two wood and metal airships came in to land; Jaune pointed in the west direction.
The doors opened up, revealing a man in a brown flight suit with an air tank on and a woman in that same uniform.
Jaune looked up in disbelief. "How did you find us out here?"
"We were on patrol and saw the smoke. Nobody's been out here for years, thought something might be wrong." the man answered.
"Oh thank God! We need help! We have three injuries, one in critical condition!"
"Get them aboard!" the second one ordered. "We have medical workers on standby!"
Ren carried Nora onto the aircraft, with Ruby using her semblance to take in Qrow not far behind them.
The first one looked anxious. "What about them?" he asked, gesturing to the corpses of Kiaran and Alva.
The second argued, "There's no time, we need to go! Leave them in this cursed town and let their spirits rest here."
Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other sadly, and soon dashed onto the aircraft as well.
The bullhead soon took off, leaving Kuroyuri and all of its ghosts behind.
Ruby was left alone in a bedroom aboard the aircraft. Behind the closed door, the silver-eyed warrior shed some tears.
Time passed in a blur. She wasn't sure how much time had passed. She didn't remember the exact words after she got Qrow to the infirmary, only something about the last survivors of Kuroyuri having been killed.
That's not true... she thought at the time. Ren and Nora are here. But Ren may soon be the only one...
Thoughts of her friends and loved ones came to her mind as time slipped by.
Please... Pyrrha, Uncle Qrow... Nora... She paused for a brief moment, thinking about the venom Tyrian had stung with her. Please be okay... I lost Penny... My mom... I can't lose anyone else!
She was shown on the floor, burying her knees into her chest.
Eventually, there was a knock on the door.
"Miss Rose? Are you in here?" a feminine voice asked.
Ruby looked up, dried her tears and opened the door to see a doctor with slick black hair, red glasses over ember eyes.
She quickly introduced herself. "Dr. Smith. Are you the leader of this team?"
The red-hooded girl nodded. "One of them."
"Are you related to any of the patients?"
"Qrow. He's my uncle. The other two are close friends."
The doctor nodded. "I see. Well I have good news on all fronts; everyone is okay. We were able to remove the venom that affected your hammer-wielding friend, Nora, I believe she was called. Pyrrha and Qrow are both stabilized. They all need some rest but the red-heads and the huntsman will be alright in the end. I've never seen an aura-blocking dart before, but from what one of my co-workers once told me, they do wear off over time. I'll pass this news along to the rest of your friends and teammates."
"Thank you, Doc."
With this, Dr. Smith took her leave and Ruby breathed to calm herself.
She looked at the digital clock on the wall, showing the date and time; June 2nd, 8:25pm
Ruby was shown writing a letter, her thoughts heard as she wrote.
"To my dearest sister Yang and my father, I hope my letters have been reaching you. Hand-written stuff's never been super reliable, but I guess it's all we've got these days. Anyway, in case you haven't been getting them, I want to say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. I know you told me it was a reckless idea, and after everything I've been through, I can definitely say you were right. It's been hard on all of us, and I'm not just talking about the monsters and terrible people we fought out here.
As Ruby wrote her letter, a series of scenes were shown happening in present time, beginning with Weiss back in the forest. As she was carried by her Arma Gigas summon, she held the magic mirror in her hands, looking at Winter from afar. The mirror's image soon disappeared. She shed a tear in silence.
Every step we made took us further and further from the things we knew. Every morning we woke up wondering, if just over the next hill would be something good or something terrible.
The scene switched to Blake looking over two pamphlets of information, one green and one pink and with their own images- in each hand. She glanced back and forth between them, before putting the right one down, leaving the green one in her left hand. Blake and her mother Kali both nodded.
It's scary not knowing what's going to happen next. And the things we do know now—just how bad it can get—it almost makes it all worse.
Raven Branwen was shown with her concealment amulet, looking around her anxiously as a concerned Vernal clenched her fist. Raven sighed before putting the amulet under her shirt before turning to her friend, nodding towards her.
The Spring Maiden retrieved another piece of metal, placed it on a wooden crate and got to work. She used miniature lightning bolts to carve a design and spoke a chant under her breath.
You told me once that bad things just happen.
Sometime later during the daylight hours, Yang was shown in the village of Omega, guiding her motorcycle Bumblebee up the ramp of the Pride Odell ship with the help of Matt Skye. At the top of the Pride Odell's deck stood Chrysaor and Captain Odell, both smiling as they welcomed the traveling warrior.
As Yang was shown leaving the storage area where her motorcycle was, Anastasia Chrysanthe was shown on the upper deck, holding some daisies. She sniffed, her tears falling onto the flowers.
You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out here, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good.
The scene showed Taiyang Xiao-Long at his home, being given a warm blanket and coffee by Professors Port and Oobleck. He faintly smiled, which grew brighter as Zwei barked and wagged his tail.
We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people.
Sun sat on a bench, looking at the photo of him, Zhu, his cousins Star and Shiva, and his aunt and uncle- Vanna and Altan. Zhu's part of the photo was now stained with tears. Ghira approached him, and gave him a look of sympathy.
But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward.
Iris was shown wearing the rainbow dress and purple heels that she wore to the SDC Charity Gala, only now her hair was braided as she was shown entering the Schnee Manor. She walked over to a coat rack in a nearby room, hung her purple coat up, and smiled as she took off the gloves that Whitley had given her months ago. Her pearl necklace and diamond earrings were still there, only now she had a friendship bracelet with violet, lavender and dark blue threads and charms around her right wrist.
"Iris, you look as ravishing as ever." a familiar voice said.
She turned to find Whitley standing there. "Thank you for inviting me over."
"You are quite welcome. Now, shall we begin?"
The two left the area and made their way through the manor as Ruby continued her letter.
"We'd never have a chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us."
Later that evening, team CRME (Cream) was shown within their dormitory in Atlas Academy. Claire looked in the mirror as she adjusted her tiara; her hair had its white dye faded out, leaving it completely blonde and now in an elegant top bun. She was wearing her snow blue flare dress now paired with navy blue tights. In addition to her usual accessories and silver flats, she wore a snowflake charm necklace on a silver chain.
She looked back at her teammates; the horse-hooved faunus Ebony was still buttoning the buttons on his suit jacket.
Rama, Wilbur and Ebony were all in tuxedos, respectively wearing a black neck-tie with blue diagonal stripes, a green bow-tie and a dark gray tie.
"That's a beautiful necklace, Claire." Wilbur complimented.
"Thank you. My grandma let me borrow it." She turned to her teammates. "Are you ready gentlemen?"
"Almost!"
"I sure am!"
"Yes, although... I'm surprised we're attending this party." Rama spoke. "I thought you hated Icy Stormy Darcy."
She scoffed. "I do."
Ebony was done with his buttons, but did not say a word.
The men all looked at each other, completely confused. Wilbur asked, "Then why are we going to celebrate her 20th birthday?"
"I will admit that Icy is a pain in the rear, but that doesn't mean her family doesn't know how to throw a party. I love a beautiful soiree. Also, it's completely free to Atlas students like us, so we can all attend. And the food is being catered from The Glass Unicorn's five star restaurant!"
"She did say all fourth year students were invited." Ebony reminded them. "Hopefully we won't disturb the peace too much."
Claire smiled. "Now come, festivities await!"
They all grabbed their coats and jackets, put them on and left the room.
Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow.
A day later, Athena and Ares were shown with blueprints of Haven Academy and its campus grounds, with red circles around certain points.
Wungeng was shown watching Mata fire a gun against Daphne, who created aura shields to block the incoming gunfire. As the two fought, Wungeng was shown eating a bowl of chicken wings, so heavily coated in an orange sauce that stuck to his fingers.
All the while, Adam was shown wearing a new outfit. His black pants were held up with a belt and partially covered by his new black boots, complete with what appeared to be red lines on the toe area. Covering his torso was a large black coat with red line designs on the back and throughout the garment. On the upper part of his back was a stylized red rose emblem encompassed on a shield.
The left forearm had a red patch with a black rose design woven in. Complementing this was a large red cuff of sorts. The right side was similar, only the patch was black with a red design woven onto it.
On the front of the coat was a vertical line, this one red with black roses and a silver chain with a flame-like design pinned on the left, with the rest pinned to the right.
The High Leader even had a new mask, a dark gray more bird like mask with red mesh filters allowing him to see through.
He completed the look by pinning the Badge of Leadership to the right side of his outfit on the silver chain at the top of his coat.
Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat.
Cinder Fall was shown within a training room, summoning an orb of darkness. Tyrian growled as he held his broken arm in pain, now in a cast.
But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we've already—
She stopped briefly, crossed out some of the words and rephrased them.
-for the people we haven't lost yet.
Within a lone room aboard the aircraft, the spartan and the knight sat upon a bed in solace. Jaune comforted a crying Pyrrha, stroking her hair and wiping away her tears.
I miss you so much. I miss Weiss and Blake too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that we made it to Mistral. We even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way.
The scene showed Ren holding Nora's hand as she slowly woke up from her comatose state, much to his relief.
"Nora, you're okay!"
He threw his arms around her, and while she was a bit surprised at first, the two took comfort in their embrace.
At that same time, Qrow was sitting on a hospital bed, his arm now wrapped up in a cast.
The veteran huntsman chuckled. "Aren't I normally the one saving you?"
Ruby wiped a tear from her right eye and smiled down at Qrow.
"How's your arm? Will it heal?"
"Don't worry kid. With the aura I have, it should be healed in four to six weeks. Knowing my luck it'll be longer, but I'll be fine. Sooner or later."
Jaune and Pyrrha were shown entering the room, the latter's eyes puffy and red from crying, but both relieved to see their friend awake and alive. The two gently hugged her.
I can't tell you how lucky I am to have them here. Team JNPR has welcomed me with open arms and even made me co-leader. At first I feared with my team falling apart that I was nothing more than a fifth wheel and that I wasn't needed or wanted. But I know now more than ever that is far from being true. I know who I am, and no one will make me forget. I am Ruby Rose- adventuring warrior and slayer of monsters, and co-leader of the new team AVNRR (Avenger).
We're going to see Professor Lionheart, the Headmaster of Haven Academy. Maybe, if you join us, Qrow could tell you what we've learned. With Beacon gone they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it would be great to see you again.
The scene showed Headmaster Lionheart at his desk with two huntsman bodyguards in the room. One stood guard at the door and the other stood to the left of his desk, giving him enough space to type without looking over at his screen. He was shown slowly typing a memo addressed to Dr. Watts, giving a mute sigh as he continued his work.
With love and warm regards, Ruby Rose.
All the while, Maria Calvera was shown within Mistral, knocking on the door of a wooden house. The door opened and a woman with a red-orange dress and red hair covering one of her eyes appeared. The woman smiled and let her in.
PS- I'll be sure to give you the address of where we're staying in Mistral! I'd love to hear back from you, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next! Now that we've made it across Anima I think things are going to change for the better.
With this, she set the letter aside and looked at the window; the night having come with all its stars in the sky.
Penny, if you're out there, somewhere... wish us luck for whatever comes next.
Ruby turned away from the window and told herself, "I'm safe. We're all safe. For now."
[cue volume 4 credits and music- Armed and Ready]
RIP Mounty Oum. We still miss you.
[cue revamped volume 4 post-credits scene, cargo hold of the bullhead]
Nora was shown walking through a dimly lit hallway to the cargo hold with the note in her hand. Once she reached the main room full of various boxes, she looked around.
"Hello?" The valkyrie found Ren standing there, greeting her with a smile. "You said you wanted to see me as soon as I was well enough to walk?"
"I did." he began. "I'm glad to see you have fully recovered from the venom. And speaking of which..." His look turned to one bordering curiosity and sadness. "do you remember anything that you said, or did after the venom took hold of you?"
"I... I do." Nora hesitated. "I remember everything." She blinked. "Why... do you ask?"
Ren began to hesitate as well. "You... spoke some surprising words during our confrontation with the Nuckelavee. Are... are they true?"
Nora couldn't deny him the truth any longer, nor did she want to.
"Yes. They are. Ren.. I... I love you. I know it might come to you as a shock, but... I've been having these feelings for you for a very long time. You're my best friend, my life-long partner, and I can't imagine life without you. And I never want to."
"Nora..." He blinked, staring into her aqua blue eyes. "I love you too. All this time I've been hiding my feelings for you. You've been my best friend for ten years, and even though you drive me crazy at times, I still love you as well. You're the one who insisted that we be friends, and I believed that I should follow what I thought to be your wishes. Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"I didn't want to ruin our friendship." she answered. "We had been friends for so long and... I thought that trying to rush into a relationship might be... unwise."
"We don't need to rush into anything. We have feelings, but we can choose how we act on them."
Nora smiled. "That is true..."
The two leaned in slowly. Nora felt her heart race, yet in a good way. Ren felt that same heart flutter as his newfound girlfriend put her arm around his neck. After a moment or two, their lips finally met in a sweet, passionate and long overdue kiss. The lotus warrior pulled the lightning girl closer to him, wrapping his arms around her.
The kiss broke, the two held each other, silently taking everything in- thankful to be awake and alive.
Author's Notes;
-Whew. That was a long chapter. Longest one yet.
-What do you think of Adam's new outfit? I call it the Corrupt Commander outfit. If you need a visual reference, look up concept art for Adam Taurus from the Chinese mobile game and you should find the image no problem.
Onto more important matters, the death tally;
Death tally so far (significant characters); 28 (+4 counting team CUBB (in order of death; Blanka Griffin, Ayress Umbra, Carmina Griffin, Maza Beshair)))
Characters that died; (Amber Scarlett (aka the Fall Maiden), Emmanuel Ozpin (aka- Beacon's Headmaster), Roman Torchwick, Phoenix and Merle Nikos, Corvina Noire, Charles Mustard, Warden Cumin, Maura Celandine, (CUBB), Orville Odur, Dee, Dudley, Sienna Khan, Addie, Negra, Fenix Atar, Brianna Braith, Isabelle Bluebell, The Green Chainsaws [In order; Frank, Steve, Melody and Amy], Garnet Scarlatti, Aya Swaran, Kin Li, Uriel Aaron, Kiaran Barrow and Alva Parker
Here lie all the characters who have died so far- RIP
-Alright, this volume's done, time to take maybe three months to plan volume 5 (and perhaps get more of my life together all the while.)
That's it, show's over! Go home! That's all folks!