Man, things were Krazy with a steroid-enhanced K. Sadly, this week I wasn't able to write as fast as I usually am. I have all the plans written down for this long chapter, it was just mentally tiring. Ah, I'll stop complaining. Enjoy the chapter everyone!
Beta: CrowSkull
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 57- Volume 1 Finale
The Final Crack
It happened faster than she could react, but not fast enough for her to not be able to call after her improvised vigilante ally to warn him. It was too late. Ruby watched with a shocked and fearful expression as a trail of fire leading to the other side of the docks was all that was left of Cinder and Stone Face. She was able to see it happen, but Cinder surpassed even her own speed. Her immediate instincts were telling her to go right after them to help their new ally, but she couldn't just leave her friends and teammates behind.
"Trust him to handle himself," Blake told her, becoming the voice of reason for her mind. "He was the one who picked a fight with her, he seemed confident. We can't spare a single person right now as it is."
She was right. Ruby didn't curse often, but she cursed up a storm within her mind at the irrefutable fact. There was still the supreme leaders of the White Fang, Roman, Mercury Black, and that strange girl with the different colored eyes that hurt Penny. Also, from what she has seen so far, the one called Adam was even more dangerous and skilled than Sienna. If that was the case, then she absolutely needed to stay here in order to help her friends fight and stay alive.
Stay alive, Stone Face. She begged in her mind. I'll come to save you or send help whenever I can, I promise.
"We need to consider retreat," Penny spoke up. "We are at a disadvantage here. The only ones with aura above sixty percent are myself, and you friend Ruby. While our opponents are more experienced, have more stamina, and more general physical strength than almost all of us."
"Yeah? And what are their auras at so far?" Sun asked, preparing to fight despite their disadvantage.
"Adam Taurus has the most aura at seventy-two percent." Orchid sagged her shoulders at that, disappointed in herself. "Sienna Khan has sixty-seven percent. Roman and Mercury Black are close together in the mid to high fifties, and their newest ally is near full strength." Penny reported almost like a computer A.I would.
"Wow… You know that just by looking at them?" Orchid asked, surprised.
"Oh!" Penny looked nervous suddenly. "It is simply an acquired trait. No need to look into it. None at all." She hiccuped.
"Damn it," Mercury sighed dramatically. "That's the girl who was able to match the power of my kicks?"
"Quiet you!" Ruby exclaimed, aiming Crescent Rose at all of them. "We're going to stop you no matter what, so you might as well surrender now and make this easy for all of us!"
"It is not quite that simple young human," Adam said as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, his hair and highlights of his clothing glowing red as power ran through his body. Orchid flinched and held her sword defensively. Her muscles ached and her mind was strained because of her personalities all screaming at her to run away. It was like a cafeteria worth of students all yelling at the same time. She had to admit, after her battle with Adam earlier, if one could even call it that, she was much more cautious and fearful of her former opponent.
"I will take on the masked one, if we should choose to proceed," Penny announced, looking toward Orchid as she did so. Orchid looked back and nodded her head, thanking her silently as the voices began to quiet down finally. She must have had the lowest amount of aura out of all of them after all. Her semblance took a lot out of her and she took a lot of attacks from Adam. Her aura must be running on fumes practically, and willpower can only do so much.
"You shouldn't take him on by yourself," Sun said, worried for his new cute friend. "I'll help you."
Penny looked back at him and smiled. "Thank you, friend Sun."
Sun's heart melted.
"Hey," Mercury called out quietly to Adam, who looked at him from the corner of the eye holes in his mask. "I don't fight well with Roman here, and it looks like Neo is going to be taking care of him. Want some help?"
"If you wish," Adam said, wincing slightly as he leaned forward and entered a lower stance. Stone Face, the real one that is, was certainly better than he'd originally anticipated. He wouldn't get caught mentally unprepared again after tonight. The blow he landed on his leg during their short scuffle was beginning to hinder his movements as it grew more sore. That was preferable to losing it entirely, however, and luckily he had a lot of aura, and the durability to back it up.
Mercury wasn't any less worse for wear. Clashing against that ginger over and over again actually started to loosen some of the bolts, screws, and gadgetry within his right leg, and the left began to get a little shaky as well. He had a feeling that there was something off with that girl. Her limbs almost felt like they were completely made of metal. Matching her hand-to-hand blows felt like something that he felt he should be the one to clash against. Adam's sword might break if it smashed against that, especially if he was using it to block. It wasn't that thick of a sword.
"I'll keep Sienna at bay," Blake said, keeping her eyes locked on the other feline faunus, who was still glaring daggers at her like she has been ever since they first saw each other for the first time since the Mistral Vytal Festival now almost three years ago."I won't be able to beat her, but I can hold her back."
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, obviously worried. "She is really strong, she beat both of us earlier. You should let one of us help you."
"Ruby…" Blake looked down and sighed deeply but silently. "She was one of the people who trained me when I was still part of the White Fang… I have yet to use some of those techniques I was trained to use. You haven't seen what I am fully capable of yet." There was a reason why she worked directly with Adam after all. She had to be as good as him. Well, saying that she was as good as her former lover was a bit of a stretch, but she was as much a prodigy in the art of combat as he was. She didn't tell anyone this before and didn't plan to. There was blood on her hands that she would have rather forgotten about. But if she didn't remember what she did, she wouldn't be able to hold Sienna back. "I don't need to win," She repeated to Ruby. "Trust me."
Ruby could hear the unsaid words. Blake was part of the White Fang, and if she personally knew Adam and Sienna… Well, that had to come with a certain degree of skills that she would rather not think about right now. She agreed with her friend with a nod, earning a grateful one back.
"Alright, enough with the stalling," Roman said as he flicked the end of his cane open and aimed it in the center of their group. "Let's start round two, shall we?"
Everyone split apart as line of explosions were set off from either side. Roman jumping up the containers emptying the clip within his cane as Ruby did the same with the explosive rounds within her scythe. Within the smoke, Roman winced and waved the smoke away from his face, and opened his eyes just in time to see a spinning cyclone of red and rose petals. Ruby appeared and made to cleave the criminal in two, but Ruby was stopped dead in her tracks as Neo appeared out of a shimmer of glass and kicked the younger girl in the hip. Ruby flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet, glaring at the multicolored girl as she easily recovered.
"Watch out!" Roman called out as a magenta-colored sword slashed through the air where Neo used to be. Orchid puffed and jumped back before Neo could counter with a smack of her umbrella. Landing beside Ruby as the two stood together like the partners they were.
"Low on stamina and aura, can't use semblance." Orchid huffed at her as her greatsword wavered in her grip.
"That's fine," Ruby said, narrowing her eyes as she began to focus on an inner feeling. "Let me handle the front line work, it's time I bring out all the stocks."
"What do you mean all the stocks? Were you only busting out half the stocks before?" Orchid asked. "That's bad for the economy you know."
"In order to enhance your power like I can, you have to focus and think of what you're trying to do. Save your friends, family, protect the innocent. Keep those thoughts flowing through your mind." Kai's voice echoed through Ruby's mind, a voice from almost a year ago after the Mistral incident. During a time where things were so much easier. "It'll be tough and you won't be able to hold it for long, but you'll be stronger than even me when you do it. And faster. I just know it. Combine it with your semblance and you'll be practically untouchable for as long as you can hold it."
If it weren't for him she would have never had the chance to learn how to use even a fraction of her eye's power. Technically, according to unofficial rules of silver-eyed warriors, she can only use her eyes at full strength around Grimm. But there was a technique that could be used against human opponents even when Grimm weren't around. Qrow told them about it sometime after Malikai died, saying that they were going to need it someday. Kai learned it first, and then taught it to her as soon as he was able to do it on command. With the warning to use it only during emergencies since she was still so young and her brain was still developing.
Well, this had to count as an emergency. It was all or nothing now.
With a faint white glow coming from her silver eyes, Ruby grimaced as the veins in her face started popping out while at the same time she felt her muscles become more dense, powerful, and flexible. She took in breaths with great gulps, and already she was beginning to feel the negative effects of forcing power from her eyes into her body. Her head was pounding, and her heart was beating all the way up to her ears.
"Well then…" Orchid smirked as she noticed her partner unleashing her full strength and glowing eyes. "Even when he's not here Kaizy helps us, heh, figures. Let's get 'em!"
Ruby replied in a low growl. "Gladly."
"Deal with that one, won't you?" Roman asked Neo, who answered by meeting the silver-eyed girl in the middle of her dash, her umbrella bounced and bent when it blocked Ruby's much larger scythe. She was blown back, she flipped and dodged as Ruby pushed through with a combination of high and low cuts.
"Oh dear…" Roman winced as he watched the girl he'd nicknamed Little Red go right after Neo, and start giving her more than a run for her money, his eyes couldn't even keep up with her. Much less with everything else going on at the same time. The tiger lady was sparking her chain whip left and right against a literal shadow while Mercury and Adam started taking pot shots with their respective projectiles against that weird girl and monkey boy. He counted himself lucky, he had the tired one to handle. Sounds easy enough.
Then he felt a finger tap on his shoulder, or rather, the edge of a greatsword. Roman turned around and stared at a wicked grin and wide magenta eyes.
"It's time for a release," Orchid said manically.
Suddenly, Roman didn't count himself so lucky.
Sienna gritted her teeth and wreaked her mind with thoughts as she kept an eye on every single duplicate and shadow in her vision, even in her peripherals. Blake was making clones in quick succession, she dashed normally and then boosted that with effect of her clones, making aggressive jumps in position wherever she seem fit, Sienna had to tightly follow each clone and spin her chain around, striking every single one and moving to the next lest she be struck and stunned long enough for Blake to attack again, repeating the process. Her lungs burned and yearned for breath, but she couldn't allow herself to take in a breath and lose the boost in strength and speed that she has now. Blake really was being serious right now.
She was trying to kill her.
A part of her felt proud of her former student. Another part of her, a much larger part, felt rage. Blake continued to train and got stronger, much stronger. But she was a traitor, so there was no point in feeling proud of her. She was an enemy now, and on top of that was a race traitor. The worst kind of traitor there is to her. Blake would have been dealt with sooner if she didn't hide in Menagerie with her parents ever since she escaped Mistral. The Belladonnas would have unleashed an all-out war and renounced the White Fang as revolutionaries if they did anything to her, however, especially if it was in their own home. They couldn't be overrun just yet either, the Belladonnas still ran Menagerie, and over the years the White Fang have been getting less and less recruits.
But since Blake was here in Vale interfering with their plans directly, now she was fair play. She couldn't be blamed for what she was going to do to her, not one bit. She warned Blake plenty of times, and she had more than enough chances to back away from this all.
Blake couldn't keep this up forever. She knew that, and she knew that Sienna knew that. But she couldn't give any less than her all right now. If she fell, then her former master will go off and help kill the rest of her friends. She couldn't allow that, wouldn't allow that. Not if she still had breath in her lungs to fight with. This was supposed to be her second chance in life. She had friends, both human and faunus to rely on, and for them to rely on her. She was going to be a huntress, and her past was here to take that all away from her now. No more running, no more hiding. This had to end, and end soon. Right now if she could manage it.
Sienna couldn't be allowed to continue this reign of terror. The White Fang were already declared international terrorists at this point, if there was a point below that Blake didn't want to wait to see it.
Her semblance was pushed to the maximum as she sped up, making multiple clones be present at the same time, she threw a dozen projections of herself to distract Sienna. Dozens of possible angles of attack, hundreds of ways to attack and even more when you take into consideration each elevation and reach. Yet Sienna was still able to catch on to her movements and find the real Blake with her chain, knocking her away with quick whip of it. She finally took in a breath as well. Blake cursed and flipped backward, breaking Gambol Shroud into two and using one as a gun as the cleaver scraped against the ground to be brought up and spark against the whipped blade flying through the air toward her face.
The blade fell to the ground and Sienna scrunched her face. She only had a few of those left, and she couldn't have time to pick up the ones she lost. Not without getting fatally punished for it.
"I'm impressed, Blake," Sienna said, buying time so she could catch her breath even as they continued to fight. "You've gotten much stronger, much more than I thought you could."
"I've had practice," Blake replied bitterly as she attacked in a criss-cross followed with low sweep kick, Sienna blocked both attacks and kicked Blake in the stomach. The cat faunus recovered quickly, however, and got two shots off that pinged off of Siennas aura. The tiger faunus winced, being caught right as she was about to hold her breath. She coughed violently and glared daggers at her former student. "On the contrary, it seems you've only gotten weaker with age."
"Hah, your fangs got sharp," Sienna growled at the insult. Failing to hide it as she spoke. "I'll make sure to dull them once I capture you and deliver you to a recruitment camp as target practice for the recruits. I'll make sure to give them fire rounds on top of that, I know you've always hated fire."
Blake grimaced at the thought, and knew very well that would be her fate if she was captured here. Sienna wasn't one to lie or make empty promises, especially when she was angry. Blake didn't let that fear control her, however. She had a job to do as a huntress in training. Sienna wasn't going to get passed her as long as she had aura left, and even after that.
Sienna looked happy to see how far she was willing to push herself, and honestly, she was too. It's been a long time since Blake had friends worth fighting for.
"Rargh!" The two feline faunus roared as they clashed and parried weapons once again, sparking memories of a past long dead. Once student and teacher, friends, now huntress and White Fang terrorist. Mortal enemies.
Adam's red sword sang as it slashed through the air, his grunt of exertion echoing loudly like a Beowolfs roar as his red arc of black flames ripped through the air. Like a mirror, a beam of bright white and green clashed against it. The explosion of their impact nullified the damage of the other, and through the smoke, Penny shot out like a missile and Adam couldn't move during the recovery phase of moon slice. Luckily for him, however, Mercury and his robotic legs were able to intercept and block the ginger girls' attack with flying spin kick.
Again, a loud metallic clang was heard as their limbs smashed against each other. Mercury winced as he felt his prosthetic get pushed deeper into his stump and Penny narrowed her eyes in suspicion as once again, Mercury Black was able to match her blow's power. She let herself get pushed back and opened up the pack installed into her back. Another few dozen swords flew out, some of them being damaged and chipped, but most in near perfect condition.
Mercury dashed back right as Sun came in to punish his assumed recovery time. But the assassin knew what he was doing. The two young men looked at each other and silently declared the other their new opponent. Adam watched as the assassin lead on the fight and took the blonde away from the ginger. The hidden message was clear, he would be on his own for the moment.
"For the record, I must state that you are under arrest," Penny said calmly. "Please surrender yourself, or I may be forced to injure you, or worse."
"Tell me," Adam stood up straight, sheathing his sword but keeping a hand on the hilt. "One of my rights as a citizen of Remnant is to demand to know what crimes I may or may not have committed, is it not?"
Penny narrowed her eyes, she didn't want to answer. Something within her design simply told her she must. "Correct, though your crimes are so vast I do not think any kingdom would not categorize you as a terrorist."
"Tell me what my crimes are, human," Adam said coldly.
Penny humored him. She memorized all the crimes he'd committed already. "You have committed many homicides, acts of terror, destruction of state property, conspiracy in the attack on the Vytal Festival in Mistral, the mutilation of many humans and faunus you name traitors. Shall I go on?"
"You are young, so I suppose you would not understand," Adam said, sighing. "I have committed many of those crimes, but this is during a time of war. A time of revolution." He clenched his fist toward the girl. "You may call me a monster and terrorist many times over, and I will not deny that the White Fang has done heinous things as well, but at the end of the day the only reason the White Fang was started in the first place was because of the increase in poverty, hate crimes and slavery forced on my people. You have not seen what crimes have been done to us." He removed his mask, revealing his SDC brand. Penny widened her eyes and didn't know what to think. She didn't know he had a brand like that. No one told her.
"Once, I was ashamed of this brand, I hid it from the world out of fear of judgment." Adam went on monologuing with his brand insight. "But now I see it not as a brand of slavery, but a constant reminder of what I am fighting for. Nobody bats an eye when a group of humans drag a rebellious faunus boy away from their precious mines, beats him to near death, and brands his eye to teach him a lesson. But when that boy grows, and becomes strong enough to fight back against his oppressors, and does, the entire world paints that boy as a criminal. A terrorist. Monster."
"I-I…" Penny shook her head. Try as she might, she couldn't get the story out of her head. She couldn't even deny that he was wrong, because there were many old newspapers and articles written about that day many years ago.
"So yes, I did commit heinous crimes, I maimed, killed, stole, and tortured. But only because it was done to us first. To me first. If the world wants to see me as a monster," Adam placed his mask back over his face. The Grimm look of the mask never looked so much like the creatures it was made to look like. "Then so be it, I am a monster. But in the eyes of my people, I am a hero fighting for their rights. I will happily die for my beliefs if I must."
"That does not give you the right to continue what you are doing!" Penny finally snapped. "Fighting violence with violence will only lead to more violence! You must see that by now, you must be intelligent enough to know that continuing this treacherous path will only lead to the death of not only my, but your people as well. As a human," Penny hiccuped, but continued as if she never did. "I now understand your motives. But I cannot condone your methods. They are cruel and lead to countless others suffering. As such, you must be stopped."
"You fail to notice that we have no other choice. But the time for diplomacy is over," Adam said with a low growl. "Do not curse me a monster for what I am about to do."
"If that is the case, then I must warn you as I did the other one." Penny's eyes glowed green as a swirl of green energy formed between her palms. "I am Combat Ready."
Kai gritted his teeth as he pushed all of his strength into his forearms, blocking the wave of fire and a sharp glass sword. Underneath his sleeves, he wore his bracers. He figured that he was going to need them here just in case, and it might have just saved his life just now. Cinder exploded after him the moment he finished speaking. He let his emotions get to him and now he riled her up. A part of him scolded himself for being so stupid, but a much larger part praised him and was glad that Cinder was so angry right now.
And it was because of him that made it all the more satisfying. However, if it weren't for his enhanced senses he wouldn't have been able to sense Cinder coming. Back then he felt a rush of heat and raised his arms up in response, and before he heard the scream he felt Cinder charging into him and throwing both of them practically to the other side of the docks. With all the chaos happening, Kai could barely sense his friends from so far away. Which meant he was alone.
"Rargh!" Good, he was glad he was alone. They would have just gotten in the way anyway. He was able to feel Cinder's surprise as he was able to actually push her back and smash her glass swords in the process. He would have liked to continue on and make her feel the pain he's been feeling for years, but the weapon he stole from one of the White Fang members broke against Adam's attack, and making any from the ground with his semblance would only reveal his true identity. Plus, metal swords trumped over his stone ones all the time, there was no point in making one right now. Not when it would only just reveal himself.
There was no time to think, only a moment after he was able to push Cinder back she was right back to coming at him again. He felt the heat of her weapons scalding against his newly refurbished black sweater. Thanks to Raven and whatever kind of tailor she has over there in her tribe, she was able to make his clothing partly fireproof. Only partly, however, he still didn't like his chances of taking any blasts head-on. His natural resistance to fire-based attacks could only be pushed so far.
He was forced on the defensive despite his great desire to do the opposite. Cinder didn't relent in her attacks, fiery explosions at her feet and palm continuously propelling her forward as she sliced with her fire glass weapons and sometimes direct explosions from her palms, and he was still sore from fighting Adam earlier. Another thing that went wrong tonight, now the bull faunus knew that Stone Face wasn't as much of a pushover than he might have predicted. It would make fighting him again as Stone Face in the future more difficult.
His wandering angry thoughts got him punished harshly as a sword of flames smashed into his aura around his stomach. Kai groaned and tensed his abs to try and lessen the damage against his internal organs. He buckled over but applied his forward momentum into a shove that knocked the monstrous woman off balance. Kai roared and swung a wild fist at her, but Cinder simply leaned back and backflipped with a kick, making the vigilante snap back as he was hit on the chin.
Cinder chuckled darkly as the Grimm part of her face cackled creepily. To humor the young man, she balled her left hand into a fist and threw it toward her prey. Kai sensed it coming and crossed his arms. Only for Cinder's arm to suddenly extend and slam him against a container. Kai coughed and sensed the world around him for a moment, every little detail showed up in a sonar-like wave. He felt his lungs get squeezed in by his ribs as Cinder's strange limb picked him back up and threw him toward another distant container. He bounced off the metal so hard that the container actually jumped off the ground for a second before he fell to the concrete ground in a heap of pain and bruises. His aura flared the entire time to protect his bones from breaking.
"What's the matter!?" Cinder called out to him darkly, her usual calm and seductive voice transformed into an echoing darkness. "I thought you were going to treat me like a Grimm!"
"Damn you," Kai groaned as he hid himself behind a concrete slab, and then dove to an open container to dodge the ball of fire he had a hunch was on the way. The place he landed in earlier erupted into flames as he ran through the hollow container and forced the other side open with a shoulder bash.
"Running away already?" Cinder taunted him as he sensed her footsteps coming toward him. "Try to make me sweat at least. Try using the surprising strength you showed earlier. Aren't you the man that injured my dear Mercury so badly?"
What? He hasn't met or fought Mercury since that day Brick and Ruby ran into Roman in that dust shop a while back. He would have loved to do more than injure him, but sadly he wasn't the one to harm him. How did he get hurt though? When? An angry set of memories went through his mind, he already knew when. It was when his mother got attacked and Malienna was nearly kidnapped. Had his mother beat some sense into Mercury that day? Possibly, he'd have to ask to find out before.
As he thought of that he weaved his way in and through containers in search of a weapon, but besides some flimsy tools and rope, he wasn't able to find any. He almost considered trying his luck to take some of the metal around him and try to use the trace amounts of rock within the ore in order to make a weapon out of that, but he had a different idea.
Remembering his fight with Neo in that warehouse gave him an idea.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are~!" Cinder sang cruely as she made her way through the containers, being careful not to blow them apart. Some of them may have been full of dust, and she would rather not use her flame powers on them in fear of causing a dangerous explosion.
Hearing footsteps behind her caused her to spin wildly and bring her sword up to block an obviously armored forearm from crashing into her face. "There you are~!" She said with hideous glee.
"Here I am," Stone Face replied as he began to push against Cinder as hard as he could.
Cinder had none of it this time, maneuvering herself out of the way and tripping the vigilante over as punishment with a swift kick for putting his disgusting hands on her. As Stone Face rolled off the ground she prepared a fireball to fire his way, but he recovered faster than she expected and charged right back at her. Suddenly too close to fire off that attack without causing a chain reaction to the containers of dust.
Smart, but she wasn't a novice in close quarters combat. She had the best teacher in the world to show her how it's done. With her Grimm arm, she caught and deflect the masked man's fist and then flicked her neck to the side to escape the other one. Her sword was long and couldn't be swung properly in this narrow hallway and close distance, so she threw it away and let it break into glass shards. Out of that same hand, a flaming dagger appeared gripped reversed in her hand.
Kai grunted in pain as that dagger slashed at his shoulder and tricep, but he bit back the pain and kept pushing forward. Cinder held her ground as well as one could expect a woman like her could, which meant that she was giving no ground at all. Eventually, the back and forth ended when Cinder wanted it to end, grabbing him by the wrist with her Grimm hand, and then lifting him up by the neck with her other.
"Enough of this." She said as she easily tossed Stone Face back to the end of the narrow corridor they were in. "You cannot win this battle, your fate was sealed the moment you decided to annoy me."
"Ugh…" Kai got up to one knee groggily, his mask nearly fell off but he caught it before it could get an inch from his face. Then he fixed all the cracks with his semblance after running his hand over it. Fastening it back onto his face.
"Why do you keep fighting? What could you ever desire from even coming close to killing me?" She asked, kicking the vigilante across the shoulder and pushing him back into the container. Silver aura glowed, but she took no care to it, many people had silver aura, Mercury did as well. It wasn't special, not like his.
Kai yelled out as Cinder proceeded to slowly cave his chest in with her foot. He could barely take in a breath of air, and his lungs were already burning and bruising as it is after breathing in so much superheated air.
But, at least he got Cinder in the perfect position now.
"I found a new reason to fight after Mistral," Kai said between coughs, not even bothering to try and change his voice anymore. His throat was burned and the mask would muffle his voice. He slapped one of his hands against the container behind him, the metal turned black underneath his hand. "I fight to get rid of… monsters like you…"
Again with that line… Cinder wanted to kill the man right then and there, curse be his true identity. But something got her eye, she smelled something. Something strangely spicey it was about to make her sneeze. Only when she looked away from the vigilante did she realize what was happening, but by then it was too late.
An explosion of dust blasted both of them away. Kai felt his body fly off the ground and his aura tank a massive blast to his back. His ears rang and he knew that there was some damage to his mask, yet somehow it was still attached to his face. He landed on the edge of one of the containers and screamed out in pain, then fell down onto a spark of fire that had him rolling to get out of it. He panted and huffed and tried to get back up to his hands and knees, but he felt something within his body shift and crack. He had a broken or cracked bone somewhere. That was for sure. But he was still able to stand out of pure willpower. As much as he'd like to believe that explosion killed Cinder, he knew deep down that it didn't. He didn't need enhanced senses to know that the woman he hates the most was screaming angrily.
"DAMN YOU!" Cinder screamed to the heavens as she pushed debris off of her body. Fire and flames licked at her skin, but did nothing but irritate her. Her flame power of the fall maiden prevented her from being damaged by fire. His only hope of actually hurting her just then was with the shrapnel and debris that would have been thrown around in the explosion, but by the sound of her hatred fueled screaming they didn't do the desired damage.
Kai cursed and hid around the corner of one of the storage containers, and lifted up his shirt. Cinder was dealing with the debris right now, so that gave him some time to recover. He felt around until his body until he felt a protrusion, with no time to waste, he took a few rapid breaths before pushing back that bone and feeling it pop back in where it was supposed to go. Then, with some of the fire that was lying around, he absorbed it and seared it shut with his semblance. It would stop him from bleeding, but not from the pain, and his aura just tanked a massive blow. As an afterthought, he threw his current mask off his face and was quick to make another from the ground around him, just in time too.
"I seem to have underestimated you and your desperation. I know you're still alive." Cinder called out as she rose from the debris. Kai didn't waste time trying to hide from her again and stepped out from where he was hiding. If he could use his eyes, he could imagine a sick angry grin on her face as he revealed himself. "Resilient too, interesting. I feel an unyielding yearn to rip that mask off your face and tear you apart. But I can't help but be impressed by how far you are willing to go."
"Shut up…" Kai growled at her, crossing his arms as he entered a stance. He couldn't stand to hear her voice anymore, he is only able to suppress his anger and hatred for so long and that suppression was quickly being murdered by his overwhelming hatred for the woman before him. He wanted to kill her, to make her pay for what she did to his father, to make her suffer! "I'll... kill you." He huffed, sound much less intimidating then he thought he would have.
"Because that's what you are, aren't you?" Kai froze. "A killer. I've been keeping track of you, Stone Face." Cinder smiled wickedly. "How many people did you kill to eventually find your way to me? Dozens? More? I have to admit, you've been more lethal than my pet assassin lately, and you've even beaten him in battle as well, and quite a message you sent me then. Especially when you nearly killed a little multicolored associate of mine. That skill and lethality you have… I like it." Her grin grew to face splitting proportions, and she dropped her weapons with a gasp as she came up with a brand new idea. "You like killing, don't you?"
"What? No!" Kai denied immediately.
"Don't lie to yourself, young man," Cinder cooed. "Most of the White Fang you've killed were merely grunts, and very few of them were officers. You've wrought death and destruction everywhere you go, and nowhere were you welcomed by society. Believe me, I know what it's like."
"You know nothing about what it's like!" Kai snapped. "I don't like killing, I only do it because someone has to! The White Fang, the people you work with. All of them! They are all animals, they forfeited their right to life the moment they decided to work for an organization that decides it's okay to attack and blow up a fucking stadium full of innocent people!" He clutched at his aching heart. If his mother knew what he was now… "I'm not like you, you enjoy killing, yearn in it. That's why you're worse than the Grimm. At least they have an excuse since they're mindless."
Cinder burst out laughing, cutting him off before he could continue. "Ah, that's where you're wrong. One thing is for sure though, you're definitely a young man, and you certainly remind me of a little shit I am going to kill pretty soon." She started walking forward, smiling the entire time.
This was so out of character for someone like her, Kai thought. First she was trying to kill him, second she was trying to torture him to death, and now she is laughing like he is an old friend? He took a step back.
"But, I know you're not. He is much stronger than you, and has the power of nature on his side. You can't be him, he wouldn't dare to take a human life that isn't my own." Kai felt his heart drop, even though he felt like he shouldn't care. Even Cinder didn't think he would be Stone Face. "But you… I can see it, yes. You don't think you have to do this. As humans in this world, we don't have to do anything we don't want to. In this case, what could one man possibly do against the entire White Fang?"
"Entire…?" Kai echoed.
"Why yes," Cinder continued. "I've brought the entire White Fang to heel, and with their leaders under my thumb, they do whatever I say. All branches, from Vacuo, Mistral, Atlas, and of course, Vale. Over a million of them are under my command. Over a million fanatical terrorists, and Vale is such a big city, it is quite easy to hide them you see. I cannot wait for the day I give the order for them to cause chaos."
Kai widened his eyes with terror from beneath his mask. It was really that serious? He had no idea. He knew that a majority of the White Fang was in Vale, but… all of them? With Cinder of all people controlling them, and by extension Salem, that meant…
"Oh, God…" Kai mumbled, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.
"There are no Gods here, they abandoned us long ago." Cinder said. "You can see the hopeless situation you are in, yes? Well, perhaps you can provide some usefulness to this world."
"I like your skills, I like how easily you can kill, and I like how far your hatred can push you." Cinder said, stepping closer with each pause in her words. Once she was but a few feet from the vigilante, she extended a hand. "I think you would be better off putting aside that hatred, or using it for a much more noble cause. If you join me, I can guarantee your freedom. No one will take your side, but I will."
Kai knew it was a trap, but he couldn't find the will in himself to move away. He thought that fighting and killing Cinder was something he was capable of doing. Something he needed to do, and he still felt that way. But now, the odds seemingly stacked even higher against him. He became Stone Face because he thought that something needed to be done about the White Fang, and of course, he still believed that. But was it even possible? He thought it was once before, but he failed in killing Adam, he hadn't even crossed blades with Sienna yet, and even with the dozens of people he has killed so far, that number meant nothing when the White Fang still had over a million in reserves. Did his attacks on their warehouses mean anything? Was there anything he could do?
Cinder widened her eyes when he punched himself in the stomach.
Of course, there was something he could do! Kai cursed himself for being so weak-minded. It didn't matter if there were over a million White Fang members for him to cut through, the one controlling them all was right here in front of him! He had the perfect opportunity to end this right here and now.
"It doesn't matter if there's ten million, twenty million," Kai growled through his mask as he forced his body to stand up straight. Behind the mask, his eyes began to shine white. "I'm going to stop all of you, even if it kills me. As long as my soul lives, I will never stop fighting! Because that is my destiny,"
"Then your destiny is to die-" Cinder's eyes bulged from her skull as she felt a fist stab into her stomach. She coughed up spit and was blowback, her heels digging into the ground to slow herself down. Her body buckled over and her now bloodshot eyes stared with hatred as the masked man charged at her with a scream.
"I'll kill you!" She exclaimed as she attempted to create a sword with her magic.
The sword was smashed before it was even fully formed. Cinder grit her teeth as an armored forearm smashed against her teeth. She stumbled away and tried to use her flame powers, but the vigilante was already too close. His strength and speed seemed to multiply suddenly, and it caught her off guard. Before a spark could form in the palm of her hand another fist smashed against her temple, bringing her down to one knee. As she looked up to murder the man who did this to her, a foot kicked her in the nose.
Kai felt the blood in his body pumping furiously as he enhanced his strength and speed, just like how Qrow told him he could do, and just how he taught Ruby. He trained with this technique to the point where he became numb to the pain. But this wasn't enough to take out Cinder, he knew that if he really wanted to kill her right here and now, he would have to use the full power of his eyes. No matter how damaging to his brain it might be. It would be worth it.
"RAGH!" Cinder burst from the rubble that fell on top of her. "That's it! I tried trying something new, and it didn't work. You're dying here and now. Burn!"
"You first!" Kai screamed back, widening his eyes with pain as he brought forth the same warmth he felt back in Mistral. Cinder was shocked to see a shine of white light come from around the edges of his mask, and cursed to herself as she rushed in to stop him before it could happen again. Not for a third time. Her body might not be able to handle it.
She stopped and tilted her head in confusion when the vigilante suddenly started screaming in pain, the white light she must have been imagining fading away into nothing.
Kai screamed as he felt his eyes bleed and run down his face and out from underneath his mask. His muscles burned and stopped listening to his commands, and his throat felt like it was about to tear itself apart with how loud he was screaming. What's happening!? Why aren't they working!? He thought to himself as actual tears mixed with the blood leaking out of his eyes.
Did the power of the silver eyes reject him? Was that even possible? No, it couldn't be, he was a silver-eyed warrior! He remembered using these powers before, he remembered using it against Grimm to train. So why wasn't it working now!?
"Why isn't it working!?" He cried out in his desperate sorrow.
Trying to force it a second time only made it worse. And the wounds on his body began to hurt even more. Eventually, his silver aura popped as it ran out of energy to sustain itself. His tail flicked around in pain from his waist, and writhed against the piles of dust and metal on the ground. He could barely keep himself on his hands and knees as it is.
"Finally reached your limit, have you?"
He coughed and spurted blood from his mask in response. He actually ripped the bottom half so he wouldn't drown in his own blood, hacking and coughing the entire time. He couldn't even speak.
"Pathetic, and here I thought you were going to be a worthy opponent."
Despite the pain and the rejection from his eyes, Kai still made himself stand up. His legs were shaky and he could barely feel his arms, but he managed to bring his dominant right hand up and ball it into a fist. If he was going to die here, it would be while fighting.
"A pity," A cut sewn into his skin suddenly. "You had the potential to be so much better."
Guys… please… help me. Kai begged in his mind as the torture began. Only to realize that help was not going to come anytime soon. They didn't even know he was there to begin with.
With no other possible option. Kai urged himself forward in his last attempt to kill the woman who haunts his dreams.
"Agh!" Blake screamed as her luck finally ran out. Sienna wrapped her chains around her waist and shoulder and she was trapped suddenly. The supreme leader punished her severely for making the mistake of fighting her all by her lonesome. Her black-violet aura burst like a bubble popping and a nasty gash was formed on her side. Blake just barely managed to wiggle out of the chain and dash away, but before she could get too far, she tripped over herself and rolled across the ground. Based on pure instinct, she kept rolling to dodge the whipping chain that would have torn the skin right off her body.
"Done already?" Sienna asked as Blake finally ran out of room to roll, her back pressed against the metal, trying to will it back in order to make more space within her and her former mentor. To no avail. "Good, this will make it easier."
Blake muttered an apology to her friends and shut her eyes tight as she awaited a death that never came. She opened her eyes again when he heard a crash of metal on metal to see her teammates blur of red form in front of her. One of her eyes were clenched shut and the other began to bleed slightly, the veins in her face were popping and gave her a look a fifteen-year-old girl should never have. A single warning for her to get away made Blake rush up to her feet and run away for more cover.
Ruby spun her scythe and swung at the white shine she saw forming beside her. Neo let out a slight gasp as she blocked the attack with her umbrella. Her arms shook against the blow but she withstood it like she couldn't before. Ruby nearly fell over in her exhaustion, using Crescent Rose to help her stay standing. Her vision was blurring and she could feel the blood trickle down her face from her eyes. But she couldn't stop, the moment she let her silver eyes stop empowering her she would pass out. She just knew it. This was the longest amount of time she has been using them.
She looked around the battlefield to see how the others were doing for a moment. Orchid and Roman were still fighting tooth and nail. They seemed to have lost their weapons and were now fighting with their bare fists. They were about even in that regard, both of them with bruises, swells, and blood trickling down their bodies. Their auras were already out, and soon a winner would come out of that battle. Across from them, Penny was being pushed back by a constant assault from Adam Taurus, her hovering blades moved fast but Adam moved even faster. Every few minutes, he would be able to cut off one of the cables connecting a sword to Penny's back. She managed to blow him away with a backhand, but when she tried using some kind of beam attack, Adam blocked it and absorbed it completely with his sword. His clothes and hair glowed a neon red and red lightning crackled around his body full of power. Penny braced herself as a much more powerful attack was sent her way. Sun and Mercury was a much more one-sided battle, she wanted to have faith in Sun, but it was obvious that he was losing the fight. Mercury was trying to stomp down on his face, but Sun kept holding his foot back with his staff. And her final ally was out of aura and injured.
And here she was, tired, almost out of aura, injured, and on the brink of passing out from exhaustion and overexertion. The situation seemed absolutely hopeless. She chuckled bitterly as she thought about how the situation might have been different if Kai was there. His strength and skill would have been more than welcome here, and with that Stone Face guy, they might have stood a much better chance than they did now.
"Just… a little… longer…" Ruby said to herself, lifting Crescent Rose. It felt so much heavier now. "They're… almost here." The sirens were so loud they were practically right around the corner. If they could just hold up for just one more minute, they would all get out of this alive, and then Kai can yell at her all he wanted for being so stupid. She would welcome the sound of his voice after this, as well as Brick, Rick, Yang, and the rest of her friends that she loved dearly. No matter what they were going to say to her.
The multicolored eyed girl tilted her head at her as she realized that she didn't have much fight left in her, and smiled cruelly. Sienna looked like she was going to tear her apart as well. Not a good mix of the two at the moment.
But they didn't, for some reason. Soon Ruby would understand why. She couldn't see well at the moment, but after looking back to the red lightning around Adam Taurus, she widened her eyes with a sudden burst of hope and relief.
"Violet Savior time!" Brick and Rick Violet joined the fray and stopped Adam from performing his semblance attack. The masked man was forced to retreat as the two brothers worked together with perfect teamwork. Forcing the older man back to the retreating Bullheads.
She looked back to Neo and Sienna with a victorious grin as she heard the police and other huntsman make their way onto the docks. That grin spread even wider when she heard a motorcycle revving up as it rushed to come find her. Yang on bumblebee roared around the corner, and the two women had to dodge away to avoid the flaring shotgun pellets of Ember Celica.
"The hell were you thinking?" Yang asked her as she parked Bumblebee and hopped off, rushing straight up to her sister. "Coming out here all on your own, how stupid can you be!?"
"Hey, Yang…" Ruby said as she finally let her silver-eyed powers dwindle away. She let her body fall forward into Yang's loving embrace. "How'd you…"
"Qrow called me once he got the call that things were freaking exploding around the docks," Yang said as she carried her sister in her arms. "He's here too by the way, along with my team and-"
"Multi-personal!" Nora exclaimed in the distance as she smashed Roman away with a thunderous right hook of her own. "I am here to save you!"
"Thank you my ginger pancake!" Orchid yelled back her thanks.
"Ricks team is here too." Yang laughed.
As she looked around, everyone she feared for was now being saved, and all the bad guys were being pushed back. Mercury noticed and ran off before Weiss and Ren could double team him, and she saw Qrow join the fight against Adam with the Violet brothers and further pushed him back. The thought of Qrow being so mad at Adam made her giggle, that was the man who took two fingers away from him two years ago. He always complained about how hard it was to button his shirt up after that.
Their uncle spotted them from across the way, and after Adam broke off to join the retreat, he made his way toward them. "You okay?" He asked right away, placing a hand on Ruby's forehead, feeling how hot her fever was. "You used that technique?"
"Hehe… yeah." Ruby said groggily. Then he remembered something as she grabbed on to Qrow's shirt. "Cinder is here,"
Qrow widened his eyes and Yang gasped. "Where?" Her uncle asked.
"Follow the flames… That guy… Stone Face is fighting her." Ruby said as her vision began to darken, and her thoughts started to leave her mind.
"He is?" Qrow cursed. "Damn it, don't worry Ruby. I'll go save his ass." He stood up straight when Ruby finally passed out. "Can you guys handle things from here?"
Yang gestured to the White Fang in full retreat.
"Right," Qrow sighed, transforming his weapon into its sword form as he dashed off toward the trail of flames Ruby had to be referring to. He trusted the police force he brought and the countless huntsman he'd brought with him from Beacon and from favors alike. He looked back as he ran away to confirm that the dangerous ones were retreating. He could see the man who took fingers from him ordering his men to retreat alongside Sienna Khan. Roman was lifted into a Bullhead by a guy and a strange-looking girl. They were in full retreat mode. Good, the rest could be handled by them.
Now it was time to go save that suicidal kid. From the moment he first met Stone Face, or whatever his real name could be, he knew that he would do anything to do what he believed from right. It was a skewed sense of justice he was after, attacking the White Fang by himself and causing terrible havoc that left bodies and blood behind every time. But there was still hope for him, he just knew it. Back when he was younger, he and Raven did worse things as part of the Branwen tribe. Their father, Odin, made them do unspeakable things to people they'd captured in the hopes that they would grow up faster. He might have turned out better than Raven did, but if he could come back from years of killing, stealing and pillaging, then this kid could too. Ozpin wanted him as well, with a guy like Stone Face working with them they could work together to purge the White Fang out of Vale. He was too valuable to lose.
Almost there. The grizzled huntsman thought to himself as he continued on through the smoke and flames left behind. This was definitely the work of the corrupted fall maiden, he knew that smell the moment it reached his nostrils. Between having to look after Amber and the battleground he'd trecked through back in Mistral he knew this smell all too well. The fact that the masked vigilante was able to last this long already was impressive.
"AAGH!" A blood-curdling scream made Qrow feel chills run down his spine. He broke off into an even faster sprint. He couldn't let that kid die, not by the hands of the same monster that took one of his best friends away from this world.
When he rounded the corner to finally come across Cinder and Stone Face, he felt his heart drop.
Stone Face's outfit was cut up and he was bleeding from a dozen wounds, including out of his mouth and nose. For once, his hood was down. Revealing a shaggy mess of black-brown hair. His tail hung limply at his side. But that was the least of Qrow's concerns. His biggest one was the fact that there was a sword stuck through his gut. Cinder wiped blood off her face as she ripped the sword out of the vigilante's body with a sickening squishing sound.
He felt his anger explode.
"Get away from him!" Qrow screamed as he shot forward like a bullet, aiming to cut off Cinder's head with a wild horizontal slash. The woman barely managed to dodge, losing some strands of her hair in the process, and the force of his strike hitting nothing still held enough power to create a shockwave that pushed the woman back even further.
"Q-Qrow…?" The masked man behind him muttered as he took a few shaky steps back.
"If I knew you were a suicidal idiot on top of being a moron I wouldn't have held back on you before," Qrow said angrily as he gripped his sword with two hands. "Don't bother trying to surrender now Cinder, you've lost any right to a trial after what you've done."
"Oh great, the crow has arrived." Cinder said with an irritated groan. "No matter, I can get rid of two annoying pests at the same time now."
Qrow gritted his teeth angrily and stepped back and pushed the vigilante behind him away, only for him to realize that they were at the very edge of the docks. He turned around to see a twenty-foot drop straight into the rapid oceans. The waves smashed against the slanted wall below and yearned to reach over them. That was no way to escape through. But he couldn't just stand there, he didn't like the sight of that fireball forming in Cinder's hand, and while he is at full strength, this was the fall maiden he was up against. His best bet was a drawn-out battle to tire her out, not sitting tight with an injured guy to protect.
Retreat was his only option. He reached back to try and grab Stone Face by the arm, but he found himself surprised when the man, despite his potentially fatal wound, dodge back and away from them both.
"N-No…" The vigilante said, falling down to one knee and to Qrow's horror, almost completely over the edge of the docks. "Stay… away…" He muttered, almost fearfully.
"Hah!" Cinder exclaimed. "You understand, don't you? He won't help you at the end of that journey. You'd find yourself in a jail cell before you would regain consciousness."
"Don't listen to her!" Qrow held out a hand toward him. "I promise you that I will personally assure your freedom if you just come with me!"
Stone Face couldn't believe him, despite how much he wanted to. The boy within him suddenly returned. He felt the stab wound through his body leak blood, and his heart was slowly beginning to slow down. His breaths were ragged and his eyes felt like they weren't even there anymore. He couldn't run, not in his condition. He couldn't fight for the same reason. He almost considered taking off the mask.
Water striking him in the back reminded him that they were all right next to the ocean.
"No more stalling," Cinder said, suddenly aiming her fireball toward the vigilante. "Die, scum."
"No!" Qrow exclaimed as he began to leap in the younger man's direction, intending to tank the blow for himself.
Only the fireball didn't come at all, Qrow stood there in front of Stone Face waiting to take the attack for him. But after a few moments, Qrow opened one eye to see what was the hold-up. Cinder had her mouth held open, and her eye was widening slowly. The fireball in her hand was still present, but growing smaller. She was looking not at him, but something behind him.
Against his better judgment, he turned around to see what it was.
There was nothing there. He felt his eyes widen. Stone Face had jumped off of the docks and into the ocean.
"Well," Cinder chuckled as the fire faded away. "I can't say I expected that."
The blaring sirens finally became loud enough for Cinder to actually care about them. She cursed and jumped away on top of one of the storage containers. Above them, a Bullhead flew by, not one of Qrow's. "A shame that I couldn't kill that man myself, but now you have a choice! Chase after me, or try to save that stupid boy."
"Too late." Cinder smirked as she jumped up and into one of the Bullheads flying by. Leaving Qrow down there with not much of a decision to make.
"Shit!" He threw his weapon aside and kicked off his boots as fast as he could. Without thinking much more about it, he dove headfirst into the terrifying ocean below. He didn't learn to swim for no reason.
"Is everyone accounted for?" Ozpin asked as he arrived at the scene. A call in the middle of the night like this was not something he thought he would have to deal with. But as the headmaster of Beacon, it was his duty to protect his students. His only regret was that he arrived too late to actually provide any combat assistance.
"Every missing member from Team KRBR is here," Penny reported right away. She now sported a band-aid over the front and back of her hand, as well as a few scuff marks and messed up orange hair. Other than that, she showed completely healthy signs.
"Good," Ozpin looked over the children he had come by to pick up. His students, how could they be so foolish? "What about Mister Matsuoka?" He asked once he noticed that his blind prodigy was not present. He would have expected someone like him not to let his friends do this on their own.
"Yeah… about that." Yang Xiao Long came up to him nervously. "I spoke to Orchid, and apparently they didn't want Kai to come with them because of his… well…"
"I am aware of Mister Matsuoka's mental state, Miss Xiao long." Ozpin sighed. This was going to be interesting to tell Glynda about. He counted his students lucky that it was him that had to come get them. Upon looking around further, he saw as all the volunteer students and huntsman were dotted around and answering questions that the police had for them. "Is anyone hurt?" Ozpin asked, ignoring the bodies of the White Fang he saw being wheeled away.
"Blake is out of aura and being treated for a nasty gash in her side, she has the worst of it though. Everyone else is just exhausted and a little bruised up." She said. "Qrow went off to find that Stone Face guy, I don't know what happened with that. We saw Cinder leave shortly after he got there and I don't think he would have been taken down so easily."
"I agree," Ozpin said, surprisingly not finding himself too worried for his subordinate. "I have a great grasp on Qrow's skill, Cinder may be powerful, but not even she would be able to defeat him in such a short time."
"Right," Yang seemed happy to have the headmaster share her thoughts. But then she gulped nervously. "My sister… is she?"
"If I gave her and her team anything more than detention, I fear I would spark a civil war." Ozpin chuckled. "They did a great thing tonight. Don't get me wrong, it was still incredibly unintelligent, but it was still great. They will remain as my students and get scolded as such, and I am sure not just by myself as well."
Yang laughed, relieved. "Right… Honestly, I am more worried about what he thinks than I am of you."
Ozpin shrugged his shoulders. "Every leader of every team have their own way of reacting. But I don't think Mister Matsuoka will be too gruesome. Since we are on the topic, where is the leader of Team KRBR?"
"I don't know, I tried looking for him once we got the call about Ruby and her team being at the docks, but I was never able to find him. He wasn't even in his sister's room."
"I see," Ozpin would have to check in on the boy soon, he's been giving him the space hs desired, but now after this, there was something the headmaster was concerned about. "Thank you for your honesty. Go back to your sister, and do keep me tabbed on her and her teammates recovery."
"Will do!" Yang said, trotting back over to her sister who was now being surrounded by the rest of their friends. Ozpin laughed at the sight. Almost all of them were there, and still more were showing up. Why, now poor Miss Nikos was getting questioned on why she wasn't there sooner. Amusing, it really was.
"Text me as soon as you find him." He sent the message to Qrow. He stuffed his scroll away in the meantime. Now was the time to see what kind of damage was done to the docks himself.
A hand burst out of the water and grabbed on to a rock protruding out of the water. The hand-pulled and pulled until it dragged a fully grown adult onto the surface. Qrow groaned as he laid on top of it, spitting out saltwater, and then pulled as hard as he could with his other hand to bring out the vigilante that nearly killed himself thinking he could get away by jumping into the fucking ocean.
"C'mon you heavy bastard," Qrow grumbled as he dragged the guy onto the rock with him. Thankfully, this rock was large and just one out of hundreds that lined the beach a few hundred feet from them. It was a safety precaution to stop aquatic Grimm from attacking people who just wanted to cool down and swim, and so far it has not fallen yet. Qrow thanked whoever was brave enough to put these rocks here in the first place, it may have just saved this kids life.
He dragged himself and the unconscious Stone Face up until their entire bodies were on the rocks. It wasn't comfortable at all, but at least Qrow didn't have to swim for two people and could now treat the young man for any wounds with what basic medical knowledge he could remember.
First things first, he went to cover the stab wound that was done to him. But was surprised to see that it was actually scalded shut, with the area around the skin even being darkened to show that it was indeed a burning that seared the wound shut. Cinder couldn't have accidentally done that… No, there was no time to think about it. Next, he checked to see if the vigilante was breathing, and cursed when he felt no breath coming from his mouth or nose. He began CPR starting with compressions, and after a decent amount of them, he pinched Stone Face's nose, which was revealed from the half of the mask that was broken. Then took a deep breath, and forced his exhale down his throat. He did this for several minutes, and feared that Stone Face was already lost after getting no signs of life from him.
"Just breathe already!" Qrow exclaimed as he slammed a fist down on the boy's lungs. Finally, Stone Face spat out water and began to cough violently. Qrow helped him to his side as he threw up water. After getting it all out of his system, Stone Face seemed to look around groggily.
"You're alright, I've got you," Qrow said, kneeling over the boy. "Thought you were dead for a second there, fucking idiot." He spat the taste of salt out of his mouth and groaned. "Make me jump in the ocean for you again, and I'm going to be pissed."
He got no response, and after checked for a pulse and for breathing, he found out that the guy simply passed out again. Makes sense, the guy must have been fighting all night like he usually is. Nearly drowning was what it took for him to finally get some rest it seemed.
"What the?" Qrow almost didn't notice the black cloth that barely stuck out from underneath the mask. His eyes narrowed and zeroed in on it. "Oh no…" He said as his mind immediately set on the only person he knew who would wear a blindfold like that.
"Sorry about this," Qrow said as he reached his shivering hand underneath Stone Face's mask. "But I have to check something. I won't recognize you anyway, right?" He laughed nervously, hoping that what he was looking at was just his imagination.
He had his fingers underneath the stone mask, and he paused. He felt more wet cloth underneath the mask. He almost pulled away, not wanting to see what he thought he was going to see. But then one after one, it started to hit him. Brown monkey tail. Black-brown hair. Crusade to punish the White Fang and kill Cinder.
I'll kill them all… Every single one of them…
That line echoed through his mind over and over, it taunted him, and the revelation hit him before he even took off the mask.
"Oh, God…" Qrow fell back with his head in his hands, feeling tears burn from behind his eyes.
Kai Matsuoka's face shined in the moonlit night, Stone Face's identity revealed.
"What the hell were you thinking…"
Whew, now that was a finale and a half. Let's see… okay, yeah, Volume 1 was about 24 chapters long. Whereas Volume 0 was 33 chapters long. Progress! I didn't make this entire arc last a year. Go me.
Ah… man… this chapter really got to me. I've planned it for so long, and yet I still find myself giddy after reading over it for myself. Seeing plans that were being made for so long really makes things fun to see it all come to fruition. I was originally going to write every individual fight scene between each character, but then that would have inflated this chapter to around 20k words or so.
And completely deprive you of any possible sleep. -CrowSkull.
That would have killed me, and I've already stayed up long past my bedtime. I got work and school tomorrow morning. It's funny, I said that I can't have this being a primary focus in my life, yet here I am, still putting this before almost everything and writing this Volume 1 finale. How long has it been? A year and two months? Jesus. Well, we're getting there Lol. Now we just gotta get through Volume 2 and 3 before we finally make it to post-Fall of Beacon stuff. Fun. Fun. Can't wait to get through that whenever I get to it.
On that note, I am going to have to announce now that I will finally be taking a well-needed break after writing one more chapter of another story of mine later this week. Both for my mind to fully recover, and so I can catch up on some homework for school. It'll be about a week or two, and I probably should have taken it earlier but wanted to finish Volume 1 of this story so badly.
As always, please let me know what you think of the story so far.
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