Here we are again. Now, this is all nice notice for you all. This V3 finale is unlike the way I ended V3 in my other stories. Most of the time, it is the end of a story or at least the first part of it. This entire Vale-Beacon saga is finally coming to a close, and with it a new way I will be ending such a volume. I may be splitting this final sequence of events off into 3-4 separate chapters. Maybe. I could change my mind and do fewer or do more, it depends on how much I get done and how I decide to write it, and if I come up with new stuff to go with it. A lot of factors are being put into consideration and we'll just have to see what happens. As I usually do, I may put my own thoughts into the way I've been writing this story so far at the end of the chapter just to get it out there. Doing it up here would be a waste since most of you probably don't even read what I put in the beginning Lol.
Beta: CrowSkull
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 92
Volume 3, Episode Episode 11
The First Sign
Kai charged out of the hole in the tent he slashed open and already had to swing his sword once. A panicked faunus screamed as he held his bleeding shoulder in immense pain. Kai stepped on his chest and sensed his body, trying to see if the man was White Fang. There was no mask, but there was a gun he had dropped not too far away. "Are you White Fang?" He felt the need to ask.
"N-No!" The man yelped.
Kai cursed, stepped off the man's chest, and helped him back up to his feet. "Damn it, I'm sorry. How's your shoulder?"
"M-My shoulder…" The man winced as he felt around the wound. When his hand came back, it came back red and slick with blood. "I'm bleeding, but not too much."
"Go get yourself some help," Kai instructed. "I held back my strength, so it shouldn't be fatal as long as you get it treated."
"You broke my aura in a single strike…" The man gasped, eyes shaking as he looked into Kai's face. "Y-You're him, aren't you? That blind kid from Beacon, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Amity!"
"Amity?" Kai narrowed his eyes. "No, I've been here the whole time. What happened?"
"What happened?" The man stepped back away from him, Kai sensed his body, sensing the rising amount of fear that was getting more and more intense the more that he was in the man's presence. "You're a goddamn freak is what happened! Get away from me!"
"Wait!" Kai stopped himself after taking two steps after the man he'd slashed. He was terrified of him for some reason, and he felt that he would have just made it worse if he chased after him. Why did he call him a freak, though? Last he checked he was considered to be some kind of celebrity amongst the general populace. Usually, when people bumped into him, especially in a time like this, they would flock to him and beg for his protection. So why was he running away? Sure, he may have attacked him, but accidents always happened.
"He said he thought he was in Amity…" Kai repeated to himself. "What does that mean? I couldn't have been there, I've never been there before! This doesn't make any sense… what's happening?"
The telltale sound of a Grimm roaring caused Kai to snap out of his train of thought. He turned and held his sword in two hands, bringing it up high to guard himself. "Grimm!?" Kai exclaimed as the tents and stands that were set up for the festival were ripped from the ground and thrown about as a huge creature barreled through them. Kai had to jump away from the creature as it broke through the stand in front of him to prevent the splinters of wood and metal spikes from damaging his aura. Kai stood back and he felt his eyes widen with shock as he sensed what was before him.
It wasn't any Grimm that he had encountered before. It stomped on the ground with what felt like four hooves that were attached to huge, muscular animal-like legs that all connected to a thick, furry body. Was it a Grimm horse of some kind? No, as Kai continued to sense its the entire body he felt it grow upward into a grotesque shape of a human, some kind of rider. Or was it a Centaur? Kai didn't know, and he didn't care. All he knew was that it was in his way, and he needed to get back to Beacon.
"I don't have time for this!" Kai exclaimed, drawing his sword back as it started to glow a bright silver tone. "Hah!" A large sickle-shaped blade of energy sliced through the air and toward the creature. Kai had to cover his ears when a sickening screech made him feel like his eardrums were shaking within his head. Black blood splattered on the ground and Kai thought that the job was done and the creature was dead. He turned to head in a different direction but stopped when he heard stomping vibrating the ground beneath him.
"Agh!" Kai screamed as he hastily brought his sword up just in to block the extended limb from grabbing him across the neck. He sliced through its fingers and the creature screamed in pain.
The severed fingers writhed on the ground before fading away, and Kai sensed the fingers grew back from the hand he nearly sliced off. Immediately, he knew that it would take more than just the power of his sword to kill it. It could regenerate, and the energy attack he threw out which he knew sliced it in half ended up doing nothing but pissing it off as it pieced itself back together.
"Tch," Kai stomped on the ground and two tall walls of stone rose out of the ground. That way, he protected anyone from getting into the reach of the creature's arms or from becoming collateral damage from what he was about to do with his semblance. "I said…" Kai continued as he pulled his left arm back while white flames burst out of the air and ignited his left arm and shoulder. He clenched that hand into a fist and prepared to throw it forward to incinerate his foe. "I don't have time for this!"
"Incinerate!" He twisted his arm as he thrust it forward as if he was throwing a spear. The torrent of white flames that twisted into itself tighter and tighter as it continued to spiral forward. By the time it hit the creature it was the size of a spear made up of condensed flame and explosive energy. The creature roared as it pierced its chest, but its human-like hands grabbed onto the spear and crushed it within its hands. It couldn't dispel it altogether, but it weakened the flames and caused the attack to become unable to pierce through its heart completely.
Kai lunged forward and with his still ignited left arm, clenched his hand tightly into a fist. "Ignite!" He chanted. The flame spear's explosive energy imploded before bursting out and wrapping the entire creature in bright white flames. The creature screeched and roared in pain, but it was still alive and healing just as fast as the fire was damaging it. Kai slid through its legs and slashed the two front ones clean off, causing it to slam into the ground with a meaty scrunch as it's two front legs tried to pick itself back up on its flimsy bones. Once again, Kai slammed his hand into the ground, making the stone walls grow even taller and surrounding the creature. Kai shut his eyes tightly and concentrated, as soon as he felt the power within his eyes come to life, he opened them again with a roar.
His silver light entangled the creature in tendrils of silver and he watched as it crushed the Grimm to death, burning it away with each passing second. By the time Kai closed his eyes and deactivated the power, the creature was nothing but ash.
Kai winced as he felt his heart beat painfully, but he felt a certain amount of pride in being rid of that creature for good, finally.
"All that effort just for one Grimm," Kai said with a sigh, already feeling his heartbeat in his ears. "This isn't just an attack… it's an invasion." Gasping, Kai dropped back down to his knees and placed both hands on the ground. He focused his senses into locating the breach that he had plugged up with the help of Miss Goodwitch and all the other huntsmen. Only to find that he couldn't find it. He knew he was searching in the right area with his focused senses, but there was just… nothing there. Not even footsteps, fighting, or any kind of chaos.
No… that wasn't it. There wasn't a lack of chaos, but an overabundance of it. His senses were too overwhelmed to work properly. It was like back in Mistral years ago after his match with Pyrrha. There was too much going on and he couldn't tell which was which and had to rely on Pyrrha to guide him. Now, he had much better control over it, but the fact that even now he couldn't tell what was happening somewhere that wasn't even that far from him was beyond concerning.
"Agh!" Cursing loudly, Kai forced the stone walls back into the ground and stood back up to his feet. There was a good chance that if this was an invasion, then the Breach may have been breached again. That would make for the easiest way for the Grimm to get into Vale in a large enough abundance to overwhelm even the advanced military of Atlas.
"If it's breached again… I'll just have to plug it up a second time," Kai swore as he took a deep breath. He stopped and vaguely turned his head up to the sky, it was raining. He felt the little droplets of water splash onto his body and clothes. His mind was elsewhere, and he'd like to imagine he was looking up at Amity and Beacon itself. "Sorry guys, I'll be there soon, I promise." He said as he started running in the opposite direction. "I just have to make sure that Vale is safe. Just hold on as long as you can." He was saying it more for his own comfort than anything else. Because he knew that he wasn't going to get the chance to say it later. He knew what was happening around him. He heard the other huntsmen fight the enhanced Grimm that were running rampant throughout the festival and the city itself. He felt the shockwaves of explosive weaponry clashing against tides of Grimm. Hell, he smelt the disgusting scent of blood, both human and Grimm, tinting the ground an ugly red-black color as the endless war of humanity against Grimm continued to roar its nasty colors.
And he sensed the horde of Grimm attack and kill and maim people all around him. He couldn't save them all even if he tried, and the best he could do was charge into the thickest bulk of them and release his power.
Was this what Raven warned him about? Salem herself coming to Vale? There was enough Grimm to make that possible, if she could control the Grimm, then a full-scale invasion of Vale was well within her reach. If so, that meant that she was within his reach as well.
If she was killed, then there was at least a chance for Vale to come out of this alive. If she was at least as powerful as Ozpin, that may be impossible. But if there was at least a one percent chance of him succeeding, then Kai wasn't going to just pass up a chance like this.
Tightening his muscles, gripping his sword tightly, and igniting his left arm once more in flames. Kai felt his eyes glow as he charged into the horde of Grimm.
"Out of my way!"
"Yeah, he's definitely this way," Rick told Brick as they sprinted side by side through the chaotic grounds of the festival.
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" Brick asked sarcastically. "Is it the spots of fire and black spots all around giving it away? Or was it that stone wall that came out of the ground suddenly? Please, correct me if I have it wrong."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Despite their current situation, Rick just had to make light of Brick's tone. It made sense for him to be as stressed out as he was right now, not only the festival, but Amity and Vale were also under attack. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any members of the White Fang down there on the ground where they were, so that meant that they didn't have to take lives just yet. Grimm however was fair game. Together, there wasn't much that the two twins couldn't handle on their own, and no Grimm was going to get in the way of themselves and their friend.
"Are you sure we shouldn't have gone back to Beacon?" Rick asked as he wrenched his sword out of a weaker Beowolf. "Kai is strong, he'd be able to take care of himself."
"Yeah, for a time." Brick agreed as he whipped his own sword to the side, ridding it of evaporating black blood. "But he's not invincible, even by himself and those weird eye powers he used in that warehouse. He can get tired, and when exhausted, not even Kai can hold up for long on his own."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Rick chuckled. "Glad we are in agreement then. Let's go make sure our pal doesn't go off on a suicide mission like Yang made it sound."
"Figures we'd be the ones that have to go after him and help him out," Brick said with a laugh, though his eyes were shaking and his hands kept getting sweaty. It was raining, so that might have been the issue. But there was more to it than that and they both knew it. This situation reminded them of Mistral, and it hurt them a lot more than they let people believe it did.
"Hey… let's stick together this time, eh?" Brick said, looking at his brother. "Last time something like this happened, you almost got killed, and I almost got killed."
"That won't happen again," Rick assured him. "We're together now, and we're stronger. Especially you," he patted his brother on the shoulder as they came to a shortstop. "We'll stay together, get Kai, and get our asses back to Beacon. That's the plan, whatever happens, we get through it together."
"Together," Brick echoed with a nod. Reciprocating the gesture.
The Violet twins shot off back into Kai's direction and would join up with him sooner. Surely with all of their combined efforts together, they could get through this.
Surely.
Crescent Rose slashed through the air and cleaved a Griffon in two. She stayed down as Blake and Orchid vaulted over her, tackling the other two Grimm creatures that charged at her the moment she landed. Cocking another bullet into the chamber, Ruby shifted her weapon into its sniper form and took aim at one of the Nevermore in the air that was diving in at one of the other huntresses in training. The bullet went through one eye and came out, destroying its brain and skull. It evaporated before it could do any harm, leaving her fellow student thankfully unscathed. The girl she didn't recognize gave her a grateful nod, and she nodded back in turn.
She sped forward with her semblance and Crescent Rose shifted once more, she wrapped her blade around the neck of an Ursa and fired a shell down into the floor, decapitating it and launching her into the air. "Blake!" She screamed as she started spinning in mid-air as the largest of the Nevermore there cawed and swooped in to catch her out of the air. Just as Ruby knew would happen, a black ribbon tied around the shaft of Crescent Rose. Just before the Nevermore tried to swallow her whole, Ruby fired Crescent Rose again and felt a tight yank on her scythe as the Nevermore suddenly found itself choking on Blake's ribbon. The ribbon turned out to be much tougher than it looked, and as the Nevermore screeched and tried to saw through it with its beak, Ruby whipped back around and spun through the air like a buzzsaw down into the back of the Nevermore's neck. Stabbing her weapon deeply into the back of its collar.
"Hah!" Ruby screamed as she ripped Crescent Rose out, bringing part of the Nevermore's spine with it. The Nevermore died almost instantly, and slammed into the ground with a loud smash and ground against the floor and rolled over itself. Ruby jumped up and flipped, Blake's ribbon sliding off her weapon and landed just a few feet away from the now-dead Nevermore as it smashed into the wall in front of her. Ruby let out a deep breath and turned back around, using her semblance to join back up with her teammates and the other students as they fought the ground level Grimm.
"They're dropping in from the sky!" Orchid exclaimed, pointing up at the strange massive creature that continuously circled over Amity. None of them knew what it was, and it was so high that it soared above the clouds. All they knew was that it was dropping Grimm down into Amity, leading to untold casualties and chaos.
"We need to get out of the arena!" Another student yelled, this time one that Ruby recognized. "Everyone in the stands is already getting evacuated," Coco continued as she continued to unleash a seemingly endless supply of bullets into the sky where the Grimm was being dropped from, killing a good amount of them before they managed to hit the ground. "Get into the hallways and cover all of the entrances! There are enough of us to cover the evacuees so they can get to the evacuation center. General Ironwood himself is there! That means you too Ruby!"
"What about you-"
"Don't worry about us!" Coco grinned at her. Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi stayed by her side. All protecting their leader while Velvet continuously supplied her with ammo with her own semblance with the two men of the team taking care of anything that gets to the ground. There were other older teams as well, some that Ruby vaguely recognized. Team CRMN, CLVR, JZBY, and even CRDL were doing their part as well. "This is what we trained for, kid, let us older students take care of the front lines for a change, yeah?"
Ruby looked to Blake and Orchid and they all nodded to each other, agreeing mutually to all have faith in Coco and the older students. "Alright, we'll trust you, Coco!"
"Damn straight!" Coco exclaimed as she loaded yet another belt of ammo into her minigun. "Vel, keep that ammo coming, Yats, use your big muscles, and Fox, keep doing what you're doing, you're doing great."
Ruby got too far away to keep listening in on what Coco was saying as she ordered the other students around to key points of the arena. Instead, she looked around and caught sight of her sister, who had finally reconnected with her own team and were fighting in the stands to protect the last of the evacuees. "Blake, Orchid, this way!" She called as she shifted directions on the spot. She heard Blake and Orchid right behind her. She wanted to use her semblance to get over to Yang, but she could only take one person with her at a time and she did not want to risk losing track of one of her teammates. One of the downsides of being too fast was seeing everything else as so slow. It was almost agonizing, but Ruby could deal with it if it meant taking the safest approach to ensure the most lives were saved.
Pumping aura into their legs, Ruby, Blake, and Orchid jumped up and vaulted over the railing behind the last of the Grimm charging at Yang and her team. Weiss noticed them first and knelt down the summon a trail of glyphs that went under her feet and led toward them. Ruby smirked and reversed her grip on Crescent Rose, Orchid and Blake seemed to get the same idea, all recognizing Weiss' speed enhancement glyphs at a single glance.
Ruby's speed semblance combined with Weiss' speed glyphs must have made her faster than sound, for when Ruby slashed through three Beowolves with a single swing of her weapon, she only heard the cries of the Beowolf after their bodies hit the ground. Orchid and Blake dealt with the rest. Orchid used her clones to overwhelm a group of Grimm and catch them off guard, easily dealing with them as each one of her clones weren't any weaker, but perhaps even stronger than their main host. Blake was acrobatic and flexible, and while she was closer to Ren, Nora, and Jaune that led to them all working together to completely dissipate that front.
After making sure her teammates were okay, Ruby was left to deal with the center flank, but not alone. Pyrrha and Yang were on the other side of the group of Grimm between them, and with the support of Weiss' glyphs, Ruby was surprised that she didn't gag at all from the disgusting stench of evaporating Grimm and their blood even as they spilled onto her clothes, making them stick disturbingly to her skin. It might have made her shudder if it happened at any other time, but now all she wanted to do was kill more. Kill, kill, and kill. She wondered if that was something to be concerned of, but dismissed such thoughts as she tore her weapon out of the back of a Grimm. These things were soulless, and each of them must have slaughtered dozens of innocent people. She wasn't murdering them, she was avenging those that had died already.
Ruby blinked her eyes and with a white flash, the last of the Grimm were petrified and shocked into place. She shook her head and deactivated her eyes right away. "Not yet," She muttered to herself, getting her emotions back under control. "I need to save it for when I really need it and there is no other choice." She knew how the strain of her eyes could affect her body. Kai had shown her and trained her. By her estimate, she could use about a few full-powered silver-eyed blasts in a row before passing out. If she rationed them out and used them wisely, that number could grow exponentially. Even more with adrenaline and endless willpower flowing through her.
"Ruby!" Yang gave her a quick hug as Pyrrha and Weiss finished off the rest of the Grimm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ruby assured her sister, gently pushing her away and looking up at her with determined eyes. "We need to get to General Ironwood and help him stabilize and defend the evacuation centers. Coco and the upper years are going to defend Amity itself where the Grimm are being dropped in."
"Got it," Getting her own emotions under control, Yang nodded her understanding and looked toward her own team. "Is everyone safe in there?" She called out.
"Yeah!" Jaune exclaimed. "Team FNKI is going to personally escort them to one of the centers. We'll come with you over the Ironwoods for now. After everyone is safe, we can head back to Beacon and help them defend."
"Sounds like a plan, then," Ruby said, nodding to Jaune and the rest of his team. "Let's move out together, we can use the tunnels here to get to Ironwood, does anyone know where he actually is?"
"I do," A nearby Atlesian officer spoke up. "You kids can follow me and my squad. I have injured that I need to transport out of here."
"We'll take you there," Jaune said immediately, stepping up.
"And we'll keep you and your men safe."
"Good, I have no doubts in my mind about it," The officer replied, gesturing for his men to group up with him. There were about six members of that squad, and two of them were injured who were being held up but another two men. Which meant that only two of them could help fight if they had to. But with nine huntsmen and huntresses in training to defend them, they wouldn't have to at all, hopefully.
"Lead the way," Pyrrha beckoned.
The officer nodded and led them into the tunnel that brought them down to a stairwell which brought them two floors below. Thankfully, it seemed that Coco and the others were doing their part in making sure the Grimm didn't get too overwhelming for everyone to handle on their own.
That quickly changed the closer they got to Ironwood's evacuation center. It was being swarmed by Grimm, and there were too few huntsmen to beat them back effectively. They were defending, but just barely. There was hardly anything to call a front line as it was mostly the huntsmen making themselves the loudest and easiest targets being so far away from the civilians. The Grimm were all too willing to take the bait, but as the huntsmen were defending the people, they were giving their own lives to do it.
"Will you be okay on your own the rest of the way?" Ruby asked the officer as Crescent Rose shifted once more.
"We'll be fine, go," The commanding officer said, cocking back the lever of his rifle. "We wouldn't be soldiers if we couldn't handle a few straggling Grimm. Thanks for getting us this far."
"No problem," Ruby smiled at the officer. "Let's go help those huntsmen, team!"
"Right!"
Ironwood himself appeared to be fighting alongside the huntsmen as well, which brought morale to the surrounding troops. Though he was in a state that none of them were prepared to see. He wasn't injured, per se. But the cybernetics on the entire right side of his torso and arm were plain for everyone to see through the torn parts of what remained of his undershirt. He must have shed the coat to give himself more room to move flexibly.
Ruby snapped out of it first, it didn't matter what metal parts were attached to him, he was the General of the Atlesian military and the headmaster of Atlas Academy. He couldn't fall here, it would be a devastating loss for everyone. Orchid surprisingly sped past her, seemingly snapping out of it herself as she entered a different personality. Her greatsword split up into two different weapons, and she drew first blood from their group as she stabbed both of her weapons into the back of a grounded Griffon. Riding it momentarily before tearing her swords out and stabbing it through the monster's skull.
Ruby was next to finish it off, decapitating both the monster Orchid slew and the one behind it. She came to a low sliding halt and went straight through the legs of a Beowolf, and popped back up to her feet back to back with one of the remaining huntsmen.
"Would rather not have kids come and save us, but that'll do." The exhausted huntsmen said as he spat to the side, raising his mace-like weapon back up with two hands.
"We're here to help," Ruby said. "Let's work together, alright?"
"Never said it was a pain," The older man chuckled warmly. "Come on, show us what you got."
She didn't have to. Nora used her hammer to smash a skull of a Creep into the ground, Jaune twisted around her and stabbed Crocea Mors into another Creep, and using the strength he got from Nora's training, used it as a throwing weapon to stun the Beowolf that was pouncing at him. Ren slipped past him and slid through the legs of the stunned Beowolf, jumped up, and slashed an X into it's back before unloading half a clip into it's back, killing it quickly. On the other side, Pyrrha saved one of the older huntresses who was knocked down by an Ursa Major, using her shield and superior strength to push the Grimm back and create space for the rest of her new ally. Another Ursa attempted to charge into her, but the champion proved too powerful for it to overpower. After wrenching Milo out of the creature's skull, she helped the older huntress back up to her feet and in silent agreement went on to double team and slay the Ursa Major from before.
Weiss was like a blur of white light, sliding in and out of direct combat with Myternaster and also firing off streams of dust based attacks toward any Grimm that was caught out in the open. Covering her was Yang, who refused to let any of them near the heiress. Her hair was already flaming as her semblance continued to enhance her strength and speed.
"Alright," The old huntsman chuckled again as he watched the battle quickly turn tides into their favor. "I say show me what you got and you do just that. Seems fair enough."
"Beat them back and form a defensive line!" Ironwood commanded as he shoulder charged an Alpha Beowolf into the wall, then finished it off with a single shot from his pistol. "We hold them off here!"
"General!" Ruby called out as she shifted her scythe back into it's holstered state. "I can push them back! Just tell everyone to pull back for just a second! You know what I can do," She almost seemed to accuse him of that as she stared into his eyes.
Ironwood looked at her for a moment before looking back to the battle before them. Sure, they were holding them off now. But stamina was something that even the fittest of huntsmen and huntresses had to keep track of. Even he was tired right now and half of his body was robotic. The old huntsman and huntresses had been fighting with him for some time already, and the kids would tire soon enough. When he turned back to Ruby, his eyes were narrowed but his face was pleading. Now was not the time to try and hide the power of the silver-eyed warriors, after the breach, people already knew that people with such abilities existed.
"Do it, do not hold anything back. Buy us as much time as we can." The General ordered.
Ruby nodded and turned toward the horde of Grimm and shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath and relaxing her body for a moment. She imagined her friends getting overwhelmed, the people behind her getting slaughtered as a result. It made her angry, and she couldn't let that happen, she didn't even want to continue thinking about it. But to be able to use the absolute full power of her eyes, she had to think of something to unlock them. It was like Kai said, it was tied to her emotions, and she had to use them to defend her friends and all the innocent people behind her.
When she opened her eyes with a scream, a bright flash of light engulfed the surrounding area. But only killed a handful of Grimm that were within range. Cursing to herself, Ruby went back into her mind a second time. Why wasn't it working? She was doing it as she always did. In the breach she was doing it so easily, when Kai started teaching her she was able to unlock it quickly, so why was she unable to go all out in the time that she needed to the most!?
"That's not how it works, hon."
Ruby's eyes snapped open to a world that definitely wasn't around her just a second ago. It was just all… white, and bright. She could barely keep her eyes open because of that.
"Look within yourself, feel within yourself, use yourself to unblock yourself. Only then, will you truly become a Silver Eyed Warrior."
"That voice…" Ruby looked around the white void. "M-Mom?"
A figure formed in front of her, made of white energy, the same energy that exploded out of her face to kill the Grimm. It was a vague figure, but one that she never forgot.
"I know you can do it, my blood." The figure said to her in a soothing voice. "Go. Fight. Live. Become… Silver."
Ruby blinked her eyes and when they opened again, she was back to where she knew she should be. She felt herself float above the ground, and felt blinded by white light as energy exploded from her eyes. Even though she couldn't quite see, she knew exactly where to look. The Grimm died by the dozens, and the ones further back in the hall were petrified as well. White tendrils came out of her eyes for an instant as well, but before she could put them to good use, she felt the strain of her power hit her all at once. She fell out of the air and nearly fell to the ground if it wasn't for Ironwood catching her before that could happen.
"Good, that was perfect!" Ironwood exclaimed as he held her up. He barked out orders to everyone else as he passed Ruby on to Yang. "Everyone get onto the ships and get out of here! We bought you the time to do so! No, I don't care if the Bullhead is full if there is the room more people can fit!"
"W-Woah, Ruby," Yang said as she brushed her black-red bangs out from in front of her face. "What the hell was that? I've never seen you get like that before…"
"I…" Ruby could barely remember what happened. She was honestly surprised that she was still conscious, getting better quickly no less. "I think I saw… no, nevermind, we have to get to Beacon now that we have the chance."
"I'd agree with you normally, miss," The old huntsman from before spoke up, earning all their attention. "But me and my teammates aren't as young as we used to be. Some of you can head off to Beacon to help defend it, yeah, but before reinforcements arrive, I don't think we can hold them off on our own with how tired we're getting."
"When are reinforcements coming?" Jaune asked.
"Hell if I know, but this lad here told us that some extra muscle is coming our way," the huntsman said, pointing to another nearby officer. "But the Grimm ain't going to wait for that to happen. What the girl did bought us a shit load of time, yeah, but do you feel what's happening right now?" Gesturing to the floor, they started to notice what the older man was noticing. The floor was vibrating, if only gently. "There's another wave coming our way. Until all those civics radiating negative energy are gone, this place would be a hotspot for Grimm for the next half hour or so."
"Damn it, we can't leave them like this," Jaune said, shaking his head.
"We can't just leave Beacon alone though," Weiss pointed out. "If Beacon falls, everyone falls. I say we split up, leaving four of us here, and the other five go to Beacon. Would that suffice?"
"After what I just saw? Yeah, it should be good enough to hold off long enough for reinforcements to reach us."
"Then who is going to Beacon?" Blake asked.
"I am," Ruby stated right away. "There are enough of us here to hold off for now, but like Weiss said, if Beacon falls, all of Vale falls and it would be like a domino effect for the other kingdoms. Next could be Haven, or Shade, or even Atlas! We can't let that happen."
"I'm not letting you go without me," Yang said. "I'm coming."
Ruby looked to Jaune, asking the silent question.
Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "Like I'm going to stop Yang from staying with her sister."
"I'm going too," Blake added. "Where my leader goes, I go."
"Same here," Orchid proclaimed.
"Well, that's already four going," Jaune looked to see who was left, it was him, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, and Weiss. "One more can go, don't feel bad if you want to go to Beacon. We can hold off here on our own for as long as we have to."
"M-My sister…" Weiss said quietly, looking down at the floor. "Winter, she has to be in Beacon as well. The White Fang is attacking too, right? They wouldn't just rely on Grimm to take down a school that trains people to kill Grimm."
"Go," Ren said, nodding his head when Weiss looked at him in shock. "Don't give me that look. In the immortal words of Jaune here, I will not keep you away from your sister."
"Thank you," Weiss gave Ren a happy smile and stepped onto Ruby's side.
"Well, this is it then," Jaune said, looking at who was staying with him. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha. "Quite the team we're going to have to make, huh?"
"We can do it!" Nora exclaimed, stretching her arms up above her head in her excitement. "If we can outsmart Ren we can do anything, right Pyrrha?"
"Uh… yes?"
"See!?"
"We'll be fine," Ren told Ruby and the others. "Don't worry about us. Go, use your powers where we need it most."
Ruby gave a grateful nod to Ren and turned to her team which now consisted of herself, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Orchid. Together, they said their goodbyes to the other huntsmen and made their way to one of the other Bullheads, one that was reserved for people who wanted to go back to Beacon to fight for it. Ironically, it was empty. But before they could get into the ship, General Ironwood stepped in front of them.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked Ruby in particular. "We are going to need your eyes, Ruby. Without Matsuoka, you are our only Silver Eyed Warrior."
"Beacon is going to need me, then," Ruby said, steadfastly looking up at the gruff General. "People are on their way to help, and right now, Grimm is invading Beacon. From what I can guess, Cinder is probably going to be there too, right?"
Ironwood widened his eyes for a fraction of a second, but before he could continue, Ruby beat him to it.
"Kai isn't here to take care of her, so right now, I'm all you have," Ruby continued. "Unless you think that Ozpin and the professors can take her on themselves. Do you have complete faith in them?"
Ironwood looked her in the eyes for about thirty seconds straight. Ruby didn't budge, and neither did he. Until finally, Ironwood sighed and stepped out of her way. "No, I don't have complete faith in them." He admitted freely. "Go, but do not get yourself killed. We are going to need you alive."
"I know," Ruby said, stepping past him. "I know…" She wanted to say something ruder but didn't have the heart too. She stepped into the Bullhead and alerted the pilot to take her and her team up to Beacon.
Ozpin tapped his cane against the ground as he stood in front of Amber's old pod. Her body was still in there, though her soul seemed to still be alive. Cinder didn't know that, however, and once again, Ozpin found himself gripping his cane as a weapon and turning around to meet the woman in the red dress, Cinder Fall, across the hall underneath Beacon.
"I would say that you are predictable," Ozpin said as he activated his aura. "But this is something I certainly did not expect. You proved yourself to be much, much more dangerous than I ever imagined."
"I'm flattered," Cinder said as she stepped into the light. Her Grimm body parts seemed to have spread across her body since the last time Ozpin fought her. It was still on her arm and half her face, but he could see the discoloration in her veins pumping the dark magic of the Grimm through her body. Ozpin sensed it as well, he knew what had happened to her.
"Salem gave you some of her power," Ozpin pointed out, sighing through his nose as the realization came to him.
"You can tell just by looking at me?" Cinder asked, laughing. "I'm flattered again! It is true that me from before even with help couldn't hope to beat you, and we all knew that you would be here to defend that corpse of a fall maiden. But now…? Hah, I'd be surprised if you manage to defeat me a second time."
"We needn't fight, Cinder," Ozpin remarked. "You may have been granted power, but that power corrupts. If you truly desire power, true power, then Salem is not your rightful liege."
"Is this some kind of job offer now?" Cinder chuckled. "How quaint, the last time we met you promised me that you will kill me. I'm afraid not, Ozpin, we do need to fight. Not only because I have to, but because I want to." Licking her lips, Cinder took her hands out from behind her back. One was perfectly human and had a ball of flame already getting ready to be tossed at the headmaster, and the other a grotesque human-shaped clawed hand of a Grimm, which was quickly surrounded by dark magic and an evil aura.
"I thought that might happen," Ozpin said with a sigh. "Expected it, even."
"He will not be fighting alone," A second voice proclaimed. Out from behind the second pod, Albedo stepped out and threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and detached two hidden blades from his shirt and held them between his fingers. "Not this time."
Cinder threw her head back and laughed maniacally, Ozpin and Albedo stood together and by each other's side. Cinder continued laughing until she buckled over and held her stomach, and kept going for about a minute. By the time she was done, she wiped a tear of joy from her eye.
"That… that is hilarious! Won't you ask why I find that so funny?" Cinder asked as she recovered from her peal of laughter. "No? Well, no matter. You see, I find it so funny because the last time I fought you two, Ozpin, Albedo," She pointedly looked directly into Albedo's eyes, just daring him to read her mind a second time. Albedo thought about it but refused to use his semblance. Cinder leaned back and hummed softly, thinking in her mind that Albedo certainly was a smart man.
"I had two people who weren't loyal to me, two people who were too soft to do what needed to be done. But now… Oh, but now…" Cinder giggled creepily and threw her arms out to her sides. All of the old torches in the giant hall ignited, lighting up the entire basement of Beacon with green flames.
Flanking Cinder on either side were Hazel and Tyrian. Two people Ozpin had fought before, and the ones who were responsible for the deaths of dozens of Silver Eyed Warriors that Ozpin didn't even have the chance to discover. Hazel looked at him with absolute hate, while Tyrian seemed much more interested in Albedo.
"I learned that sometimes, I don't need to work all on my own." Cinder said at last. "Now, Ozpin. I have a proposition for you. Hand over Amber and I will end this current life of yours, or I will take Amber anyway and hand you over to Salem for decades of torment before you finally expire. Out of respect for you after countless centuries of holding back Salem from destroying this world's civilization, I will at least allow you that mercy."
"Albedo," Ozpin turned to his fellow headmaster. "Tell me, are you willing to fight with me, to the very end?"
Albedo rolled his eyes. "Not to sound so cheesy about it, but yes. The moment I read you with my semblance, Ozma, I knew that my life changed forever. I used to regret it, but now this old man has something to strive for. I will fight with you, Oz, to the very end."
Ozpin smiled.
"That is good to hear."
Ozpin and Albedo activated their auras in sync and refused to give Cinder, Hazel, and Tyrian the right to attack first.
And there we go, about time this V3 stuff started coming around. Now, for my little rant here at the end so you guys can get a little glimpse into my head. This story… holy shit this story… all of it started from this random idea I had when I was thinking about Avatar TLA and Toph, and then i was like, "What if there was a Blind Huntsman in RWBY, but with the seismic sensing of Toph? Oh, and what if I also gave that Blind kid Silver Eyes?" And it just sort of spiraled from there. I admit I was a little stupid back then with how I handled Kai and his abilities. Giving him certain abilities that were really powerful and taking away others and letting some just fade into the background as something that happened but isn't being used anymore. I made a lot of mistakes, probably, definitely with the pacing of the story. I can say it again and again, but seriously, who the hell writes a 32 chapter prologue!?
*Whistling* - CrowSkull
It all started from this reviewer who mentioned something about that first every arc being basically Volume 0, and then I decided to let Malikai live instead of getting killed early on like I originally planned, then Raven happened, then this and that happened and so on and so forth and just… fuck I was really trigger happy with those chapters back then Lol.
I do admit though that I was a bit too trigger happy. I wrote some things that now I go like "Why did I do that?" And other things I just straight ignored in order to make the story into where it is now. It's definitely been a very… experimental journey so far. I know I am writing this little message now as if I was ending the story, but honestly, there are AT LEAST four more volumes that I intend to write before I decide to actually end it.
Which by his estimate means… six? Seven? - CrowSkull
Yeah, something like that Lol. It also depends on what Roosterteeth does with RWBY and if I decide to keep following it. I'll say it right now, while I do enjoy most things that RT does with the show, there is a lot that I do not agree with to put it lightly. I'll just leave it at that for now, no need to open that can of worms just yet.
Moving on, in all those mistakes that I made with this story, there is a lot that I do really adore. The Dark Silver Eyed abilities of Kai for example. Soon, they will have much more meaning and will actually get explained, I promise. Though I will admit that it was definitely one of those ideas that just popped up in my head as I was writing the chapter Kai first used them in and decided that it was a good idea and finished writing the chapter before CrowSkull had a chance to put his input in on it. That was a fun day.
I guess, for now, I'll end my little rant with this before I go on for another page. I love this story, even with all its little imperfections. I used to think this was my best story, and maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I'll leave that up for you guys to decide. Numbers aren't everything, as I keep trying to tell myself as I wait to see each update on follower count pretty much every day Lol. I will promise though that this story will continue, and it will have an ending. It doesn't matter if it is 100 chapters away or 200. I got too much going on with this story to give it an early ending.
Whelp, now since that is out of the way. I'll see ya next chapter! Wish me luck, because things are going to get… much more intense from here on out.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slash) Genatools