The enemy launched herself towards Summer, her curved blades out and ready to carve flesh. Her white robe fell away revealing slim combat armour beneath. Summer fired off Thorn to act as covering fire as she took stock of her situation. The enemy was skilled, what servant of Salem wouldn't be? It would be hard for Summer to slay her. The Leader of Team STRQ had never been the best at hand-to-hand combat, that had been handled by Qrow and Tai, with Raven providing 'surgical' strikes. She had picked off enemies one-by-one, providing cover and watching her friends backs.
Then Raven vanished. And everything went to hell.
Tabitha casually batted the shots away with her blades, and Summer rushed to bring Thorn up to shield herself as the Faunus slammed into her, fangs bared. Tabitha swung herself over Summer's head, slicing a tear into Summer's cloak. Before leaping onto Summer's back. The Huntress flinched, but soon rallied herself.
"...We will be seen." She stated carefully. "..If we fight for much longer."
"This is Vacuo, Summer Rose." Tabitha laughed. "No one will give a damn. Our war will remain secret...even if we're a little more...public than usual. My Queen's pact with the Wizard will remain….unbroken. Unlike your neck, which I very much intend to snap. But first..."
Pain shot through her neck, as hot, sticky blood slowly began to trickle down it. Tabitha lept of her back, and let out a satisfied sigh. "Much better."
Summer brought a hand up to her neck, and felt the puncture wounds and the blood. But it was the faint shimmer of silver that made Summer realise what had happened. "Y-You're draining my aura?.."
"My semblance." Tabitha confirmed with a nod. "Auratophagy. How do you think I've slain so many of your kind? It is easy...once their own auras betray them."
That was monstrous. Aura was effectively one's soul made manifest. To feast on it, like it were some form of sustenance was...indescribably wrong.
"It's been so long since I've enjoyed this taste..." Tabitha ran her tongue across her fangs, savouring the slightly metallic tang of her enemy's blood. "I. Must. Have. MORE!"
With a giddy, euphoric laugh, the faunus changed in again, slashing her weapons wildly and without any real technique. It made her unpredictable. Usually, that would make things easier. Idiots made mistakes. The overconfident made mistakes. Novices made mistakes. Salem's Enforcer did not make mistakes.
"A long range fighter should avoid face-to-face combat, Silver-Eyes." Tabitha cooed. "I would guess that the Branwen's were the ones to hold the enemy's attention whilst you picked them off? It does make me wonder what role Xiao Long had, aside from sleeping with his teammates. Would you care to enlighten me?"
People that know the most important things about you will always use them against you.. Raven's words replayed themselves in her mind. Her friend had always been realistic where she herself had been idealistic. Whilst she hadn't agreed with all of the elder Branwen twin's advice, Summer had to admit that it had saved her life on more than one occasion.
..Don't let it get to you. Let it steel your resolve...
"Well that's no fun." Tabitha pouted when Summer remained silent. " I was expecting a better reaction than that. It was a perfectly innocent question, dear Summer. Perhaps I should ask about Ruby instead. Ambrose was kind enough to mentio-"
...So that you may slay them for using those you cherish against you.
With a snarl, Summer fired Thorn, slicing a thin line across Tabitha's cheek. The Faunus brought a hand up to her fresh wound, and proceeded to lick her fingers clean of blood.
"Aaahh...There it is." Tabitha smiled widely, showing her fangs. "There it is! The drive! The motivation! The Strength of the Wizard's champion! So be it! Let us see...who's drive is greater!"
And then they were fighting again. Tabitha's skill was formidable, Summer conceded. Even after her aura shattered away, the faunus still fought on without a care for her own safety. Slicing and slashing and hacking away, as if she was trying to spill as much of her blood as she could.
Then, barely a moment after her own aura fell away, Thorn came to a halt with a sickening click..click...click.
"No more ammunition.." Tabitha sneered. "That was careless! I expected better of you!"
And again, the Faunus charged. Summer shifted Thorn into its alternate form. The rifle whirred into life, transforming from sniper rifle to Lance in barely a few moments.
But Tabitha ran into Thorn, its point spearing right through her heart. With a mad laugh, Tabitha thrust her kukri's into Summer's chest. The Huntress shifted Thorn again, and tried not to watch as the grotesque squelch of tearing flesh and breaking bone filled the air as Thorn's transformation itself tore her enemy's insides to shreds.
It was almost a mercy, Summer thought, when she fired Thorn for the last time.
Tabitha blinked, and stumbled backwards, her body and mind finally catching up with her wounds. She cast her gaze downward, and let out a silent gasp of bewilderment. Most of her chest was gone, the combat armour she'd been wearing had melted away like butter, exposing her innards.
"Oh."
It was her last word. The Faunus fell backwards with a damp thud, and remained still and silent.
Summer stumbled to the nearest wall, and slumped down against it. She called out, so that someone would hear her and aid her. She had expected a response. Hopeful that she would hear help coming.
She hadn't expected to hear light applause. And she especially hadn't expected to see a Pegasus touching down nearby. She'd only ever seen drawings of them, such was their rarity. A Grimm that appeared to be some grisly horse creature with bat wings.
But what chilled her to her core was what dismounted the Pegasus.
Because striding towards her was a nightmare. They were tall, with ashen white skin with pronounced veins, similarly white hair with dark gems as ornamentation, and were barefoot beneath their black robes. Despite never having met her before, Summer knew who this was.
Salem.
"That was well fought." The Queen of the Grimm commented idly. "You gave my servant a warrior's end she would have approved of, so I thank you. Ozma has clearly taught you well."
Summer watched as She strode over to Tabitha's body, and knelt down before it. Thorn was too far away, and the pain that was running through her body left her with little option but to watch.
"Rest well, Tabitha Diaemus..you have more than done your duty. Go and join the rest of the Honoured Dead.." Salem gently closed her servant's eyes, before standing up and turned her gaze to the dying Huntress. She narrowed her gaze, and held up a hand.
"..Child?"
"Y-Yes, Miss Salem?"
Summer let out a pained gasp as she finally saw who it was that had replied. She was small, with red hair and green eyes. She wore an appropriately sized dark robe, one akin to the one Salem wore. If she were to guess, Summer would say she was about Yang's age.
"...Look away." The ancient being told her, almost kindly. "I fear you are too young to witness something like this."
The girl glanced at the dying Huntress, and then back to Salem. A moment later, she turned her back, and made her way back to the Pegasus. The monstrous steed gave a snort, and knelt down so that the child could get onto its back.
"You know you cannot win." Salem stated a few moments later. "You can struggle against the inevitable for decades or centuries or millennia. You can slaughter your way through endless hordes of my Grimm. You can even defeat me and mine for a time. But you cannot achieve a permanent victory. I am eternal, Summer Rose. Even with your gift, you cannot kill me." The ancient being sighed, "However...you fought well and hard and fiercely against me on many occasions. If you have any final words, I will hear them."
"We...don't need to kill you!" Summer spat defiantly. "..We j-just need to stop you. And we will stop you."
Salem tilted her head and with an almost sad smile, spoke the last words that Summer Rose would ever hear. And they chilled the SIlver-eyed Warrior to her core, and would thunder in her head as agony overtook her, and she was embraced by eternity..
"..Perhaps your daughter will have better luck at that than you did...Summer Rose."