Gamer4 in. I'm aware that a significant portion of readers only clicked on this story for the Blade end of things, but I do ask everyone to at least give Saga/Gears a decent chance. I've noticed several people seemingly brushing them off as 'those games that happened before Blade," which is really unfair to them. One reviewer even brought up how Square has forgotten Gears, which... isn't quite the argument you think it is. Square was screwing over Gears pretty much from day one, of course they're happy to ditch it nowadays, but Monolith- the people who actually made it- have very clearly not forgotten their roots, still including callbacks to it as recently as Xenoblade 3's DLC. Saga and Gears aren't Blade, true, but they're still great games worth remembering. I even have to put this disclaimer in a Blade-focused episode because I'm decently sure a significant portion of readers immediately disregard updates marked TLC or TVH. On which note, time for me to step back off the ol' soapbox and get to the actual episode. Please enjoy!
Episode XXII
Chronicles of the Crescent Blade
A Journey in the Dark
"Whoo! Yeah, go save him!" Ruby cheered.
"Well, we'll have to get back to that later," Jack intervened. "Schedule says we're going back to Chronicles of the Crescent Blade."
"Isn't that... the one where I died?" Jaune asked, a little nervously.
"Well... yeah," Jack nodded.
"Not gonna complain about getting a break from following him around all the time," Torchwick scoffed.
"Glad to hear it- this one stars Ruby instead," Jack smirked.
"You son of a-"
"You know, I oughtta ask, before we get too far," Yang turned to Ruby as they stepped further into Tephra Cave. "You... do have a plan, don't you?"
"A plan for what?" Ruby asked.
"For how we're gonna track this bitch down," Yang clarified. "You're not exactly a tracker, Rubes, and it flying means it won't be leaving anything to track anyways."
"Brothers spare me, please say she had some sort of plan," Weiss prayed.
"Eh, that's not how she does things," Yang smirked.
"Yang!" Ruby objected. "I think... some things through!"
"On the fly, yes," Blake pointed out. "I'm sure Weiss remembers your plan involving the nevermo-"
"AHH, NOT IN FRONT OF UNCLE QROW!" Ruby pleaded, flapping her arms.
"A little late for that, Squirt," Qrow chuckled. "Oz filled me in about your initiation right after it happened."
"Ohhhh... everyone's against me..." Rivers of tears ran down Ruby's eyes.
"Well... I know where to start, at least," Ruby answered after a moment. "Once we come out onto Bionis's Knee, I figure we should go to Colony 6."
"Wait, Colony 6 and 9?" Yang smirked. "There's no way that's a coincidence."
"It's not," Jack agreed. "All the other colonies got completely destroyed by mechon."
"Oh." The smirk immediately slipped from Yang's lips. "Well, that makes my joke a lot less funny."
"As if it were amusing to begin with," Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Huh... I guess that's as good a place as any to start," Yang agreed. "The mechon must have passed by them one way or the other- maybe they saw something."
"That's the hope," Ruby agreed.
"Alright, then Colony 6 it is!" Yang agreed. She glanced behind them and watched as the cave's entrance shrank. "Get a look at the light, Rubes- might be a while before you see the sun again."
Ruby agreed, glancing back just before they turned a corner and the pinprick of sunglight vanished.
"Good thing you guys aren't claustrophobic," Nora grimaced.
"You are?" Sun raised an eyebrow.
"If you knew her, you'd realize how silly of a question that is," Jaune winced.
"Indeed," Ren nodded simply.
For the first few minutes, they were still travelling over well-familiar ground, through the Mag Mell Ruins, where a few men and women were at work assessing damage. "Did the mechon come through here?" Yang asked of what looked to be the foreman.
"Seems like some did," he answsered. "That, or there was some kind of earthquake, a lot of the main tunnels have caved in. Where were ya planning on going?"
"Colony 6," Ruby answered promptly. "We wanted to see how our neighbors are doing."
"Well, it'll take you some time to get through in that case," the foreman sighed. "That route suffered the most damage, unless you count the Bone Corridor- which I'm happy not to."
"Bone Corridor?" Yang smirked.
"Because it burrows through what is, essentially, Bionis's ankle bone," Jack answered.
"Oh, I thought it might be for another-"
"Shut. Up," Blake sighed.
"Well, we weren't exactly planning on going through the Corridor anyways," Yang said through a very forced-looking smile. "Guess we'll have to go past Vilia Lake. You're in for a treat, Rubes!"
Ruby smiled- she'd heard stories of the glowing lake at the heart of Tephra Cave before, though never seen it herself.
"Ooohhh, a glowing lake?" Nora beamed. "Sounds pretty!"
"At a guess, it's populated by a species of phytoplankton, causing it to bioluminesce!" Weiss speculated.
"NEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRD!" Yang called at the top of her lungs.
"Keep your eyes open," the foreman warned as they crossed the threshold out of the Ruins. "If there are tunnels that got blocked off, it stands to reason that others may have been reopened."
"We'll stick to the posts," Yang promised, pointing to a nearby brazier filled with the light of ether. "That oughtta keep any nasties away."
Ruby nodded as they moved off into the tunnels, which quickly began winding and twisting its way, moving only slightly but steadily upward.
"Still," Ruby commented, "if armed traders need posts, we really should keep up our guard."
"Were you planning on just thudding around at random?" Yang quirked a brow- not that Ruby could see it. Almost the second they turned the corner, they were cast into near blackness.
"Of... of course not." Ruby found herself faltering- for some reason, it felt like she should be keeping her voice down here.
Yang seemed to have noticed this as well. "Think you can take out Crescent Rose? Wouldn't hurt to have some light on the subject."
Ruby hesitantly produced the scythe, which immediately opened up at her will- the bright blue blade seemed to poke both sisters sharply in the eyes as it illuminated the narrow tunnel. She had braced herself, but needn't have- it didn't electrocute her anymore than it had during the mechon attack.
"Crescent Rose would never hurt me!" Ruby delcared proudly, hands on her hips. She then shrank back onto the couch. "Though... I wish she didn't hurt Uncle Qrow either."
"I still have trouble picturin' myself using her," Qrow considered.
"Okay, that'll work!" Yang grunted, arm over her eyes as she allowed them to adjust to the new light. "C'mon, let's get going."
For a long time, they walked through the tunnels in absolute silence- even their footfalls were muffled by the dirt beneath their boots. Every now and again, the path would split off- fortunately, most diversions were marked with a post, and where they weren't, Yang seemed to know exactly where she was going, as she didn't hesitate at any of these branches, guiding Ruby through a labyrinth she couldn't even keep track of. Right, left, left again, hard right turnpin, straight ahead, sharp left...
"They're going quite a distance!" Velvet observed.
"Didn't think this was gonna be a picnic, did ya?" Torchwick scoffed. "Damn kids haven't spent three seconds in the real world..."
"Want to say that to my face?" Blake hissed.
"Ease up, Kit-Kat, let's just let him off with an 'Okay, Boomer,' what say?" Yang suggested.
At some point, the posts started appearing less and less frequently as they strayed further and further from the beaten path.
Abruptly, Yang threw an arm out. "Careful, there- sharp drop coming up!"
Ruby slowed down, her eyes widening as the narrow tunnel abruptly opened up onto a large cavern. She and Yang had stepped onto a ledge, a winding path that spiralled around the chamber towards a large, glowing pool. "Is that Vilia Lake?" she asked breathlessly.
"Oh, no!" Yang laughed. "That is." She pointed upwards- Ruby followed her finger and saw water dripping down from the ceiling, trickling down great stalactites that must have formed over thousands of years.
"Damn, these worlds are pretty!" Sun grinned.
"I'd like to visit these worlds with my camera," Velvet agreed, wide-eyed. Everyone else nodded mutely.
It took about ten minutes to reach the cavern's bottom- as they stepped off towards the pool, Yang's own smile turned into a scowl. It didn't take Ruby long to see why- dotted around the pool's banks were several mutilated bodies. "No!" Ruby gasped.
"That's... not so pretty," Neptune noted heavily.
Yang knelt down, taking in their uniforms. "This emblem... traders from Colony 6."
Ruby was more focused on their injuries. "These... aren't mechon wounds."
"No," Yang agreed, shaking her head. "That guy wasn't kidding... man, I don't wanna go like this. Not even a fight to the death with mechon, just some monsters in a cave..."
"They must have had friends... family..." Ruby noted sadly.
"Yeah... wouldn't surprise me..." Yang ageed again.
"Connections that made them weak," Raven sniffed.
"Do you want me to let Yang deck you?" Jack gaped.
"Will you?" Yang asked, cracking her knuckles.
"Before we move on," Ruby whispered, "shouldn't we return them to Bionis?"
"Oh- yeah," Yang nodded. "I'm no pastor, but... well, I'm sure Bionis won't mind."
"Return them... to Bionis?" Velvet asked.
"It sounds like their equivalent of administering last rites," Ozpin surmised.
The next couple hours were spent digging a shallow hole- the deepest they could manage in the cave's hard dirt- and covering up the corpses. Yang cleared her throat. "Er... ashes to ashes, dust to dust... as all life comes from Bionis, so too must we all one day return to it. O holy mother, please take back these men and women who were taken too soon."
"A surprisingly well-done send-off," Winter nodded curtly.
"She can be thoughtful sometimes... when she has to be," Qrow smiled.
Ruby used the tip of Crescent Rose's handle to etch a mark into the ground where the traders lay. She knew it was hardly permanent- it would be fortunate to last a week- but it was the best they had to offer on such short notice.
"Let's go a little further before we set up camp," Yang suggested quietly. Ruby nodded in silence.
"Already setting up camp?" Adam snorted. "It hasn't even been an hour!"
"For us, true," Blake muttered. "But for them, I'm guessing it's been a lot longer."
"What, you thought we were gonna watch them trudge through a cave in real time?" Neo snickered.
Adam growled, but said nothing more.
Back into the tunnels, it wasn't long before the glowing pool was behind them and they were once again following Crescent Rose's light. Despite their internal promise to go 'a little further,' it was a few hours of walking later that they finally came to a halt- the path had once again split, this time into three distinct trails. Yang glanced between them, biting her lip. "I... don't remember this place."
Ruby glanced around and located a small curve in the wall. "Looks like a good place to camp for the... night?"
Yang shrugged. "Hell if I know what time it is. Yeah, let's set up."
She dug a hole in the ground and filled it with some wood before sparking them with a match. A moment later, they were cooking some dinner. As they ate, Yang's mind returned to the dead traders they'd found- and by extension, the massacre they'd just narrowly endured. "Rubes?"
"Yeah?"
"You ever wonder why the mechon attacked us in the first place?"
"Okay, who is she and what did she do with Yang?" Weiss interjected. "There's no way that's her!"
"Really?" Yang huffed.
"She's absolutely right," Blake agreed. "Our Yang would never bother wondering about why the fight's happening."
"Oh, good, we're roasting me again," Yang groaned.
"But Yang, that's what we love about you!" Nora beamed.
"What you love about her, maybe," Ren sighed.
Ruby chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "I've wondered before... but no, I have no idea." Another bite. "Sometimes, I think about the old war between Bionis and Mechonis... maybe something to do with that?"
"It's hard to tell," Pyrrha considered. "Based on what we've seen of the mechon, I don't really get the sense that they're sentient. They really do seem like machines... except maybe that faced one."
"Maybe it's the classic 'humans create technology, technology conquers humanity' thing?" Neptune suggested.
"That'd make sense," Sun nodded agreeably. "Matrix, Terminator, Deus Ex, seems machines always decide to conquer humanity."
"Is that... truly inevitable?" Penny asked uncomfortably.
"No, no, of course not!" Ruby quickly assured her. "It's not like it happens all the time! I mean, there's Star Wars, Star Trek, and Halo, right?"
"Well, yeah, there's always that," Sun conceded.
"It doesn't strike me that these homs have the technology to create those levels of technology," Ozpin considered. "Though, of course, the severity of the war may well have set them back, technologically speaking."
"It seems we have no choice but to watch further to learn more," Whitley grunted.
"It seemed like... like they were eating the homs they caught." Yang's voice turned solemn as she recalled exactly what she'd seen. "Could it be we're just... food to them?"
"I guess it's... it's possible." The meat Ruby was eating suddenly felt more like carpet. "But I... it's hard to imagine homs being food for machines."
"Then maybe we did something wrong?" Yang considered. "Something to make them want revenge?"
"Hunanity being what it is, I wouldn't be surprised," Adam sneered.
"What do you think, Kit-Kat?" Yang asked, nudging Blake.
"I... wouldn't rule out the possibility," Blake admitted, chewing on a nail, "but like we keep saying... I'd like to see some more before making any firm judgements."
"Maybe..." Ruby acknowledged. "But still... after what they did..."
"Yeah." Yang's brow furrowed. "After what they did, I don't care what excuse they might have. I'll never forgive them!"
"That sounds more like Yang," Ruby nodded.
"Some sense for once," Adam smirked. "Let the hatred flow through you, girl-"
"Oh, shut up, Palpatine," Neptune rolled his eyes.
Ruby looked at the ground. "When... when it happened... Crescent Rose showed me that Jaune was in danger. But... but I couldn't... I couldn't do anything..."
She was shaking, tears welling up in her eyes. "I couldn't save him!"
Yang hummed. "I get it... you somehow got it into your head that it's your fault."
"Because it-"
"No," Yang interrupted, "it isn't. Knowing what's about to happen doesn't mean you can do anything about it. Qrow and I were there, Rubes- we saw you do everything you could. And if it weren't for you... plenty more people would have died."
"I don't know about you, but this is the Yang I like," Pyrrha smiled gently.
"She's right, Rubes, it wasn't your fault," Jaune agreed. "I should know- I'm the one who died, and the only one I blame is that faced mechon."
"Thanks..." Ruby scratched at the back of her head.
"If I'm not enough... then why would Crescent Rose choose me?" Ruby asked, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Actually, I was giving that some thought myself," Yang conceded. "It definitely chose you- it's no coincidence you can use it in ways even Qrow can't. It seems like the two of you were fated to be together, you know? Pops told me about when he found it."
"Wait, Dad was the one to find Crescent Rose?" Yang perked up.
The screen momentarily faded to black as the girls' memories of Taiyang's tale painted a picture of what had happened.
An expedition across Bionis to find something- a weapon, a tool, anything to tilt the scales of the war with the mechon. Things could plainly not continue as they had been, lest the homs' lives be entirely extinguished. It was led by two members of the legendary Team STRQ, Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose.
Ruby's lip suddenly began to tremble. "...Mom?"
Here they were, fighting their way through colossal drifts of snow. Summer was starting to fall behind, doing everything she could to protect the small bundle in her arms- the child who had unexpectedly been born during this expedition.
"Splendid timing as always, Summer," Raven sneered.
"Still taking better care of her daughter than someone I could name," Qrow fired back.
She called out to Tai- "We need to find shelter soon! Ruby will get sick at this rate!"
Tai looked around, until his eyes widened and he pointed to a large spike protruding from the ground in the distance. "A tower! We can hide from the wind, build a fire!"
He fell behind, ensuring that the others were doing okay. Finally, he addressed Summer. "I saw a geyser not too far back- I'm going to refill our water supplies. You make sure everyone gets tucked in comfortably."
Summer smiled and nodded her agreement before hoisting her baby girl in her arms and pressing on.
It was the last time Tai saw her alive.
"Ohhhh..." Ruby whimpered.
It took roughly ten minutes to fight his way to the geyser he'd seen, and another fifteen to trudge back to the tower, where he saw a large door hanging ajar. "No... no, no, nononono!"
He hurried across the last few yards into the tower, which he found full of bodies. Every single life of the expedition had been snuffed out. His eyes were wide as he took them all in- not a single mark on any of the cadavers. It was as though their hearts had simply decided to stop beating.
"Summer?" he asked, lowering his hood for better visibility- it was strikingly warmer inside the tower than out. "Summer?"
There was no answer- only a sharp cry from the head of the chamber. He looked, and his jaw dropped.
There was a dais, upon which rested a magnificent crimson arch- a scythe, if he wasn't mistaken. He moved towards it, and heard a sharp cry again- this time from a bundle of cloth just beneath the pedestal. He looked down and saw the sole survivor of whatever had happened here- young Ruby Rose, crying out for her mother. He blinked, and a warm, sad smile crossed his face as he reached down and picked her up and began to rock her. "Close your eyes... have no fear... monster's gone, it's on the run, and Daddy's here..." he crooned as he lulled her into sleep. When at last she drifted off, he turned his attention to the blade.
"Wait, but... but what? What actually killed them?" Velvet asked, her ears flattening.
"You don't suppose it was Crescent Rose, do you?" Pyrrha hypothesized. "It has been shown to be rather temperamental in the past."
"Yeah, but it left marks on Qrow," Jaune reminded her. "When it shocked his arm, it left burns all up and down. On those guys... nothing."
"There's no way Crescent Rose would kill Mom!" Ruby stood firm.
"Of course not," Weiss agreed, patting her reassuringly. "Which still begs the question of what did."
Back in the present, Yang wrapped up her recollection of Tai's story. "He said he never found out what really happened. All he could figure was that it was some 'overpowering, compelling force,' which... well, that could mean anything, couldn't it?"
"Yeah..." Ruby nodded. "I hope you're not asking me what happened."
"No, no, of course not," Yang chuckled wanly. "I think I'd actually be a little disturbed if you remembered something that far back. It's just... maybe that's when it happened. Maybe Crescent Rose had you picked out since then. I think you sure picked it out at the time- as soon as you were old enough to talk, you were helping the Old Man with researching it."
"There's... something to that, yeah," Ruby agreed. "Something about it does make me feel closer to Mom. But even more than that... this is supposed to be the weapon Bionis used against Mechonis. I want to learn its secret."
"A titan, killing another titan with that dinky little thing?" Torchwick scoffed. "I know Neo can kill men with a toothpick, but this is ridiculous!"
"That'd be one awesome weapon transformation," Ruby drooled.
"You'll find it, I'm sure of it," Yang smiled indulgently. "Alright, let's get some rest. I'll take first watch."
"You don't have to-" Ruby started, but Yang cut her off.
"I'm your big sister, it's my job to. Get some rest."
"You're damn right," Yang nodded approvingly.
"...Quite," Winter almost whispered her agreement.
Seeing there was no winning this argument, Ruby slipped into her sleeping bag. The ground was rough and uncomfortable, but she was exhausted, and asleep within seconds. Yang smiled as the troubles seemed to slip away from her face. She quickly turned to the tunnels, though, when she heard a distant rustling. Straining her ears, she thought she might hear a sort of chanting in the distance.
"We are small, but we are many.
We are many, we are small.
We were here when you rose,
And we will be here when you fall."
Before she could determine that she'd heard properly, the rustling disappeared, leaving her peering even more intently into the darkness, determined to see any threats before they could strike.
"That... is... disturbing," Velvet shuddered.
"Who is 'we?'" Whitley pondered. "They speak as if they're apart from hum- homs."
"I really... really hate this cave," Nora squirmed.
Ruby did not hear the rustling- she was already fast asleep. And dreaming.
She was standing on a small, craggy rock in the middle of a vast sea. It was calm, the water mirror-smooth, but there was a heavy fog obscuring anything further than a few feet. It was peaceful- a land where nothing happened- never had and never would.
Abruptly, she became conscious of a second person on the rock with her. She turned to take in the other presence, but could only make out their silhouette through the fog.
"Do you wish to change it?"
"That voice, does anyone know that voice?" Qrow asked.
"It's too distorted," Winter shook her head. "I doubt I'd recognize it if it were my own."
Ruby tilted her head. "Change...?"
"The future," the voice clarified. "Every homs desires to change the future. Is it not so? Even if- perhaps especially if- all things have been predetermined?"
"I... I don't understand..."
"Why do weird dream guys always have to be so cryptic?" Nora grumbled.
"I believe it's part of the job description," Ren commented wryly.
"You have the Monado," the voice continued. "It will grow with you- if you can discover its true form, the future will be yours for the taking."
"Monado?" Weiss tilted her head. "What on earth is a Monado?"
"By context, I can only imagine that person is referring to that overgrown gardening tool," Whitley surmised.
"What of it, Ruby?" Ozpin asked. "Perhaps the word means something to you?"
"No... I've never heard it in my life," Ruby shook her head honestly.
"Well... it is just a dream," Velvet pointed out fairly.
"True... but dreams in these worlds tend to have a great deal of meaning," Ren pointed out.
A third voice echoed through the fog- "Ruby!"
Ruby turned and saw something that chilled her to the bone. The sea had been replaced with a large cavern chamber, filled with monstrous spiders the size of armus. In the center was an even larger one, the side of Qrow's house, bearing down on her. In one snap of its massive jaws, Yang's body was rent asunder.
Even as the life left her eyes, Ruby heard her call out again: "Ruby! RUBY!"
Ruby awoke with a jolt, and swiftly wondered how she'd slept through the assault going on around her. Yang was standing and fighting against spiders the like of which she'd just been dreaming about.
"SPIDERS!" Velvet hid her eyes under her ears.
"Have I mentioned I really hate this cave?" Nora's leg was bouncing up and down, causing the entire couch to shake.
"About time!" Yang cried when she saw Ruby's eyes open. "I knock one down, three more come in!"
Ruby immediately grabbed Crescent Rose's handle- it instantly unfolded into a brilliant blade of light that destroyed an entire swath of their attackers in one stroke.
Then something happened that truly shocked her- through the clicking noises surrounding them, the spiders began to speak. "Spider-cleaver! Spider-cleaver! Take the girl and retreat- retreat!"
A particularly large spider managed to grab hold of Yang with its two front legs- with the other six, it turned around and quickly scuttled away down the center tunnel. To Ruby's surprise, the other spiders fell into line, quickly scampering away from her blade of light. She watched them go for only a second before taking off after them. "Yang, Yang!" Dread ran through her veins- if that vision came true...
"No..." Ruby moaned. "Don't take Yang, too..."
"They're not going to," Yang growled.
She paid no attention to the tunnels around them as she made her pursuit. All she cared about was the spider in front of her, the last in a long line that ultimately led to Yang.
The clicking noise started again, and she thought she heard laughter mixed in with it as first the spiders in the front, slowly spreading to the spiders in the back started to sing.
"Swish, snatch,
Trap and catch,
Then down, down to spider town,
Down, down to spider town,
Down, down to spider town...
You go, my girl!
Ho ho, my girl!
Grunt and bleat,
Does our fresh meat,
As we drag you down,
So good to eat,
Down, down, in spider town,
Down, down in spider town,
Down, down in spider town...
Below, my girl!
Ho ho, my girl!"
"Okay, I may be crapping myself," Nora admitted without any shame, "but this song kinda slaps."
"I'd have thought you'd like the idea of spiders," Ren commented. "Lots of legs to break."
Nora's mouth opened in an O, then slowly shifted to a grin. "So many legs to break... so many legs to break!"
"Ren... what have you done?" Jaune whimpered.
Ruby wasn't conscious of how long she pursued the grotesque procession, but it eventually emptied out into a large cavern- a large, awfully familiar cavern, full of still more giant spiders. In the center was the worst of all- the house-sized arachno that she had witnessed killing Yang in her vision. And it was before this spider that Yang's deposited her.
"Ah, fresh meat," it clicked happily.
Ruby rushed in, Crescent Rose at the ready, but her heart sank- this was exactly the situation she'd wanted to avoid, playing out before her, and she wasn't going to make it in time- it was just like before.
The spider queen reared back, opening her mighty jaws. Yang raised her fists, but there was little they could do against a monster like this. For a brief moment, Ruby saw the metal-faced mechon, sword raised, ready to murder Jaune all over again.
"It's... it's coming true!" Ruby was biting her nails.
I can't let this happen! It was the only thought filling her mind as she desperately swung Crescent Rose- and to her surprise, a wave of yellow light emerged from the arc, soaring towards Yang. Just as the jaws were about to pierce her, a hexogonal field appeared around her, nearly breaking the great queen's teeth. Yang looked just as surprised as the spider must have been as it recoiled. "WHAT?!" it roared.
"What just happened?" Sun couldn't help wondering.
"Some deus ex machina bullshit, as usual," Torchwick sighed.
"Yang!" Ruby cried as she leapt into the circle.
"Ruby, what was-" Yang started asking, but she was cut off by the spider queen's roar.
"MONADO! SPIDER-CLEAVER! MURDERERS! FRIENDS OF GIANTS!"
Ruby's silver eyes flashed- she vividly saw the spider queen's movements as it caught the sisters in her legs and ripped them apart.
She snapped back to the present, and swiftly dodged each strike in turn before swinging Crescent Rose upwards, cleanly cleaving the great queen in half.
"Nice!" Yang grinned. "That's how you do it!"
The awful noise that now filled the cavern must have been the screams and shrieks of the spiders forced to watch their queen die. Ruby looked around, and spotted another tunnel leading out. "Yang..."
"Got it," Yang agreed, eyeing their escape. They stood back-to-back, Ruby brandishing the blade the spiders so clearly feared as they stepped towards it. The second they crossed the threshold, they broke formation and ran for it. They didn't know or care if the spiders were chasing- all they were interested in was getting as far away from that cavern as possible.
"Good idea," Velvet gulped. "Very good idea."
"Yeah, Crescent Rose or not, I don't fancy your chances against that many monsters," Qrow agreed.
Time once again lost all meaning, all their energy and attention devoted to putting one foot in front of the other as fast as they could. They didn't stop until they saw a small pinprick of light- not torchlight, but natural light- that gave them all the wind they needed. Only when they at last stood outside the darkness of Tephra Cave did they finally collapse, panting and exhausted, into a patch of grass.
"Never... again..." Yang forced out. "Never... again..."
"So you... don't wanna go back in... and show me... Vilia Lake?" Ruby attempted to inject some humor into the situation.
"Only... if you want to be... spider bait," Yang panted back. "Still... good to know Crescent Rose... works on more than just mechon."
"I can't help but notice that the spider queen, too, referred to Crescent Rose as 'Monado,'" Ozpin recalled. "I believe it may be fair to say that 'Monado' is the weapon's true name."
"And Crescent Rose is just what the homs called it when they found it?" Qrow filled in. "I guess that checks out."
"So... it really wasn't my baby that was hurting Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Never was, kiddo," Qrow winked at her.
Ruby's breathing was slowly starting to return to normal. "I had... another vision. Just before you woke me up. It made me realize... the future I see isn't set. It's a warning- it's what will happen if I don't do anything." Once more, the scene of Jaune's death flashed before her eyes. "Or... if I can't do anything. A chance to change the future in our favor."
"Change the future, huh?" Yang smiled as she forced herself into a sitting position. "Sounds like something I can get behind. If Jaune were here... I think he'd be all for it, too."
"Hmmm... would that we had some form of that power in our world," Ren considered.
The two of them turned, and finally realized where they were- Bionis's knee, a grassy cliffside overlooking the stretch of ocean between the two titans. They realized now that the sun was, in fact, setting over the distant horizon, creating quite the spectacle when they looked up and across the sea towards Mechonis- the hulking titan of metal, whose top they could barely see by craning their necks. Faint red lights glimmered at the area where its face would be. Ruby wondered what was casting those lights, or if she even cared to find out.
Bridging the gap between the two titans was Mechonis's mighty swords, the grooves in which formed the canyon that was Sword Valley, where Qrow and Tai had stood brave and beaten the mechon back for a year's reprieve. Even as far as they'd climbed, the sword was still high above them. Bionis's arm reached down and clutched onto the swords that cut into its side.
"We really are like insects compared to them." Ruby's eyes were wide.
"No, even insects are bigger in relation to humans," Winter denied. "More like... bacteria."
"I remember reading somewhere that size is the thing that always defeats us," Blake stared. "How true that is here."
"I never get used to this view," Yang nodded.
"There it is... Mechonis," Ruby narrowed her eyes.
"Our enemy," Yang agreed.
"Our... enemy..." Ruby repeated, once again filled with anger, her hand clenching into a fist as she looked upon the homeland of the machines that had taken so much from her.
"It's so weird to see Rubes so angry," Yang commented.
"Given what happened, I can hardly blame her," Weiss admitted.
"Will we be taking a break from this world now?" Jaune asked.
"I guess we could," Jack considered, "but I think we can stick with it a little longer, now that the adventure is finally really starting. Unless there are any objections?"
There weren't, so they settled down and awaited the screen's return to light.
XXXX
I lost my voice. Fortunately, that doesn't stop me from typing. Despite my misgivings, I didn't intentionally sit on this episode, I just... I'm kinda overwhelmed with a lot of things right now, writing being the least of them. I'm gonna try and get back into the swing of things, ideally when I'm not in a fever-induced haze. Always a plus in general. Until then, feel free to drop a review, and don't you dare go hollow! Gamer4 out.