RWBY: Avenge Me

Chapter 4: For Myself

"What about you!? It's all about you!"- Rusted Knight Jaune Arc

Selfishness. This trait is like a bomb, it initially builds upon its own power, but once it is released it harms those around it without discrimination. When this horrible power is unleashed, how will it treat a once noble soul?

Yang panted heavily as she ran through the thick bracket of Patch forest as fast as her emaciated body would allow. Normally such desperation of pace would be to avoid Grimm, such as the Beowolves howling towards the moon as they sensed the girl's foul mood, hungry to make her their next meal. Yang's stomach growled as she wobbled while pushing aside some thicket.

"Man…really would have liked that steak right about now." Yang groaned slightly, imagining that juicy cut of meat on Blake's plate from earlier before shaking her head as she tried to refocus as she neared the end of the forest.

From the threat of the Grimm, to her own starving body, Yang cared not, just like she didn't care about anything else for about a year. Yang's eyes narrowed as she felt a surge of guilt in her heart. She knew she had to find Blake and apologize for her selfishness. Blake had every right to run off crying, Yang was just surprised it took her so long to do so, but was still worried nonetheless for her partner's health. Those Grimm would surly love feeding off her as much as her negativity, not that she didn't have right to be negative after bottling it all up for a year for Yang's sake. Just as Yang's eyes began to water at the thought, they widened as she cleared the forest at last, eyeing Blake at the edge of a cliff, kneeling in somber defeat before something that made Yang's heart feel like rupturing.

"H-Hello Ruby." Blake stuttered nervously as eyed her friends tombstone on the cliffside. To say this was awkward for the catgirl was an understatement. It was even more so for Yang as she quietly hung back behind a tree, careful not to disturb her partner; it was clear this was meant to be a private moment.

"I'm sorry I haven't been coming around lately it's just Yang has….*sigh*" Blake said bitterly as she huffed sadly. Yang felt her heartstring's tug at the sound of Blake's tone.

"I'm sorry I kept you from coming her for so long but….come on! I lost my arm and my sister. I was fucked!" Yang thought with a painful wince.

"No I'm sorry. I had every chance to come here, it was just hard to think about you." Blake's words caught Yang off-guard.

"I know I shouldn't blame Yang for being a coward and not seeing you. You wouldn't have wanted to hear me badmouth your sister. No…you wouldn't want anyone to badmouth anybody. You'd always say "We need to set an example as huntresses and be better than those kinds of people." Blake chuckled a little as she made her voice a bit high pitched to mimic Ruby. Yang couldn't help but risk exposing herself to snicker a bit happily. Her eyes widened as she thought of something at that moment.

"Is this really the first time all year I wasn't sad thinking about Ruby?" Yang thought. Turns out she wasn't the only one a bit shocked and upset thinking this as she heard Blake sigh sadly as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm crying so much around you, It would have made you worry to see me do anything but smile….Ruby, we didn't really get much time together to know much about the other outside of team events and reading." Blake said somberly as her ears went flat on her head, imagining the days in their pajamas just reading on her bed together, Ruby smiling and gushing over her ninja books and mimicking poses of them to Blake's amusement, as well as food fights and Grimm hunting they engaged with Team JNPR at Beacon. Soon a smile crept in the edge of Blake's mouth.

"But right here….right now… I'd have given up my arm like Yang if I just could have saved you back there; just get to do some of that stuff with you, to get see that, *Sniff* goofy smile of yours and here you scream you wanted to be a hero!" Blake yelled as she couldn't contain herself anymore, soon taking out something Yang couldn't make out before she heard something chip her sister's grave.

"Is she writing something?" Yang thought curiously, taking slow steps forward to try and see. She paused as her skin paled at the sound of Blake's yelling, worried she'd been exposed.

"Ruby! You were always my hero! You always accepted me even after learning I lied to you about being a human, that I was a White Fang criminal. You never cared because you loved me like you did Yang and Weiss. Why did you have to go!? Why did you have to have that damn trait!?" Blake cried as she dropped her spike, resting her head on the tombstone as her tears wet the grave of her fallen friend. At that point, Yang couldn't keep quite anymore.

"Blake." Yang whispered as she knelt down beside her to her shock.

"W-What are you doing here Xiao Long? Shouldn't you be rotting in your tomb of a room?" Blake asked bitterly as she wiped her tears. Yang recoiled a bit as she heard those scathing words, her eyes flickering red a moment as rage entered her heart, before remembering there were tears in Blake's as well that reminded Yang of her of own folly.

"I deserve that. I…I'm sorry I held you down like an anchor for so long. I was a total jerk thinking only about myself for so long." Yang apologized softly. Blake sighed as she clenched her trembling hands, covered in blood and rubble. It was clear she had an urge to hit her partner at that reminder.

*THUD*

"OW!" Yang cried as she rubbed her aching jaw after Blake's fist connected. Blake had enough of inhibiting herself after all this time, she needed that.

"You deserved that as well. Were even then." Blake said bitterly. Despite a brief flicker of embers coming off Yang's hair, they died down as Yang took a deep breath at that comment, knowing it was true.

"Fine. Can't believe your scrawny arms hurt me so much though." Yang groaned as she checked her teeth, thankfully all were there.

"You wouldn't have need aura if you didn't let yourself rot away." Blake grumbled as she lifted Yang's remaining arm, pointing out how emancipated it was.

"You aren't strength like I thought you were Yang. That isn't your trait, not anymore." Blake said bitterly.

"Trait?" Yang raised an eyebrow confused as she asked this. Her eyes soon locked onto Ruby's tombstone when Blake pointed at it. It now said.

Ruby Rose

A true Huntress like her Mother.

As Pure as one too.

"When I get to know someone I usually find a trait that matches them. I get to know Ruby and instantly though she was the embodiment of purity." Blake said warmly. Yang sniffled a bit hearing that, it was always nice to hear people speak warmly of her little sister. It just felt right hearing this as well.

"*Snicker* She wasn't pure though when she snuck into the kitchen as a kid and ate the whole cookie jar." Yang chuckled at the memory, especially at the guilty look on Ruby's face when Mom and Dad caught her. Blake couldn't help but laugh a bit hearing this; it only confirmed her view of her leader even more so.

"I found traits for all my teammates. Weiss as you could guess was defiance. Lord knows how stubborn she could be when opposed." Blake sighed with a bit of a smile.

"Yeah, she really had a lot of pride, but I still miss her too. It was nice seeing her get embarrass and blush when we teased her about getting soft around Ruby." Yang chuckled, remembering the time Ruby Zwei-eyed the heiress into letting her watch a space wars movie over a Snooty romance flick Weiss insisted on for movie night at the dorms. But Yang's smile faded as she remembered something.

"I can't believe it took me so long to think about her. She got dragged away after all that and couldn't even mourn with us. She's all alone in Atlas while we have each other here." Yang lamented, but Blake almost growled as if she was a tiger to Yang's worry, her heart sinking seeing a bitter look on Blake's face.

"I was alone too really. You weren't even here Yang. You locked yourself in that room, in your own little world afraid to come out or let me in to help you while I had to mourn by myself and watch you rot." Blake said bitterly.

"I was just….I was dying inside without her. I was scared of going outside to the world that took her from me." Yang cried softly.

"Because you lost your trait." Blake retorted.

"And what was that?" Yang asked sadly.

"Strength. I use to think you were the strongest in the world, so confident and willful to get through any crisis, like Adam once." Blake said sadly. Yang and her shuddered at the mention of the man, Yang's stump burning as it memorized the hot steel of Adam's sword slicing its skin. "But he was truly just spite, something terrible like yours is now after you lost that strength. Yours is cowardice." Blake said.

"I-I'm no coward!" Yang roared, a fire lit in her as her eyes turned red. "There's nothing more that I want right now than to pummel that bitch Cinder for taking my baby sister away from me! But what am I supposed to do!? Qrow said she'd dead! Ruby killed her and any chance I could get closure, there's no one for me to pummel and make myself feel better." Yang groaned. Blake sighed as she heard that, not sure if she'd regret saying this.

"She's alive Yang." Blake said hesitantly making Yang recoil.

"W-What?" Yang asked, a bit of fear in her tone mixed with anger.

"Qrow told me she survived, but was recovering somewhere in Mistral. JNPR is heading to Haven to find her, to kill her and avenge Ruby." Blake said. She wasn't fazed by the weak punch the hungry Yang gave her, feeling hardly any weight.

"Why didn't you tell me?! I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO KILL HER!" Yang hollered, almost matching the howls of Grimm in the far east responding to her rage. Blake simply stood up calmly and pushed her chest, making Yang wobble and plop on her butt.

"That's why. Qrow and I knew you'd run off in an instant to follow them if you knew, but you're not ready. Even before you rotted away your mind was shot, weak like your body. You would have gotten yourself killed in a minute." Blake coldly pointed out. She remembered Yang doing this to her when she ran herself ragged with sleepless nights tracking down the White Fang. It was harsh, but it needed to be said to wake Yang up.

"T-Then I'm going now! I'm better now, I just need some rest and we'll go to Haven and-" Yang countered as she stood up or at least tried to as she wobbled on her trembling knees.

"Yang. Even once we fatten you up again, can you fight like you used to?" Blake asked her.

"O-Of course I can. So what if I don't have 2 arms I-" Yang said before Blake's glare made her pause. "What?" Yang asked.

"I know you know about the arm. The one Taiyang made for you." Blake said scathingly, making Yang tremble. She indeed heard her father's loving tone past her mental lockdown, even catching a glimpse of that box he left for her containing a silver mechanical arm he crafted from materials he said the teachers of Beacon and Ironwood spared him for her sake. It sickened her to her stomach the mere thought of putting it on. It felt like a lie, a grim reminder of her loss that night, and worse, a sign of her weakness to save anybody especially Ruby. It made Yang weep as she wrapped her legs with her one real arm tightly.

"If you want to go Haven Yang, you need to prove you can handle it."

Blake sighed as she saw the message get through, just not as painlessly as Yang's had for her at Beacon. She eyed Ruby's tomb in the corner of her eye and nodded, getting the resolve to do this. She knew it would be tough, but she also knew a hot head like Yang could thrive with a challenge, and if she wanted to avenge their "sister" then Blake would need Yang to regain her strength.

"How do I do that?" Yang asked, still not looking up, only at the grave of her sister. Blake knelt down and hugged her tightly.

"When we get back to the house, eat your fill and get back some muscle. Then you gotta put that arm on." Blake said adamantly. As Yang shivered at the last request, Blake just snickered. "If your too much of a chicken to try I get it. I could always go alone and bring back Cinder's head for you to smash like a pumpkin instead." Blake said with a snide. Yang's eyes reddened as she heard this.

"HELL NO!" Yang roared as she locked eyes with Blake. "Screw it then! If it gets you off my back and to Haven lets eat and train again, but I'm killing that bitch first and smashing her head in person!" Yang demanded. Blake smiled and nodded, glad her plan worked. She soon winced as her nose sniffed something foul and she separated from her hug with Yang.

"Problem?" Yang asked curious.

"Before all that though…YOU NEED A BATH!" Blake demanded as she pinched her noise, making Yang blush as she raised her arm and sniffed her armpit and recoiled.

"Yeah! Definitely! Dibs on the bathroom, race ya to the house!" Yang yelled as she ran back to her house. Blake bolted to her feet at the challenge, but her spine chilled as she felt a gust of win on her back, almost swearing she saw a rose petal or two fly by. She looked back but saw nothing, just Ruby and her moms graves, and the full moon above them, as bright as their silver eyes were. Blake shrugged her shoulders as she assumed it was nothing and ran off, determined to beat Yang back home, not hearing the whisper in the night even with her enhanced hearing.

"Thanks for watching over her Blake." A young girls voice whispered as the moonlight shined on Ruby's grave.

Meanwhile in Atlas…

Weiss stood surrounded by a sea of wealthy business men and women in her families ballroom. But to her, she might as well have been alone without her friends there to share the lavish lifestyle with, especially one in particular. This was the after party of her concert, where she performed a song about how she viewed her father. She called her life her own, free of guilt and misery but that couldn't be further from the truth. All around her were rich snobs who praised her for things that she didn't deserve, or at least she felt she didn't deserve. Her family's wealth, all her father and mothers. Her title as heiress to a company that thrived on Faunus labor, all meaningless for a huntress who wanted to help others. Her strength and survival at Beacon, however, was a particularly sharp blade on her heart.

"Strong? I survived because of her, my partner who I let down. I could have been there for, yet I sent her off to her doom How the hell am I strong!?" Weiss bitterly thought. It made her want to leave that party as soon as possible. She couldn't stomach this environment and the constant reminder of her failure. She slowly began walking away from the festivity when she froze, her eyes widening as she heared something she could not let slide.

"But really, does it come as any surprise, what happened to Vale? It was a long time coming if you ask me." A snooty trophy wife clad in cheetah fur snickered. Weiss's brow narrowed furiously as she heard this.

"What. The hell. Did she just say!?" Weiss thought with a fury as she grit her teeth at the woman's arrogance. Unbeknownst to the snob, this was noticed by her husband who placed a hand on her shoulder warrily.

"Honey…" He whispered to her carefully, his tone filled with caution and fear as he eyed Weiss's gaze, but his wife brushed him off.

"What? Hehehe, you said the SAME thing last night dear. If they thought they could get by with just a little girl rather than a proper kingdom defense like Atlas, then I say good riddance to both." The snob laughed. Weiss's jaw dropped slightly at that last comment.

"Little girl? Ruby!? How dare she mock her!?" Weiss thought mad as hell. She could no longer contain her rage, this feeling she had buried all year long being confined to this house, the prison that invited rich jerks that sickened her for visits.

"Shut up!" Weiss roared at the woman with her fists clenched. The room fell silent, all music ceasing as the pary goers turned to look at the heiress after her outburst. Her father especially was confused and a bit weary hearing her raise her voice, knowing it wasn't a good sign.

"Weiss?" Jacquees said cautiously, but Weiss ignored him, or rather, she focused on not just him but those around him and the woman. To Weiss, they all looked the same, they looked just like she once did when she stared herself in the mirror many times long ago, arrogance and selfishness in human form. It just sickened her to no end.

"You don't have any clue do you!? None of you do! Your all a bunch of idiots!" Weiss yelled with a fury.

"Excuse me?" The trophy wife asked offended, her gaze narrowed dangerously but Weiss wasn't intimidated, she was going to let them all have it.

"Vale got what it deserved? That little girl got what she deserved? That was my home! That was my partner and best friend! Ruby gave her life for both and you have the gull to mock her for it!?" Weiss asked bitterly, her eyes briefly glowing blue as she did so to her father's worry. He ran up and grabbed her wrist.

"Weiss stop it! Your embarrassing us!" Her father whispered but she shrugged him off.

"Your exactly the same as this cow, all of you are! You stand around here acting like your better than everyone else because your rich and have expensive haircuts and ugly dresses that make you look like you've been run over by a cruiser yet delude yourselves into calling it art and fashion!" Weiss mockingly yelled, glancing at the trophy wife whose jaw dropped hearing this.

"You dare!" She yelled.

"I should ask all of you that! You dared to mock my friends death, her sacrifice that saved so many people's lives in Vale including my own, just because she wasn't as rich as you?!" Ruby and every hunter in that kingdom fought for what's right, regardless of money. That makes them a million times better than some weak snobs like you whose only self worth is their million lien!" Weiss roared. As she did so, she began panting as she lost her breath, her legs feeling wobbly from the exertion she held in all year. Her eyes flickered a blue shine as she struggled to breath, her throat choked as a white glyph soon emerged behind her, summoning a white Bourbalisk shaped creature to her and the crowd's shock. It squealed as it locked in on the source of it's summoner's rage, the trophy wife and charged

"STOP!" Weiss screamed in panic as she tried to control the beast, but it ignored her and kept its charge at the trophy wife, who fell on her behind as she stared at the beast in horror. Suddenly, a green laser blasted the beast, disintegrating it into shards of white dust that evaporated. The crowd and Weiss turned their attention to a man with a black beard and military outfit carrying a handgun emitting smoke, one he calmly blew on to get rid of the foul smell.

"General Ironwood! Nice save!" Jacquees yelled in amazement. Ironwood merely nodded before he eyed the trophy wife trembling on the floor staring at Weiss.

"Now you know how those people in Vale felt during that attack bitch." Ironwood thought bitterly, though he really felt tempted to say it right now if not for the tense atmosphere, especially as he eyed Weiss trembling and struggling to breath.

"G-General what are you standing around for?! Arrest her, she tried to kill me! She's insane!" The trophy wife arrogantly yelled. Ironwood just rolled his eyes at the demand and walked up behind the heiress and patted her back to her shock.

"She, is the only one here is making any sense. (Whisper) come on, lets get you some air." Ironwood said proudly as he gently led Weiss out of the gala, the heiress hyperventilating as she clasped her head, overwhelmed by her actions and the death stares the guests gave her.

"I-I'm sorry I….I don't know wha-" She stuttered softly but Ironwood hushed her.

"They don't know anything either. You made that quite clear. No need to arrest you for that, but you need some rest….and some healing." Ironwood assured her as they exited the room. Jacquees sweat nervously as he shuddered at the sight before him.

"This gala's ruined. My family's reputation might be too! That spoiled brat had to throw a tantrum, just…why!?" Jacquees thought with a grimace as he heard people muttering about her words. One thing was certain though, once Ironwood was away from his daughter, and Jacquees was out of the guest's sight, Weiss was going to get it. The man's hand was trembling as it itched to strike his daughters face for this embarresment to him. Weiss meanwhile, ceased her trembling as her breathing returned to normal while she walked away with Ironwood. In fact, her breathing was more relaxed than it ever had been as the weight in her chest finally left.

"That felt good to get off my chest." Weiss said softly to herself.

Several weeks later in Mistral…

"Come on guys! Are you here to be huntsman or play fireman" Pyrrah angrily asked as she stabbed an Ursa through the eye with her scythe spear, disintegrating it as she eyed her team. She had rushed into a small village ransacked by Grimm, catching fire as well while they ran to catch up to her at a pace she didn't approve. She was really eager to try her new weapon, Thorn Rose, and this was the perfect time to do so and didn't need her team slowing her down. Her team had just finished killing some hounds and were putting out the flames with water buckets when they noticed her yell and glared at her.

"Were a little busy helping people Pyrrah, in case you didn't noticed?" Jaune asked her bitterly. Pyrrah huffed as she did, but didn't feel it mattered.

"Let the people save their own damn town. We kill Grimm first, that's our job!" Pyrrah yelled annoyed as she transitioned the spear into scythe form, the slanted blades on the end of each side of the spear unfolding into what looked like two kamas joining together in opposite directions. But it wasn't her new weapon that made her team wince, it was Pyrrah's scathing words as she cut herself a bit by the edge of those blades. She ignored the pain unlike them, knowing it was part of learning, and began to twirl like she saw Ruby do in her videos and practice to behead 4 of a pack of 5 beowolves surrounding her effortlessly before she ducked as one jumped to dodge and attack her. Jaune winced as he saw this ambush, even if the attack failed.

"She's really pushed herself a bit too far huh?" Jaune asked Nora and Ren who glared at Pyrrah nervously and nodded.

"If by little you mean full on me on pancake sugar rush crazy? Then yes." Nora said a bit bitter as she saw Pyrrah huff a bit as she rolled to avoid the Grimm's follow up claw strike to her left.

"She shouldn't be this sloppy with some hounds…nor this cranky. Jaune has she been sleeping well lately?" Ren asked and Jaune sighed sadly.

"One and off. She just keeps staying up so late watching those videos. I get she's cranky from lack of sleep, but I never thought she'd care more about practicing that new weapon than helping people. I don't get what's wrong with her." Jaune said sadly and his teammates nodded as they absentmindedly resumed dousing the house flames. Pyrrah's behavior this year had indeed been troublesome. She not only kept them at arms length, Pyrrah also kept charging into the hordes of Grimm they encountered, even without their help sometimes as they saw her come back from "training" alone covered in cuts and bruises with a bitter look telling them to buzz off. Suddenly Ren got an idea what was causing this as he eyed the champion girl somersault with her weapon to use the curved reverse blade to stab the last Grimm on its stomach before pressing a button gleefully, shooting a flame bullet from the tip of the spear side that melted it from the inside.

"She wants to be more like Ruby." Ren said making his teammates look at him curiously.

"What do you mean Ren? What's Ruby got to do with this?" Nora asked.

"What doesn't she have to do with any of this? Those videos, Pyrrah's new weapon, and our mission itself?" Ren answered back.

"Oh right." Nora said as she remembered their purpose here. "But she should still care more about the people then her fight with a Grimm right?" Nora countered. Jaune gasped a bit as he understood at last though, catching Nora's attention.

"She does care, its just she thinks killing those demons are the ONLY way that matters." Jaune said.

"Indeed. Maybe she's still rocked by Beacon falling, maybe she feels if she fights like the girl who saved everyone, saved her really, then she can be strong enough to save everyone too this time." Ren theorized as he doused the last flame on a nearby house with a water bucket.

"B-But no one blamed her Ren. Well…no one but Yang but Pyrrah said she understood she was just-" Nora countered before Jaune countered back.

"Grieving. We all are still Nora. Grieving, blaming ourselves for not being strong enough to save Beacon, save Ruby too. I think Pyrrah's been doing that the most though." Jaune said sadly as he eyed his partner dust herself off from the ground, flexing her aura to heal her cuts with a smile. Jaune could see the smile was fake, only a mask to hide her sadness and frustration. He remembered countless times her hatred for the title of "Invincible Girl" people gave her. Now he couldn't help but feel his heart shudder as he realized now she wanted that to be true. She was definitely still blaming herself for living up to that title and needed an outlet to curb her frustrations. He just wished she'd slow down from killing these demons out here and focused more on killing her inner ones.

"If you're done putting out the fires then come on! Stop dilly dallying, we need to keep going if were going to make Haven by tomorrow!" Pyrrah yelled as she locked her scythe spear and latched it on her back.

"Pyrrah just take a breather. Lets set up camp and-" Nora demanded but Pyrrah waved her off to her annoyance.

"The sooner we get there the sooner there will be less of these monsters in Mistral. We got a witch to skewer remember? Now come on!" Pyrrah said bitterly as she took off towards the north to her teammates grief. This was going to be a long night's walk.

Ren and Nora in particular, would soon find themselves wishing the night would fade soon. They wanted the bright sunshine to warm their skins as they paled and grew icy cold as Pyrrah's demand soon brought them back to their village, to the home of that beast that skewered their parents like Pyrrah wished to do to Cinder.

The Knucklavee, a rare hybrid Grimm with the force of a Goliath, and the speed of a Nevermore, but worse than either as its ugliness was much greater than theirs combined. It's jagged teeth, razor sharp claws and horse body underneath a demonic human one all were stained with dry blood and encased with shards of rusted metal from the shattered swords and shields of those who fell to its might, Ren and nora standing frozen in the streets as they eyed the ones belonging to their parents. The beast fed on their misery and anguish, charging at them as they helplessly ignored all calls from Jaune and Pyrrah to dodge.

"Gah! Waste of my aura but!" Pyrrah cried in annoyance as she waved her hand, it vibrating the air around it as Ren's pistols and Nora's hammer trembled and moved on their own, their owners following suit do to the weapons being latched onto their belts, courtesy of Pyrrah's semblance. She got them out of the way in time to dodge the beasts charge, and soon furiously grabbed Thorn Rose and charged herself at the beast despite Jaune's concerns for his teammates. He also shot her a dirtly look for her comment. How dare she feel saving her teammates a waste of aura?!

"You all gonna stand their and gawk or fight!?" Pyrrah yelled at them as she ignored Jaune's look and jumped, stabbing her blade into the right hand of the knucklavee before using her extended pole to swing on it and deliver a kick to the backright knee of the horse, making it knay in pain. The sound of the beast made Ren and Nora shudder, snapping them out of their trance to Jaune's relief.

"Oh thank god! Guys come on! Pyrrah needs help!" Jaune yelled but they shook their heads.

"She needs to run. We all do." Nora said sheepishly and Ren nodded. They soon explained how this beast killed their parents, destroyed this town.

"Nora's right. Its invincible, we can't kill it." Ren said in fright. Pyrrah heard that word, gritting her teeth as she blocked a claw slash with her shield before jumping back and eyeing Ren for what he said.

"Quite using that word. Nothing is unbeatable. My leg should prove that!" Pyrrah yelled as she waved at her mechanical kneecap before switching Thorn Rose to gun form. It had folded onto itself, becoming a trident like cannon with three barrels that all fired at once three rounds of dust bullets, pushing the creature back a bit as its body convulsed before the holes in it filled back up as it regenerated and resumed its charge.

"See! It can't be killed it just heals-" Nora argued with tears in her eyes but was kicked aside by Pyrrah who glared at her menacingly.

"If you won't help me then keep whining and let me kill it. Just shut up so you don't distract me again!" Pyrrah yelled as she fired off more rounds.

"Hey!" Jaune yelled at her furiously for that comment but she ignored him to his anger. She soon transitioned her cannon back into scythe spear form and used her semblance to propel her over the beasts head, jabbing into its skull and twisted it. As the beast convulsed again, Ren and Nora soon shook their heads in shock.

"S-She's right. We can't just do nothing. Not after all this monster took from us." Ren said as he picked up his guns, his father and mother's sad smiles as they sent him off that day. His eyes narrowed angrily as he saw the demon coming closer, he was through letting it kill those he cared about.

"Y-Yeah. I want to at least smash this thing before I die. Better than see her die charging in by herself." Nora sheepishly said as she clenched her hammer and stood in front of her boyfriend. Her parents abandoned her that night and she be damned if she would do the same for her friends.

Jaune sighed in defeat as he grabbed his sword and shield. He'd worked on Pyrrah's attitude another time, right now he had to cover these 2, still seeing the fear in their eyes.

Unfortunately, the Grimm felt their fear as well, it being more alluring than Pyrrah's rage induced assault. It soon grabbed her as she continued to dug into it skull, its claws stabbing her stomach's sides and draining her aura before it flung her into a nearby building to Jaune's worry.

"Pyrrah!" He yelled as he ran off towards her. Ren and Nora's eyes became bloodshot with rage as they saw this, remembering their parents deaths. With a furious warcry they lunged at the Knucklavee, holding it off and covering their leader as Jaune rummaged through some rubble of the destroyed house, seeing Pyrrah lay on her back groaning.

"Easy!" Jaune cautioned as he slowly helped her up from her back, letting her sit up.

"J-Jaune?" Pyrrah said as she locked eyes with him, ignoring her aching muscles and the feeling of low aura. Her focus soon was drawn to Ren and Nora' fight. Her jaw dropped as she saw their aura shutter from being slashed at or being whipped around like a lasso by those long black arms like she was. Nora tried to smash the hooves of the horse body while ren shot the legs to try and bring it down, but any damage just kept regenerating. They weren't go to make it at this rate.

"C-Come on Jaune! They need help AGH!" Pyrrah winced as she clutched her sides. Despite her aura bracing her for impact, she felt her inner organs burn. She definitely got some internal bleeding from that crash her aura could barely handle.

"Calm down Pyrrah! You need to rest. Leave it to-" Jaune yelled worried but she pushed him aside, grabbing her spear and using it to level herself.

"I-I can't quite Jaune! They're going to die without me just like-" Pyrrah argued as Ruby got on her mind, that night she fell to Cinder's arrow in her place. Jaune knew what she was thinking, what she was about to say, so he sighed as he knew what he needed to say in return.

*SLAP*

Pyrrah winced as she felt her cheek burn at the slap from Jaune who glared at her bitterly.

"Pyrrah." He said coldly, making her shudder. She only heard that tone from him once, when he told her to shove off when Cardin was bullying him and didn't want her help. It froze her heart as she struggled to breath and relax at his words and gaze.

"We lost. We lost Beacon already. We lost Penny." Jaune said sadly. Pyrrah's eyes watered as she remembered the robot girl's head staring at her at the arena.

"No. Please don't remind me. I can't-" Pyrrah whispered but Jaune hugged her. He knew she blamed herself for what Emerald did to cause Pyrrah's semblance to cut up their android friend, but she needed to quit it now.

"And we lost Ruby. You lost them. But it wasn't your fault." Jaune said firmly, still not breaking the hug.

"H-How can you say that!? They died because of me! I was right there when it happened!" Pyrrah argued tearfully.

"The only thing your at fault for it pushing us away, the people who want to be with you despite losing them. We don't want to lose you too Pyrrah. Penny and Ruby were killed by Cinder, not you, don't get us or yourself killed charging into battle you can't win." Jaune scolded her. Her eyes widened tearfully as she embraced him, hearing this shattered her aura as she heard Nora and Ren screaming wildly as were pushed back by the Grimm.

"I-I'm sorry I was so selfish! I should have realized my friends would always help me. I should let you, then this wouldn't have happened!" Pyrrah cried, guilt sweeping over her worse than the pain of her injuries. Jaune tightened his gripe on her, drawing her head to his shoulder to let her cry into it.

"I really wish I could be stronger too. I could have given you more confidence, I could have helped you and Ruby up there that night. None of us would be here then." Jaune cried too. As these emotions flooded over him, his arms soon began glowing yellow as his aura shined, soon seeping into Pyrrah's body to their shock.

"W-What's going on I feel….so warm!" Pyrrah yelled as her red aura began shining again as it melded with the gold color of Jaune's aura. Her bruises and cuts began to disappear as the warmth began easing her pounding heart into calmness she hadn't felt all year.

"Your…your healing Pyrrah! How!?" Jaune cried. Pyrrah soon formed a wide smile as she eyed him proudly.

"Jaune, I think you found your semblance!" Pyrrah cheered. As she wrapped him back in a warm hug, proud of her partner in boyfriend. Jaune soon cried as he brought her into a warm kiss. Jaune felt his and Pyrrah's aura mix together as she did so. This felt even better than their last kiss at Beacon, no dread or sadness from the uncertainty of survival behind it. Sadly, the screech of the grimm followed by Ren and Nora's bodies getting flung towards the couple broke up their kiss, pissing them off completely, though weren't sure which action enraged them more. As they all stood up, Team JNPR eyed each other as they clenched their weapons, knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"We're not letting anyone else die!" They all thought as they charged at the beast. Jaune and Pyrrah joined together to use their shields to block the Knucklavee's claws, allowing Nora to use them as a platform to jump behind the beast, delivering a lightning charged hammer strike to its back, staggering it as Ren shot into its eyeballs, taking joy as pride swelled within him as he saw the demonic eyes splatter, making the demon screech in pain.

"Now you know the pain all those you killed felt as you slaughtered them." Ren thought bitterly.

Jaune and Pyrrah soon took out their sword and spear scythe, jabbing them into the beasts hands as it convulsed on the ground. Ren took out some wire he attached to his gun like a grappling gun, firing it off and wrapping it around the human head of the monster and forcing it to the ground. The horse stomach attempted to force its body up to force them off, but Nora delivered another hammer strike to its head before pressing a button on her hammer. She knew it was risky but she fired off a grenade while her hammer wasn't in gun form, exploding the base as well as the horse head as Nora was sent flying back to Ren's shock.

"Nora!" Ren cried in fear.

"Don't worry Ren! Her aura covered her and Jaune can always heal her. Focus!" Pyrrah cried out. Ren soon took a deep breath and noticed pink dust scatter off his girlfriend as she rolled on the ground she landed on, sighing in relief as he saw Pyrrah was right. Soon he laid eyes upon the beast trembling before him and the others, drawing his blade in rage.

"I once thought you took everything from me that day, I'm sure you thought so too." Ren said bitterly as he approach the monster before smirking. "But I'm happy to say you were wrong. I still have a family, one your not going to take away. This is for them." Ren coldly said as he slashed a horn off the monster's head, making it squeal in pain but he didn't flinch, Ren's pain was far worse and it wouldn't subside till this beast was dead.

"This is for my parents." Ren said as he slash off the monsters jaw and grabbed it by its remaining horn, bringing it to his eye level. The redundant stench of that monster would have made him hurl if he paid it any mind, but he couldn't. All he could think about now was his vengeance, his friends and family, his closure.

"And this is for myself." Ren said with a sigh as he sliced off the Knucklavee's head, disintegrating it and all the pain in the boys body at long last.

Ren plopped to the ground on his knees in tears as the relief he craved finally entered his body. His teammates soon joined up to him, wrapping him in a group hug. Ren usually wanted to be alone at times like these, thinking about his parents and pain, but right here, right now was different. They had fought, he had suffered just like them, and now they were safe together. This threat had finally ended, and one wound in Ren and Nora's hearts had finally been closed. Now as they eyed Pyrrah and Jaune happily, they knew what was left to heal a final one in all their hearts.

"Lets get to Haven shall we?" Ren asked and the group nodded.

"Yes, we still have one more demon to skewer." Pyrrah said firmly with a confident smile to the group's agreement, a certain witch burned onto their minds as they stood up, heading off to the school ready for their fated showdown.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Kuroyuri, Qrow took a swig of his flask as he eyed the group proudly.

"Cheers to ya brats. Just don't get big heads over this." Qrow joked. He honestly was scared for them a few moments ago, having his sword ready to intervene, but was glad he left this to them after all. They surely had grown over this last year, Pyrrah especially right now, and he was looking forward to fighting alongside them at Haven to avenge his niece.

Author Notes

Here we go! Ren and Nora finally gained some closure. Jaune unlocked his semblance to save the woman he loved and Pyrrah is on the road to getting her closure too as she learns to slow the hell down with her new weapon. As for why Qrow didn't join in the battle, he saw Pyrrah's attitude, and was a bit pissed she made his nieces scythe into parts for her weapon, and felt she needed a kick in the ass as punishment, though would have stepped in to save them at last moment. Next chapter WBY will focus on healing and bracing themselves to reunite with JNPR at Haven to avenge Ruby. Little do they know, their enemies are preparing something extremely nasty for the academy and our heroes. Find out what it is in Chapter 5: Ugly