"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?!" Taiyang yells in fury, grabbing Qrow by the collar and hitting him against a wall, sending ripples across his Aura.
"We had to get those civilians out of there, Tai!" Qrow retorts as he struggles against his former teammate's grip. "The Grimm were about to overrun us! Not only that, but a fucking meteorite also crashed right on top of us! The blast separated us! It all happened so fast! There was nothing I could do!"
"Damn you and damn your Semblance Qrow!" Taiyang lets Qrow go as he walks away from him angrily. As if the last month hadn't been hell enough for him and his family as he tried his best to help his little girls recover from the tragic events at Beacon. "I'm going out there!" Ignoring the protests from Qrow as he walks through the halls of the Academy, intent on finding Ruby.
While he walks through Signal Academy, he looks around to see the makeshift militia of students, local Huntsmen, and civilian volunteers wielding their weapons and preparing to fight back against the horde. As he reaches the main hall, he sees the civilian refugees of Patch—thousands of people, all scared, angry, and confused about what to do. Some are badly injured, others are mourning their lost loved ones, while the local doctors are trying their best to treat the injured.
"Tai, wait!" Qrow grips Taiyang's arm, trying to stop him from committing an obvious suicidal act.
"First Raven, then Summer…" Taiyang mutters ragefully, looking back at Qrow, uncaring about causing a scene in front of the survivors. "I almost lost Yang, and I will not lose her, Qrow! Now let me go!"
"I know you are worried, and so am I, but look around you. We need all the Huntsmen we can to fight back against these Grimm. They have us surrounded!" Qrow pointed outside the window of the main hall. Out on the walls of the academy, students, Huntsmen, and volunteers are fighting against the incoming hordes of Grimm, Beowolves, Creeps, Ursai, Death Stalkers and Nevermores. Taiyang can see some of Ruby and Yang's friends, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren from Beacon Academy, on the walls helping on the front lines, fighting off the Grimm attempting to breach the walls and getting the injured to safety.
"Well, find me a spot where it's weakest and then I'll sneak out to find her!" Taiyang roars back, trying to break out of Qrow's grip.
"Can you just think for one goddamn minute! If you go out there, you'll be slaughtered. There's an Ancient leading the horde!" Qrow yells. "I saw it with my own eyes when we were evacuating the civilians not long before the meteorite landed on us! It's huge, Tai! It's out there commanding the horde with siege tactics, sending their youngest first to test our defences and tire us out while keeping their strongest in the backlines for the main event! We don't have enough firepower to kill it even if we get reinforcements from Vale or hell, even Atlas!"
Taiyang can only stare at him in shock. It should be impossible. Ancient Grimm doesn't appear out of nowhere and not on Patch of all places. They are like a dime in a dozen, and the last time an ancient appeared was during the Great War over 80 years ago, and it took a ceasefire between the Kingdoms to take it down. The local Hunstmen on Patch routinely cut down Grimm almost daily, reducing their numbers and making a small island like Patch a safe place to live. But things have changed.
"Reinforcements? Are you serious?" Taiyang scowls at Qrow. "She'll be dead by the time we even get any reinforcements! Vale is still struggling with the Grimm situation at what's left of Beacon! And no one trusts Atlas anymore after Ironwood's ship got hacked! Not only that, the CCTS is down! We can't even send out a distress signal!" Taiyang removes himself from Qrow's grasp. "All the more reason to go out and find her!"
"He's right, Dad," a tired voice calls out, belonging to Taiyang's eldest daughter, Yang. Her face is red, indicating that she was crying earlier, and a mix of hope and fear on her face. Taiyang also notes some bandages that are covering parts of her body as she had a few burn marks when the meteorite landed; it seems like she walked out of the medical bay to follow them and not long after, Jaune Arc, a classmate of Yang's followed not long after her. "Ruby's smarter than she looks… I know she'll pull through, and I can feel it. But if I didn't…" Yang pauses, looking down at the remnants of her right arm. "I'd go with you if I could, but Uncle Qrow is right it's suicide."
"Yang, I almost lost you less than a month ago, I am not about to lose Ruby. I just…" Taiyang breathes out heavily. He's lost the most important people in his life before, and the only thing keeping him together is his little girls. "I just can't…" Taiyang eventually goes onto his knees, the feeling of despair and tears welling in his eyes as Yang tries to comfort her father—the stress of their current situation and his fear of losing either of his girls.
Some onlookers feel their terror amplify. Seeing a Huntsman fall to despair at the situation only draws their dark fates ever closer. Outside, more and more young Grimm are killed, all while being replaced by more emerging from the dark. The endless horde is tiring out their Huntsmen and draining their ammunition. It won't be long before they are overrun.
The howls of Grimm only intensified as dread filled the halls, alongside the sound of thunder indicating a coming storm.
"Just great…" Qrow muttered under his breath as he looked outside to hear the air reverberate with the sound of thunder. "As if a storm is going to help us."
"Qrow, Taiyang!" An elderly voice called out to them. The duo looked towards the source and recognized who it belonged to: the headmistress of Signal Academy, Marigold Harmony, a retired Huntress who's been teaching at the academy for decades. "Meet me in my office! We need to discuss the evacuation of Signal! Quickly!"
"Alright, come on, Tai," Qrow looked down to his former teammate, offering a hand to him, one Taiyang begrudgingly accepted, wiping away the tears from his eyes.
"I'll be back, Yang. Mr Arc?" Taiyang directed his gaze towards the young man next to his daughter.
"Y-yes, sir?" Jaune nervously replied.
"Hold the fort, kid, we'll be right back."
"A-Alright. Come on, Yang." Jaune motioned Yang to the medical area to be treated for her injuries.
"Please be safe, Ruby." Taiyang prayed in a whisper as he looked outside the window one last time before following Qrow and Marigold to her office.
Yang felt like she was in a daze as her classmate Jaune helped her walk towards the makeshift medical bay. It felt as if her entire world was spiralling down into the deepest pits of hell. She even has flashes of that night, the night Beacon fell.
She had been searching for Blake during the battle after she went to hunt down an Alpha Beowolf. Yang searched amidst the chaos around her until she managed to find Blake, injured by a red-haired man wearing a Grimm mask. Yang attempted to save Blake from the White Fang member who hurt her, but then, the next thing she knew, an instant sharp pain radiated throughout her entire body until the world went black.
The next thing Yang knew was that she was missing her right arm and that Blake was gone. 'She ran…' After everything they have been through together, the ups and downs, the fights and even when Blake was revealed to be a Faunus, Yang thought she'd stay. ' I was wrong to believe that… she abandoned me just like her…'
Her thoughts then shifted to Weiss, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. The Ice Queen had been with her by her side after they reached a safe zone in Vale, but their time together was fleeting as her father, Jacques Schnee, demanded that she return home. Despite Weiss's protests, Jacques practically forced her to return to Atlas with him. Now, half of Team RWBY is scattered to the winds.
Yang stopped briefly, looking at her left hand. It was shaking, and she was shaking.
"Yang?" Jaune's voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her out of her daze. "Are you ok?"
"I…" She wanted to say she was fine, but even a little lie like that wouldn't have helped her; Jaune would instantly see through it. "Ruby… she… she was holding my hand… then… she wasn't anymore…" Her voice ached with pain as she recalled the vivid image of what happened earlier.
Ruby had been holding her hand as they ran together alongside other evacuees to the academy. Qrow, Nora, Ren and a few other students with them were also running alongside them, taking care of the Grimm coming after them. Then, out of nowhere, a flaming ball emerged from the sky and crashed down upon them. It was as if God was punishing them for their sins. The impact had separated Yang from Ruby, and the only thing she could see was flames surrounding the entire area.
Jaune's eyes filled with regret, yet he tried to comfort her. "She's alive, I know it. We just have to wait for reinforcements, and then we'll find her together." Jaune sighed heavily before addressing her again. "Look, I'm going to help the others out. Just stay here and get some rest. We'll get through this; I'm sure of it."
Yang nodded slowly as she sat down on her assigned bed while Jaune went to help out in the defence effort. She laid down, resting her head on the pillow, and closed her eyes, hoping that this was all a dream and everything would be fine by morning. Ruby would return safe and sound, and then they'd return home. She dreamed of a hope that seemed fleeting as the sounds of fighting outside continued.
However, something caught her attention. She could hear urgent calls for aid and the bustling movement of the doctors and nurses. She opened her eyes and sat up to see what was happening. The doctors and nurses were banding together to treat the serious injuries of a young faunus, a student here at Signal. Her injuries were severe, a deep slash across her chest, which was bleeding profusely. With the amount of blood lost, she would have passed out after receiving the injury. The medical staff were working hard alongside the people who brought the poor girl in, three female students around the injured girl's age, if Yang had to guess, they were all second-year students.
Yang could hear the fear in their voices as they all were calling the girl's name, begging her to wake up while one of the nurses moved them a bit further away so that the doctors could attempt to save her life. As Yang observed from across the hall, she took notice of the students' injuries; all of them were battered and bruised, and most likely, their auras were running on fumes. One of them was another faunus, while the other two were humans. Yang could only feel sorry for them; the three of them were holding onto the faint hope that their teammate would get through this, they were training for the moment where they'd venture out into the world and protect the people from the Grimm. But they weren't prepared for this.
Then she heard someone scoff in disapproval nearby.
"Why should we waste resources on the Faunus?" a male voice asked accusingly. They're the reason we're in this mess in the first place! They're nothing but dead weight."
Yang felt angry the moment she heard this. She looked behind her to find the one who said such a thing and focused on someone who had been a pain to the Faunus here on Patch for a long time, Bole Goldstein, the son of Patch's 'esteemed mayor', Slater Goldstein. To describe Bole, Yang likens him to a version of Cardin if he became a fully-fledged Huntsman, blaming others for his mistakes, being racist towards the Faunus, and throwing his weight around just because he's the mayor's son.
"Excuse me?" A polite older voice sounded in the med bay. Yang looked adjacent to her to see a familiar face, an old man with the legs of an owl who runs a book store in the town centre on Patch, Chung Māotóuying, but given how well respected he is among the community, people like to call him 'Chief' out of respect. "Now, how can someone like yourself be so blind and believe that the Faunus are responsible for this catastrophe we find ourselves in, hmm? Do you have any evidence to support this fact? Or are you still spewing your racist nonsense to all these poor folk here trying to recover and pray that we get to see the sunrise?"
"We're in this mess because of you people wanting to get your way in the world, old man!" Bole yelled, "It's because your kind were so selfish and greedy that they wanted more than what we offered them. Your kind decided it was a good idea to burn down restaurants, libraries and other places of business where real people like myself and others work every day just to make a living. Now you went ahead and decided to burn a school to the ground." Bole waved his hands exaggeratedly as he continued his anti-Faunus views known to everyone around him. "Who else but the Faunus would cause the mess we're in right now? Hell, the White Fang are the ones who destroyed Beacon and the whole shitshow Vale finds itself in. So that means the White Fang could be somewhere here on Patch right now! But wait, they already are, aren't they?" Bole sarcastically with a sadistic smile on his face. "There's those 'deserters' living here on Patch. How do we know they aren't responsible for instigating the Grimm?! Why don't we go and ask them?"
"Now you listen here, punk! That family left the White Fang long before the change in leadership. They were merely simple protestors you could see on the roads at rallies. However, racist people like yourself who decided to harass and threaten them made them fear for their safety. Thus, they left the White Fang so that they could live normal lives." A fellow Faunus interjected, standing behind the Chief. "So what gives you the right to go and harass them when they don't aren't the ones responsible for this!"
"Well, they're nothing more than rats!" Bole maliciously announced. "They'd probably sell us all out just to further the cause of the White Fang! They sure showed their true colours at Beacon for everyone to see!"
"Why, you son of a–" The Faunus was about to get into Bole's face, but Chung placed himself between them and raised his hand to placate his companion before turning to face Bole.
"I'm sorry, but I need to remind you that the ones who destroyed Beacon and decimated Vale weren't just the White Fang. The likes of that Torchwick fella and that Cinder girl were the masterminds behind the whole attack." Chung argued while keeping his composure, although one could tell that the pressure was getting to him. "So you can't solely blame the White Fang nor the Faunus as a whole when other people were consorting with them!"
"Oh yeah, right, I forgot about them." Bole audibly scoffed, rolling his eyes, "But have you forgotten that Atlas is also responsible for destroying Beacon? Ironwood's robots went on a rampage and turned on the people he claimed they were designed to protect."
"Bole's right. Why the hell should we trust Atlas, let alone Ironwood?" A person in Bole's group put their two cents into the argument. "Last I heard, he and his cronies decided to buzz off back to their floating city, leaving us to clean up their mess."
"Yeah, and why should we waste our dwindling resources on the Faunus when a White Fang spy could be hiding somewhere?" Another person yelled out nearby, leading to a few other supporters in Bole's favour as they began murmuring and yelling their opinions.
"How can you call yourselves Huntsmen if you let your hatred for the Faunus get in the way of logical and rational thinking?" Yang looked to see another Faunus stand up and voice their opinion against Bole's group. "What reason would Atlas have to attack the Vytal Festival and aid in destroying Beacon? It stands against everything the Kingdoms worked so hard to ensure the peace between all the four Kingdoms!"
"The White Fang doesn't represent me nor the Faunus after what they did at Beacon! I lost some good friends that night! So don't go blaming all of the Faunus when there were innocent Faunus among those that were massacred!" Another voice joined in, alongside many others who began standing with Chung, voicing their opinions, adding oil to an already burning fire in the medical bay.
Yang could feel irritated the more the arguing and yelling went on. People voiced their thoughts and opinions about what happened at Beacon and what was happening around them. She closed her eyes, trying to drown out all the voices surrounding her as they increased in intensity. Her blood boiled as flashes of that night filled her mind, her hand clenched to a fist as she tried to control her emotions. All the stress that was pent up began to resurface like a flood began breaking through the dam she so desperately put up to not be reminded of the horrors she faced. Until the dam broke and the flood swept away the rubble.
"ENOUGH!" Yang cried out angrily, her semblance flaring wildly as her hair glowed a crimson yellow. The sound of crushed concrete filled the entire room, leaving everyone silent. They all looked towards her with mixed reactions. Yang could feel her left hand embedded in the wall as blood slowly started to trickle down. "Is this the place for all of you to have this conversation? People are trying to rest, and the doctors don't need to be entertained by this drama when they could be using it to save lives."
"And what makes you think I'll listen to you, little miss dragon? You're also to blame for all of this; you broke that kid's leg, for God's sake! And let's not forget 'Invincible Girl's' part in destroying Beacon; she killed that bucket of bolts and opened the gates of Hell!" Bole yelled back as he made his hateful comments towards her, Pyrrha and Penny.
Yang's eyes opened, revealing her crimson red eyes, directing her gaze to Bole. Those who supported him now felt fear radiate in their bodies while Bole remained steadfast. "What was that?" Yang growled, her anger intensifying.
"Oh, you think flaring your Semblance will do you any good? Go on, see if you can still throw a mean right hook. Oh wait, you can't because some fucking animal cut it off." Bole taunted her, amused at her anger, reminding her of the moment she lost her arm. "Oh, you got me so scared, haha, what a joke. It seems like all you are is nothing more than a troublemaker. I mean, you are certainly part of the problem here; if you hadn't injured that poor kid, Mercury, we wouldn't be risking our necks to save all these dead weights, just like yourself." Bole pointed to the Faunus in the room as he said this, uncaring of whether some were helping out the patients or were patients themselves.
"How dare you…!" Yang growled as she started walking towards him, intent on punching him. However, someone grabbed her arm, holding her back; she turned her attention to see who it was, only to be surprised by one of her old teachers at Signal. "P-professor Vagh?"
A tanned middle-aged human in his 50s, wearing a tattered orange and black striped shirt and black jeans, shows that the man was injured during the fight against the Grimm, as claw marks and dirt covered his entire body. Rajah Vagh, a teacher at Signal Academy, is known for his immense kindness and compassion to his colleagues and students. He's also a great friend of Taiyang's and Qrow's here on Patch, as they frequently have barbeques occasionally. Still, when it comes to training and battle, he becomes a strict drill instructor, ensuring that every student learns all they need to survive in the wilds and against the Grimm. People call him the 'Raging Tiger of Mistral' for his abilities as a Huntsman, striking fast and strong as a tiger, as he was once a well-respected Huntsman who the Headmistress of Signal sought out to teach the next generation of Huntsmen. Yang recalls learning from him during her old classes at Signal; every student learned self-control over their emotions and discipline throughout his lessons. Not only that, he is also a great person to talk to if anyone has any problems, either socially or in studies and takes the time to help out.
"Let me handle him, Yang," Rajah said politely. Yang complied with his request, stepping back and deactivating her Semblance, watching Rajah stand face-to-face with Bole. "Mr Goldstein, let me enlighten you about what happened at Beacon. Now, I wasn't there, but Yang was, and so were all the other students who attended Beacon. They all saw what truly happened that night."
"So what? Why the hell should I care? We all saw what happened on television; it was plain and simple: Atlas stabbed Vale in the back, and the White Fang were running around like animals, creating chaos. It seems pretty cut and dry to me." Bole dismissed uncaringly what the older Huntsman had to say.
"Well, let me explain the facts to you, which I have heard from some students and Huntsmen who survived the ordeal." Rajah's tone shifted to his strict drill instructor mode, and began listing the facts. "Fact: Cinder Fall and her allies conspired with the White Fang and the now-deceased Roman Torchwick to destroy Beacon Academy. Fact: one of Cinder's allies has an illusion-type Semblance that makes the people see what they want to see, such as Yang 'breaking' Mercury Black's leg as a prominent example. Fact: during the final match between Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina, Ruby Rose encountered Mercury as she was heading to the stadium to watch the match; however, according to her account, Mercury was fit as a fiddle with no sign of injury whatsoever, and prevented her from going to observe the match until it was too late."
"What about the fact that Ironwood decided to stab everyone in the back?! We all saw his robots cause a massacre!" Bole argued, interrupting Rajah as he explained; however, as Bole was about to say more, Rajah cut him off.
"Fact! Cinder broadcasted her message across the entire network moments after Pyrrha Nikos had unintentionally killed Penny Polendina. Cinder then used Pyrrha's actions to manipulate the emotions of the people attending the Vytal Festival, thus causing the insurgence of Grimm. Fact: Roman Torchwick somehow managed to board Ironwood's command ship, taking control of all the robots and reprogramming them with a virus to attack the people they were designed to protect!" Rajah shouted angrily, which seemed to intimidate Bole, but Rajah calmed himself down before concluding. "To conclude, your argument is invalid, and your conduct is awful. The enemy wants us divided, paranoid, and baiting the Grimm. Stop doing their work for them. Now go do something useful, or shut up."
One could hear a pin drop. Yang had a smile crawl across her face at the savage remark her old teacher sent to Bole. She could see his face twist and contort strangely as he tried to let the comment sink in until he answered as one would expect a person of 'great importance'.
"Don't you know who I am?!" Bole rhetorically asked angrily. He would not have his image tarnished by such a grave accusation by a simple teacher.
"And? Human, Faunus, rich, poor, commoner, noble. The Grimm don't care. So why should we? I feel sorry for your teachers, boy, that you don't seem to have learned that lesson yet." Rajah said uncaringly for Bole's reaction.
"Rajah's right," a female voice chimed in. Yang looked to see an injured Huntswoman sitting up on a stretcher. "I don't give a damn that Patch and Vale need every Huntsman they can get right now. I will absolutely live through this out of sheer spite to report to Internal Affairs that your license should be revoked."
"If you want to Grimm-bait so bad, go out there and be bait to give the rest of us a good shot. Nobody will miss you," another huntsman said mockingly, disappointed in Bole's behaviour. Soon enough, murmurs amidst the injured students and Huntsmen filled the room, disgusted by Bole's behaviour.
Yang watched as Bole and his posse couldn't hack it anymore and went outside, mumbling curses along the way. She isn't sure where he's going now, but she expects him to blow off some steam, most likely killing Grimm. The moment they were gone, Yang went to sit back down on her bed, looking at her slightly bleeding hand. She breathed heavily and hissed in pain lightly as she tried to clench her fist.
"Are you alright, Miss Xiao-Long?" Rajah's voice filled her ears as she found him standing before her.
"I-I'm fine, Professor. There's nothing to worry about," Yang hastily replied. "W-what about you?"
"Well, I'm fine, little one. An old man like me has seen a lot of things in life, especially people like Mr Goldstein." Rajah sighed as he sat down next to Yang, his gaze lingered on her injured hand. "However, even if you aren't my student anymore, I can tell you aren't fine. Let me look at your hand, if you don't mind?"
Yang felt too tired to argue with him and complied with his request. She watched as he inspected her bleeding hand before grabbing his handkerchief from his suit pocket, wiping the blood away and cleaning it with a few sanitised cloths before applying a bandage to cover the wound.
"There, that should do it. I may not be a doctor, but it's advisable that you not punch any more holes in the wall, even they have feelings, you know." Rajah joked with a small smile.
Yang smirked lightly, shaking her head at the Rajah's attempt at humour. "I wouldn't have had to punch it if Bole hadn't opened his mouth. He doesn't deserve to call himself a Huntsman."
"That may be so, but even then, had it not been Bole, someone else may have been the one to instigate the argument. Tensions and emotions run wild in times of chaos, so it's expected that professionalism may be abandoned and one's nature to let their emotions control their actions. However, one can express themselves more reasonably with a calm mind and logical thinking." Rajah said calmly, placing a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Please, tell me what's bothering you?"
Yang felt herself deflate as she sighed heavily. She couldn't hide anything from him or anyone else. "I… I'm scared… I feel like I'm losing everything all over again… our home is falling apart outside… Ruby is still out there… Weiss and… Blake… they're both gone. And here I am in this bed with no way of helping out. I mean, this is my home, for crying out loud! I-I want to help… but I-I feel useless."
Yang could hear her ears ringing as tears started to form in her eyes. She doesn't want to lose her home; she doesn't want anyone else to die, but how can that fate be prevented? She can no longer wield Ember Celica without her left arm, let alone try to fight against the Grimm with her missing appendage. 'So… what good am I? I can't be a Huntress anymore… I'm nothing more than dead weight.'
"You aren't useless, Miss Xiao-Long." Rajah's voice interrupted her thoughts as she turned her head towards him. "While your current predicament prevents you from fighting on the front lines, it doesn't prevent you from another important duty of a Huntsman or Huntress."
"W-what…"
"Reassuring the people." Rajah smiled widely, motioning to the people in the medical hall. Watching as the Huntsmen move about, helping gather supplies for the doctors, aiding the injured and comforting those who are scared. "Reminding them that there isn't anything to be afraid of and that despite all the odds, we will prevail and live to see tomorrow. Being a Huntsman isn't just about slaying Grimm; it is also about being a protector and a symbol of hope to the people. We help the people we protect, tend to their wounds and offer solace. That is what being a Huntsman is, Yang. However, ultimately, you decide what your next move is, either to sit here and recover like all the others before you or work through the pain and offer your aid in the minor tasks that need doing." Rajah looks back to Yang, seeing her trying to process what he's saying, yet even he can tell there is hesitation in her eyes, a fear of whether she's ready to do what needs to be done. Rajah sighs deeply before rising from the bedside. "The lesson is over, Miss Xiao-Long. Take some time to consider what you want to do and what you need to do. I nor anyone else will dictate your course of action; that choice belongs to you. Now, I won't take up any more of your time; I have other duties that require my attention. I'll let you get some rest, but if Bole or any one of his associates continue to make trouble for anyone, I'll politely ask you to deal with him, deal?"
Yang nodded with a slight smile. "Deal." Rajah patted her shoulder as he left her side to continue helping others in the academy.
Now, being left alone by her bed, Yang pondered what Rajah had told her, the duties of being a Huntress apart from being a fighter. 'A protector, huh?' She recalls all the times she comforted Ruby in the past after Summer died, the times she covered up her fears and sadness to ensure that Ruby smiled brightly. She looks around to see other Huntsman comfort the patients, those that aren't injured and even children who huddle themselves closely to their parents.
A stifled sob nearby causes Yang to look around the medical bay and finds a young girl huddled in a corner, crying. Yang lifts herself off the bed and walks carefully to the little girl, and kneels in front of her.
"Hey, are you alright?" Yang asks in a concerned tone, getting a better look at the girl. The child is no older than six years old. Her clothes are somewhat ripped, and her arms and legs are slightly bruised. The girl looks up as her teary opal eyes meet Yang's lilac eyes.
"I-I'm… scared…" The girl says as she sobs.
Yang sighed knowingly, and it was evident that she didn't even need to ask, but she still did. "What's your name?"
"O-opal…"
"Opal? That's a lovely name; my name is Yang. Can you tell me why you're sitting in this corner?"
"I-I wanted t-to get away from the Grimm…" the girl says slowly, wiping away some tears. "W-what about you…"
Yang momentarily looks down at her missing arm before taking a deep breath and sitting beside Opal but kept a bit of space between them. "I got unlucky and got whacked by a meteorite. But something like that won't keep me down."
"A-a meteorite?" The girl looked confused, yet she stopped crying.
"Yeah, I was helping out in getting some people to safety before it came crashing down on top of us," Yang said while smiling lightly, but brief flashes of Ruby going missing amidst the flames filled her mind. She can feel herself shaking but takes a deep breath to calm herself. 'Ruby's smart… she'll make it.' Yang continues to tell her tale. "It took out a lot of Grimm as well, but those that survived didn't care; they tried to make us their dinner, but I didn't let that happen."
"R-really?" Opal started to seem interested in the story as she moved closer to Yang. "W-weren't you scared?"
"Well, despite me being down an arm, it didn't stop me from taking down this huge Ursa that came crawling through the flames," Yang said dramatically, painting a picture for Opal. "The Ursa tried to grab at me; you could say it needed a hand , so to speak."
Opal started to giggle a tiny bit as she moved a little bit closer to Yang. "So w-what did you do?"
"Well, it wanted a hand, so I gave it one." Yang smiled, "I wound up a massive punch and knocked it into the remaining Grimm before helping the people get to safety." Now that Yang thinks about it, even though this was a while after the meteorite fell and the pent-up distress she felt after failing to find Ruby amidst the rubble, she feels proud at that moment. 'Even if I'm missing an arm, I still got it.'
"You must be very strong, Yang," Opal said, amazed. "A-are you a Huntress?"
Yang smirks, "You betcha!"
Opal became quiet momentarily as she leaned closer to Yang, a slight blush forming across her face. "C-can I stay with you for a little while? I'm still feeling a bit scared."
Yang smiles softly as she brings her arm around Opal's shoulders. "Sure, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. Big sister Yang will take care of any Grimm that even tries to lay their scary paws on you!"
"O-okay!"
'So this is what the Professor meant.' Yang thinks as she looks down at Opal's small body in her arm. 'Offering reassurance and giving them a bit of hope. Even if I'm in no shape to fight, I can still do something worthwhile.'
Yang looks outside a nearby window to watch as the fighting between the Huntsmen, students and volunteer fighters against the Grimm continued. She could see them giving it their all, hoping to prevent another tragedy. So if that's what they are doing, the least Yang can do is comfort children like Opal, just like she did with Ruby in the past.
Besides, all Yang can do now is pray… pray that they live to see the sunrise, for someone answers their call for help to save them… and to save her little sister.
'Please be safe Ruby…'
"And stay down!" Nora Valkyrie declared as she smashed her hammer, Magnhild, down upon a group of young Beowolves and Ursai who had attempted to climb up the fortress walls of Signal Academy. However, they just fell back into the massive horde of Ursai and Beowolves that continued climbing up towards her section of the wall.
"Nora, to your left!" She heard Lie Ren call out a warning as he fired upon a young adult Death Stalker who managed to climb up while she was preoccupied with another portion of the wall. Ren took off its stinger with precise shots while Nora quickly spun her hammer around and smashed its face, killing it instantly. "Are you okay?"
"Ha! I'm fine! I could do this all day! What about you?" Nora laughed. Although she felt stressed and angry deep down, the memories of Beacon Academy were still fresh in her and Ren's minds. Even the recent loss of their teammate, Pyrrha Nikos, took a toll on their mental health, especially Jaune's.
"Ha… I'm fine, with a few cuts and bruises, but I'm running low on ammunition," Ren confessed as he looked upon the coming horde. It hasn't been a month since that night, and now it feels like we are reliving Beacon all over again."
"This time has to be different! This is Yang and Ruby's home! We won't let it end up like Beacon! We have to!" Nora declared as she switched her hammer to its grenade launcher form, firing grenades down upon the group of Grimm below, blowing them into black dust and bone. "We also have to find Ruby! She's out there somewhere. I hope that she's safe."
"I hope so, too. But for now, we have bigger things to worry about." Ren shared the same sentiments with her as he acrobatically sliced a few more Grimm to pieces.
Nora looked across the battlefield to see even more Grimm emerging from the forest. Young Beowolves, Ursai, Death Stalkers and Creeps charged towards the walls while flocks of young Nevermores roamed above, challenging the defenders on the towers. The sight of all the Grimm just made her mad.
"RAGH! You could use your semblance to mask Jaune and me so we can sneak away and find her!" Nora argued, but even she knew the risk of doing so; they'd leave an opening for the Grimm to break through and attack the survivors behind them.
"Nora, as much as I agree with you, we can't! These people need us, and the Huntsmen need all the help they can get!" Jaune announced as he came out from the main hall to the outer wall, carrying crates of ammunition for his teammates and handing them out before unsheathing his weapons. "I heard Mrs Harmony talk about the evacuation plan and asked Qrow and Mr Xiao-Long to help coordinate it!"
"Well, that's just swell!" Nora barked back, staring daggers at Jaune, who flinched at this remark. "So we're just going to let Signal Academy become like Beacon then?! Just abandon it and let the Grimm destroy everything?!"
"What do you want me to do, Nora?! Be bait and try leading them all away?!" Jaune retorted as he blocked a swipe from a Beowolf and stabbed it.
"YES!" Nora barked back, simultaneously sending a powerful strike downwards upon the Grimm, knocking them all down without looking. This granted them a small reprieve for the time being as the sudden attack killed the entire pack below them.
"Guys, please stop arguing! We'll get through this!" Ren tried to placate his two teammates. Arguing wouldn't do anything good now; it would only be a distraction and a fatal mistake. As he was about to continue speaking, he felt something.
"Ren?" Jaune asked, given the sudden silence of his friend before a hand stopped him from speaking. Nora and Jaune both know what's happening to Ren. He can sense other people and Grimm, but something about this presence made him sweat. Nora worried whether it could be the Ancient they saw while making their way to the academy. However, when Ren looked onto the battlefield, searching for something amidst the forest, Nora could tell he sensed something powerful.
"Something's out there… something powerful. It isn't a Grimm… but I can't tell who or what it is. Whatever it is, it'll only be a matter of time before it comes here," Ren said as Nora and Jaune looked towards where Ren set his gaze. Their focus was brought back to the fight before them as more Grimm attempted to scale the walls. However, a question burned in their minds: What was on its way to the academy?
They remained quiet and listened, trying to focus their hearing on their surroundings and drowning out the Grimm. Yet all they heard was the sound of thunder roaring in the distance. A storm is coming, a violent one.