RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

101. Simple Souls

Hey, if you're enjoying the story, then please fave, follow and review! Seriously, I need all the support and feedback I can get.

Dedicated to Akira Toriyama

Chapter 100: Simple Souls

13 YEARS AGO

It was a beautiful spring day on Patch Island. The clouds floated slowly overhead but did nothing to cover the wonderful light of the sun, birds sang, squirrels jumped from branch to branch and if one paid attention, they could spot a mother doe guiding her fawns through the woods.

Summer Rose sat on the edge of the cabin's porch and she could glimpse the animals carefully walking, the doe's ears twitching at the occasional noise, they were far enough into the woods that her sound of her two children playing didn't disturb them. While Summer enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature, she couldn't deny that the sounds her children made were her favorite noises in all the world.

"Watch me, mommy! Watch me! I'm gonna do a backflip!" Declared little Ruby, her silver eyes shining brightly. At the age of four, Ruby was notorious among the islanders for being an utterly adorable and very curious child, while her step-daughter Yang, whom she loved just as much as her biological child, had the reputation for being the very definition of a spitfire, as she was more energetic and mischievous than five older kids put together.

"Do it, Ruby! Do it!" Yang encouraged, as her little sister tried to flip back, but instead ended up tumbling over, rolling a little before springing up.

"I did it!" The toddler declared.

Yang smirked, the six year old was tempted to point out that her little sister's 'backflip' wasn't an actual one, but Summer gave Yang a look that told her to let the younger girl have her fun. One day she'd do it properly.

"Great job, Ruby! You'll have to show daddy and Uncle Qrow when they get home." Summer told her. Taiyang was on his way back from the mainland and was bringing Qrow with him, fresh off of a job that was dangerous but very well-paying; clearing a band of Beringels that were plaguing a town in north-eastern Valean mountains and had called her yesterday evening to tell her they had successfully exterminated the beasts with the help of several local Hunters and they would begin the journey home by morning, so they'd likely be waiting to board a ferry at the present.

Ruby nodded, eyes sparkling as she cheered "Yeah!"

She would have gone with them, but she always cherished spending time with her girls and getting to play with them, read them stories and watch movies with them. The last time she and Taiyang had allowed Qrow to babysit while they went on a mission (and date), they found him half mad, covered with stickers and buried under a mountain of blankets and toys.

"I hope they get home soon! I wanna train with Uncle Qrow!" Said Yang, who had long ago made up her mind that she would follow the footsteps of the family's adults and become a Huntress, something that slightly worried Summer herself, as she didn't like the idea of her girls being put in danger, but she still supported the little blonde's dreams and would help her become a Huntress.

"Take it easy, Yang. We just finished training," Summer pointed out.

"Mom, I don't think tag counts as training." Yang argued.

"Oh really? Tag helps you get faster, used to running at high speeds, which most Hunters have to do when fighting Grimm. Seems to me that you need to play tag some more, since you didn't manage to outrun Ruby and me for very long." Summer said with a laugh.

Yang blushed, embarrassed, as Ruby giggled and began to run circles around her big sister, singing "Can't catch me, can't catch me!"

The blonde girl then shot forward and captured her little sister from behind, "Gotcha!" She yelled, grunting a little as she managed to lift Ruby up, the younger girl's legs kicking out as she cried out in surprise. Ruby's struggles caused Yang to lose her balance and the pair fell onto the grass, sending a butterfly flying for safety.

"Mommy!" Cried Ruby with an exaggerated sob, "Yang hurt me!"

"Did not!" Yang objected.

Summer couldn't help but laugh as she stood up from the porch and walked over to them, helping the pair up, "It's okay, no harm done," She said, checking Ruby over to confirm what she already knew, that the toddler was perfectly fine. She did the same for Yang, just to make sure since she had taken the brunt of the little fall. Unsurprisingly, she was fine; Yang was a tough one, in fact Summer doubted even a broken limb could keep her down for very long, not that she wished to find out.

"Yang, what do you say?" Summer invited.

Yang pouted, her adorably grumpy face reminding Summer so much of her birth mother whenever she would have to pull rank on her when they were students. She wondered where Raven was, and how she was doing right now?

"I'm sorry," Yang apologized.

"It's okay," Ruby accepted, never one to stay angry for very long.

"You want to be a Huntress when you grow up too, right Ruby?" Summer asked the little girl, who nodded vigorously. "Then you'll need to be a little tougher than that. It's okay to cry when you get hurt or when you feel sad, everyone does even if some don't like to show it.

"Does Uncle Qrow cry?" Ruby asked.

Summer slowly nodded, "Yes, even Uncle Qrow cries. No matter how strong somebody is, they'll be sad or get hurt and cry sometimes, and that's okay, but you shouldn't cry over nothing, okay?"

Despite how young she was, Ruby understood what her mother was getting at. "Okay." She said.

Summer smiled, "It's okay. I can already tell that when you two grow up, you're both going to be incredibly powerful, maybe even stronger than daddy and me."

"Yeah!" Yang said, her beautiful purple eyes bright with determination, but Ruby didn't seem to believe it.

"Stronger than you and daddy? That's umpossibible," She said, mangling the last word.

"Impossible, Ruby," Summer corrected, "But no, it's not impossible."

"So…does that mean we could beat you grownups in a fight one day?" Yang asked.

Summer couldn't help but smirk, "Maybe, but…" She suddenly shot forward, her hands grabbing Yang's legs by the left ankle, yanking the blonde child off of the ground and lifting her into the air with one arm, "You have a long way to go."

"Hey! No fair, mom! Lemme go!" Complained Yang as she struggled while Ruby laughed. Summer tossed Yang up in the air and easily caught her in both arms as she came down.

"Don't worry, Yang! I'll save you!" Ruby said as she looked up at her mother, who was glancing down at her with an amused smile, "Uh, please let Yang go." She added before giving her mother's knee a light smack.

"Oh! Ahhh!" Summer exclaimed dramatically as she feigned a mortal wound, "Oh Gods! That punch, so powerful! Can't take it!" She fell onto her rear, freeing Yang.

"You did it, Ruby! Let's get her!" Said Yang.

They tacked their mother, who laughed loudly as she pleaded for mercy, "No! My own children have turned on me! Oh, is this the end for Summer Rose! Oh Oum save me!" Summer cried as she laughed as her daughter wrestled with her and tried to tickle her.

Despite the laughter of her and her daughters, Summer still heard the scream in the distance, a scream that caused her expression to change to one of grave horror, because she could tell it was no human scream. She noticed flocks of birds flying overhead, going unusually fast as if they were fleeing from something. She sat up, noticing more flocks appearing over the tops of the trees, she could tell by the direction that they were flying away from the town.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Yang asked, who had noticed the troubled look on her face as Ruby stopped laughing upon hearing another one of those terrible cries.

"What was that?" She asked, her eyes wide and scared.

Summer stood up, her eyes widening as sirens signaling a Grimm attack began to blare in the distance. Her scroll, which she had left on a table on the porch, began to ring.

"Inside, hurry!" Summer told them, ushering them towards the cabin. As Yang led Ruby inside, Summer grabbed her scroll and quickly answered it.

"Summer, thank the Brother of Light!" Came the voice of Zhong, the mayor of Patch, "Hordes of Grimm just suddenly came out of the forests! Lancers, Deathstalkers, Beowolves, Ursas, Creeps, everything! Vorstadt is defending the town with some help from the chief and his deputies, but they'll need your help! I don't know how long they can hold out!"

"Don't worry sir! Let me make sure the girls are safe and I'll be right there!" Summer told him, knowing that a veteran Huntsman like Vorstadt was no pushover, even though he was pushing sixty, but he would need more help if there were as many Grimm as the mayor was making it sound like there was, "Just get as many people into the shelter as you can!"

"Already on it, just get here quickly!" He pleaded before he ended the call as Summer got inside.

"Mommy, what's going on?" Ruby asked nervously.

"Grimm are attacking the town. Get into the basement, just like we practiced!" She ordered with a firm but gentle voice. Yang didn't hesitate, she grabbed Ruby by the arm and led her down to the basement as the younger girl began to whine fearfully, as she had only seen Grimm from afar and her parents had instilled in her that they were fierce killers. When Taiyang and Raven bought the cabin, they essentially transformed the basement into a shelter for Yang to stay safe inside in the event of a Grimm attack, with a fridge full of food and bottled water.

Summer dashed up the stairs and entered the bedroom she shared with Taiyang, where they also kept their weapons stored in a glass case beside their bed. She yanked open the drawer in the nightstand, fetching a key from inside, opening the case and taking out her ax/rifle hybrid, Sundered Rose.

She loaded her weapon up with several types of Dust, donned her cape and quickly grabbed a few toys from the girls' room before she made her way down to the basement.

"Mom, is everything gonna be okay?" Asked Yang, her voice giving away how scared she really was as Ruby attempted to hide on the old sofa they kept downstairs, covering herself with a blanket, but her little face peered out from under it.

"Everything will be all right, girls. I promise, nothing will hurt you as long as I can help it." Summer assured her daughter as she dropped the toys, beckoning for them to come give her a hug. The girls didn't need the invitation, as they barreled towards their mother and crashed into her, hugging her tight as she returned their affection.

"Mommy, you're gonna come back, right?" Ruby asked softly, her voice trembling.

Summer didn't know how to answer that, when dealing with hordes of Grimm there was always the chance that one might not return, but that wasn't what the girls needed to hear…but she didn't want to lie to them either.

"I hope so, baby," Summer told her daughter, running her gloved fingers through her dark reddish-black hair, so much like her own, "As long as I have you two to come home to, I'll do everything in my power to kill all the monsters and come back."

"You can do it, mom! I know you can!" Yang told her, sounding very sure of her mother's chances.

Summer gave her daughters a smile as she pulled away and said "Remember; a kind and steady heart, with just a little courage, can do anything. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you, in spirit and in your hearts," She kissed their foreheads, "And I'll always love you."

"We love you too, mommy," Said Ruby, who clinged to her mother.

"Always," Agreed Yang, who tried to hide her tears.

"Do you have to go fight the monsters?" Ruby asked as Summer began to stand up.

"Yes, baby. I'm sorry, but when I decided to become a Huntress, I dedicated my life to protecting everyone. I have to go, even though it's really scary, I have to do everything I can to save people, because I'm a Huntress. I'm so sorry, but one day you'll understand."

She stood up and put on a funny movie that both girls really liked to keep them distracted from the dark situation. "Remember, don't go upstairs until you hear me, daddy or your uncle, okay?"

"We know," said Yang, nodding and giving the silver eyed woman a look that assured her that the young blonde would look after her little sister.

Summer smiled before she quickly hugged and kissed both girls one last time, just in case, and told them "I love you two."

"We'll love you forever, mommy." Said Ruby, as she and Yang hugged their mother once again, for what would be the final time.

Summer locked the cabin and then ran down the dirt driveway and onto the road that led to town, her legs going as fast as they could. It wasn't long before she heard the awful buzzing of Lancers. Sure enough, six of those horrible wasp Grimm appeared over the tree, drawn to Summer by her emotions.

The white-hooded Huntress didn't back down and allowed them to get close enough to her before she opened fire on them with Sundered Rose, blowing up the head of the first one before she leapt up and cut the second in half while grabbing the leg of a third. She flipped herself around and brought her weight down upon the Lancer, forcing it to crash onto the ground, where Summer's boot smashed through its eye, its body twitching as it slowly faded away.

The remaining three Lancers buzzed about before dive bombing her, Summer dashed away and pivoted, opening fire with Sundered Rose and eliminating the fourth before she dashed past the other two, she whipped out Sundered Rose's ax form and cut off the wings of the fifth one, causing it to fall to the ground, buzzing angrily as it attempted to get airborne. The sixth Lancer chased after her, but Summer whipped around and cut it in half. After taking a brief second to finish off the surviving Lancer with a powerful shot to the midsection, she dashed off, leaving red and white petals in her wake.

Back in the cabin's basement, Ruby climbed on top of the couch to peer out of the small reinforced glass window, hoping to catch a glimpse of their mother coming back. Yang pulled her down and the toddler fell onto the sofa cushions, whining "Yang!"

"Don't worry, Ruby, mom will be okay. You're a little too young to remember, but there was a Grimm attack a couple years ago. You slept through the whole thing, didn't wake up until mom, dad came back. Just watch the movie and it'll all be fine." Yang told her little sister.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.

"Totally." Yang answered.

"...could you sing me the lullaby?" Ruby pleaded.

Yang smiled and paused the movie before she sang her little sister their favorite lullaby, one about flying dreams.

Summer arrived at the town, seeing a group of about thirteen or fourteen people heading to the underground shelter, used to protect the islanders from Grimm attacks or bad storms. Creeps, Beowolves and Ursa charged towards them as the island's police deputies tried to keep them at bay with their rifles and pistols. There was a terrible, ear-piercing scream that was most certainly not human or Faunus in nature.

She looked up and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a huge Grimm circling the island, wide wings flapping. It was unmistakably a Razorwing, but an Alpha, and not just an Alpha, but an Elder Alpha. Celaeno.

'What the hell is that thing doing here?! It's supposed to be in Mistral!' Summer thought to herself, before something occurred to her, 'Salem'.

She'd talk about her suspicions with Ozpin and the others later, right now she had to help the people of Patch.

She moved forward, just as she saw a Beowolf pounce upon a middle aged man, but before it could bite down on his neck, Summer ran forward and blew its arm completely off, its shoulder exploding before she finished it off with a swift blow of her ax across its neck.

"Thank you, Miss Rose!" The man said as he scrambled to his feet. Summer then ran over to the crowd. She jumped and came down hard, slamming her ax into the back of an Ursa's head, nearly cleaving the beast in half. The Grimm rushed her, but she cut them down or used her shotgun to obliterate them with relative ease, until she took a Creep spike to the shoulder, but she managed to deflect the others with Sundered Rose's blade before she shoved her weapon into the Creep's mouth and fired, blowing a huge hole out its rear.

The spike did little damage, her aura easily took care of it, but she still mentally scolded herself for not being quick enough to dodge it. She looked up, surprised the Celaeno was still just circling, like a nightmarish vulture. She had no idea why the Grimm would be keeping its distance, but for now she was grateful for it.

She ran into town, shooting or chopping down any Grimm that was unfortunate enough to cross her path, her flowing white hood a very welcome sight to the islanders who were making their way to the shelter.

Summer heard a scream of pain and she ran as fast as she could to the source, she saw one of the deputies, a young one who had transferred from the mainland a few months ago, being pinned to the side of a two-story building by a Creep spike as several of the vicious two-legged Grimm stalked towards him. The Huntress came to the rescue, slicing off their legs and taking them out before blowing the head off the remaining one.

A female deputy appeared from around a corner and saw her comrade, "Hang on!" She said as Summer helped him remove the spike.

"Get him to the shelter, he's in no shape to keep fighting." Summer ordered. Neither deputy argued, but Summer could tell by the look on his face that the wounded deputy still wanted to help.

Summer ran towards the town square, where she spotted a King Taijitu attacking a car, a family cowering inside. The black head of the two-headed snake Grimm bit down onto the roof of the car, slowly peeling it open until the heads' attention was captured by Summer letting out a furious yell as she ran forward, her silver eyes glowing.

The family watched in astonishment as, with a blinding silver blast, the Snake Grimm was petrified. Summer came down, her eyes dimming so her powers didn't drain too much of her aura. "Get out of here!" She shouted.

They were about to speed off when the mother shouted "Behind you!"

Summer turned just in time to slam Sundered Rose into the chest of a Beowolf, which howled in pain as it faded away. Another Beowolf attacked, but she quickly sidestepped it and blew off its head with a single blast of her weapon's rifle form.

The awful noise of Lancers buzzing came back, and Summer ran to get their attention. It worked too well, as one rammed into her from behind and the small swarm of nine Lancers descended on her, biting and stinging. Summer screamed out as she let her powers loose, killing the Lancers with an intense blast of silver energy.

Summer ignored the pain she felt, trusting her aura to take care of it. These people needed her.

She stood up, allowing the petrified Grimm bodies to fall off before she heard screams from inside a nearby store as a pair of Ursa and a Boarbatusk tried to smash their way through the windows and walls. She ran over to them, blasting away at the nearest Ursa which stumbled towards her as it fell over slowly and died. She jumped over to attack the remaining Grimm, but the Ursa smacked her with powerful claws, knocking her into the window, breaking the glass.

Grunting, Summer grabbed a loose shard as the Ursa stomped towards her. She leapt towards it and stabbed it in the eye with the shard before she blasted through its midsection, finally killing it. The Boarbatusk tried to ram her, but she easily dodged it and used Sundered Rose to eviscerate it.

"If you have a basement, get inside of it! If not, run to the shelter!" Summer ordered the people inside the store before she noticed a Vampire flying overhead, moving to the alley between the store and the neighboring building. She ran over to take it out, but hesitated when, to her horror, she saw the remains of Vernon Vorstadt, Patch's resident Veteran Huntsman, torn apart by Vampires which were greedily slurping up the blood from his ripped open body.

She avenged him with righteous fury, easily shooting and chopping up the bat Grimm.

She walked out of the alleyway, fighting tears for the older Hunter, but this cost her as a Beowolf jumped into her side, claws dragging across her hip and its mouth tearing Sundered Rose out of her hands. She cried in pain as she whipped around and clasped both fists together as the beast turned to face her. She clobbered it in the side of the head before she grabbed it and managed to suplex the Beowolf, slamming its head into the ground hard enough to kill it.

Summer reclaimed Sundered Rose as another King Taijitu slithered towards her, twin sets of fangs glistening. Summer jumped at them, the black head shot at her, but she managed to get on top of it, leaping towards the white head and slammed her ax into its neck. It screeched in pain as she dragged the blade down its neck, just as the black head came back and went to bite her. Summer tore out the ax and with a well-time swing, severed the black head's lower jaw.

Summer landed onto the ground as the snake Grimm faded away. She reloaded Sundered Rose and ran off to battle.

She kept fighting, killing numerous Beowolves, King Taiijutus, Deathstalkers, Boarbatusks, Ursas, Vampires, Lancers, Razorwings and Creeps. She fought for what felt like hours, occasionally looking out to the docks and pier hoping to see the ferry arriving, but the only boats she could see were the local fishing boats which were keeping a good distance from the island.

Her hood was badly torn, her clothes showed damage, her face and hair covered with sweat and bruises were visible on her face and hands, but she wouldn't let any of that stop her. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she checked her surroundings and saw no Grimm, but could hear them moving around behind the buildings and trees, waiting for the right time to strike. She had been bitten, clawed, slammed into, stung, but she had to keep going, she took out her scroll and saw that her aura was in the red.

"Gotta keep it together, gotta keep going," Summer muttered to herself, when she heard the awful screech of Celaeno. Her head jerked up and she saw the Elder Alpha Razorwing swooping down at her. Summer ran, waiting for the monster to get close enough before she opened fire on it, but its bony armor withstood the blasts.

Celaeno pulled up and flew past her, the powerful slipstream managed to knock Summer down to her hands and knees. She grunted and glared up as Celaeno landed atop the town's church, where the religious would gather once a week to worship Oum, the Brother of Light, the Brother of Darkness, the Sister of the Sun and the Sister of the Moon. Celaeno's long wing slammed against the religious icon on top of the church, a four pointed emblem showing the sun, the moon, an empty circle and a full circle to signify the Four.

Gritting her teeth, Summer let out a yell as she opened fire on Celaeno, which screeched loudly as it flew off of the church and flew towards her. Summer's eyes began to dimly shine silver; it was risky, because if she put too much of her energy into the power of her eyes, then it would totally drain her aura and leave her vulnerable. She was alone, as the sheriff and his remaining deputies were far off taking out the Grimm on the edge of town, but killing an Elder Alpha such as Celaeno would leave the remaining Grimm disorganized and easier to pick off. She couldn't back down, not even against a powerful Grimm like Celaeno.

It flew towards her, wings flapping hard and its grotesque neck extending so its horrible head could get closer to her. Perfect.

She ran towards it and leapt up, giving a blast of silver energy. Celaeno screamed in surprise as it banked away from the blast. Silver opened fire, bullets ripping through its right wing before she blasted forward with her Semblance and slammed Sundered Rose's axe down into Celaeno's back. The neck and heap whipped around and the sharp beak bit down on Summer's shoulder and upper arm, she screamed in pain as Celaeno tore her off of its back, ripping Sundered Rose from its black, feathered form, but she transformed her weapon back into its rifle mode and fired into Celaeno's upper chest and neck, making it scream in panic before dropping her.

Summer tucked into a ball and rolled as she hit the ground, grunting in pain as her aura flared up. She quickly stood up and watched as Celaeno crashed into the second floor of the local hardware store, which was thankfully abandoned.

She started towards it, only to hear the familiar snapping of a Deathstalker's pincers and scuttling of its legs. She whipped around just in time to avoid the horrible, slamming snap of one claw before the other managed to tear her sleeve off, narrowly missing her arm. The scorpion Grimm hissed and shot its deadly tail forward, but Summer attacked with an intense blast of her silver eyes, the creature letting out a squeal as it was petrified.

With a slight growl of annoyance, Summer jumped up and slammed Sundered Rose onto the center back of the Deathstalker, shattering it. She then turned around in time to see Celaeno standing up within the building, cawing in pain as it ruffled its feathers and used its beak to rip out a piece of wood that had become embedded in its side. It looked down at her, and she stared right back up at it.

"One of us will die, or you can just fly away and we'll call it even." Said Summer as she reloaded, knowing it was pointless to attempt to reason with a Grimm, even one as intelligent as Celaeno.

It screamed again and jumped off the building, gliding towards her, talons reaching out and glinting in the midday sun. Summer didn't attempt to run, she stood and waited for Celaeno to get close enough.

Then she activated the power within her, her eyes blasting an immense burst of silver energy. Celaeno screamed and banked right to get away, but it couldn't escape the blast, it screamed as the left side of its face slowly became petrified by the silver light, but its wings flapped hard enough to get it away from the effect.

Celaeno fell, crashing through the front of a small restaurant as it moaned in pain.

Summer stumbled forward, falling to her knees as she tried to catch her breath while her aura finally shattered, totally depleted from her use of her silver eyes. She threw herself down and landed on her back before she tiredly tried to collect herself. For a brief moment, she could have sworn she saw a figure moving among the rooftops, but when she sat up and looked again she didn't see anything. Looking over, she saw Celaeno slowly trying to free itself from the ruined opening of the restaurant, its body a badly damaged heap of feathers and bone.

Forcing herself up, Summer began to walk forward, determined to finish off Celaeno.

"Salem…if you're watching, and I know you are, you'll have to do better than this." She said aloud, not worrying about anyone else hearing her.

Suddenly something grabbed her from behind, and the next thing she knew was horrible pain. She couldn't even cry out, she felt all the air rushing out of her lungs and mouth as her eyes widened in surprise and horror. She looked down and saw the stinger of the shattered Deathstalker stabbing into her chest, stabbed into her by the gloved hands of a man only slightly younger than her.

A man with long dark purple hair and crazed yellow eyes and an equally demented-looking grin. "Oh, she knew she had to do better than Grimm to eliminate a Huntress of your caliber." The assassin remarked.

He then hoisted her up over his shoulder and brought her over to the remains of the Deathstalker, ignoring her feeble struggles and small cries of pain.

"No…this can't…who?"

"Tyrian Callows is the name, after the battle you fought I suppose you deserve to know the name of the man who killed you." He told her as he gently placed her down on the ground in front of the Deathstalker before slamming the stinger further into her chest, causing Summer to scream in agony as the stinger erupted out of her back, causing blood to pour out of the wound and onto the ground.

"Ah, how tragic. The lone Huntress succeeded in saving the town from the monstrous hordes, but ultimately fell in battle. I'm moved to tears." Callows said, wiping away a fake tear.

Summer coughed up blood as tears flowed freely from her eyes. "You…you're making a…terrible mistake…Salem…"

"Will love me! She took notice of my talent for murder and mayhem and recruited me, but needed me to pass one little test before she fully brought me into the fold; kill the last silver-eyed Huntress. Looks like I passed with flying colors." He told her, smirking.

Summer glared at him, feeling relief that the Queen of Grimm at least didn't know that her daughter would inherit the power.

Celaeno screamed again as it began to walk towards them, legs shaking as it panted tiredly; it was badly wounded, its face horribly scarred by Summer's power. In the distance was the sound of a ferry's horn. Summer weakly looked out to the sea and the large boat approaching the island. Taiyang and Qrow were coming, but too late.

"Well, looks like it's time we made our getaway," Said Tyrian as he took out a scroll and pushed a button on it, causing a portal to open up behind him. Celaeno stumbled through and Tyrian began to follow, pausing to take one last look at his victim as she coughed up blood, which stained her lips and chin.

He smirked cruelly one last time before going through the portal, which closed behind him.

Summer kept looking out at the sea, tears falling from her eyes as she knew that this was it. She felt so cold, too weak to do anything. It was getting dark. This was how she would die.

She saw a dove land near her and could hear the voice of Patch's sheriff calling her name from up the road.

The faces of those she dearly loved began flashing before her; Argentius. Soul Seer. Maria. Ozpin, but she said the names of those most important to her "Raven… Qrow… Taiyang… Yang… Ruby…"

In her final moment, she smiled as she closed her eyes for the final time.

---

The silver light shining from Ruby's eyes was intense, any Grimm too close to the Resolute were quickly petrified and fell to the ground where they shattered like glass. Even from a distance, nearly on the other side of the ship, Jaune, Heliosia, Sharp Strike and Cinder briefly paused their battle to look over at the intense light. The silver light was so powerful that Jaune forced himself to turn around so it wouldn't affect his Grimm side.

Turning around, he cried out "Ruby!" before Cinder took advantage of the distraction and used her Maiden powers to blow he and Sharp Strike off balance, but Heliosia held strong and struck back at her foe with Flameguard, forcing Cinder to fend her off.

The light dimmed, but there was still a simmering glow, tears streamed from Ruby's eyes as she glared at the man who murdered her mother.

Ruby shot forward, red petals left in her wake, and began violently swinging Crescent Rose at the assassin, who dodged and leapt away from her blade before shooting at her.

Qrow and Yang dashed forward to help her, Yang's boots stomping hard on the surface of the Resolute as Qrow jumped over and tried to slam Reaper into Tyrian, but the assassin dodged the blade, but still received a kick to the chest as Qrow flew over. Tyrian had no time to recover as Yang savagely punched him in both the gut and face, her gauntlets firing off as the metal fists connected with his body.

"You're fucking dead!" Yang screamed, her voice straining with righteous fury.

Tyrian landed on the cold surface of the ship, bouncing off a little before rolling away to avoid Ruby and Qrow's blades.

"You're dead. You're not getting off this ship alive, you evil bastard!" Yang spat, going to kick him in the face, but Tyrian grabbed her foot and pulled her down before he slammed his elbow into her gut while slicing one of the Queen's Servant's blades onto her chest, cutting her jacket open. Ruby ran over and slammed her foot into Tyrian's head before slashing Crescent Rose across his chest.

Tyrian screamed as his aura flared up and he was forced off of Yang just as Qrow attacked. Tyrian grit his teeth and opened fire with the Queen's Servants, blasting Qrow's chest and causing his aura to light up before Tyrian used his mechanical tail to slam into the dusty Huntsman's chest, making him cry out in pain.

"Uncle Qrow!" Cried Ruby before she and Yang went to attack the murderous Fusion Faunus. Tyrian flung himself at the sisters, he grabbed Yang's hair and pulled her down onto his knee as his tail whipped into Ruby's chest. Ruby quickly recovered and swung Crescent Rose at him twice, but he was able to avoid the blade with rapid, fluid movements before Yang whipped around and threw a haymaker that missed Tyrian by mere centimeters. He slid behind her and slammed his tail into her back before he shot at Ruby, making her go on the defense as he grabbed Yang by the shoulder, forced her around and delivered a powerful chop to her neck while she punched him in the gut. Yang and Tyrian stumbled away from each other while Ruby took a shot and blasted Tyrian in the side, blowing him down again.

Before either sister or the recovering Qrow could do anything, however, laser blasts strafed the area they were battling in, as the Grimm Knights Tyrian had summoned finally arrived. Qrow shouted out as he took several hits, but stood firm and opened fire on the five robots.

"About time!" Tyrian shouted as the Grimm Knights landed. Yang got up and took shots meant for Ruby, using her Semblance to absorb the force of the blows, her hair began to glow a bright, brilliant yellow as Ruby dashed out from behind her, running about in serpentine to avoid being blasted before she slammed Crescent Rose into the legs of one of the Grimm Knights, knocking it over.

Yang suddenly rampaged forward, absorbing the laser blasts that impacted her body and, with a mighty yell, threw her mechanical arm hard into the chest of the nearest Grimm Knight. Sparks erupted out from the Grimm Knight's chest plate until Yang fired Ember Celica from within and its head exploded in a shower of shrapnel, sparks and smoke, Yang's robotic fingers flexing from the hole that was once the neck of the robot.

Tyrian's eyes widened in shock as he watched Yang tear her arm free, allowing the Grimm Knight to fall to the surface of the Resolute with a noisy clatter. "You're next, asshole." Yang seethed as she began stalking forward while Ruby and Qrow fended off the remaining Grimm Knights.

Not too far away, Jaune and Sharp Strike had recovered and were helping Heliosia fight Cinder. The blond glanced back and saw that many meters away, Ruby, Yang and Qrow were dealing with Tyrian and the four Grimm Knights. He really wanted to help them, but knew that Cinder took precedence. Besides, he had faith that they would come out on top, especially when he saw Qrow and Ruby work together to take out a Grimm Knight.

Ruby slammed Crescent Rose into one leg, cutting across the steel while Qrow blew out its other knee, forcing the robot down. Ruby slammed Crescent Rose's rifle form into its visor and fired, blowing it down onto its back, where Qrow slammed Reaper's blade down into the chest, using all of his might to make sure the blade broke through the metal plating. The robot struggled to free itself, but gave up and began firing at Qrow, but only got off two shots before Ruby slammed Crescent Rose's curved blade into the side of its metal neck and then, with a mighty shout of exertion, she dragged her weapon through the neck, finally decapitating it.

Qrow activated the Fire Dust within Reaper, and made sure the robot was truly scrapped via setting its inner-workings on fire. As he tore Reaper free, he was shot in the back by another Grimm Knight, making his aura flare and crackle.

Yang had been keeping Tyrian and the other three Grimm Knights busy, but now two of the robots were focusing their efforts on the other two targets.

Ruby opened fire with Crescent Rose as Qrow pivoted and joined her in shooting at the mechanical menaces while Yang kept battling the last robot and Callows. She slammed her fists into the robot hard, causing it to crash into the assassin. Yang went to attack the two with a volley of rapid-fire punches, but the Grimm Knight kicked up, one metal foot smashing into Yang's knee, knocking her off balance and the other collided into her chest, throwing Yang back.

The Grimm Knight got up, allowing Tyrian to pop up, his face contorting into an expression of psychotic anger. He threw himself at Yang, punching her in the face and he tackled her to the ship's surface.

"Stupid bitch! I'll-" He was cut off by Yang spitting on his face, making him screech in impotent rage before Yang punched him in the left cheek before kneeing him the groin, forcing him off of her, but before she could do anything, the Grimm Knight grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, its powerful arms gripping tight on her throat, making it impossible for her to breathe.

Choking, Yang lifted up her legs past the arms and around the Grimm Knight's head and used her Ember Celica to fire on the shoulder joints as she began kicking at its head with her right boot. Finally she was able to tear herself free, she fell to the top of the ship with a thud, quickly breathing in the cold air before she was knocked down again by both Tyrian and the Grimm Knight kicking her.

Ruby shot forward and slashed the Grimm Knight attacking Yang across the back, practically splitting its jetpack in half and causing it to erupt in a fresh shower of sparks. Tyrian whipped around and smacked Ruby with his tail as the Knight moved to shoot her, giving Yang the opportunity to take it out. She fired into the sparking jetpack, causing it to lose control as the Dust-fuel caught fire.

The Grimm Knight shot up into the air and exploded as the Dust ignited, sending metal body parts and shrapnel flying.

"Damn it!" Cursed Tyrian as he moved to attack Ruby with his tail, but she parried the strike. Scowling, Tyrian had his tail wrap around Crescent Rose's blade and handle, but Ruby held on tight, refusing to let it be torn from her grasp.

Yang went to punch Tyrian, but he caught her gauntleted hands and just managed to hold her off as he struggled to keep Ruby at bay.

Qrow, evading the attacks of the two remaining Grimm Knights, took notice of his nieces' predicament and charged towards them, zigzagging to keep from being shot by the Knights, but he still took a few glancing hits, which further depleted his aura. He ran directly towards Tyrian, who tried to get out of the way, but Ruby and Yang held him in place, allowing Qrow to slam a powerful fist into Tyrian's face, making him yell in pain.

The sisters followed up on their uncle's attack, with Yang punching him in the chest and Ruby slashing him across the back, causing Tyrian to scream in agony before he quickly flipped away and fired on the three as he was joined by the two remaining Grimm Knights, who landed on either side of him.

He growled as he sliced the Queen's Servants together, daring them to make their move.

"Girls, the only way we can take this son of a bitch down is if we do it together," Qrow told his nieces, "Ready?"

"I've never been more ready," Said Yang as she glared at the one who had taken Summer away from them.

"Let's do it," Was all Ruby said.

The three charged at Tyrian and his pair of Grimm Knights, who met them head on.

---

Ren and Marrow immediately opened fire, only for the Son of Salem and Thorn to quickly shoot back, with the teleporting assassin vanishing and reappearing behind the nearby desk for cover. The two members of Team JNPR leapt aside as Vine flung his large shuriken weapon towards the Son, who avoided by ducking but was then met with Magnhilde slamming into him which sent the armored warrior flying a short distance across the brig.

Seeing the blood splatters, Nora looked over and saw Odinson lying on the cot with several gunshot wounds on his body. Despite everything he had done, she couldn't help but gasp in shock, remembering him as the kind and friendly uncle she had known for the first six years of her life. She had considered him to be a grandfather to her, and felt sorrow seeing Odinson so hurt. However, she realized he wasn't dead as Odinson's head slowly lifted up while his chest slowly rose up and down with weak breaths and blood oozing from his wounds.

Thorn managed to deflect the shuriken that shared her name with her arm blade while Marrow threw Fetch at her, bouncing it off the wall and about to smack into her back when she teleported and reappeared behind Elm, shoving her into Clover, who quickly recovered and thrust his sword at her but she flipped away, teleported and then returned in front of Ren, kicking him in the gut while blasting him in the chest a couple times before Thorn grabbed him and hurled him over the desk while using her other gun to fire at Ace Ops.

"Ren!" Cried Nora before the Son of Salem grabbed her from behind and threw backwards into Odinson's cell, the aura dampening devices built into the wall canceling out her aura. He then took out a grenade and tossed it at the members of Ace Ops.

"Get back!" Shouted Clover, using Kingfisher's grappling hook to snatch the grenade and then tossed it down the hall, allowing it to explode without harming them, though it did do some damage to the walls and caused the ceiling lights to explode.

The Son kicked Nora down as she tried to get back up. He took aim with his rifle, when suddenly Odinson gathered what little strength he had left and threw himself in front of Nora just as the Son fired, bullets slamming through the old man's body.

Harriet and Clover then leapt into action, with the dark-skinned woman grabbing the masked warrior and hauling him back before punching him in the face, chest and gut with numerous rapid-fire punches while Clover drove Thorn back with deadly lunges of Kingfisher, though she managed to parry a few thrusts with her arm blade.

Harriet punched the Son hard enough to knock him into Thorn, causing both of them to fall down.

Ren raced over to help Nora with Odinson as the rest of Ace Ops surrounded the deadly pair with weapons at the ready. Thorn glared at them as she grabbed the Son's right wrist and teleported both herself and her companion away.

"Damn it!" Exclaimed Clover, who didn't let their escape get the better of him, he looked around to make sure they weren't going to attack again before he glanced over at the cell which now contained the corpses of Crawford, Kenzo and Nordstrom. A small part of him couldn't help but feel satisfied that such despicable men had met an end that they very much deserved, but he didn't have to admit it out loud. He looked at the bodies of the guards and pulled out his communicator as he quickly said "Check on Blair and the guards! Ebi to bridge, we need medics at the brig now!"

"This is Specialist Yin, we've already sent reinforcements and medics. Our cameras were damaged in a blast, what's the status of Specialist Blair and the guards?" She asked.

Clover looked over to his team, who were checking on the bodies. "These two are dead." Announced Vine in regards to the bodies inside of the brig.

"I'm afraid Specialist Blair didn't make it." Elm reported solemnly before nodding over to the dead guard, "And this guard has already bled out, no pulse at all."

"That guy's a goner but these other two are still breathing. They'll need medical attention right away." Harriet said, after checking the unconscious guards' pulses and breathing.

Clover sighed and answered "Specialist Blair is dead, along with four guards, but we have two injured. Crawford, Kenzo and Nordstrom are among the fatalities, and Odinson is badly wounded." He then looked over at Marrow, who was standing over Nora and Ren, the former of whom held the bleeding old man in her arms. "Marrow, do you think Odinson will survive?"

The Dog Faunus looked back at his leader and shook his head slowly, saying "I don't think so, boss. Even if the medics get here in time, those gunshots did some serious damage."

"C-can we move him out? Maybe outside of the cell his aura will come back." Nora suggested as tears formed in her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying; Odinson was an awful man who had done many terrible things. Yet he just sacrificed himself to save her.

"I'm afraid it won't do any good now." Marrow told her sadly.

"Nora, don't move him, it'll make his pain worse." Ren advised as gently as he could, placing a loving, supporting hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"No-nora…nora?" Odinson rasped out weakly.

""I'm here, Papa Ody, I'm here," Nora answered softly.

"I'm-I'm done for…before I die, I beg of you to forgive me," He managed to say between haggard breaths, "Please, just say you forgive me…"

Nora, slightly trembling, swallowed and slowly nodded. "I forgive you. Despite everything, I forgive you."

Ren looked at his beloved partner and nodded, feeling so proud of her.

Odinson offered a smile as he coughed violently, blood splashing on his lips and down his chin. "Th-thank you…one more thing, little Valkyrie…give Salem hell. Your parents would wa-want you to keep fighting… Don't let her win…"

"I will. I promise you, and my parents." Nora promised as she felt his breathing get worse.

He took in several shallow, shaky breaths before his body shook slightly, letting out an awful death rattle and then slowly went limp.

Nora took in a few breaths as stray tears fell from her eyes. Ren took her into his arms, allowing her to cry and mourn, not for the crime boss Garrett Odinson, but for the man she remembered as Papa Ody. The man who gave his life to protect her.

Marrow saw a bird had been perched on the ledge outside of Odinson's window, but it flew away before he could tell what species it was. He silently knelt down and removed the body from Nora's lap, lifting it up and placing it back on the cot.

"Why is she crying?" Wondered Vine, "Odinson had a hand in her parents deaths and the suffering of many others. Why mourn someone so despicable?"

Ren looked back at the pale man as he helped Nora up and escorted her out of the cell and answered "Because some people, in their last moments, reveal their true selves."

Ace Ops were silent for a moment as Ren led Nora over to a chair so she could sit down.

"Odinson was a real bastard, but what he did at the end was so selfless," Remarked Harriet thoughtfully as she looked at Clover.

Clover thought for a moment and shrugged, "It does make you think; does a pure and selfless act redeem a life of crime? Not our call to make. Right now we should focus on finding those two."

"Any ideas on where they went?" Inquired Elm.

"W-well," Sniffled Nora, "If I were to guess, they're going to join up with Cinder and Callows…"

"To attack Heliosia and our friends." Ren realized, his eyes widening slightly.

---

Heliosia struck at Cinder with Flameguard, but the corrupted Maiden was able to hold the staff off with one hand while leaping up to kick Sharp Strike in the helm with her heeled boot while striking Heliosia in the face with a firm chop. She flipped away from the Summer Maiden, who launched Flameguard's kusarigama form after her.

Cinder grunted as the chain and sickle ensnared her arm, with a strong jerk she yanked the chain forward, but Heliosia had already shot forward, moving fast enough that the Fall Maiden couldn't avoid getting punched in the right eye.

As Heliosia landed behind her, Jaune reentered the fray, swinging Crocea Mors at Cinder. She ducked and sidestepped his first two swings before flipping away to avoid his next two attacks. She landed atop a damaged turret, but Heliosia created a powerful fireball and launched it at Cinder, who jumped off just in time, as the fireball collided with the turret, causing it to explode, the force propelled Cinder forward and she landed on her feet, sliding a little as she came to a stop.

Heliosia, Sharp Strike and Jaune all approached her as she summoned her bow and began launching arrows of fire and ice at them, forcing them to act quickly and cut them down to the best of their abilities. Cinder moved rapidly, shooting arrow after arrow at her enemies, a few of which tore through Heliosia's outfit but missed her body, while Jaune ended up being grazed by a fire arrow.

The blond gritted his teeth and pushed forward while Sharp Strike moved forward, pressing through the barrage and letting the arrows bounce off his armor, leaving patches of cold and heat on the aegis armor before he slammed his twin swords down on Cinder's bow to shatter it. Cinder grabbed him by the helmet and twisted him around, smashing him head-first into the Resolute's hull.

Cinder turned around just in time for her cheek to meet Heliosia's fist. It was powerful enough to knock her down, she retreated as Jaune swung his sword at her, driving her away from Heliosia. Cinder used her fire powers to launch herself up at least twenty feet into the air before she shot back down, so fast that she slammed into Heliosia while kicking Jaune away.

Jaune rolled and got up as Sharp Strike came over, both men looking on as Cinder and Heliosia exchanged a series of twelve punches and strikes before the brunette grabbed Cinder by the chest, only for Cinder to respond by slamming her elbow down on the Summer Maiden's arm before she sent her opponent slamming into Sharp Strike with a mighty backhand.

Cinder flew at them, smashing her booted feet into their chests before she flipped herself around and bashed her forehead into Heliosia's face, causing the Summer Maiden and the Knight Errant onto the ship's surface. Jaune charged Cinder from behind, but she ducked and slammed both fists into his gut before grabbing him by the hair and slamming his chin onto her knee, then slapping him with enough strength to blow him on his back.

She grabbed Jaune by his jacket, telling him "Arc, if I had known you and your friends would cause me so much trouble, I would have massacred you all before the Vytal Festival even began."

Jaune swung Crocea Mors at her, but she caught his wrist and tightened her grip, making him drop his weapon before she picked him up and hurled him at the recovering Sharp Strike, the two landing in a heap. Heliosia got up, only for Cinder to rush over to her, wrap her arms around the Summer Maiden and send her flying towards the damaged remains of a turret, which she slammed into hard.

Cinder flew over to Heliosia, grabbed her again and tossed her over at the damaged communications array, the Summer Maiden landing with a hard thud and a cry of pain. Heliosia leapt to her feet, grabbing a damaged piece of array and shot towards Cinder.

Before Cinder could defend herself, Heliosia slammed the debris into her torso, sending her hurtling into some sort of venting duck, hard enough to burst through the armored plating. Jaune and Sharp Strike had both recovered and rejoined Heliosia as they watched Cinder pull herself free.

Suddenly, not too far away from them, Thorn and the Son of Salem appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, that's one job done," Thorn remarked as she stood up, dusting herself off and shivering slightly, wishing she had brought a thicker coat.

"Thorn!" Exclaimed Heliosia, none too pleased to see the teleporter she had battled at Vacuo City.

"There you are," The teleporter said with a wicked smile as the Son got into a battle-ready pose.

Cinder tore herself free from the vent, glaring at the three before she glanced over to see reinforcements had arrived.

"I take it you accomplished your mission?" She called.

"Flawlessly," Thorn boasted, "Now let's finish this!"

She ran forward and leapt up, aiming her knee high in the air and guns akimbo as she teleported, reappearing in the midst of the three, her knee clobbering Heliosia in the left side of her jaw while she fired on Jaune and Sharp Strike, hitting their armored chests.

Heliosia fell as Thorn got on top her her, glaring at her while saying "I owe you for my arm."

The Summer Maiden scowled as she said "That was Sharp Strike, if I remember correctly," She then flipped herself up, throwing Thorn off. Thorn teleported and came back, about to slam on top of her rival but Heliosia managed to get away, spinning around to slam Flameguard into Thorn's face.

Cinder and the Son both charged Jaune and Sharp Strike, who stood back to back. The only Arc son and the Knight Errant glanced at each other and nodded as they parried attacks from their opponents and then pushed them off.

The Son of Salem defended himself from Sharp Strike's twin blades as the armored Knight aggressively swung them in wild but controlled sallies. The Son fended off ten strikes before he hooked the hilt of Chaos Edge on the hilt of Hong Long, slid the red blade against Lan Feng and then surged against Sharp Strike, forcing him back until the young Knight brought up his knee into the Son's groin. He freed his swords before kicking the masked figure in the chest.

Sharp Strike pressed forward, swinging his at the Son who defended himself vigorously, Chaos Edge clanging against the Knight's twin blades hard enough to send small sparks flying. Neither combatant bothered to keep track of how many times they traded blows, but they moved so quickly that it was unlikely they could if they tried. Sharp Strike jumped forward, trying to slam his blades down on the Son, but the Son sidestepped the deadly attack and then snapkicked Sharp Strike in the side of the head, knocking him down.

The Son slashed Chaos Edge against Sharp Strike's armored back, making the Knight grunt in discomfort before he swung Lan Feng into the Son's knee, it didn't do any serious damage but it was a strong enough blow to knock the mysterious assailant down.

Sharp Strike got up and swung both blades at the kneeling Son, who blocked with Chaos Edge before he rose, blocking Sharp Strike's follow-up attacks, ducking Hong Long as Sharp Strike swung it at his head. The Son kicked at Sharp Strike's midsection, but the Knight managed to avoid it with a quick sidestep and then ducked under the Son's high sweeping kick before jumping away from the Chaos Edge as the Son swung it at his legs.

Meanwhile, Jaune did his best to fend off Cinder's attacks as she struck at him with blows that were as powerful as they were rapid, but Jaune was no longer a pushover, having learned a great deal from his friends. He was empowered by his emotion Semblance; all he had to do was imagine his parents, his sisters, his niece or any of his friends in danger, begging for his help. That made it so easy to find the power within himself that he needed.

Cinder was using only one sword, as she felt it was beneath her to use both blades, or her Maiden powers for that matter, on an opponent as pathetic as Jaune Arc, but inwardly she was somewhat surprised by his defensive skills as he parried her attacks.

So far they had exchanged twenty-two strikes, with the occasional pause or spin of their bodies or weapons. She swung at Jaune's head but he ducked and thrust his blade upwards, managing to score a slice across her cheek.

Cinder gasped, holding a hand to her cheek as her aura flickered. It hardly hurt at all, but it truly surprised her that Jaune Arc, of all people, had managed to land a hit on her. As if that punch back at Haven hadn't been humiliating enough.

"I'm just full of surprises, Cinder. Ashe didn't teach me for long, but he taught me enough." Jaune told her as he spun his sword, inviting her to make her next move, but then he struck out at her.

She easily parried it and assaulted him with several furious attacks that he managed to fend off. She brought her sword back towards herself, twirling it around before she suddenly thrust the Dust sword out at Crocea Mors, tapping the heavy sword's tip before she renewed her assault on Jaune.

After six swift exchanges of blades, Jaune sidestepped Cinder's seventh attack and once again plunged at her face, but this time she was able to block it before she pressed her attacks. Jaune had to move as fast as his body possibly could to block Cinder's merciless attacks at least two dozen times before Cinder tried to ram her blade through his body. He dodged and took advantage of the opening to try and bash Crocea Mors' hilt and shield on her face, but she landed a cut on his shoulder, forcing him away.

Jaune spun around and tried to swing his ancestral sword at her, but she dodged it before forcing Jaune back as they kept trading blows until he slipped on a small patch of ice on the Resolute's metal surface, falling on his rear. He rolled away from Cinder trying to impale him and managed to pin her Dust Blade against the steel surface.

Cinder dispelled her blade and then resummoned, swinging it at Jaune's head but he rolled away and scrambled to his feet, grunting as Cinder managed to slice a cut through his upper pants, slashing his right leg.

Jaune defended himself from her next attack and blocked six further attacks before he slammed Crocea Mors against her Dust Blade, making her stagger. He brought it down on her again, but she blocked and drew close to him as they forced their swords against one another. She smashed her elbow into his chin before swinging her sword, but he ducked and only lost a few strands of hair.

Cinder found herself surprised by Jaune as, with a strange glow in his sapphire eyes, he once more pressed the attack against her. She knew that this was the power of the Aura Crystal. Cinder fought back, aura in the shape of leaves shining around her ember eyes as they traded incredibly fast blows, in another series of nearly thirty sword strikes before Cinder ducked under a swing and slammed her blade into his stomach, making his aura flare up before he bashed Crocea Mors' hilt on her back before she knocked him down with a blast of chilly autumn wind.

Jaune defended himself from ten more attacks before he rushed Cinder and slammed his shield into her before she responded with a powerful blow across the face, his aura shining bright once again. He swung at her feet but she sidestepped, swung at her head but she ducked and then began a fresh series of thirteen sword strikes which Jaune parried before she charged into him, pressing her heated sword against his armored chest.

She ran her sword in Jaune's shoulder, making him seethe, but he managed to defend himself from ten more strikes before she slashed at his armor strap, causing his chest armor to fall off of him and clatter onto the hull.

"I admit, you've improved greatly, Arc," Cinder confessed, "I wonder how good of a fight Nikos will give me once she sees you lying at my feet?"

Jaune let out an angry yell and attacked, she parried his wide swing before she slid under the next one and slashed his left midsection, making Jaune cry out in pain as his aura healed it. He placed his hand on the area where Cinder had hit him, looking back at her as she smirked, satisfied with her performance thus far. He glanced around, seeing Ruby, Yang and Qrow still fighting Tyrian and the Grimm Knights, Sharp Strike dueling the Son and Heliosia dealing with Thorn.

His friends were all fighting with everything they had. How could he do any less?

Jaune sprung back into action, Cinder parried five of his swings before he kicked her in the gut, which took her by surprise. He pivoted to get alongside her, wrapped one hand, which held his sword, around her neck so his hand holding his shield could bash it into her face twice before Cinder flung both herself and Jaune over, both fighters slamming onto the ship's surface.

Cinder got up before Jaune did, but he was still fast enough to block the swing she aimed at his neck. She kicked him in the chest but he rolled back to avoid getting cut and got to his feet, smirking at her.

"If I'm giving you this much trouble, imagine how hard Pyrrha will kick your butt." Jaune said.

The Fall Maiden glared at Jaune with simmering rage before they resumed their battle.

As this was happening, Heliosia moved as quickly as she could to avoid Thorn shooting at her. She slid on some ice, but managed to stay standing, spinning her weapon around to keep Thorn away from her, managing to wack her hard and knock her back. Heliosia ensnared her Flameguard's kusarigama and flung her towards the damaged communication transmitter, but Thorn teleported to safety before she could crash into it.

The lithe woman reappeared in front of Thorn, throwing a punch at her made worse by the deadly arm blade, but the Summer Maiden deflected it with Flameguard. Thorn repeated her teleportation strategy, reappearing and trying to slash her blade across Heliosia's neck, but her target dodged. Again, she vanished and reappeared, trying to kick Heliosia in the stomach, but the brunette grabbed her leg and flipped her over, only to vanish in midair.

Heliosia whirled around, twirling Flameguard to keep her foe at bay whenever she inevitably attacked next. Sure enough, Thorn popped up behind her, going for a tackle, but Heliosia managed to smack her away. Once again Thorn vanished, this time reappearing behind Heliosia, managing to land a kick on the small of the Maiden's back, making her stumble forward, made worse by Thorn reappearing in front of her and using her metal hand to punch her face.

The Maiden recovered and spun Flameguard wildly, deflecting Thorn's next two attacks before she finally appeared directly above her, the pale woman's boots stomping onto the Maiden's right shoulder and head. She jumped off and kicked Heliosia in the chest and teleported away to avoid the swinging Flameguard before she reappeared right in front of the Summer Maiden, wrapping her hands around her throat.

Thorn laughed as her robotic arm tightened around the Maiden's neck as she pulled back her left arm, a small circle of flesh opening in her hand as another Grimm parasite began to emerge.

Heliosia's eyes shone with a powerful light of summer sun as she kicked Thorn in the gut and used her Semblance and nature power to grab Thorn's robotic hand, she emitted enough heat that Thorn was forced to pull away. She then tackled the murderous thief and slammed her into the side of the ruined turret, only for Thorn to slap her with her robotic hand with considerable force, making Heliosia's cheek light up with aura. She struck her again, arm blade cutting across the Maiden's other cheek, again causing aura to flare up before she slammed both her hands down on Heliosia's head, making her crash onto the Resolute's surface.

With a yell of exertion, lifted herself up with her arms and swung her body around, kicking her legs as hard as she could into Thorn's stomach. She pushed herself up, used Flameguard to brace Thorn against her and used her Maiden powers to fly up towards one of the towering drag fins and smashed her into it before getting behind her and landing a kidney punch which made Thorn scream in frustration and pain as her aura glowed.

Thorn reached back and grabbed Heliosia's hair and teleported away and the next thing Heliosia knew she was in midair about a hundred meters away from the Resolute, she fell before beginning to fly again and spun to try and spot Thorn. The teleporter then crashed on top of her, the two struggled as they fell only for Thorn to teleport them both away.

They appeared high above the Resolute and both began to fall. Thorn teleported them both closer and closer to the ship's surface, refusing to let Heliosia go until Heliosia finally collided with the Resolute's surface in a hard crash, creating a large dent in the area she landed on as Thorn stood atop her.

Thorn laughed before she went to stab Heliosia with her arm blade, but the Summer Maiden caught it and twisted the blade away from her face. She tried to get away, but Thorn grabbed her by her hair and the back of her coat and, with several grunts of exertion, picked her up and tossed her away. Heliosia landed again, moaning as her aura was flaring brightly all along her body. She pushed herself up, only to be met with Thorn's boot slamming into her face.

"We could have done this without you dying, but you just had to be difficult, didn't you? Now, I'm gonna enjoy watching you die while I take your powers." Thorn sneered down at the Maiden.

Heliosia screamed as an intense light covered the area, even greater than the silver light Ruby had emitted earlier. Thorn covered her eyes and tried to teleport away, but instead felt her face being punched with righteous fury by Heliosia, propelled forward by an intense blast of fire. She grabbed Thorn by the head with both hands and bashed her face against the Resolute's hull, running and dragging Thorn along until she tossed her over the edge of the ship.

Thorn teleported and reappeared a few meters away from Heliosia, trying to catch her breath, but Heliosia barged into her with a mighty kick to the gut. Thorn was nearly sent flying, but Heliosia grabbed her and slammed her onto the surface before tossing her away again. Thorn teleported and crashed into the Summer Maiden from behind.

Thorn slashed Heliosia up the back with her arm blade, causing the Maiden's coat to fall away, but Heliosia was kept warm by her Maiden powers. She smashed the back of her head into Thorn's face before whirling around and tackling her. Thorn teleported away and reappeared not far, only for Heliosia to pole vault herself over using Flameguard, kicking Thorn directly in the chest.

Thorn fell back, rolling and jumping up again and threw a wild punch that happened to catch Heliosia in the chin, but Heliosia still managed to throw herself into Thorn with a fierce body slam.

Thorn staggered back, collecting herself as she drew out her guns, reloading them while Heliosia wiped the sweat from her brow and spun around Flameguard.

"Why are you doing this? Just tell me," Heliosia implored.

"Why? I don't know about you, Maiden, but not all of us are born beautiful and get to have great lives. I lived on the street, had to steal to survive. I doubt you know what that's like." Thorn spat.

"I must admit I don't," Heliosia conceded, and despite everything she gave Thorn a sympathetic look, "But I knew people who did, people in Vacuo city. I might not know it personally, but I do understand how you fee-"

"Don't you dare pity me! You don't know anything about me!" Thorn shouted.

"I can, if you let me. You don't have to work for Salem, you could use your talents for good. All of you can, if you just try to be better." Heliosia told her, hoping to talk sense into the woman.

Thorn sighed and shook her head, "No. No, it's too late for me. I'm in too deep now. If I even tried to turn over a new leaf, Salem would kill me. Besides, I'm still kinda pissed at you for my arm." She said, before running towards Heliosia and opening fire.

Heliosia dodged and fell back, getting close to Jaune as he used his shield to protect himself from fire arrows Cinder had launched at him while Sharp Strike fends off the Son of Salem, while Ruby, Yang and Qrow all fought Tyrian and his robots not too far away.

---

The Wyvern thrashed violently in the sky, it nearly managed to throw Ziz and Pyrrha off a few times, but the belt straps kept them locked to the saddle. Ziz suspected that somehow, Pyrrha would hang on through sheer determination alone because the redhead simply refused to give up.

They had flown far from the estate, neither of them knew how many miles but had spotted a few small towns racing by underneath them during their flight.

"Are you all right?" Pyrrha asked as the Grimm Dragon kept trying to throw them off, her eyes flickering between their natural emerald to Grimm crimson.

"Not exactly the best time and place to ask that!" Ziz answered as the Wyvern suddenly began descending on the vast forests of the Atlesian countryside. "This is getting out of hand! What exactly are you trying to do?!"

"I'm trying to bring the Wyvern back by reminding it of the time we shared, the good memories," Pyrrha explained, as the Wyvern growled ferociously at her. "It's how Jaune saved me. I might not have his powers, but maybe my connection to its mind will be enough!"

She pressed her bare hands harder on the dark Grimm skin. She took a deep breath and did her best to clear her mind of all negative thoughts, opening up the mental connection she had with all Grimm courtesy of the late Victor Giger. She also had to push all of her feelings towards the vile scientist who had violated her body by transforming her into a Grimm Hybrid, helped brainwash her and was responsible for the horrific Chimera.

The Wyvern roared again as Pyrrha tried harder to push those dark thoughts out of her mind. It dove down hard towards the trees, causing both women to cry out in surprise

"Hang on, we're going in!" Cried Ziz as the Wyvern flew down into the trees. Pyrrha pressed herself as flat as she could along the body of the Wyvern, while Ziz undid her strap and was about to fly off, only to be smashed into a thick branch of a particularly tall tree. If it wasn't for her aura, she suspected all of her ribs would have snapped in half.

The Wyvern pulled up before it hit the ground, its powerful wings cutting through the tall trunks of trees, causing snow to shower onto the forest floor as the trees began to fall with a cacophony of snapping sounds that reminded Pyrrha of fireworks.

The Wyvern landed, the claws on its bat-like wings and its powerful legs clawing into the snow and earth before it began to roll its body over. Realizing she would be crushed, Pyrrha quickly undid her straps and leapt off as the dragon rolled around. It snapped its body out straight, roaring at her before it gave chase.

Pyrrha rolled away as the Wyvern lurched towards her, mouth ready to bite down, but instead it bit down on a fallen log, chomping it in half. The Spartan jumped over its long tail that it whipped at her, the clawed tip of the tail clawed across a pine tree's trunk, sending bark and splinters flying.

It turned and spat out a powerful fireball at her, forcing her to sprint as fast as she could as the flaming projectile burst against the snowy ground, being mostly extinguished by the cold snow while also melting most of it, sending thick steam into the air. Pyrrha used Milo's javelin form to pole vault herself up into the air and onto a massive tree's closest branch, and she quickly clambered up the branches as the Wyvern slammed itself against the thick trunk.

Pyrrha jumped off and once again landed atop the Wyvern, her hands planted firmly on its head as she once again opened the mental connection she had with the Alpha Grimm, her feelings pouring into its mind. "I will not fight you! I know you are not a mindless beast! You're a wyvern, a dragon! A magnificent, beautiful animal that's been twisted from birth and transformed to be a tool for evil, but you don't have to be! Please just let me help you!" She begged it as she flooded its mind with memories.

Images began flashing through the Wyvern's mind,

Their first meeting, during which Cinder had to protect 'Fotia' from its impulsive fire blast and how she had managed to calm it down by speaking so honestly to it. Doing exercises and combat practice with the beast as it slowly warmed up to her to the point where it was sleeping with her. The amazing flights they had taken so high above Haven City with Neo using her Semblance to keep them hidden and the breathtaking sights they had seen as they mingled with the clouds.

The Wyvern let out loud, growling pants as it slowly began to calm down as those memories took up all its attention.

Ziz landed on a nearby branch, crouching down and waiting for a good opportunity to swoop down and get Pyrrha out, should she lose control of the Dragon Grimm.

Pyrrha breathed in and out with her beloved dragon, her heart rate slowing as she used their mental connection to show the Wyvern what had happened and why she had left it. She gave it flashes of Jaune, Nora, Ren and her other friends, allowing positive feelings to soak into its mind before she showed it her battle with Cinder atop Ozpin's tower. It growled loudly as she forced herself to recall that terrible memory of Cinder's arrow shooting through her chest.

She created a mental image of herself slowly fading to Fotia Drakos, with flashes of Salem and Giger's wicked faces grinning. The Wyvern growled louder, and Pyrrha could feel that it was beginning to understand.

The Wyvern's tail came to rest on a downed tree, wrapping around it as its wings rested on the ground while the snow around it began to slowly melt around it due to the heat its body was generating.

Pyrrha showed it how Jaune had freed her from Salem's control, her narrow escape that resulted in Giger's death and Cardin's sacrifice, and how they were forced to leave it behind due to the chaotic battle at the factory Cinder had made her base. She allowed her grief and regret to flood into the Wyvern's mind, showing her how bad she felt over it and how much she had wanted to save it. How she had thought about it every single day from her escape from Haven up to the present.

Ziz looked on, astonished, as a brilliant aura shone around Pyrrha's eyes, shifting from Grimm red to dazzling green, the power of the Aura Crystal helping her to soothe the Wyvern.

The Wyvern hardly moved, with the exception of breathing, steam snorting out of its nostrils as it stopped fighting Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, did it work? Is it under control?" Ziz asked.

The redhead looked up at her fellow Grimm hybrid and slowly nodded, "Yes, I think so," She answered, as she caressed the back of its bone-armored head before carefully climbing down.

The Wyvern groaned at her, as if scared she was going to leave it again. "Don't worry, I won't leave. I'm here," Pyrrha assured it calmly, petting its snout to keep it calm, "You saw my friends? Well, they can be your friends too, but right now they badly need our help. Will you help us?"

The Wyvern slowly raised its head and nuzzled it against Pyrrha's body, letting out a deep, guttural purring sound. Pyrrha smiled brightly as she hugged its head, while Ziz kept watching, not completely believing what she was seeing.

"You can stay with us. I…I don't exactly know how, but we can figure out something," Pyrrha promised, "I don't know what they did to you, but I swear I will never let it happen again."

The Wyvern suddenly lifted up its head and breathed out at her, fire building up in its mouth but it was careful not to unleash it on her. The heat would normally be enough to burn someone, but to Pyrrha it just felt pleasantly warm. She remembered what Cinder had told her about a year ago, how a dragon rider could not be harmed by their dragon's flames.

Pyrrha smiled and hugged the Wyvern's head and it accepted it, nuzzling her. Pyrrha and Ziz both noticed that the Wyvern's eyes began to shift, going from the typical ominous to a brilliant gold. Pyrrha laughed as she hugged it even tighter.

"Hey, I take it you saw some of what Salem, Cinder and the Son did to it, right?" Ziz asked. Pyrrha nodded, "Then you need to know, that wasn't just to punish it for being difficult, Watts may have found a way to protect Salem from the power of your friend's eyes. Dragon skin."

"What?!" Pyrrha asked, alarmed, making the Wyvern growl nervously. She placed a soothing hand on its snout again as Ziz continued.

"No idea if it's really gonna work, but you guys could use a heads-up. Also…if you put powerful enough flames, like Cinder-level powerful, you can burn off the Grimm flesh and reveal the true dragon underneath." Ziz informed her younger friend.

Pyrrha nodded, "I see. Thank you so much for risking your life for this, Ziz. If…if you want, you don't have to return to that terrible place. You could stay with us," She offered.

Ziz shook her head, "I'd like to, really, but…things are complicated. Besides, there's another girl like you that needs me to look out for her."

"Mavis?" Pyrrha deduced.

Ziz confirmed it with a nod, "Yeah. Poor kid. You better get going, use this big guy to turn the tide. First thing's first, you're gonna have to inflict some pain on me."

"Why?" Pyrrha asked, a little startled by the request.

"Not that I'll enjoy it, I'm not that fucked up, but Salem can't know I helped you. I have to look like I put up a fight, okay?" Ziz told her.

Pyrrha nodded before she climbed up on the Wyvern, taking out Milo again, "I'll try not to hurt you too badly…" She said as she hesitantly took aim.

"Relax, I won't hold a grudge. Just don't hit the wings, okay?" Ziz said before Pyrrha reluctantly opened fire, blasting Ziz in the chest, stomach, thighs and left shoulder several times, enough to make her aura flare up and knock her off her feet.

"Ow!"

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" Pyrrha asked, afraid she might have seriously hurt the winged Grimm Commander.

"Errgh," Groaned Ziz, "I'm fine! I've had worse than this. Now move your ass and get back there!"

"Right! Thank you so much Ziz, for everything. I hope that one day we'll fight alongside each other." Pyrrha told her.

Ziz smiled and nodded as she sat up, brushing snow off her clothes. "Me too, Pyrrha. See you later."

Pyrrha smiled as she took hold of the Wyvern's reigns and spoke to her draconic steed, "All right, let's go give everyone a big surprise." She said to it.

Ziz staggered off, leaning against a tree as she watched the dragon lift off into the air, its body slightly growing as air filled its organs and the wings flapped powerfully to drive its body upwards.

The form of the Wyvern burst out of the tree tops, knocking some branches off, and it began flying back the way it came, directly towards Schnee Manor.

Pyrrha felt the air race along her face and her armor, her long hair fluttered wildly in the breeze as the Wyvern flew high into the air. Pyrrha couldn't help herself and let out a gleeful cheer of excitement.

"This is great! Yes!" She shouted, "Let's go! Faster, higher!" She told her Wyvern as it roared, but no longer a monstrous one, but instead sounding like the call of a noble animal.

It took some time, but eventually Schnee Manor and the hovering form of the Resolute came into view and from where she sat on the Wyvern's saddle, Pyrrha could see the airborne Grimm still dogfighting with the Atlas Eagles and from what she could hear, it sounded like the battle hadn't died down in the slightest.

She spotted a gunship being attacked by a pair of Nevermore, their deadly talons clawing into the ship's engines, doing enough damage to cause explosions, which ripped through the nacelle as the ship began to fall.

"Okay, let's do some good! Go!" Pyrrha told her steed, placing her hand on it and mentally commanding it to catch the falling gunship.

The Wyvern didn't argue and flew forwards, pushed by its strong wings. It was easy to catch up with the plummeting ship and its feet caught hold of the ship's surface, the claws ripping through the steel hull and causing the crew inside, who had either been praying or trying to get the parachutes ready, to jerk very suddenly, falling against the walls or to the floor.

Pyrrha mentally commanded the Wyvern to carefully place the damaged gunship on the ground. The Wyvern dragged it slightly before letting go and ascending back into the air, leaving behind a very confused, but very relieved, gunship crew.

The pilot and co-pilot looked out from the cockpit, utterly amazed by what they had just witnessed.

"What the hell just happened? Did a Wyvern just save our asses?" Asked the co-pilot.

"Don't question it. I think this is above our paygrade." The Pilot responded.

A Nevermore attempted to divebomb the Wyvern, its razor-sharp talons reaching for Pyrrha, only for the dragon Grimm to spin around and expel a fireball from its mouth. The Nevermore was instantly annihilated by the blast, exploding into a blooming orb of black dust and fire as the Wyvern turned, using its wing to sever the left wing of a Nevermore, causing it to fall to its death.

Pyrrha spotted a Razorwing attacking an Atlas Eagle, the Grimm Harpy was trying to pry open the cockpit. Pyrrha took out Milo in its rifle form and fired, blasting the winged-beast through the head, catching the pilot by surprise.

Not too far away, the Retribution was being hounded by Manticores, Griffons, Razorwings, Nevermore and Vampires. Jammer blasted as many of them away as she could, shooting lasers that ripped through their wings, necks and heads, sending them falling as they disintegrated. However, it seemed like for every one she shot down, two or more took its place. Raider had given in and allowed the EVA AI units to go online and take control of the other turrets, though some had been damaged in the battle.

Raider grunted in annoyance as a Lechuza exploded against the cockpit glass. "Jammer! These damned things are hitting our shields hard, don't know how much more they can take."

"I'm shooting down as many as I can, but I we just keep attracting the attention of these slaggin' monsters for every one of them we shoot down!" She shouted to reply.

"Right, I'm gonna drop us." Raider told her.

Jammer grimaced, as she always got extreme whiplash whenever he pulled that maneuver and Raider himself never wanted to do it unless it was absolutely necessary, but they knew it was a good way of dealing with flying Grimm when they swarmed a ship. She took in a breath and said "Roger that, I'm strapped in. Do it!"

The Retribution's engines suddenly cut off and Raider allowed the strike corvette to fall for a dozen meters before he brought the engines back to life. Jammer and the ship's guns, now operated by the EVA core, all jerked upwards and fired, blowing most of the Grimm away, but some were able to get clear.

The remaining flying Grimm began to dive down towards the Retribution, only for the Wyvern to attack them before they could get close enough. It let loose a powerful stream of fire, setting most of them ablaze while Pyrrha used Milo to finish them off. A Griffon which had avoided the flames screeched loudly and tried to attack the Wyvern's head, but the dragon Grimm turned its head, opened its mouth and bit down hard, killing it instantly. The other Grimm were cut in half by the Wyvern's sharp wings and its whipping tail or were shot down by Pyrrha. A Vampire tried to attack her, but she used Akouo to bash it towards the Wyvern's tail, where the bat Grimm was impaled.

Jammer couldn't believe her eyes as she looked through her turret's crosshairs and spotted Pyrrha riding the huge Grimm. "I don't believe it…"

"Jammer, was that what I think it was? Was that the Wyvern? Why the hell did it just attack its own kind?" Raider asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but I see Pyrrha Nikos riding that thing!" Jammer told him.

"Are you serious?" The oldest member of Task Force Omega asked.

"Do I sound like a raving lunatic? Remember how she and the Arc kid are supposed to be Grimm hybrids? EVA, show him!" Jammer ordered the A.I..

The viewscreen on Raider's control panel showed an image of Pyrrha riding on the Wyvern. Raider let out a deep breath. "Oh boy." He looked out and caught sight of the Wyvern again, watching it decapitate a Razorwing with a whip of its tail as Pyrrha kept shooting at the flying Grimm.

"Raider, call it a wild guess but I think that thing's on our side now." Jammer said.

"Yeah, I think you might be onto something." He agreed as he keyed himself into the open comms frequency, "This is the Retribution. Do not fire on the Wyvern! Repeat; do not attack the Wyvern."

"Mind giving us a good reason why we shouldn't, Retribution?" Asked Alpha Leader.

"This is Gunship 052," Came a voice, "Retribution is right. I'm not sure how to explain it but that Wyvern kept us from crashing, my crew and I are only alive because of it."

"Omega Three reporting in, sir, I saw it too! Pyrrha Nikos was riding it and she shot off a Razorwing that tried to open my cockpit!"

"We know how insane it sounds, but it's true," Raider said, "Pyrrha Nikos is riding that thing and controlling it."

Alpha Leader let out a sigh before he said "Okay, why not? Things are insane enough. Anyone who is close enough, fly up to it and ascertain if it is friendly."

"Alpha Four reporting in sir, I'm close to the creature and I can make out a human figure. I'll check it out…" Said one of the pilots in Alpha Squadron.

Alpha Four flew up and alongside the Wyvern, maintaining a careful distance from its flapping wings. Behind her helmet's visor, Alpha Four's eyes widened in shock as she saw that Raider hadn't been exaggerating. Pyrrha Nikos was indeed riding the Grimm Dragon.

Pyrrha took notice of him and gave him a friendly wave.

Despite how surreal it was, Alpha Four managed to speak into her throat mic and report "This is Alpha Four; don't ask me how, but it's true. Pyrrha Nikos has the Wyvern under control!"

"Understood. Everyone got that? Hard to believe but the Wyvern is friendly. Repeat, Wyvern is friendly, do not fire!"

Pyrrha mushed the Wyvern on, making it bank left to avoid the deadly wing attack of a Nevermore, mentally commanding it to use its tail to wrap around the huge bird Grimm's head and rip it off, which it executed flawlessly.

Suddenly Pyrrha began to feel a strange aching in both her chest and her head, voices were whispering in her mind, the voices of the souls within the Aura Crystal.

"What's wrong? What is it?" She asked aloud, then she understood; the souls were relaying a message from the souls powering up Jaune, telling her that he needed her. Urgently. He was in terrible danger.

---

Ruby and Yang found themselves dealing with the two Grimm Knights as their uncle battled the man who murdered their mother, but these Grimm Knights were considerably stronger than the ones they had fought before, and only slightly stronger than the ones they had managed to destroy today.

Qrow dodged a punch from Tyrian and the deadly blades of the left Queen's Servant before his right fist collided with Qrow's chin, making the Huntsman stumble as Tyrian began to attack with powerful spinning kicks, the first two smashed into the side of Qrow's head but he was able to withstand them. The third kick was more powerful, and the assassin's foot slammed hard into Qrow's chest, sending him sprawling on his back.

Qrow looked up to see Tyrian rushing at him, grinning as his deadly mechanical tail got ready to stab him. The veteran Huntsman waited for the right time and as Tyrian leapt for him, he rolled out of the way, sprung up and just as Tyrian's tail stabbed into the surface of the Resolute, Qrow slammed Reaper's blade against Tyrian's head, making the assassin scream in pain as he fell back.

Qrow got two shots off with Reaper, just as Tyrian recovered and fired back, but only once. Qrow's first shot, miraculously, collided with Tyrian's while the second impacted on the assassin's chest. Tyrian forced himself up, stumbling away and opening fire at Qrow, who managed to avoid the blasts and chased after Summer's killer.

He jumped up as high as he could and came down on Tyrian, who swiftly pivoted around and opened fire, with every shot landing on Qrow this time as he landed roughly on the Resolute's surface, aura shining before he rolled around and got off a shot on Tyrian's left knee, but the cyborg managed to withstand the attack but let out a hiss of pain.

Qrow transformed Reaper into its scythe form and ran at Tyrian, who responded in kind with his mechanical tail. The two clashed several times before Tyrian wrapped his tail around Reaper and with a mighty jerk, tore it out of Qrow's hands and flung it overhead. The weapon landed on the ship's surface and spun away, landing not far behind where Ruby and Yang were duking it out with the Grimm Knights.

Tyrian let out a cruel, mocking laugh as he attacked with his tail, but Qrow was quick enough to avoid three swings before he grabbed Tyrian's right arm and pulled him forward as he violently twisted the limb while kneeing Tyrian hard in the ribs before delivering a chop to the assassin's neck and then tried to slam him onto the ground. Tyrian's tail, however, was able to push the cyborg forward and he kicked with both feet, hitting Qrow's chest hard.

Qrow tumbled back and sprang up, just in time to take a spinning kick in the face. As he stumbled, Tyrian spun around and punched him from the other side, a Queen's Servant tearing a gash on Qrow's jacket and shirt. Laughing, Tyrian kicked Qrow in the stomach again while also punching him in the chest, knocking Qrow down on his rear.

"Is this all you've got, Branwen?" Tyrian sneered.

"Just getting started," Qrow growled as he pushed himself up and began throwing a series of punches at the assassin, who moved rapidly to avoid nine blows before his tail blocked a high-kick Qrow tried to land on Tyrian's hip. Qrow threw another punch, but Tyrian caught it and responded with a ferocious punch that sent Qrow flying into the air and then landing hard on the surface, sliding back towards Ruby and Yang.

"Uncle Qrow!" Cried Ruby as she rolled away from a punch from one of the robots.

As Qrow slid to a halt, he saw Reaper, so he reached out and reclaimed it, sprung up and opened fire on the Grimm Knights as Tyrian rushed towards them.

Ruby went to face the cyborg, spinning Crescent Rose around and went to attack him. Tyrian jumped back as Ruby swung her blade at him, then leaned away to avoid getting the deadly blade run across his throat. Yang used one arm to fire at the Grimm Knights while she used the other to shoot at Tyrian, who did his best to get out of the way, only for Ruby to score a slice across his midsection.

"Eeargh! Little bitch!" He snarled as his tail whipped Yang away, he then grabbed Ruby's arm, twisted her around and then slammed her down before stomping on her chest, making Ruby cry out. Yang screamed as she got up, ran forwards and grabbed Tyrian from behind before performing a suplex, smashing his head onto the ship's hard surface.

However, Tyrian wrapped his legs around Yang's head and forced her down before flipping away to avoid being cut down by Crescent Rose. Yang forced herself up as Ruby avoided a swing from Tyrian's tail and hopped away to avoid a sweeping kick, but failed to catch another kick that landed on her chest. Tyrian turned to see Yang hurtling towards him, blown forward by firing the Ember Celica behind her, so he instantly dropped to his knees, allowing the Blonde Brawler to overshoot him as his tail shot up, wrapped around her midsection and then smashed her onto the hull.

Tyrian got up, just in time to get a hard kick to the chest from Ruby, who blasted herself forward with a shot from Crescent Rose, her other foot clobbering Tyrian in the face before she landed behind him and then knocked him over with a powerful whack from her weapon. Tyrian threw a wild punch but Ruby grabbed it and swung Crescent Rose up to blast him in the chest, sending him stumbling into the recovered Yang who smashed her robotic fist into the assassin's face while also kicking him in the crotch.

Tyrian spun around, screeching in frustration as he shot his tail towards Ruby, who slid under it and parried its follow-up strike as Tyrian blocked a jab from Yang, whom Ruby knocked out of the way to save her from being harmed by the mechanical scorpion tail.

Growling, Salem's assassin dashed at them and swung his tail and Yang threw a punch and fired, the two colliding, resulting in a shower of sparks. Ruby swiftly got behind him and smacked him on the head with the blunt side of Crescent Rose before using the curved blade to hook his shoulder and yank him down but Tyrian spun around and kicked Ruby's feet out from under her before sending her flying with a harsh smack of his tail.

Yang responded in kind by landing a blast directly in Tyrian's forehead before dealing him a violent snapkick only for him to punch her in the face, making her aura flare up brightly as the steel cut across her cheek.

As the two fell away from each other, Qrow dealt with the remaining Grimm Knights. He ran as they flew after him, firing away, before he suddenly turned and slashed a long cut along the body of one with Reaper as it overshot it and went overboard while the second one landed, still firing at him.

Qrow blocked the shot with Reaper and powered his way up to the robot, where he transformed Reaper into its gun form and then slammed it into its visor, firing off bullets loaded with Ice Dust bullets, before he shot down its torso at point blank range, at that close the caliber of bullet was strong enough to blast through the strong armor, ice spreading through its inner machinery and circuitry.

The first Grimm Knight flew back up and rushed at Qrow, but he jumped away, timing it right and causing the last Grimm Knight to smash through the frozen robot, shattering it. Surprisingly, the robot wasn't too badly damaged by smashing through its companion and opened fire on Qrow, who did his best to avoid the blasts.

Tyrian shot Yang's upper chest to knock her away before he turned to face Ruby. He rose his right leg up high until it was pointing up at the sun, and then he slammed it down on Ruby's shoulder, causing her to drop Crescent Rose. She groaned, but managed to grabbed Tyrian's leg and twisted it, causing him to spin before he landed with a few soft grunts. Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose as she got up and darted towards Tyrian and crammed her weapon's gun form into his face and fired, making him cry out as his aura shone like crazy as he went hurtling away, sending spit flying and a tooth falling out of his mouth.

Yang gave herself little time to recover and chased after Tyrian, but he didn't back down, bringing his head up to hers, bashing his forehead against her nose. He got behind her and his tail slashed across her back, causing the lower half of Yang's coat to fall away as she fell forward. Tyrian turned to face Ruby, who was running at him while firing Crescent Rose, but he used his tail to deflect the projectiles before he fired from both Queen's Servants, hitting Ruby in the stomach. She fell to her knees and just barely managed to deflect Tyrian's tail attempting to stab her, but he still managed to punch her in the side of the head.

Before Tyrian could do anything else to the silver-eyed girl, Yang slammed both her gauntleted hands into his sides, making him cry out as she fired into him before grabbing him and sending him hurtling towards the front of the ship.

"If Salem has funerals for her minions who die, yours is gonna be closed casket!" Yang snarled as Tyrian got up.

"You're really getting on my nerves, slut." He spat.

Ruby got up in a crouching position and then shot forward, swinging Crescent Rose at his knee, but he hopped up on one leg, leaving himself open for Yang to run in and open fire at his torso at a close range, causing him to collapse onto his hands and knees where Ruby smacked him up the chin with the blunt end of Crescent Rose's pole.

"Insult my sister again, I dare you," Ruby warned quietly as he tried to push himself up, but the silver-eyed girl grabbed him by his long braid and smashed his face into the Resolute, but he flipped his body and kicked out, his feet hitting both of the girls and knocking them away from him. Ruby swung around, slashing Crescent Rose into the right side of Tyrian's midsection. She swung again and her blade clashed against Tyrian's tail but he elbowed her in the face as he once again swung his tail, but she backflipped away from the tail, landing on her boots and sliding a little.

Tyrian's arm shot forward and grabbed Ruby by the neck, using his tail to block Crescent Rose as he spun around before slamming her back onto his knee, making her scream loudly.

"No!" Cried Yang.

"Ruby! Hang on!" Qrow cried as he tried to get to her, but the last Grimm Knight grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him in the face.

Tyrian slammed Ruby down onto the ship's surface before Yang ran at him, he swung his tail at her, but she grabbed it with one hand and with the other let loose a barrage of blasts that sent him hurtling away.

Yang screamed as she charged to finish off Tyrian, who was lying on his back and moaning. She had no intent of letting him get away, either he'd be in Atlas' top prison by nightfall or he'd be a corpse. She didn't really care which.

She jumped for him, but he kicked up, his boots catching her. He flipped her off of him and Yang landed with a hard thud behind Tyrian as he got up. Determined to win, Yang got up, only for Tyrian to jump at her, kicking at her stomach with both feet while firing at her with the Queen's Servants, blasting her in the chest.

Yang cried out as she fell back, but jabbed her right foot back to stop herself, but before she could do anything else, Tyrian attacked with his tail and his left fist landed a devastating uppercut that sent her over the edge of the ship.

"NO!" Screamed Ruby, as used her Semblance to run forward, practically knocking over Tyrian as she jumped over after her sister.

Ruby grabbed Yang's hand with one hand while using the other to slam Crescent Rose into the side of the Resolute with all her might, causing them to suddenly stop with a great jerk.

"Ah! Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, as her mind caught up with what just happened.

"I've got you, Yang! Don't let go!" Ruby called as she held onto Crescent Rose's grip for dear life, "Try to climb or shoot yourself up!"

Tyrian cackled madly as he stalked over to the edge, utterly delighted by the girls' dilemma. His aura was almost completely depleted, but that didn't matter much anymore, he had too much of an advantage over his enemies.

"Ah, ah, ah! Try anything and I'll shoot you off! Now this…this is what I call perfect!" He said, downright gleeful as he kept his aim on them, "I must say, you put up a better fight than your mother did. Then again, it wasn't so much of a fight as it was an assassination…"

As this was happening, Qrow growled as he kept fighting the Grimm Knight, he ducked under a punch and laser fire from the last robot as he activated the Fire Dust within Reaper and then, with a powerful swing that he put all his available energy into, he cut off the robot's right arm.

He then slammed the scythe down onto the Grimm Knight's shoulder, cutting through some of the metal and sending sparks flying out, only to be kicked in the gut by the robot. He tried to rip his weapon out, but the Grimm Knight grabbed the handle and used it to smack him in the face. The robot tore Reaper out of its body and flung it over the edge of the ship.

"Damn it!" Qrow snarled as he stood his ground. He had no weapon, but that wouldn't stop him.

The Grimm Knight surged towards Qrow, but he quickly sidestepped and got behind it, grabbing it from behind and managing to tackle it down to the ship's surface. He slammed its head onto the metal surface, shattering its visor before he grabbed its remaining arm and tossed it over the edge of the ship before he spun around and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Ruby and Yang hanging over the edge of the ship.

He let out a shout of panic as he gave into his instincts; he shifted into his bird form and flew directly at the assassin, but his shout had alerted Tyrian to his approach. Tyrian whipped around and blindly opened fire, managing to shoot the bird that flew towards him. The bird screeched out in pain and, to Tyrian's astonishment, transformed back into Qrow Branwen, his aura shattering as blood burst out from an open wound. He crashed onto the surface of the ship, tumbling into a wounded, groaning heap.

Ruby had witnessed the whole thing, her eyes widening in shock as she witnessed the bird turning into her uncle, who was now seriously wounded. "Wh-what-huh?! Uncle Qrow! Don't hurt him!" She called as Yang, who had dropped down to hold onto Ruby's legs so the younger sister could keep a better grip on Crescent Rose, hung precariously hundreds of meters above the outskirts of the Schnee estate.

"Ruby, what's happening?! Is Uncle Qrow all right?!" Yang demanded to know.

"He…he turned into a bird!" Ruby answered, her voice quivering as she held on with all her strength, her knuckles going white from gripping so hard.

"Now isn't this an interesting development!" Laughed Tyrian as he kicked Qrow over, "You're one of those filthy shapeshifter abominations! Ha! I thought they had all died out by now, but it looks like I'll get the pleasure of making the extinction official!"

"Don't hurt him anymore! Please!" Ruby pleaded.

"You're in no position to make demands, my dear!" Tyrian replied, lancing at her with utterly insane eyes, "My Grimm Goddess doesn't care if you live or die anymore, so while it would be very satisfying to bring you before her as a slave…I think it'd be more fun to just kill you all here and now! Hell, maybe I'll go kill your daddy and little dog just for good measure once this is over!"

"Ruby, can you get us up there? Like swinging us up?" Yang asked quietly.

"If I use my Semblance I might throw you off, and without it I won't be fast enough to avoid his attacks." Ruby answered, trying to whisper but Tyrian still heard her.

"That's right! A no-win scenario!" Tyrian taunted as he looked at Qrow, "I told you I'd make you pay for defeating me last time, Branwen. Now watch-"

Yang swallowed, feeling her throat go dry. If she did anything to stop the madman, it would get them both killed; there was only one way out of this. She had to sacrifice herself for her sister and uncle.

"Ruby…I'm going to let go," She announced.

"No! Don't you dare do it!" Ruby shouted at her older sister, hooked her boots under Yang's arms, "You're not letting go, that's an order from your leader!"

"It's the only way! Please, I can't let you die because of me!" Yang said, as tears began to flow from her purple eyes, "Tell dad, Zwei, Sun, Blake, Weiss…tell everyone that I love them…"

Tyrian laughed as he knelt down, "Don't be so hasty, it'll be much better for you to die together! Oooh, Cinder will be so jealous!" He said in a despicably cheerful voice as he prepared to fire on Ruby's hands.

Qrow crawled towards them, "No! Please, I beg you!" He yelled, "Kill me instead, you fucking coward!"

Tyrian sneered at Qrow and remarked "You know the best and worst part of a situation like this? It's a once in a lifetime moment. I'll savor every second."

He grinned wickedly as he returned his focus to Ruby and Yang. He was about to fire at Yang's head, when all of a sudden a large black raven flew into his head and began clawing at his face with its talons and pecking at his eyes with its sharp beak, which was just enough power to shatter his aura. Tyrian screamed as he jerked to his feet, his arms flailing as he tried to shoot or swat the bird that was attacking him.

Ruby had no idea why the bird was attacking Tyrian, but didn't care. "He's distracted! We'll swing ourselves up together!"

Yang quickly climbed up her sister's body as Tyrian kept screaming. She made it to eye level with Ruby and the two firmly planted their boots on the side of the Resolute. They ran up, Crescent Rose's pole swinging with them and Ruby yanked it out, quickly transformed it and blasted herself and Yang forward back to safety.

Qrow looked up, incredibly confused but relieved as the raven attacked Tyrian. A thought popped in his mind and his red eyes widened as he quietly whispered "Raven?"

"Get away, stupid fucking bird!" Tyrian yelled as he tried to swat at the animal with the Queen's Servants and his tail.

The raven flew at him one last time, its beak stabbing into his right eye socket. Tyrian let out a blood curdling scream as pain shot through his entire body, made worse by the raven biting down on his eyeball and then it used its talons to shove itself off of him, ripping his right eye completely out of his head, the optic nerve still dangling.

Tyrian covered his now empty eye socket, blood pouring from the wound as he waved his tail and left arm around to ward off the bird while screaming in pain and horror.

Ruby let out an angry scream as she ran at him and swung Crescent Rose, the blade collided with his flesh, severing his upper left arm from his body.

Tyrian's screams became even louder as Yang grabbed his tail with both Ember Celica and with all her might, ripped the tail in half.

Qrow pushed himself up and with a tremendous yell he punched Tyrian right in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down.

Ruby and Yang quickly hugged their uncle, and he hugged them back. "Thank Oum you're okay. I-I'm sorry I never told you-" He began before Ruby cut him off.

"You can explain later, Uncle Qrow, right now we've gotta deal with him. I've got an idea…" She said.

Tyrian whimpered like a frightened, wounded animal as he kept his bloody eye socket covered while blood poured from his broken nose and sparks shot out of his ruined tail. Finally opening his left eye, he looked up to see Ruby, Yang and Qrow all glaring down at him.

Ruby pointed Crescent Rose's blade directly at him.

"No! Please don't kill me! You can't do it!" He begged with pathetic sobs before meekly whimpering out "It goes against everything you stand for!"

"Does it?" Ruby asked, "All my life, I've wanted to be a hero; a Huntress like the mother you took from us! I've trained to vanquish monsters from the world…monsters like you."

Tyrian shivered in fear at the angry glare on Ruby's face and the icy tone of her voice. "Wait, I surrender! You can't kill me!"

"Shut up! You deserve to die after everything you've done!" Yelled Yang.

"And no one would blame us." Qrow added, his fist wet with Tyrian's blood.

"P-p-please…" Tyrian implored as Yang and Qrow backed away. The raven stood on the surface of the ship, Tyrian's eye hanging from its mouth as it watched with interest.

"You and Salem…you've killed so many people, ruined so many lives, destroyed homes, broke families, caused nothing but pain and suffering to anyone and everyone you could!" Ruby shouted at him, "Luna said you've always been like this, so Salem isn't to blame for what you are, she just pointed you in the right direction. You're just another monster that needs to be eliminated!"

She lifted Crescent Rose high into the air…

Tyrian screamed like a frightened child as Ruby swung her scythe down.

The blade slammed right into the surface next to Tyrian's head.

He opened his remaining eye, looking at his bloody reflection on the blade before he looked back at the three.

Ruby smiled at him, "Gotcha."

"Y-you…b-bu-but…"

"Surprised? Don't be. I killed in self defense at Haven, but I'll never kill again if I can help it. Not even a monster like you. Having your filthy blood on my hands isn't worth it and my mom wouldn't want me to sink to your level," Ruby told him as Yang and Qrow rejoined her, "You're our prisoner now, and after General Ironwood interrogates and forces out every bit of info you know about Salem, you'll rot in prison for the rest of your life. I want you to remember this day, this defeat, this humiliation and whose family it was that beat you."

The raven couldn't help but feel very proud.

Tyrian seethed in impotent rage, before lasers suddenly struck the area around them, as the last Grimm Knight, damaged but far from out of commission, flew back into the battle. Tyrian forced himself up as the three who had so soundly beaten him scattered to avoid being shot while the raven flew away. He jumped up, grabbing the robot in what was practically a hug.

"Get me out of here!" He shouted at the Grimm Knight, which began to fly away. Ruby and Yang opened fire on Tyrian and the robot, but it managed to avoid their shots. He glared back at them and screeched "No! YOU remember, Rose! Remember how you let your mother's killer escape! If you survive the battle that is!"

Ruby took aim with Crescent Rose as the robot flew away with Tyrian and fired. The bullet grazed Tyrian's face, causing him to let out a high-pitched scream of pain and surprise as he received one last scar from the girl.

Yang kept firing until Qrow placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She looked at him, not sure what to think. "So…you can turn into a bird?"

"Yeah, uh…is that your Semblance?" Ruby asked, glancing over just in time to see the raven flying away, "And did you use some kind of…bird power to have that crow or raven or whatever help us out?"

Qrow sighed, "I have my suspicions over why that raven attacked Tyrian," He began, inwardly having his own suspicions about that, "But yeah, I owe you one hell of an explanat-" He was cut off by a terrible but familiar scream.

Celaeno and a flock of Razorwings were heading right for the Resolute. Right for them.

---

As the family battled Tyrian, Sharp Strike, Jaune and Heliosia were kept busy with their own opponents.

Sharp Strike jumped back to avoid a jumping side kick before he stomped his armored boot down on the Son's foot before moving back to avoid his leg armor being damaged by the Son swinging Chaos Edge. He then jumped forward and wrapped his right arm around the Son's head, bringing down to knee bash the mysterious warrior's masked face. He then punched the Son down and followed that up with a kick to the chest before the Son thrust Chaos Edge into Sharp Strike's stomach.

Though the armor protected him, the blow was enough to force Sharp Strike off of the Son's body, and he jumped back up and attacked Sharp Strike, only for the Knight Errant to parry the blow. Sharp Strike swung his sword and the Son dodged before attacking again but Sharp Strike pulled back, twirling Hong Long and Lan Feng around in deadly sallies to intimidate his foe.

The Son began spinning his own blade around before the two clashed once again, exchanging seven strikes before the Son kicked Sharp Strike in the chest then slashed his hard against the Knight's armor, making him stagger away, but he was still able to defend from the Son's next swing.

Sharp Strike tried to slam both blades down on his enemy, who ducked to get in between the Knight Errant's arms, jumping up to run up the arm and then leap off by kicking a foot into the back of Sharp Strike's helmeted head, hard enough to send the Knight stumbling forward and crashing onto the top of the ship.

Sharp Strike scrambled to his feet, swinging his body away from Chaos Edge plunging into his armor. He charged the Son, who parried three of Sharp Strike's deadly attacks before weaving his body away from the twin swords, avoiding three more swings then he spun around, Chaos Edge clanging against Hong Long and Lan Feng, forcing past them and clashing against Sharp Strike's armor.

The Knight Errant barrelled into the Son before he leapt up, using his armored knees to land painful blows on the Son's chin and stomach, making his dark aura flare up. The Son flipped himself up and slid under Sharp Strike's swinging swords, used Chaos Edge to protect himself from the Knight's follow-up attack.

The Son pivoted, trading more blows with Sharp Strike before he suddenly cartwheeled forward, forcing Sharp Strike to pull back to avoid being hit. The Son landed on his feet and struck at the Knight Errant twice, Sharp Strike deflecting both attacks before he swung both his swords at the Son, who responded with a mighty parry that deflected both blades, creating a shower of sparks. The Son threw himself onto Sharp Strike, punching his helmet's visor, but the Knight responded by slashing Lan Feng across the Son's chest, making his aura flare up as he forced him off.

The Son retreated a few steps, deflecting more sword attacks from Sharp Strike before he slid a little on a patch of ice but he expertly defended himself by spinning on one leg, fending off Sharp Strike's attacks. He leaned forward, his raised leg coming down to flip him up so his other leg slamming onto Sharp Strike's shoulder and cutting across his Aegis Armor.

Sharp Strike grunted in annoyance, but knew he would be lucky to escape this fight with mere scratches on his armor, if this was indeed the Son of Salem who had slaughtered an entire Atlas military base. Perhaps he could avenge those fallen soldiers.

The two traded about five blows until Sharp Strike blocked a deadly swing by using his twin blades in an x-formation. He forced the Son back with a firm shove and then began to spin around like a deadly top, the blades waved in wide arcs, forcing his foe to duck under and then jump over them. He came to a sudden stop and parried four attacks from the Son before he managed to pin Chaos Edge down to the Resolute's surface with Hong Long and then thrust Lan Feng at the Son's head, but the Son moved his head away, only getting a scratch across his covered cheek.

The Son surged against Sharp Strike while kicking at his knee, making Sharp Strike pull back, moving quickly to block the Son's rapid chops aimed at his helmeted head. There two more exchanges of swords before the Son ducked a swing aimed at his neck, the swords clashed once again then Sharp Strike crouched in an attempt to cut both of his opponent's legs, but the Son hopped on one leg, using the other to clobber Sharp Strike in the side of the head.

Sharp Strike spun, but recovered, forcing the Son to leap over his blades as they swung at him in a circular motion. Four more exchanges of metal blades could be heard before Sharp Strike caught Chaos Edge in between Hong Long and Lan Feng. The Son suddenly yanked his sword out and charged into Sharp Strike, flinging him over his shoulder and then pivoting to attack, Chaos Edge clashing against his armor again.

Sharp Strike rolled away and jumped up before swinging both swords at the charging Son's head and with a loud clanging of his Lan Feng against the dark, smooth armor of the Son's draconic helmet, he managed to slash off the helmet's mouthpiece, which fell to the Resolute's surface.

The Knight Errant turned simultaneously with the Son, the two facing each other as Sharp Strike finally saw a part of the Son's uncovered body. His mouth and chin were hairless, pale and there were a few scars and faint hints of stitches along the flesh.

"I will give you one chance to lay down your sword and surrender." Sharp Strike offered.

The Son answered by dashing towards him, ready to shove Chaos Edge through the Knight's visor.

Yet again, the two warriors exchanged blades in their heated duel, as the Summer Maiden and the thief after her powers also fought.

Thorn blocked an elbow jab from the Summer Maiden and then deflected a kick aimed at her stomach. She tried to have her robotic hand chop Heliosia's neck, but the brown-haired Maiden ducked and slammed both palms into Thorn's knees, so the lithe woman flipped to do a handstand and kicked at the Summer Maiden who grabbed at her boots and flipped her over.

Thorn landed on her feet and met a kick from Heliosia with a kick of her own as she launched herself up, punching her robotic hand into Heliosia's ribs before grabbing her by the shoulder and lifting herself into wrap her legs around the Maiden's neck, but Heliosia grabbed her legs and wrested her off before suplexing her hard onto the hull.

Heliosia stood and created a fireball in her hands, only for Thorn to teleport away before she could fling it at her. The thief reappeared some distance away near the wrecked communications array, beckoning with rude hand gestures.

"Come on, show me how powerful you really are! Try to burn me! I dare you!" Thorn taunted.

Heliosia grimaced and unleashed the fireball and Thorn leapt off, teleporting away in midair as the flaming orb hit the wrecked comms tower, causing a decent-sized explosion, though luckily there was another one elsewhere on the ship. Thorn teleported several feet above Heliosia, aiming to slam her arm blade directly into her body, but the Maiden lurched forwards just in time to avoid what would have been a deadly stab.

Thorn teleported again, this time successfully palming her robotic hand into Heliosia's face. She began teleporting all around the Summer Maiden, smashing both hands against Heliosia's body as she began ranting at the woman who was trying to defend herself, "You want to end this peacefully, Heliosia? Then just give up, you stubborn bitch! I'm doing you a favor! You really want to stay a Maiden? Do you want to end up like your friends? Just let me take those powers and walk away! You can get yourself a normal fucking life!"

Heliosia finally landed another hit, thrusting Flameguard directly into Thorn's gut, then before she could teleport away she smacked it into her forehead and then knocked her over.

"You don't know how much I'd like to be normal, to just go home…to find someone I love and spend my life with them. But that wasn't the hand I was dealt, and despite all the difficulties and heartbreak I've been through, I'm proud to be part of this Sisterhood and I'd be a disgrace if I let you take these powers," Heliosia told Thorn, who grabbed Flameguard, only for the kusarigama to wrap around her while Heliosia blasted forward and smashed her fist into Thorn's face before she could vanish.

However, at the same time her fist connected with Thorn's face, the short-haired woman slammed both her fists into the sides of Heliosia's head, causing two spots of aura to light up as the Summer Maiden cried out.

Thorn teleported behind Heliosia, grabbing her by the hair she kicked the Maiden's legs out from under her before slamming her face onto the ship's surface before teleporting them both in front of a pile of Grimm Knight ruins, smashing her into the ruined torso.

"I offered you a chance to end this peacefully!" Thorn yelled as she teleported them both off the side of the ship. She let Heliosia go, allowing her to fall a few meters before she reappeared beside her and smashed her foot into Heliosia's side before grabbing her wrist and teleporting them both onto the Resolute again, allowing the Heliosia a very fleeting chance to strike back.

Heliosia unleashed a powerful blast of fire that Thorn was forced to teleport away from. Thorn reappeared under Heliosia, lying on her back and kicking up with both legs, hitting Heliosia's chest, which sent the Summer Maiden a few feet into the air. Thorn then teleported above her target, smashing her down with a brutal kick.

Heliosia struggled to get her bearings as she was relentlessly assaulted by the teleporter; a punch to the side of the head, kick to the ribs, punch to the right cheek, knee to the groin, metal punch to the back and then to the forehead. That last punch sent the Summer Maiden careening to the surface of the Resolute, once again creating a large dent.

Thorn smirked as she opened her organic fist, fingers ready to claw into Heliosia's face. She teleported right beside the Summer Maiden, only for Heliosia to catch her hand and twist it to the side before punching Thorn in the face, kicking her in the chest and blasting her with fire, causing Thorn to cry out as flames engulfed her body, singeing her clothes slightly as her aura protected her from any real damage.

She teleported away from another wave of fire, but by the time she reappeared, Heliosia was already on the offensive, whamming Flameguard into Thorn's chin, sending spit flying from her mouth. Heliosia used her powers to extinguish the flames on Thorn's clothes before she blasted herself into the air, came down and once again, landed behind her and knocked her away with a backwards kick.

Heliosia quickly wrapped Flameguard's kusarigama around Thorn again as she struggled to recollect herself and then began to spin the thief around, managing to smash her into the Son, giving Sharp Strike the chance to slash him across the chest. She then released Thorn, flinging her off the ship, but she teleported before she could fall too far.

Thorn landed on all fours and with an angry grunt before she pushed herself up, taking out both pistols again. She opened fire while teleporting all around the Summer Maiden, but Helisoia protected herself with a circular wall of fire that melted the bullets into slag, which landed on the ship's surface, melting a few inches into the steel but doing no serious damage.

Thorn managed to teleport past the flames and attacked with her arm blade, nearly slashing Heliosia up the face. The fire quickly died off as Heliosia leapt over the molten bullets, Thorn jumping after her and ready to stab the Summer Maiden.

However, they were still quite close to Sharp Strike and the Son. Sharp Strike saw them and parried the Son before swinging Lan Feng as hard as he could towards Thorn's arm blade, breaking it off her robotic arm.

"Ah! You bastard!" Thorn shouted at him as she ducked under a swinging Flameguard.

Heliosia smiled at her knight before she blasted the Son in the chest with a fireball, blowing the mysterious assassin back.

The two glanced at each other as they got back to back.

"Together again?" She asked.

"I have been neglecting my duties to protect you..." Sharp Strike answered before they engaged both their opponents together.

Nearby, Jaune kept defending himself from Cinder's onslaught as she kept putting more and more power into each swing. She spun and used her free hand to unleash a powerful stream of fire that Jaune used his shield and his own Semblance-made shield to protect himself from before Cinder went to attack his side. Acting quickly, Jaune fended off her, trading five heavy blows and feeling Cinder's increasingly strong attacks, the last two blows were so strong that Jaune nearly lost his grip on Crocea Mors.

Cinder showed him no mercy, attacking again with deadly slashes and stabs, which he fended off with quick spins of Crocea Mors before he swung his shield at Cinder, managing to catch her by the shoulder and cause her to stagger. She swung wildly to deflect Jaune's sword as he jabbed it at her, managing to cut both Jaune's coat and hoodie open.

"Hey! I won this in a contest!" Jaune cried over his cut open hoodie before attacking her with a mighty sword swing, but she easily parried it, rolling her eyes before she blasted him down with a strong gust of Fall wind.

He rolled away from a blast of fire and attacked her again, they traded blows three more times, with Cinder finding herself having to move quite fast in order to deflect his attacks. He yelled as he swung at her sword hard enough to shatter it into Dust, Jaune then swung at her neck, but Cinder dropped and darted forward, twirled around as she summoned another sword before slashing Jaune across the back and then unleashed another fireball into him.

Jaune cried out as he fell forwards, quickly rolling to put out the flames before he got up and turned to face her as she charged at him. He roared and met her, their blades clashing together twelve times as Crocea Mors took hit after hit from Cinder's blade. The corrupted Maiden tried to stab his left foot, but he spun away from the dark blade and swung his sword around in a deadly circle as he charged at her, parrying her attacks before he slammed it down at her, but she threw herself out of the way before it cut a gash against the Resolute's surface.

Cinder slashed a cut across Jaune's left side before he swung at her to drive her away. She unleashed another intense blast of fire that Jaune managed to protect himself from with his shield, but this time the blast was so strong his shield was knocked out of his hand and sent over the edge of the ship, falling far to the ground below.

Jaune took a few steps back, gripping Crocea Mors with both hands as he got into a combat pose. She glared at him as she pointed her dark Dust sword at him.

"I must admit, Ashe chose for our family's successors well. I honestly thought I would have eliminated you by now." Cinder voiced.

Jaune struck at her suddenly, forcing her to quickly defend herself.

"He deserved a better life than what he got. All of your victims did." Jaune said, glowering at her.

"I suppose you're right," Cinder conceded before he swung at her again. She deflected the blow before trying to plunge her sword into his stomach but he sidestepped the attack, forcing her to defend from his sword before it could slam into her shoulder. After a few more clashes, Cinder scored a hit, slicing a cut up Jaune's left arm.

She kicked Jaune's legs and tried to slam her sword on his head, but he created an aura shield with his Semblance, which shattered from one strike of the Dust sword. He pressed on by punching her in the gut, deflecting her sword as he stood up.

Cinder plunged at him, again trying to stab him directly in the face, but he used his left hand to grab the blade. Aura shone brightly on his hand at the blade pressed into his flesh before he swung at her chest, forcing Cinder to pull back, allowing her sword to dissipate.

She summoned up another sword and they traded another series of seven rapid strikes, neither one showing any sign of giving up. Cinder feinted, making Jaune think he had to protect his head, allowing her to unleash a fiery punch into his chest that made him cry out in pain.

The leader of Team JNPR charged at her, sliding Crocea Mors along the Resolute's hull and swung it up at her, she parried it easily before slashing her sword across his chest. He cried out before she jumped and spin-kicked him in the back, knocking him to the surface before she slammed her sword onto his shoulder, narrowly missing his head, but it still caused his aura to flare and him to let out a cry of pain regardless.

Jaune grabbed her with his free hand and managed to force her off before he twisted around onto his feet, deflecting a wild swing she swung at him.

The two went at it again, their swords clashing over and over again, nearly thirty times in this series, before Cinder managed to land another slash across Jaune's stomach, making him seethe in discomfort as his aura shone brightly.

Jaune backed away from her as she stalked towards him, her sword glowing with fiery energy. Nine more times the swords clashed before Cinder slashed his leg, making Jaune stumble. She caught him with another slash to the chest and a punch to the face, but he managed to cut her down the arm, tearing open her sleeve.

Cinder backhanded Jaune before attacking with another seven powerful sword swings that kept slamming into Crocea Mors over and over again until she blew him away with a fierce blast of autumn wind.

Jaune forced himself forward, determined not to let the murderous Maiden win. He called upon the emotions within him as he filled his mind with horrible images; visions of his team, friends and family in danger, dying or dead all raced through his mind. He pictured Elsa, Kaifin and Ashe's dead bodies, he remembered being shot by Cinder's arrow…

With a mighty scream he ran at Cinder, spinning his sword around so it gained momentum. Cinder braced herself, not backing away from his challenge.

They swung their swords at one another's, both putting every ounce of strength they had into their attacks…

And both blades shattered.

The two fell back from the impact, Jaune's eyes widening in horror and disbelief as he saw the weapon his ancestors forged centuries ago and passed on through generations fall to pieces.

He was too shocked to notice Cinder quickly recovering. She punched him in the face with a burning fist, causing him to drop the hilt. Before he could recover, she began mercilessly beating him over and over again, avoiding every attempt he made to fend her off.

Heliosia noticed what was happening and shouted "Jaune needs us!"

"Jaune, we're coming!" Sharp Strike yelled as he attempted to come to his friend's aid, only for the Son to slash Chaos Edge into his side while Thorn shot up his back. He landed on the Resolute's surface, where the Son pinned him down, the Knight Errant struggling to get free as the Son began hitting him with Chaos Edge over and over.

Heliosia attempted to come to Jaune's rescue, but Thorn shot her from behind before teleporting in front of her, kicking her in the face and chest and then grabbing her by the throat with her robotic hand before teleporting her towards the rear of the ship, making sure that the Maiden wouldn't help him in time.

Cinder smashed Jaune onto the hull and then stomped on his head before she looked up and saw Celaeno and its Razorwing flock approaching the ship at high speeds, with Ruby, Yang and Qrow all turning around to retreat before they saw what was happening.

"Jaune!" Cried Ruby. She began to run forward, only for Celaeno to shoot past her, its deadly talons cutting long, deep gashes across the ship's surface, which forced Ruby to skid to a halt as a Razorwing tried to attack her. Cinder smiled darkly as she took advantage of this by setting the gash ablaze, the intense flames separating Ruby from her friend while the Razorwings began swarming around the three.

"No!" Ruby cried as she severed a wing from a Razorwing while Yang shot as many of them as she could, while also trying to shoot the retreating Celaeno, which began to circle the ship.

Qrow grimaced "Damn bird. Now would be a good time for Ironwood to come in with the cavalry…"

Jaune moved as quickly as he could to avoid Cinder's attacks as she formed her Dust Sword again. He looked back at his friend and began to speak. "Ruby, I-" He was cut off by Cinder slashing him across the chest, finally shattering his aura and drawing blood as her burning sword sliced along from his right ribs to his left shoulder, running just underneath the previous scar she gave him. Jaune screamed in pain as he landed on his back.

"Do we have any ice Dust?!" Ruby asked frantically while using Crescent Rose to cut down the Razorwings.

"I used up my last ones on the Grimm Knights. Yang?" Qrow asked.

"I…I don't think so…" Yang said, realizing what was about to happen before Celaeno swooped down, its talons reaching for them. They all dropped down as the Elder Alpha Grimm flew off again, doing its best to stay clear of Ruby's silver eyes while the Razorwings attacked them.

Jaune moaned, bringing his hand to his chest as the heat cauterized the wound. He looked up at Cinder as she slowly walked towards him.

"This has been a long time coming, Jaune Arc. Salem wants you and Nikos either returned to her or eliminated. I wasn't in the mood to take prisoners, but you're a better fighter than I remembered. Having you under our control will make Nikos submit easily," She told him as she knelt down.

"You won't win," Jaune said, "And even if Salem does, you won't live long enough to see it. Because if you take me, my friends won't stop until they've hunted you down."

Cinder didn't look away from Jaune, she crouched down bringing her sword to his face. He closed his eyes and seethed in pain as he felt the blade cut into the right side of his face, just above his eye. With one swift motion of her hand, she dragged it down, slicing a scar above and below his right eye.

Jaune screamed as he covered his right eye with his hand. Luckily the eye wasn't damaged, but he was practically blinded by the pain.

"Get away from him, Fall!" Shouted Heliosia as Thorn continued to hold her off.

"I swear that whatever you do to him, you will suffer tenfold at our hands!" Sharp Strike yelled as he continued struggling against the Son.

Cinder stood back, dispelling her sword, "That's for being such a nuisance, Arc. Even if, by some miracle, you escape again, you'll never forget that I am better than you." She said as her left hand began to glow with a brilliant flame, ready to transport his body to Salem.

"Jaune!" screamed Ruby as she and Yang tried to shoot past the intense flames, but missed their target while the Grimm kept attacking them. He tried to crawl away, only for Cinder to suddenly create her bow and fire an arrow that stabbed through his shoulder, pinning him to the ship as he howled with agony.

"You bitch!" Yang shouted as she tried to shoot at Cinder, but the Razorwings kept swarming her, seemingly sacrificing themselves to cover her.

Ruby dashed back and began running forward, holding Crescent Rose in a certain way that made it clear she was about to shoot herself up into the air, but as she did she was knocked down by Celaeno, which flew by in a sudden sneak attack. Despite his injuries, Qrow managed to catch his niece.

"Ruby, Yang…tell the team and my family…tell everyone I love them all. Tell them I'm sorry…" Jaune called, tears welling in his eyes as he realized how hopeless his situation was. He closed his eyes and thought of his friends. His family. And his partner, the love of his life, Pyrrha.

All of a sudden, there was a thundering, horrific roar that caught everyone's attention. Cinder's eyes widened as she turned to see the Wyvern heading directly for them, being ridden by none other than Pyrrha Nikos.

"What?!" She cried in shock.

"CINDER!" Screamed Pyrrha, her voice echoing with powerful fury as her eyes shone brightly, flickering between green and red.

Celaeno screeched loudly as it flew towards the Wyvern, only for the Dragon Grimm to rear up and slam all its limbs into the body of the Elder Alpha Razorwing, adding to the attack with a powerful tailwhip to its feathered, bone-armored chest, which knocked the Celaeno away. The Wyvern then unleashed a powerful barrage of fire towards Cinder, who literally returned fire with an immense fire blast. Jaune took advantage of this distraction to break the arrow in two, ripping the lower half out of his shoulder, which allowed him to slide free from the upper-half of the arrow, though not without some considerable pain.

The two blasts collided, and surprisingly Cinder's own power was impressively able to hold out as the Wyvern began to hover in midair, its wings flapping powerfully as the heat from the two jets of flame began to melt all the ice in the area. Pyrrha took aim with Milo and fired at Cinder, who dashed out of the way as the Wyvern came to rest atop the Resolute.

As this was happening, the Son and Thorn were briefly distracted by the astonishing sight, allowing the Summer Maiden to gain the upper hand; she grabbed Thorn by the neck and kneed her hard in the gut before tossing her towards the Son. Thorn teleported away as the Son ran off of Sharp Strike's body and took off the gun slung on his back and began to shoot at the Wyvern, only for Sharp Strike to push himself up and with a powerful swing, he sliced the Son's rifle in half, the Dust chamber exploding and knocking the Son on his back. Thorn reappeared behind Heliosia and tried to attack, but the Summer Maiden blocked every attack she made.

To make things even more complicated, the stealth prowler ship Andromeda decloaked and came to hover a foot above the ship's surface. The door opened and two familiar Knights leapt out before the ship took off again, opening fire on nearby Manticores. Argentius and Soul Seer looked on in astonishment at Pyrrha controlling the huge Grimm.

"Jaune, hurry and get on!" Pyrrha ordered as he wiped the blood from his eye and kept his other hand pressed against the wound on his chest.

"I knew you could do it!" Jaune said tiredly as he gathered the hilt and jagged edge of Crocea Mors, the sight of which made Pyrrha's heart ache as she knew what the sword meant to Jaune and the Arc family. However, seeing his fresh wounds made her feel even worse. He carefully climbed up, taking heed of the Wyvern's soft but wary growls.

"No, he's a friend. A good friend." Pyrrha told her steed, briefly wondering if it understood the meaning of the word 'mate'. She looked over at Cinder, who was still baffled by what had just happened.

It didn't take a psychic to know that Salem was going to be absolutely livid about this and Ziz would suffer greatly for this failure.

Cinder had little time to dwell on that, as she heard Ruby and Yang cheering their friend on.

"Way to go, Pyrrha!" Called Ruby.

"Kick her ass!" Shouted Yang encouragingly, their jubilation making the Fall Maiden seethe.

"Cinder Fall!" Shouted Soul Seer as she and her brother carefully walked towards the dragon and the dark Maiden.

"Surrender now and you will not be harmed!" Shouted Argentius, his impressive Aegis Armor glinting in the light of the fire.

"I'm afraid that's not an option, but it would be an honor to kill two Remnant Knights." Cinder answered before she fired several arrows at them. Argentius leapt into action, cutting the arrows down with the separated halves of Iconoclast. The Wyvern moved its head towards Cinder, growling and holding back fire.

"Last time we met I told you to die, but you didn't. If you ever touch Jaune or anyone else I care about ever again, you'll wish you had." Pyrrha vowed, her eyes shining red and voice dripping with tranquil fury as the Wyvern snarled hatefully at Cinder.

Cinder quickly fired several arrows, but Pyrrha deflected them with Akouo as she had the Wyvern fly directly at Cinder. The corrupted Maiden tried to get clear, but the Wyvern's tail slammed into her, knocking her off of the ship and sending her falling through the air.

Cinder let out a brief cry, but quickly collected herself and aimed her arms downwards before unleashing blasts of powerful flames from both her hands, shooting herself upwards and kept steady by the powerful Fall winds her powers created. She landed back atop the ship, just in time to see Celaeno flying towards the Resolute before she parried attacks from Argentius and Soul Seer.

"Here it comes!" Cried Yang as she began shooting at it. Ruby helped her sister shoot at it, catching the Elder Alpha Razorwing's attention. It screeched loudly at them and flew faster, reaching for them with its powerful talons.

Yang got clear and Qrow tried to pull Ruby out of the way, only for the silver eyed girl to hook Crescent Rose onto Celaeno's left leg, being pulled off her feet and into the air by it.

"Ruby!" Qrow and Yang cried. The Dusty Huntsman tried to hold onto his niece, but lost and fell onto his stomach.

Celaeno dove down after reaching the edge of the Resolute and the Blonde Brawler ran after it. She threw her arms back and fired as she jumped. After a moment in the air, she landed hard on the Celaeno's back, she reached up and grabbed onto its bone armor, managing to keep a firm grip. Ruby was also climbing up the huge Grimm's body, gripping onto the feathers and bone armor.

"Ruby, this is nuts! Even by our standards!" Yang shouted.

"Yeah, I know! I'm sorry! It's just that this thing helped Tyrian kill mom!" Ruby called back, their voices muffled by the wind.

"What do we do?!" Yang asked.

"We hang on and kill this thing!" Ruby answered loudly, looking over to see the Wyvern not too far away. "Pyrrha and Jaune are riding that dragon! I'll get their attention, they'll catch us after we kill this thing!"

"Right!" Yang said as Celaeno's long neck turned to look at them. It screeched as it shot towards them, beak open and ready to bite down, but Yang screamed and ducked before she punched it beneath the chin, making it cry out in pain as it wobbled in the air.

Ruby took careful aim and fired at the Wyvern and, just as she planned, a bullet zipped past Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Whoa! What was that?!" Cried Jaune, hand still pressed against his eye, he looked back and around before he realized what had happened, "Oh Brothers and Sisters…"

"What is it? What shot at us?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's Ruby! She and Yang are riding Celaeno!" Jaune answered as he looked up at the flying beast rising higher, its attention now on the sisters rather than the Wyvern.

"What are they thinking?! They could be killed!" Cried Pyrrha.

"Knowing Ruby, she has some sort of crazy but smart plan," Remarked Jaune, "I think I get it! Don't get too far from Celaeno, we've got to be ready to catch them!"

Pyrrha remembered that earlier that day Ruby and Yang mentioned that the Celaeno had played some role in the death of their mother. She nodded, "All right, hang on!" She had the Wyvern turn around, keeping a careful distance from the Celaeno but close enough that they could save the sisters if they fell.

Ruby realized her gambit had worked and mentally thanked the Brother of Light she hadn't hit her friends before she swung out Crescent Rose and then slammed the blade deep into Celaeno's body, making it screech out in pain as Ruby slammed her boots down onto its feathers while Yang opened fire on its left wing, sending feathers falling to the ground below.

This caused the beast to bank to the left and down, nearly sending Yang falling off, but she managed to grab onto a piece of bone armor in the nick of time before she resumed firing at the Elder Alpha Razorwing's head.

Ruby suddenly freed herself from the creature by firing several rounds from Crescent Rose into its body. She flew through the air before she carefully rocketed herself forward with a shot from Crescent Rose as Celaeno made a sharp turn and began to ascend towards Ruby, its horrible beak opening wide.

Ruby opened fire three times, each bullet shot deep into Celaeno's body, but it was still determined to devour Ruby.

The silver eyed girl fell farther until Celaeno was close enough and then Ruby shot herself forward with a blast from Crescent Rose and then swung her weapon around as it transformed into scythe form and swung with all her might, slashing it across the face. Celaeno let out an ear-splitting scream of pain and anger as Ruby flew past its head and was caught by Yang, her organic hand grabbing hold of her little sister as her robotic hand kept a firm grip on the huge Grimm's back.

Yang helped Ruby down onto Celaeno's back, the younger sister once again stabbing her weapon into the huge Razorwing's body.

"That was freakin' awesome, Ruby! Never do it again!" Yang shouted over the wind.

Ruby laughed, until Celaeno began to spin around, performing an aileron. "It's doing a barrel roll! Hang on with both hands or you'll fall!" Cried Ruby as she held onto Crescent Rose with one hand and onto a piece of Celaeno's bone armor. Yang nodded and gripped onto Celaeno's bone armor and body as hard as she could.

The winds whipped against their faces and hair as they held on for dear life as Celaeno tried to force them off, but they were steadfast in their resolve to hang on, even as it went higher and higher. Eventually Celaeno gave up on this tactic, leveling out as it stopped spinning around, but the move had left both girls feeling rather dizzy.

"You okay, sis?" Yang asked with a quivering voice due to the dizziness.

"I'm good!" Ruby answered before she glanced up and gasped as she saw Celaeno's head turning around, its horrible neck stretching out as it moved to bite on her with its powerful black beak, its red eyes glowing with anger.

"Look out!" Yang cried as she stood up, shoving her little sister out of the way and slamming her robotic fist as hard as she could into the left side of Celaeno's face. Celaeno let out its loudest scream yet, a scream of utter pain as the scarred side of face broke away, revealing grotesque bone and black, gory muscle that bled the black Grimm dust.

Yang covered her ears to block out the scream before Celaeno began bucking and thrashing its body violently until the blonde was thrown off.

"Yang!" Screamed Ruby, watching in helpless terror as her sister fell towards the ground. Ruby remembered that hope wasn't lost yet, and looked around before spotting her sister's salvation.

Under Pyrrha's direction, the Wyvern raced down towards Yang, wings pushing it closer and closer to her. Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance and took hold of Yang's metallic arm, dragging her closer as the Wyvern closed the gap between them. Pyrrha reached out with both arms and caught Yang.

"Whoa! Ha! I made it!" Yang cheered, not believing she had survived, "Pyrrha, if we weren't both spoken for I'd kiss you!"

Pyrrha blushed, "Heh, um, no need for that…" She said as she and Jaune helped Yang into the large saddle, "This is my Wyvern!"

"Nice to finally meet you, big guy!" Yang said, reaching over to pet its black flesh and scales, "Pyrrha, we need to get back up there and help Ruby!"

"On it!" The Spartan said as she mentally directed the Wyvern to go up towards Celaeno.

Despite the cold, Ruby wiped sweat from her face, relieved her sister was all right. Celaeno bucked its body again, nearly making Ruby lose her grip. She knew what she had to do, and hoped Pyrrha's dragon would be fast enough to catch her. She took a deep breath as she pressed Crescent Rose further into Celaeno's flesh beneath its feathery body, making it screech again.

Ruby carefully stood up gripping Crescent Rose tightly as she levered it up. Celaeno's head twisted around, hissing furiously at Ruby, before it suddenly tilted its head, somehow Ruby could tell its expression was one of recognition.

"Recognize the face? You should! My mother was the one who gave you that scar!" Ruby yelled, not caring if the monster understood her, but it seemed like it did, as its remaining red eye widened.

Ruby ripped Crescent Rose out and swung the curved blade at Celaeno's face, but the huge Razorwing jerked its head out of the way before it bounced its body up and down, forcing Ruby off. Celaeno flew upwards, trying to grab Ruby with its talons, only for Ruby to shoot at its clawed foot, blasting off one of the sharp talons while another bullet grazed its long neck.

Celaeno dove down, aiming to bite down on Ruby, normally it would have just allowed her to fall to her death, but the flurry of emotions rushing through the leader of Team RWBY's mind made her irresistible to the huge Grimm. It moved to bite the silver eyed girl, but she got clear with a shot from Crescent Rose, but didn't escape unscathed as one of Celaeno's talons clawed across her side, ripping a large tear in her cape, jacket and outfit. Ruby cried out in pain as she kept tumbling down while Celaeno got beneath her, turning around and opening its beak wide.

Ruby closed her eyes and then opened them, her incredible silver energy as she used her Semblance to rocket herself closer to Celaeno. The Elder Alpha Razorwing realized what was about to happen, and tried to pull away, but Ruby was too fast.

The light of the silver eyes engulfed Celaeno, which let out one final scream as Ruby's powers petrified it into a heavy statue hurtling towards the snowy ground.

Ruby was feeling utterly drained and knew that her aura had to be in the red, especially after that silver eye attack she just unleashed, but she knew that she had to get out. She transformed Crescent Rose into its gun form and aimed at its chest and pulled the trigger, blasting herself away and blowing a large crater in its torso as it fell away from her.

A large shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see the Wyvern's form flying down towards her.

"Ruby! Hang onto Crescent Rose!" Pyrrha called as Yang and Jaune watched on nervously.

Ruby didn't argue and clung to her weapon, allowing Pyrrha to reach out with her Semblance and gently take hold of it, slowing it down enough so that Ruby wouldn't be harmed by her landing. She had the Wyvern get beneath Ruby and Yang leapt up to catch her sister.

"I got you, Ruby! I've got you," Yang said as she hugged her little sister to her tightly as she let Crescent Rose fall into one of the pit seats. She flopped down into the seat, not letting Ruby go. "You killed Celaeno, Ruby! You did it!"

"We did it, Yang." Ruby said with an exhausted smile before she clambered over to the edge of the saddle. Yang and Jaune joined her, and even Pyrrha looked down from her position at the front, all four watching as Celaeno finally hit the ground, its body bursting into countless pieces, the impact made a large crater that sent snow and dirt dozens of feet into the air.

All four of them cheered, even the Wyvern let out a victorious roar.

"That was amazing, Ruby!" Praised Jaune as he reached over to hug her.

She hugged him back before remembering his injuries, she looked at his wounded body and asked "You okay, Jaune?"

"I'm fine, but I'll need a medic soon." He answered.

"Hang in there, buddy. There're still some asses that need kicking," Quipped Yang, pointing over to Schnee Manor, where the battle was still raging. "With this badass dragon, we'll send those jerks running for their lives! Wanna do it, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes, it will put an end to the battle. Sheer Kaa won't try to fight us with the Wyvern on our side, he'll have no choice but to retreat. Can you two help me fire on any Grimm Knights or flying Grimm?" She asked.

Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle form, reloaded and smiled, despite how tired she was, she still had more than enough fight in her. "Try and stop us." She said as she and Yang strapped themselves in.

Pyrrha gave them a smile before saying "Good. Now hang on, because here we go!"

Flapping its wings powerfully, the Wyvern dove towards Schnee Manor.

---

Back on the Resolute, Qrow watched helplessly, desperately wanting to help his nieces but with his aura totally depleted and Reaper gone he couldn't do anything, as Celaeno got farther and farther away from the ship. He could do nothing but watch as Sharp Strike blocked an attack from the Son as he and Heliosia ran over to join Argentius and Soul Seer.

"Not that I'm unhappy for your timely arrival, but what brings you up here?" Sharp Strike inquired.

"I had a vision that the young ones were in danger, though it appears we're too late to help them," Said Soul Seer, her voice giving away her frustrations.

"If it's any consolation, I have a feeling they'll be just fine." Heliosia remarked.

"And you'll be a great help against these three," Sharp Strike added, "I believe that masked man is the one called the Son of Salem."

"You'd be correct, Knight," Cinder said, "I must admit I'm impressed you lasted so long against him, but your luck just ran out."

Thorn teleported above the group, coming down and kicking at Sharp Strike and Soul Seer as she ducked under a swing of Iconoclast as Cinder and the Son both attacked at once. The Son kicked Sharp Strike in the gut before bashing his helmet with the hilt of Chaos Edge, but before he could swing his crimson blade down on the Knight Errant he was blocked by Argentius, who forced the mysterious assassin back before he parried an attack from Cinder.

Cinder slammed a flaming fist into Argentius' side while Soul Seer fired magic empowered bolts from Life's Requiem railgun bow form at Thorn, forcing the teleporter to reappear and disappear rapidly to avoid being hit while Heliosia went over to help Qrow as the chief prognosticator covered her. Using her Semblance, the Maiden absorbed the inferno, pillars of flame rose from the gash in the Resolute, flowing into her hands as her body subtly began to glow with power.

Thorn teleported to get behind Qrow and went to punch him with her metal fist, only for the Huntsman to duck and allow Heliosia to thrash her with Flameguard, Qrow even getting a hit in as he punched the teleporter in the face before she could escape.

The Son kicked Sharp Strike in the gut hard before surging against the Knight Errant as Argentius traded blows with Cinder. Both pairs of duelists traded lightning-fast clashes of swords before Argentius managed to get behind Cinder and sliced his sword across her back as Soul Seer fired on the Son and Thorn.

Cinder cried out as she fell forward, catching herself on her hands as her aura flared across her back. The Son punched Sharp Strike in the head before lunging at Argentius, thrusting Chaos Edge into the Knight Champion's midsection and knocking him off balance. Cinder took advantage of this and kicked Argentius in the chin of his helmet and sprung up, recreating her Dust Sword once more but before she could slam it onto Argentius, Sharp Strike ran to protect his mentor and struck back hard enough to send Cinder spinning.

The Fall Maiden blocked an attack from the Knight Errant as the Son went to attack him from behind, only for a grappling hook to ensnare Chaos Edge. The Son was yanked down and he fell on his back as a powerful revolver was shot into the sky to get everyone's attention.

Everyone looked to see the reinforcements were arriving from up the staircase leading to the hangar. General Ironwood led Ace Ops, Fire Walker, Ren, Nora and a squad of ten Atlesian soldiers onto the surface of the Resolute, all of them aiming their weapons at the three agents of Salem.

"Don't move or we open fire with everything we have!" Ironwood shouted as he signaled for Qrow and the others to come join them. They didn't need any further invitation, quickly scrambling to join the new arrivals, with Soul Seer helping the injured Qrow as Cinder glared at them.

"Where's Callows?" Ironwood asked Qrow.

"Coward escaped after my nieces gave him a beating he'll never forget," The Dusty Huntsman answered, "They're trying to deal with Celaeno."

Ironwood nodded slowly as he kept his eyes on Cinder, Thorn and the Son. "Drop your weapons and place your hands on your heads." He ordered.

"If you try to teleport away we open fire on these other two!" Clover shouted at Thorn.

Cinder silently swore to herself, she hated to retreat, but she could see they had little alternative, as they were outnumbered eight to one. She had no doubt that normally she could easily take on most of these fools, but after the intense fights she and her allies had just endured, it might be a costly battle. Better to retreat and fight another day.

She looked at Thorn and clenched her fist before opening it and signaling to the left, the hand gesture they had developed that signaled a retreat. The teleporter nodded and did the same gesture to the Son, who nodded.

"Hand gestures, they're up to something!" Shouted Harriet.

Cinder suddenly shot her hands forward, sending a tornado-strength blast of autumn winds at the group. Qrow, Ironwood, eight of the soldiers, Ren and Vine were all knocked off their feet, some being thrown so far that they fell over the side of the Resolute.

Nora threw herself down and grabbed Ren while Clover shot out Kingfisher's grappling hook which three soldiers managed to grab onto. Harriet ran over, leaping onto her stomach and grabbing hold of both Ironwood and Qrow while Marrow caught Vine and Heliosia and the four Knights helped the falling soldiers, managing to prevent any from falling to their deaths.

"Don't let them get away!" Elm cried as she ran forward with the two other soldiers.

Sharp Strike looked over at the Son of Salem, watching as the Son pointed directly at him. Sharp Strike somehow could tell exactly what the mysterious man meant by the firm gesture, he was swearing that he would not forget the Knight Errant and wanted a rematch.

Cinder and the Son dashed over to Thorn as they used their swords to deflect the laserfire aimed at them. Thorn grabbed onto both of them and vanished in the blink of an eye before Elm could slam Timber down on where the teleporter had just been.

"Arrgh! Damn it!" The muscular woman cried, stomping on the ship's surface in frustration.

"That's the fourth time she's gotten away!" Complained Nora.

"She broke Jaune's sword, try to find all the pieces!" Said Sharp Strike, and the other half of Team JNPR quickly set about helping him gather up the fragments of the Arc sword.

"Is everyone all right? Heliosia, are you hurt?" Ironwood asked as he stood up.

"No, my aura is almost in the red, but I'll manage. Qrow needs medical attention," Heliosia said, gesturing to the Huntsman that Harriet was helping up.

"Yeah, Callows really worked me over," Qrow admitted as he looked out to see the Celaeno and the Wyvern flying around.

Ironwood looked out at the two huge flying beasts as well. "General," began Sharp Strike, "As fantastic as it sounds, Pyrrha has-"

"I already know that Miss Nikos has regained control of the Wyvern. We received word from the Retribution as well as Alpha and Omega Squadrons." Ironwood said, as Ren and Nora looked out to where their friends were while they scavenged the fragments of Crocea Mors. "Where are Ruby and Yang?"

"Those crazy kids caught a ride on Celaeno," Qrow answered, "They might be even more reckless than I was at their age, which I didn't think was possible."

"You're not going to shoot at them, are you?" Nora asked, concerned for her friends.

"Not at all, though I must admit I am quite concerned about Pyrrha's ability to keep the Wyvern under control. If she can't…we may be forced to kill it." Ironwood answered.

Nora and Ren were about to object, when Argentius spoke up, "Actually, General, we may have a solution for that problem."

To Be Continued…

Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, especially those who have stuck it out with me for so long and have made it one hundred chapters!

So, our heroes now have a dragon on their side! Originally this chapter and chapter 101 were going to be a special, extra huge chapter but I felt it was getting too big so decided to split them.

I hope you all enjoyed this one, it was incredible to conceive and write.

Of course, there's the big news of RT being shut down, with RWBY's fate left uncertain and I feel immense sympathy for the people who lost their jobs, even if I had a lot of issues with how RWBY's story and characters were handled. We can only hope in some shape or form, RWBY and the characters we've come to know and love will live on in a new life.

I must admit, there are times where I really worry about this story. I ask myself; does it really matter?

My answer is: Yes, in the end it matters to me, and the friends and fans I've made along the way. Perhaps it's not as recognized as other stories, but that doesn't mean I'll give up. And what this story is ultimately about, however, is something personal to me and I trust an issue everyone has faced at one point in their lives; believe in yourself, believe in your friends and your family, believe in people who don't believe in themselves.

And while personally I don't like what CRWBY have done with the series following Monty's tragic passing, I owe some thanks to them for ultimately inspiring me to make this story which has gained me great friends. It's been a rough journey so far, with so many chapters and nearly two million words, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have made many good friends along the way and have come to love these characters, the proper RWBY characters I adopted and the ones of my own creation (or those of Relentless Crusader, Leaf Ranger, GojiGrimlockSaurus, PirateKingRay, etc…), so I suppose that in the end, Pyrrha's death in canon had a silver lining, it inspired me to do something about it, which has blossomed into this titan of a story.

I can't believe how long it has been. I have gained four nieces and a nephew who I adore and have lost several friends and family that I have known my entire life, and yet this story is still with me, and so are its readers.

Thank you all.