Previously on The 'Lone' Hero of Vale
(Here goes nothing.)
"Link! Thank goodness!" Velvet sprints towards Link but stops when she notices him himself stop with an intense frown on his face; the intensity seethes out of him
"No. Just... no."
"L-link?" Velvet's eyes tear up, the rabbit faunus can sense coldness
"Why no?" Ren blinks in confusion
"What gives?" Sun asks
"..."
The more Link hears their voices, the angrier he gets.
"We're speakinnnnng to youuuuu." Nora says with a goofy tone
"You did it man, smile!" Neptune says cheerfully
"Lighten up you did great." Coco gently speaks with a weak smile
"I said NO!" Link without draws his weapons and stares everyone down
Anger is dying to burst out of the lone student of Beacon, who sees red when he eyes his friends, thinking about everything that has happened to him and what his friends did or better yet did not do over the last few days. Meanwhile those standing across from him have two reactions when he pulls out his weapons: that of pure shock and fear.
Continuing
"Link!" Weiss shouts and tries to walk towards him but almost falls
She then looks at the people around her who look worried, confused or both
"Y-you guys." Weiss continues panting "S-stop talk-!"
"Weiss don't move you're almost completely done for today." Coco stands protective in front of her, her minigun is back in its handbag state but her hand is very much hovering over the bag, she does her best to look confident but deep down she's scared and hesitant to potentially fight her friend
"Yeah Weiss." Link speaks in quick and short sentences, "Don't get involved."
"What's up with you man?" Sun attempts to walk towards Link but Scarlet and Sage both hold back their leader by each grabbing onto his shoulders
"Please speak to us." Ren speaks softly
"I do not understand." Velvet reaches out towards him
"There's not much to understand anymore. I know where you all stand and how you see me."
Link holds his firm stance with his weapons still drawn, eyeing everyone standing in front of him. He quickly looks past the team ABRN's and team FNKI's and focuses on his friends.
"I have so much to say and yet when I look at you all I want to do is stare and judge at the same time."
"Listen." Coco begins, "This isn't the time Link, we need everyone's help to save Beacon from this attack so-!"
"Well then!?" Link shouts, "When is the time? More like when was the time? I will tell you when actually it was when this was preventable had you heard me out."
"What is he talking about?" Sun glances at the team CFVY leader
"Don't sound so high and mighty, because where were you Sun?" Link turns his attention away from Coco, "And this applies to everyone who did not even come to see me after my match with Jaune and Pyrrha. Where were you all? I had plenty to say and yet only three people listened to me out and believed me, others heard me out and kicked me to the ground when I was already down and the rest of you? Did not even give me a chance to speak."
"Hmph!" Nora frowns, "There wasn't anything to listen to after the way you attack our teammates. Especially when you KNEW Jaune was out of the match and you still chose to strike, I know you held back on your attack but that was incredibly dangerous. Plus for someone who willingly lets that 'thing' inside of you come out whenever it is convenient for you, it just seems like something you would do to ensure you got the win at all costs."
"Nora is right." Ren breathes heavily but manages to look at Link eye to eye, "There was no talking your way out of what you did. Luckily in part with your effort to not put everything you had into that attack, Jaune and Pyrrha are fine now but it still does not change what you did. Something nora did not mention was-!"
"Right." Link cuts Ren off and closes his eyes whilst shaking his head violently, "Do you people not see what's going on around us? Vale and Beacon are being destroyed right now. Sure I'm not perfect and I could have not executed that final attack at all but I KNOW what I was looking at, I was in the arena fighting Pyrrha and Jaune so I am very aware of what I was looking at. And for all of you to not even give me a chance to explain myself is a massive insult. I know Ruby, Yang or Coco told you guys what I said and judging by the fact that I was isolated and kicked to the curb by own friends that means none of you believe what they said?"
"Precisely." Ren nods, "What I was going to say was for someone who wants our full trust you should have really considered that when you told us about your past, specifically the names of the bad people who tried everything in their power to have you eliminated. You cannot leave out important details and then bring them up in order to save your reputation."
"That's right." Neptune frowns, "We were there with you when you told us everything you remembered about your past but I guess it wasn't really everything about your past since you left out details over some pretty messed up people."
"You are all idiots!" Link says with pure hatred coming out of his mouth, "I did not know for certain what they were plotting but you see all of this?"
Before anyone can utter another word, right on cue Link turns and slashes an incoming creep cleanly in half and continues to speak to his friends with his back turned to them.
"This is because of Cinder, Emerald and Mercury three people who I tried to warn you all about. I don't know if they are THE culprits but they sure are pulling the strings right now. Any of you who interacted with Emerald or Mercury and trusted them should all be shamed of yourselves. Especially..."
Link looks to the ground and sighs loudly, almost unsure of what exactly to say next until he looks over his shoulder and back at everybody again
"There is no especially to be honest with you, just screw you all. You took my love, trust, and respect and you absolutely spit, stomped and carelessly tossed it aside as if it was a pile of trash. Everything that happens today to Beacon, Vale and all of Remnant because of this attack just remember when we could have made a change."
"And what could we have done?" Coco frowns, "Even if we believed you then what? We're still just students, how do we prevent all of this?"
"Chances are we wouldn't have Coco." Link shakes his head, "But here is what we could have done. For starters knowing you're all on my side would have been amazing and not driven me insane wondering what all the silence meant. More importantly though and really think about it, with the right numbers or more than enough students speaking their mind we could have gotten through to Professor Ozpin or Glynda or hell even Ironwood with his army of puppets and toasters. We could have made the main protectors of Beacon more aware of what was going to potentially happen when those three deviants alongside their additional cronies are inside of our school pretending to be students."
Link walks closer to his friends whilst they in the process attempt to back away from him. Nevertheless, he gets in Coco's face and stares right through her shades
"You should have listened to me. I hate all of you and I really want my words to register in your heads, all you here except Weiss."
Despite Coco's attempts to stand in front of Weiss protectively, Link pushes past her with ease and presses his left hand on Weiss' neck
"Hey!" Neptune charges towards Link
"STOP!" Link's head snaps directly at Neptune
However, before any more can happen it is Velvet who slides in front of Neptune with her arms extended and head lowered, completely blocking him from getting past
"But-!"
"Let him." Velvet raises her head and tears are flowing down her cheeks
Velvet, along with everyone who was just chewed out by Link face him as he kneels all the way down to the same eye level as Weiss who is slumped over. Slowly and methodically Link plants his hands together, his shield, sword, bow, parts of his clothing and eyes glow once again. Weiss suddenly does not feel the urge to slump and struggle to stay up as she rises up and slightly shakes her head.
"W-whoa." Weiss sighs in relief, "Thank you."
"No problem." Link nods and stands himself, "Not that I really did much anyway."
"Thanks!" Coco sarcastically grunts
He rolls his eyes as Coco begins to breath heavier but she isn't fatigued to the point where Weiss was previously
"Sure whatever."
Link returns the sarcasm but gives Weiss a genuine pat on the back before beginning to walk away from them all and towards the school, his eyes set on getting rid of the rest of the Grimm at Beacon
"Link!" Velvet runs after him and grabs his arm from behind
"..."
"Please say something to me!" She emphasizes herself and gently tries to reach down his arm and for his hand
"Fine." Link says as he pulls his arm away from Velvet's grasp, "Thank you for an amazing year at Beacon. I want these words to register in your head as well, you're an amazing friend Velvet but you did a very bad thing. I gave you and everybody everything; absolutely everything that was necessary to trust someone and believe in them. I gave you my word, my trust and my full support and what did I get in return?"
"I..."
"Exactly, it was all for nothing. I am sure I sound very harsh right now but it cannot be helped, I was and am still very hurt by everyone because I truly believe this all could have been prevented had we stepped up and intervened ourselves." Link walks forward a few steps before looking back at the rabbit faunus, "Right now all we can do is come together and stop the invasion of Vale and Beacon Academy, it's the least we can do considering..."
"Would you just-!"
"No." Link turns now and stars directly into Nora's eyes, "I cannot just let up and pretend like it never happened or let it go, it will forever be burned at the back of my head as a matter of fact. I don't know if you understand how bad it all was. Yes I should have mentioned the names Cinder, Emerald and Mercury when describing my past but I was already giving you guys everything important in my opinion. So when they set me up and made me look like a monstrous huntsman, yes I figured I was screwed in the court of public opinion, but to get the same treatment from the people I considered friends was more than just a gut punch, it was more like a stabbing of the heart."
Link sighs and simply shakes his head but also feeling more frustrated than before as it does not feel like they understand his anger
"Thanks for absolutely nothing you guys, all I wanted for days ever since this all happened with me the way it did was to simply a chance to talk to those that I didn't get to talk to. But it is clear now that not only was this a waste of time but so was believing that things could be better when I came to Beacon. I called you all my friends and you all called me your friend yet none of us truly know what that word means."
...
...
...
Silence completely takes over as nobody knows what to say, the only one who even dares to open her mouth is Weiss who wanted to speak earlier bites her lip literally as she bites her tongue figuratively
"Why is nobody speaking up? Are they speechless or they just not care?" Weiss wonders to herself
"Weiss!" The voice comes from Yang who sprints to her with a look of concern, "You're okay thats amazing! Have you heard from Ruby?"
"I haven't no." Weiss shakes her head
"What about Blake? She was with you when we called earlier."
"She went after The White Fang." Weiss points towards the cafeteria
"The white fang is here too?" Link speaks as he balls his fists
"Yeah." Yang is hesitant when she looks in Link's direction, "They are the ones who brought the Grimm to the school."
"i see."
"Wellllll." Yang uncomfortably looks away from Link and shifts her attention back to Weiss, "You look for Ruby. I'll go find and meet up with Blake."
Yang takes off and heads where Weiss point
"There's a lot of work to do, so good luck and maybe I'll see you all around in class or something." Link speaks to everybody one more time before taking off after an Ursa destroying the doors of the main entrance of Beacon
He sprints with everything he's got, ready and willing to give his life to save Beacon and to get rid of every foe in sight
BOOM!
A giant fireball slams into the Ursa that Link was seconds away from striking and with just one blast the Grimm falls defeated
"Huh?" Link looks around, seeing nothing and then looks behind him; beyond the group of people he has just berated was Professor Oobleck and Professor Port, who wielded his blunderbuss aimed right at the Ursa
"That won't be necessary Mister Link." Port gives his student a distant nod
"Weren't you and Professor Oobleck just at the colosseum?" Nora questions as it does not feel like that much time has passes since she and the rest of them flew from Amity Colosseum to Beacon
"Yes we were." Pork says firmly but with the upmost confidence
"Those grimm stood no chance and we disposed of them rather quickly!" Oobleck gives multiple nods as he drinks coffee and eyes the students in front of him as well as the destroyed Atlesian Paladins, "You have all done a marvelous job but now is when we as professors do our best to protect all of you, come along and we will guide you all to the docks, Atlas ships are ready to load as many students as possible, first come first serve so we must-!"
"Not a chance in hell." Link shrugs and ignores the Professor Oobleck but right as he is about to enter Beacon to continue fighting; he senses the exact same fireball coming right towards him, "WHAT THE?!"
Link promptly gets down on one knee and holds his shield with both arms as the fireball collides with his shield but does no harm to him
"It was not a request." Professor Port speaks with a more serious tone rather than one of a rambling professor and Vytal tournament announcer, "Please listen to Doctor Oobleck. There is too much grimm for all of us to handle united let alone divided."
"I'm not interested in doing nothing." Link stares down Professort Port who just attacked him, "So if you want to evacuate students who want to run go ahead but I-!"
"Lets go, now!" The beacon professor does not back down
"We are just wasting time!"
"The let's not do that anymore and get to the docks right away!" Oobleck steps to the side and raises his hand gesturing toward the Atlas ships waiting at the edge of Beacon
Sun leads the way, followed by the rest of his team as does the entirety of team ABRN, CFVY, Neon, Flynt, Nora, Ren, and lastly Weiss joins them momentarily before looking back.
"Grr..." Link shakes his head and does not move on inch
"I suppose..." Professor Port glances at Oobleck and whispers, "We will have to bring him in with us by force."
"Hey!" The one man team shakes his head at both of his professors, "If you have anything to say about me you can say it out loud."
"No!" Weiss acts quickly and jogs towards Link as fast as she can, not being able to run as she has not fully recovered
"Weiss." Link nods at her as he meets her halfway to save her the time and energy
"Link don't do this."
Weiss immediately reaches for his arm with both of her hands, she can barely grip Link's arm properly as she still feels weak
"Hey now, don't overdo it." Link sighs and hooks his arm in between hers
"Maybe I'll just have to guilt trip you into walking me to the docks then." Weiss says, giving a weak smile in the process,
"Fine you win."
Link rolls his eyes but passingly and helps one of the few people who has been on his side slowly walk down the courtyard and head to the docks at the end of Beacon cliff
"It's admirable that you want to fight so badly." Weiss gives him a nod, "I wish I didn't just give everything I had so I could help too."
"I barely got to do anything that's the thing." Link shrugs, "You all were at the colosseum and saw the beginning of this attack unfold, I was asleep and luckily woke up in time to not get ripped apart by an Ursa that smashed through my dorm window. The those toasters went rogue that was a whole ordeal since they almost blew off the heads of Ironwoods soldiers."
"Don't kick yourself too hard." Weiss genuinely in a caring way leans against Link as she continues to recover, "You took out a Paladin in one strike do you not realize how impressive that was? All of us struggled to even take out one and that was largely due to Velvet taking charge and showing what she's been keeping away for the entire year."
"Yeah I suppose so, I don't know there just is nothing to feel good about, this all could have been prevented but now that it's too late and we didn't stay two steps ahead, the only chance we have is now to defeat all the Grimm tearing through Beacon and our professors are making us retreat... I feel useless."
"You aren't but I understand what you are saying, I'm sorry that we didn't act sooner because you're right." Weiss sighs, "With the information with you had even if it was not a lot, it was enough to be aware but we weren't and ultimately that is our fault for not supporting you more."
"Weiss..." Link stops and looks directly into her eyes, "Please don't say 'our' because none of this falls onto you, I know where everyone stands now and the second you told me that you believed me, that was the start of my support, Skylar pitched in for herself and her team, then it was completed by Pyrrha, which unfortunately is not much support numbers wise but all of you who were on my side will forever have a place in my heart."
Silence looms over their conversation but not in a negative way due to a smile forming on Weiss' face as the two friends pick up the pace a bit more and walk to the docks
"Ah Miss Schnee!" Professor Oobleck turns in her direction and almost takes a step back, "And Mister Link, you're both here."
"Good job." Professor Port nods at Weiss
"It really wasn't much, he's my friend and I care a lot about him." Weiss mumbles, "I couldn't let him continue alone."
"Very good Miss Schnee, I know now isn't the time to say this but you have shown tremendous growth in comparison to the first time we spoke." Port nods again, "I am not sure if you from the start of the year would have even considered how much danger Mister Link would have been in. Very good job today, I am proud of everything you have done this year. I myself can only wish and hope that the grimm be cleared out as soon as possible, we can all return to the academy and that I can teach all of you again."
"I look forward to that day."
The immediate sight of Ren, Nora, Sun, Neptune, Scarlet, Sage, Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Fox immediately gives Link the urge to break free from Weiss, but she does not let him by softly tugging on his arm
"Now we just wait?" Link sighs angrily, knowing there is so much more to do
"Yeah I guess so." Sun answers but doesn't look Link in the eye
"Hey... where are Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha?"
"Ruby took off, we were on a ship back to Beacon and I guess an idea popped in her head because she left while we were mid air." Sun shakes his head
"Mid air?!" Link does a double take, "What about the other two?"
"W-we lost them..." Ren sits up despite being completely exhausted, "Some time ago when all of us were fighting all the Grimm. Pyrrha followed Professor Ozpin and Jaune said he'd figure out what was going on, we have no seen either of them since."
"They're doing it..." Link balls up his fist, "Right now with how dire the situation is there's no way Pyrrha backs out now, she'll likely become the fall maiden to save Beacon."
"Do you know what that could mean?" Weiss asks before turn her head to face Link
"I'm going to be fully transparent with you but obviously I don't have the time to say everything, that woman who saved my life, she's the fall mai-!"
A rapid breeze suddenly hits Weiss and Link as a shadow is flying by them and arrives right in front of Ren and Nora, it was Blake and Yang who both lie on the pavement. Immediately Zwei is there to greet them, when looking at Blake she looks horrified and struggles to hold back tears but when Link sees Yang... something is missing.
"I need some help over here!" Blake's shouts gains immediate attention from Sun and Atlas soldiers
"YANG!" Weiss gasps
"Yang..." Link's other fist balls up, "Who did this to her?"
Blake does not answer, she is in too much shock and all her focus is on Yang.
"Blake!" Link shouts at the top of his lungs
"Hey!" Sun is quick to get in his face
"I c-cant!" Blake sheds a tear, "I couldn't stop him."
"Him..." Link's anger builds up even more than it's already at currently, "Let me go Weiss."
"You can't possibly be thinking of going after the person who just did that to Yang." Weiss shakes her head
"This heartless bastard should have been dead a long time ago. Let me go."
"NO!" Blake cries out, "I can't have another friend get hurt today, p-please don't."
"But I know I can kill-!"
"That doesn't matter!" Blake extends her hand towards Link, "Please."
"Damn you all." Link glances back at Yang, "Yang's arm, Amber I am pretty sure is dead by now assuming Pyrrha took her maiden abilities, Beacon is destroyed and still no sign of Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby. There has to be something I can do."
Unfortunately for the eager student, Professors Oobleck and Port make their voices loud and clear
"Everybody on board! This is a mandatory evacuation!" Port speaks mightily as he guides students towards the Atlas ships
"A safe zone has been established in Vale! Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!" Oobleck lines up students to ensure the right and safe amount get on at once
Weiss and Link stare at the sight front of them in complete disbelief. Out of nowhere to everyone's surprise Ruby comes running the courtyard, Zwei barks to alert anybody nearby about her arrival
"Ruby!" Weiss shouts
"Oh, thank goodness I found you!" Ruby smiles briefly at both of them, not fazed at all by Link's mask, "You too Link I was wondering where you'd be during all of this chaos."
"Yeah I sure wasn't going to be asleep still." Link says with a monotone voice
"Ruby!" Weiss weakly stomps her foot, "Where have you-!"
"Don't worry about me I'm fine! What's going on? Is everyone okay?"
Weiss lowers her head sadly towards Yang and Blake, unsure of what to say. Link on the other hand does not even look in their direction, wanting to avoid Yang's injury.
"What is it?"
Crying is heard at the same time as Weiss stepping aside, giving Ruby a clear view of Blake and Yang lying on the ground. Blake places her hand on Yang's and sobs, both of the team RWBY members have bandages wrapped around their wounds and the latter is unconscious.
"I'm sorry." Blake continues to shed more tears, "I'm so sorry!"
"Yang...?" Ruby speaks with nearly the exact same tone Link had when he saw Yang for the first time, she opens her mouth to say more but cannot quite find anything to say
"And there is something else too." Weiss sighs and lets go of Link's arm
"Huh?" Link wonders to himself but then it all makes sense straight away
Weiss slowly paces towards Ruby and the two briefly walk away, far enough to where Link wouldn't hear them and only then does Weiss begin speaking, Ruby does not interject a single time but only listens and listens carefully.
"I wonder exactly what she's telling Ruby." Link frowns but almost immediately eases up, "Now is when my anger isn't justified because I do trust Weiss and she has no reason to lie to Ruby. Assuming she does I will gladly tell Ruby what I told all of them since... she is involved in that group of people I told to screw themselves."
Ruby looks directly at Link with pain and sorrow in her eyes, her immediate reaction is to run towards him, not even with her signature speed but simply an urgent sprint
"Looks like Weiss really told you everything huh."
"Link you cant-!" Ruby tries to immediately reach for his hand
"I can feel however I want, say whatever I want and do whatever I feel like doing Ruby." Link backs away and raises his hand to prevent her from continuing her attempts, "I made my thoughts very clear. I understand and have an idea of what you want to say; no offense but it's just too late to tell me anything. What happened is exactly what was always going to happen because everybody chose to turn their back on me and I need to learn to accept it."
Ruby can't help but shed a tear but the feeling does not last long as a fellow friend nearby approaches her
"Listen." Sun speaks with calm tone, "She's going to be okay. The soldiers and I did what we could for Yang and Blake, now Atlas have a ship ready to take you guys and all of us to Vale."
"There's not a chance we're leaving." Link shakes his head, "Pyrrha is still missing and Jaune is with her too according to what Ren and Nora had to say."
"Y-yes!" Nora tries to stand to no avail, she frowns at Link however, "They are both missing."
"Right." Link rolls his eyes
"THEY ARE?" Ruby gasps
"Hey guys!" Sun cuts into the conversation, "We need to leave soon, that giant Grimm is circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to go!"
"Giant Grimm?" Link looks up into the sky and at last notices the ginormous Wyvern circling around Beacon, "Holy crap that thing makes a Nevermore look like a pigeon, how did I not notice it before?"
"Hmmmm." Ruby uncontrollably shakes her head at sun, "I'll find them, and I'll make sure they come back"
"No." Weiss nudges Ruby's shoulder, "We will find them."
"I know where they are or well, it's a speculation but look over there." Link draws his weapons and points his sword at the Wyvern that now begins to focus on the tower, "They have to be there. If Jaune and Pyrrha are there then someone else must be there too, maybe it's your friends Ruby."
"SHUT UP!" Ruby snaps
"Yeah, maybe I will." Link chuckles, "Go your own path, I'll find Pyrrha and Jaune my way."
Link takes off without saying another word and sprints back to Beacon despite Professor Port and Ooblecks demands along with Ruby calling out his name to stop him.
"I hope they're all there. Emerald, Mercury, Cinder, Adam, Torchwick, the more I can take out the better. But I won't get ahead of myself too much, as long as one can be taken out today that will be a massive win."
Approximately three minutes Later: Beacon Tower
"Finally, I know it didn't take long but that sure felt longer than the previous time I've made my way over here." Link quickly catches his breath due to battling more Grimm on his way towards the tower
RING RING!
The ringing is followed by vibration as Link at last gets a call on his scroll, it is from Jaune.
"What the..." Link turns his head, unsure of what to do or what to think but ultimately decides to turn down the call, "Whatever he needs to say can wait, besides if he happens to be in danger he's got the best Huntress in Beacon by his side."
Link approaches the entrance to the tower and sees two things that catch his attention, one is a small crater in the ground, the perfect size of a rectangle and...
"Now who could this belong to?"
The confused Beacon student notices a scroll on the ground, hesitantly picks it up, opens it and almost immediately he recognizes that it belongs to Pyrrha due to all the missed calls and a voicemail from Jaune.
"Somehow Jaune got out of here then, but how?" Link sighs and clicks on the voicemail
"Pyrrha! You can't fight her alone none of us could, if that woman can take down Ozpin you don't stand a chance! PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING CRAZY! You're strong but don't be a hero now! I don't want you to d-!"
Link shuts the scroll before any more is said and looks towards the tower, it clicks now that Pyrrha is really in there right with at the very minimum Cinder
"Let's do this! Hopefully Pyrrha isn't too hurt when I make it up, I sure am looking forward to backing her up"
The long climb up the tower for Link begins as he enters the same destroyed elevator that his friend just recently manipulated with polarity but unfortunately for him not wielding that ability he must use his physical attributes and weapons at his disposal to make it up. The one man team deeply inhales, quickly exhales and with his initial speed and endurance he explodes off his feet, aiming for one of the walls in the elevator shaft and bounces off the walls side to side in a perfect zigzag pattern, progressing quickly up the shaft almost at a pace to match Ruby's speed. Eventually, his momentum and speed begin to slow down with even Link realizing it too, he reaches for his sword on his next jump.
"Damn things just got way harder!"
CRUNCH!
Metal collides with metal as Link's sword penetrates the wall perfectly enough to keep him in place and long enough for him to catch his breath and think fast. And thinking fast he does as he reaches into his pouch and pulls out his hookshot, which as shown in his match against half of team JNPR can also penetrate metal.
"WHOA!" Link just about manages to dodge a huge gear flying down the elevator shat and not even because of his own doing but pure luck
Explosions and tons of metal colliding is heard above his head and with that Link's urgency picks up despite his adrenaline completely dissipating
"Hold on Pyrrha I'm coming to help!" Link shouts, hoping somehow his voice could be heard
As fast as Link is going it still feels like time is just going by too quickly but after more stabbing, puncturing, colliding and crunching courtesy of his sword and hookshot, he sees the top of the tower also known as Ozpin's office, or what is left of it anyway as the entire top of the tower has been destroyed and ripped off
"Come on, come on, COME ON!" Link shouts as his jumps slow down even further, jumping not nearly as far as he was before and with much less speed
Nearby: Top of Beacon Tower
"Ahhhhhh!" Pyrrha collapses in agony as Cinder's arrow digs right into her ankle
"Calm now child it will all be over soon, although it is unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder says with her signature sinister voice as she kneels down and lifts Pyrrha's chin, staring into her eyes with an evil smile, "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never-!"
The sounds of slicing, crunching and shouts from a now recognizable Link ring through the elevator shaft and cut off the ending of Cinder's sentence as his hookshot blade is now visible
"Never imagined!" Cinder brushes off the interruption and proceeds with her attention back on Pyrrha now
"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha with no fear in her eyes stares right back at her opponent, never once breaking eye contact
"Yes." Cinder's smile disappears and a frown takes its place
Cinder stands back up and forms her bow and arrow again from what seems to just be shards of glass. She pulls back an arrow and lowers the bow to aim at her weakened opponent. Pyrrha shuts her eyes and accepts her fate, Cinder narrows her eyes even further and releases the bow
"NO!" Link shouts as he's sprinting to the scene, "Pyrrha move! Damn she must really be done for if she's just accepting it!"
At the same time, Ruby from the opposite side of the tower is loudly sprinting off Weiss' glyphs, indeed going her own path and getting up the tower in a less complex way
"RAHHH!" Link swings his sword and slices the arrow but not for long as it shatters upon impact with the side of his blade, "I'm not done yet!"
Link acts fast, takes a step back and lifts his shield to block the arrow, only for the exact same thing to happen, shattering upon impact with the front of his shield and to add insult to injury he loses sight of the arrow as it reforms completely behind him... striking Pyrrha directly in the chest.
"N-no..." Link slowly turns around, hoping that the arrow somehow missed or hit her armor, but Pyrrha's gasps send chills down his spine, "I won't let you die!"
Link kneels down and reaches for the arrow lodged in Pyrrha's chest that has gone all the way through and partially emerging through her back. Pyrrha's eyes are wide and entire body is shaking but Cinder's clicking heels catch his attention as she walks towards them
"GO AWAY!" Link rapidly turns plants his feet with his sword on shield drawn, his eyes flash gold instantly as he intends to kill
Cinder on the other hand has other ideas and with a fiery glow around her eyes alongside the same twisted smile swipes her hand through the air in Link's general direction and attacks him with an arc of fire, the masked huntsman brings his shield up to block and withstand the attack but the power is too much and he's swept off his feet and sent crashing to the ground
"How?! Damn it!" Link scrambles to get back up to his feet
Ruby leaps off the last of Weiss' glyphs and lands on the rubble knees first, her eyes widen immediately when she sees the scene: Link on the ground unable to interfere and Cinder standing over other dear friend menacingly. The wound in Pyrrha's chest lets out a red glow, Cinder places a hand on Pyrrha's head, using her Maiden powers to incinerate her completely, the wise JNPR huntress stops moving and gasping, her body glows orange briefly and then she scatters away dumped ashes until all that was left was the circlet she wears on her head which is in Cinders hands now; she eyes Link first and then turns to Ruby before dropping it on the ground like a piece of trash.
"Pyrrha..." Link's eyes wide as big as they can expand and heart sinks. After about five to ten seconds his eyes are no longer wide as sadness has taken over, with no more facial expressions or other reactions as he gets up to his feet. His first thought is to look at Ruby who visibly looks like she wants to sob and scream but he cannot hear her cries or Cinder's triumphant laugh... he hears absolutely nothing except for Pyrrha's shout and gasp.
Without saying another word, Link walks to the spot Pyrrha was just murdered at with absolutely no fear or concern for Cinder and picks up her circlet
"I suppose you two are next." Cinder aims another arrow, aims for Link's back and fires another arrow
Link turns around and two things are visible, the circlet is attached right next to Ray's canteen and the demon within him is emerging at a pace never seen before
"...!" Link does not say a single word but sprints at Cinder full speed, dodging her arrow with rapid sideway jumps
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Cinder frowns and her eyes are fiery again
"PYRRHAAAAAA! NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ruby draws all the attention to her as she levitates in the air and a very white and powerful light envelopes her, it spreads out to everyone in sight, the Wyvern screeches in pain but more importantly...
"WHAT?!" Cinders eyes widen
"!" Link's body bursts with his golden aura as the demon goes away upon seeing Ruby's body emit the white light
The only thing anybody can see now is white as it is blinding and overwhelming, Cinder and the Wyvern scream and screech in pain separately while Link and Ruby pass out from aura depletion...
Sometime later: Top of Beacon Tower
"It's alright, I got ya kiddo. I got ya." Qrow speaks as he lifts Ruby with his arms but his demeanor drops when he sees another body on the ground as well, "Who's this?"
Qrow walks over to the boy on the ground and if the clothes did not give it away the recognizable mask sure did
"Oh man, him too? Jimmy help me out."
"Absolutely what can I d-!" Ironwood speaks with deep pain as he stands by Qrow's side
"Here take Ruby, I'll take the kid."
"What?!" Ironwood says while clearly baffled, "He was here? But he was supposed to be kept in his-!"
"That doesn't matter right now... point is he knew more than he let on and he's important." Qrow shrugs and does not lift Link as carefully as he did Ruby
"What do we do now?" Ironwood is careful with Ruby however, using his right arm to carry most of her weight
"Right now we need to get those two out of here... considering there's no sign of Pyrrha Nikos when she was known to be here that can only mean that-!"
"Yeah..." Ironwood drops his head
"This is really bad, we lost the Fall maiden and there is no sign of Oz."
They both sigh and look at one another, knowing there's not much that can be done right now
Days later: Xiao Long Residence
Both Ruby and Link lie unconscious in separate beds next to each other, the former completely out cold. The latter on the other hand is going through much more mental torment in form of only hearing words from a person he only recently witnessed get taken away from him
...
...
...
"I should be the one thanking you for your trust."
"I'm happy too Link, to think you would have changed was impossible for me."
"If things had gone differently, that poor girl could have been with us."
(Huh?)
Link opens his eyes but instantly he senses that what he sees is not real as he does not even feel in the picture and all around him is a magical world with a pink sun, orange sky, baby blue clouds, golden trees, farm animals roaming around and villagers doing their daily work as life proceeds 'normally'
(It's so beautiful, what is this place?)
But again, he does feel there at all instead he is like a spectator, an invisible person who has no impact but can watch on.
"HEYYY!"
(What... Did I just hear what I think I heard?)
It is the voice of Ray, she is alive, well, and perfectly healthy. She giggles and runs up to a person hidden underneath shadows of the biggest golden tree visible
"Hello."
That person is revealed to be Pyrrha who turns around and has a big smile on her face.
"Hiiiii I'm Ray it's pleasure to meet you. Welcome welcome!" Ray continues to giggle and extends her hand
"Oh my you are Ray? You are really pretty, Link definitely undersold you during his description." Pyrrha happily shakes her hand
"You have such a strong grip!" Ray squeals happily and uses her other hand to continue the handshake, "Link told you about me? Awesomeee! How close were you to him?"
"Initially we were just distant friends but then we really got to know each other well. I could trust him with everything and anything I had on my mind as he could trust me the same way too. I appreciated him dearly and I wish I could have continued being a part of his life."
"Awwwww that's sweet and relatable because..." Ray sighs, "Me too."
"Don't be sad." Pyrrha maintains her smile despite sadness taking over the conversation, "Why don't we get to know each other?"
"YES PLEASE!" Ray's smile returns as she grabs ahold of Pyrrha's hand and leads the way towards another big tree
"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asks
"Just follow my lead you're going to help me greet another new visitor!"
They both run a short distance to near identical tree that is only slightly smaller and out emerges Amber but right as she is about speak the three girls voices are completely gone and the magical world disappears slowly
(No... come back please, I need to hear you all again.)
...
...
...
Link opens his eyes and it's the crack of dawn; despite how hurt his body is and fatigued he obviously feels, his facial expression remains the same as when he saw Pyrrha's demise, a deadpan face with the eyes of someone cold. Without saying a single word he gets up and first notices his clothes are not the same as he has on what he sometimes wears underneath them, a simple black shirt and black pants. Link moves emotionlessly but remains considerate and does keep it quiet as Ruby is still sleeping. He exits out of the room they are in. then at last there's a sound from Link but it turns out to just be a sigh as he slowly walks like a zombie down the hallway and into the kitchen of this home he has never seen before.
"Ruby is that you?" The sound of this voice is a new one but when seeing the face of the person it is apparent who they are
"..." Link says nothing and simply gazes at Taiyang, Ruby and Yang's father
"O-oh it's you! Your name is Link and from what Qrow has told me, you have been very integral in my girls lives as much as it stings that you are a boy. Pleasure to meet you." Taiyang extends his hand
"...pleasure to meet you..."
Link yet again does not speak but he does not disrespect Taiyang either and shakes his hand
"Are you alright?" Taiyang sighs, "Sorry that was a dumb question, none of you are alright after what you just went through. Qrow told me you were in the thick of it all, I'm sorry if you witnessed anything grueling."
The sounds of Pyrrha's scream and gasps replay in Link's head as well as her facial expression of pure horror and fear
"..." Link's head drops as he sadly thinks about only recent events
"Can I get you anything? A glass of water? Or maybe a snack? You must be hungry after being passed out for days."
Link signals to Taiyang as he 'reaches' for his sword and shield, then taps his head, chest and legs
"Your stuff right, one second!" Taiyang quickly exists the kitchen
The now former Beacon student glances out the window and stares at the rising sun whilst closing his eyes and trying to remember what he just dreamt of but instead of Ray, Pyrrha and Amber happily interacting all he can see is Pyrrha with an arrow in her chest
"Here you go. I hope you don't mind some stitching I did on your clothes, they looked beat up and where did you get this sword? Because it's incredible. I've seen plenty of swords in my lifetime Qrow's included, but this one looks out of this world."
No response again as Link takes his clothes, weapons, pouch, mask, Ray's canteen and Pyrrha's circlet and leaves the kitchen
"H-hey!" Taiyang calls out to him, "I know you're hurting and I know it's not my place to say anything to you right now but if you ever need help I am here for you. Anyone who goes out of their way to appreciate and protect my girls has permanent respect from me."
Link wants to smile and nod but despite his best efforts, the corners of his mouth do not move at all, he does nod however and returns to the room he was just sleeping in. Some time passes as the sun has almost fully risen, while he dresses and makes the bed he was sleeping in fast, Link stands over Ruby and stares out the window, unsure of what is next.
"Hey." Taiyang whispers as he opens the door slowly, "Qrow should be here soon if you're interested in talking to him. I can watch Ruby in here while you wait in the kitchen if you want."
The words of Ruby and Yang's father register clearly as Link walks out of room and Taiyang enters it with a chair in hand. The distraught huntsman shuts the door behind him and walks down the hallway again but something catches his attention, a door that is barely creaked open and the person inside is Yang who is already awake and likely not slept at all, she blankly stares out the window. The temptation to enter the room and say anything is momentarily there but ultimately fizzles out, Link sees Yang's right arm bandaged up and closes his eyes. A lot of anger and sympathy is felt in seeing his two 'friends' defeated physically and mentally, along with knowing Amber and Pyrrha were lost in the fall of Beacon, Link expects something to click inside of him but all he feels is emptiness and regret. Knowing nothing will change any time soon, the huntsman knows there is no reason to stay and within a minute comprised of making sure he has everything, an exit out of the Xiao Long household is made quietly and slowly. When outside of the home, Link breathes the cold air, embraces the chilly breeze of fall and walks away without saying a word to Taiyang, Ruby, Yang or even waiting for Qrow.
Thirty minutes later: Xiao Long Residence, Ruby's room
"... All those missions I go on, all the times I'm away in some far off place it's all been for Ozpin. But he's missing now and something has been set in motion. With Oz gone, I will have to pick up where he left off." Qrow sighs, "Bad enough Oz is gone but so is your friend."
"Huh?" Ruby blinks
"You know who I'm talking about, he was right there with you at the top of the tower."
"L-link?" Ruby starts to cry again, "He's gone too? B-but-!"
"No nothing like that, he was here in that bed right over there. Tai didn't even see him go, he just disappeared out of nowhere after getting all his stuff back." Qrow walks over to the bed and notices something tucked slightly under the covers, "Looks like he left you something and it was definitely intentional too."
"What is it?"
Qrow reveals it to be Link's mercenary mask with the tight straps completely cut off from it
"He knows I really this mask. " Ruby shows off a weak smile, "And I agree when you say completely intentional, I know I'll see him again Uncle Qrow and hopefully it's soon."
"Don't get your hopes up kid." Qrow shuts his eyes and rubs his forehead, "Your dad said he was... I don't even know how to describe it, he just seems broken, who knows if he is the same person you knew."
"Oh no... and now he's out there all alone?"
"I'm not worried about his safety, the kid was powerful enough to be the first and only one person team at Beacon, clearly Oz saw something special in him." Qrow opens his eyes and gives his niece a smile in return
"Right." Ruby nods, "What do we do? If I'm so special, then I can help, right?"
"You really wanna help kid? Get some rest." Qrow rolls his eyes, "You're in no condition to go anywhere right now. And besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you."
Qrow quickly walks away but stops by the door to say one last thing Ruby with his back turned to her
"Catch ya later, kiddo."
The leader of the now broken up team RWBY sits in her room alone and stares at the covers of her bed. She looks at the window but doesn't look outside as she is not within range to do that, instead she stares at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall across from her bed. Blinking and intrigued by her silver eyes more than ever now, but that isn't the only thing troubling her.
"Where did you go Link?"
Ruby gets out of bed, walks over to the window, gazes out of it with the mask in her hands, brings it up to her chest and holds it closely, gazing at the beautiful environment and wondering what happened to her team and her friends, but hearing her uncle mention Haven certainly gives her an idea as to what will come next.
(Finally wrapped up Volume 3 a wholeeee three years later, sorry for the long hiatus again I will not let that happen again, I also wont promise anything like a posting schedule :p so you'll get updates when they're ready.)