Great Escape, part 2 "Weathertop Nightmare"
AN: I'm sorry the last chapter was too short, but the demand for a new chapter was too great for me to finish it fully.
Since I owed you all a larger chapter, I am posting this one a week early, also because I care about my readers! :)
Enjoy!
After Ozpin's 'discussion' with Jaune, he took the next flight out of Vale and went to Haven Academy to speak with the headmaster. Ozpin walked towards the main tower and reached the elevator. He pressed the button that takes him up to Headmaster Saruman Lionheart's office.
After only a few minutes of waiting, the elevator door reached the office and opened up. Ozpin walked into the office and heard a familiar voice come from the man that stood on the opposite side of the room from him.
The man was wearing a golden cloak, and had hair as white a snow, with a few black streaks running down it. "The hour is late as the smoke rises from Mt. Doom, and Ozpin the Grey comes to Haven to seeking my council." The man then turned around with a smile on his face, "That is why you came, is it not? My old friend."
"Saruman… It's been too long…" Ozpin says with a smile. He walked forward as Saruman walked around his desk and met him half way. They hugged like old friends whom haven't seen each other in years, which wasn't too far off from the truth.
Ozpin and Saruman shared a cup of Mistral coffee as they conversed over the finding of the ring.
"Of all the places it could hide, I never would have thought it'd be in Patch." Ozpin said as he took a sip.
Saruman laughed a bit, "Don't beat yourself up too much, old friend. People have been searching for that ring for almost a century and found no reason to believe it was in past as you did."
"Now that the ring has been found we have to move fast. I believe we still have time enough to counter Salem before she could do any more damage." Ozpin says with a bit of hope in his tone.
"Time?" Saruman ask, "What time do you believe we have, exactly?"
Saruman turned back to his desk and pulled up a holo-map of Remnant. He then zoomed in on the 'dragon shaped' continent of Mimar, and the Black Land of Mordor. "Salem has regained much of her strength, enough for her to have a body again. As I'm sure our friends have informed you. You may have been able to force her away at Dol Guldur, but she has been gathering strength longer than that."
Ozpin looked at the map, seeing the images of Barad Dur, the Black Gate, and the newly reformed fortress of Minas Morgul. "But she doesn't have enough power to leave her land… otherwise she'd have already paid the other kingdoms a visit, like last time."
"Yes…" Saruman then zoomed in on Barad Dur, "But that doesn't mean she is blind to the rest of the world." The hologram revealed the tower and showed the flaming eye at the top.
"The 'Eye of Sauron'…" Ozpin said with a bit of anger in his tone.
"She has full control over her late father's old watch tower; with that eye, her gaze can see past clouds, shadow, rock and flesh." Saruman sounded very in awe of such a device.
The eye had been such a modern marvel, even by Remnant's standards. For decades, Mantel and Atlas scientists have been trying to recreate and duplicate such a device for their own purposes but could never get close. The best they came up with was the CCT, but even that is nothing in comparison to the 'Eye of Sauron'.
"She has already begun gathering armies to her cause…" Saruman said as he turned off the holo-map. "Orcs of Mordor, Goblins from the mountains, Grimm hoards… hell, she's even calling in the White Fang for support."
Ozpin couldn't help but ask, "Support for what?"
"The next Great War is upon us, Ozpin…" Saruman says with confidence.
"How do you know all this? Did her grace-?" Ozpin was cut off from his question when Saruman held his hand up to stop him.
"No… I saw it myself…" He said as he gestured Ozpin to follow.
Ozpin and Saruman walked to the center of the room, there a small section of the floor opened up and a small pedestal came up. On the pedestal appeared to be a silk cloth covering over some kind of sphere.
Saruman pulled on the silk to reveal a blacked out crystal ball on the pedestal. Ozpin's eyes squinted at the sight of this magical object. "Damn it, Saruman, I told you the Palantir is too dangerous." Ozpin almost sounded like an older brother that was annoyed by his little brother.
"Why?" Saruman asked as he brushed his hand on the ball, "Why should we of all people be afraid to use it?"
Ozpin rolled his eyes, "You know why. They aren't all found, the lost seeing stones… We don't know who could be on the other end." Ozpin said as he took the silk shrewd and placed it back over the orb. Right then when his hand touched the orb, Ozpin saw two glowing, blood red eyes staring at him. And in an instant they were gone, and Ozpin removed his hand form the orb.
"Ozpin, my old friend… We are already out of time…" Saruman says with a bit of a disappointed tone. "Salem has already given the orders to her generals, and the Three have already made their way into Vale."
"The Dark Maidens…" Ozpin said with the realization that Salem has already dispatched her Nazgul to their missions.
"They were last seen in Patch, chasing someone in a red hood… They will find the Ring, and kill Ms. Rose." Saruman says with a very ominous tone.
"Ruby!" Ozpin whispered as he turned to the elevator. Saruman somewhat smirked as he pressed a button on his desk. Right when Ozpin reached the elevator door, it immediately closed in front of him and locked itself.
"Did you honestly believe that a relative of a dead legend could contend with the will of Salem?" Saruman couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Not even the power of a Star Knight could stand against her, and it took four to stop her last time."
Ozpin turned slowly to Saruman; he had the look of betrayal all over his face. The man who he once saw as a friend, almost a brother, turned out to be Salem's inside into the Inner Circle. He full heartedly believed that that ended when Cinder was killed, and now he learns it was Saruman this whole time.
"Against the power of Mordor… there is no victory." Saruman says with absolute certainty. "The only way to survive the coming destruction is to join her, Ozpin…"
Ozpin's face showed his anger; even his normal tone was darker with rage, "Tell me, old friend… When did the great Saruman Lionheart trade loyalty for cowardice?"
Saruman's look dropped dramatically as he raised his staff towards Ozpin, shining his white Diamond Dust crystal. Ozpin matched him and formed his green bubble in defense of Saruman's attack. Ozpin was then pushed back a few feet; he quickly fell to one knee due to the pain in his leg.
Ozpin then retaliated by shooting a few blasts from his grey dust shard. Saruman deflected the beam, causing the window beside him to break. Saruman then charged forward. Ozpin did the same. They both formed a 'staff lock' holding each other back with all their strength.
Ozpin dropped the lock, ducked from Saruman's swing of his staff, and then hit him in the face with the head of his cane. The dust shard made contact with Saruman's face, knocking a tooth out of his mouth. Saruman backed up a few steps, and then blasted Ozpin in his weak leg, forcing him back on his knees.
Ozpin quickly responded by blasting Saruman straight up into the ceiling, pinning him there for about a minute until Ozpin couldn't hold him any longer. Once he let go, Saruman pointed his staff at Ozpin and fired a blast of pure white lightning from his Dust shard on the way down.
Ozpin quickly tumble rolled backwards in time for the lighting to hit the floor instead of him. And then blasted a mix of green and grey energy at Saruman just before he could land. Saruman was then propelled toward the elevator door and made a man-sized dent before falling forward onto the ground.
Ozpin then panted as he put both his hands on the ground and breathed heavily. It had been years since his last fight, he feels a bit out of practice. Saruman coughed up some blood and then proceeded to stand up slowly. "I gave you the chance to join us willingly! But now I see that you are more accustomed to the way of pain…"
Saruman raised his staff to point the dust end at Ozpin, just as Ozpin raised his cane to block whatever he was about to be hit with. But then something hit him in the back of the head, the impact was so hard, it knocked him out cold.
Ozpin dropped to the floor, still breathing, but unconscious. Saruman gave off a sigh of relief as he looked to the man that was de-cloaking above Ozpin. "You sure took your time, mercenary…"
The man's armor was jet black with green stripes. His helmet opened up to reveal Locus behind the mask. "Sorry, I was in the mood to see two 'wizards' fight. I'm surprised you needed me at all… I would have thought the great Saruman the White would have handled someone like him?"
Saruman rolled his eyes, "You follow your purpose and I'll follow mine and lets leave it at that." Saruman then wiped the sweat off his face and looked to Locus, "Seal off the academy, and force everyone out."
Locus nods, "Haven will be ours by Dawn." Locus then walks toward the stairwell to take one of the elevators on the floor below, since the one here was 'out of order'.
Saruman slowly walked over to Ozpin and picked up his cane. He pressed the button that retracted the body of the cane and placed it on his belt. "Oh little Oz, you had so much potential with us…"
It had been three days since Jaune arrived in Sequoia. Since this was meant to be a covert mission, he couldn't just arrive in his airship. So he drove in a buggy he bought from Lake Town.
His disguise was simple; he wore a black cloak over his whole body, the only armor he brought were his gauntlets, and he kept his hood over his head at all times. By this time, every hunter, mercenary, bounty hunter, and thief knew what he looked like. Whenever someone asked his name he always called himself "Strider".
By that time, he had already talked with the freelancers at the Inn. After a short but pricy bargain, they agreed to deal with the horde massing at Fornost.
After three days of waiting, Jaune started to get worried about Ruby and the others. "They couldn't have found them. They survived Vale during the Battle; they'll find a way… They have to."
Jaune's thought was interrupted when a waitress walked up to him and set down a drink. Jaune lifted his head so that his eyes could see the waitress, "I didn't-."
"From the woman in the back…" She pointed to in the corner opposite from him. "With red eyes. Said you would want the strongest stuff."
Jaune looked to find a woman wearing a black cloak, at first he didn't know who it was. But when he saw the sword holster on the chair next to her, he realized immediately who it was.
Jaune looked back to the waitress, "Thanks."
Once the waiter walked away, Jaune picked up his glass and walked over to the woman in black. Once he sat down she spoke, "Good to see you again, Jaune."
"Ms. Branwen." Jaune said as sat down.
"Why the sudden formality?" Raven asked. "I mean you are the Star Knight but you don't have to-."
"Before you start I'm just going to tell you now, I know everything." Jaune says bluntly.
Raven then gave a look of shock, "Oh you do, don't you? What is it exactly that you know?"
Jaune sat up and looked her in the eye. "Not long after I became the new Star Knight, all my father's files went straight to me. There was even an entire file about you."
"He had a file all about me. I'm almost flattered." Raven says with a bit of a smile.
"You should be, because he went into detail: leader of a group of hardcore bandits, ruthless on the battlefield, sees the membership of family has to be earned." Jaune was obviously irritated to list all of it, because that's the kind of bandit problem he deals with in peacetime as Star Knight. "No wonder you don't see Yang as family despite her being your daughter."
"I saved you from the goblins at the mountains." Raven spat, "I could have let you all to die, but I didn't."
"Only because it suited your needs… such as someone who could deal with the Glass Queen and Smaug for you." Jaune says as he drinks the liquid he was given. He didn't know what it was, but he needed something to calm his nerves before this became a scene to the people in the bar.
The moment that drink wend down his throat he felt a lot of stress leave his body, "Wow, that's good."
"Yeah, Qrow used to drink that whenever he got too tense." Raven says with a bit of a smile.
Jaune then placed the glass down on the table, "Look, whatever deal you made with my father applies to me too."
Raven nodded in understanding, regardless of his age, she knew better than to break the word she promised to a Star Knight. "I'm sure you are aware on why I am here."
"You're here to help me protect Ruby?" Jaune asks.
"The Nazgul are hot on her trail, you need to get to Rivendell. Once you are there, you'll be safe from them." Raven said.
"Why won't they go to Rivendell?" Jaune asked with confusion.
Raven rolled her eyes, she thought he knew this already, "Same reason why Lake Town was spared from Grimm attacks: enchanted water."
"You mean it's in Rivendell too?" Jaune asked with shock.
"It originated in Rivendell. And before that, Menagerie." Raven says with a bit of awe in her tone. She then took a sip of her own drink, "You know Jaune, if I were you, I'd take another look at the people you consider 'trustworthy.' And I'm not just talking about Ozpin."
Jaune gave her a confused glare, "What do you mean?"
Raven then gave Jaune a smirk, "The next time you see the good General, ask him about 'Project Marauder'. And when you do, watch his reaction."
"What is it?" Jaune asked. He had never heard of such a project, not even in his father's files.
"A little bit of history behind one of your girlfriends captors… I believe he called himself 'Locus'." Raven said with a bit of a devious smile.
Before Jaune could ask another question, they heard a familiar voice echo in the bar. "Ok fine, give me whichever is strongest." The both turned to see Yang standing at the bar ordering a drink. They looked around the bar until they see Ruby, Blake and Weiss, all hooded and cloaked in their primary colors.
About an hour prior to Yang ordering a drink, Ruby and the others reached the front gate of Sequoia.
The rain didn't help lighten the mood they were all feeling. On the run, trying to stay ahead of the Nazgul, and doing their best to keep from being noticed by any unfriendly folk.
When they landed in the village in the mainland, they bought a bike so that Weiss and Blake to ride double while Ruby rode with Yang.
As they rode up to the large door, Ruby walked up to the door and knocked hard. A small window opened above her where a man looked out, he found nobody there. He then closed the window and opened one lower that was Ruby's eye level. "What do you want?"
The man appeared to be a dog Faunus; he had pointed ears at the top of his head. (He had German shepherd ears)
"We're here to stay at the Inn. Our reasons why are our own." Ruby says.
The man nodded, "Alright, geeze." He then closed the window and opened the gate so that the girls would walk their bikes into the village. "Just apart of the job. With the White Fang still out there there's no telling when they'll try to make another move in Vale."
Blake could feel the pain in her own heart, the White Fang seen as a terrorist group, even by her own people. Despite the fact that most of the White Fang in Vale were either killed or driven out, the hatred towards them was burned into the hearts of both peoples.
The guard then pointed at the Inn, "Prancing Pony is down three blocks that way."
Blake looked to the 'guard dog' said, "Thanks." Everyone then walked together to the front of the Inn. Yang and Blake locked up the bikes in the same parking spot in the front. Then they walked into the Inn.
Ruby walked up to the Innkeeper as he was standing at the bar, "Sir?"
The Innkeeper looked at all four of them, "Huntresses, welcome! If you're here to stay the night you're in luck. We just got a room open with four beds."
Ruby smiled, "Thank you. Also, did you see anyone come by that looked suspicious?"
"Define suspicious, ma'am." The keeper said. "I've seen all kinds these days."
"Well, maybe you saw a man with short black hair and a grey jacket, carrying a scythe?" Ruby tried her best to describe Qrow without having to drop his name.
"Hmmm… Nope… haven't seen anyone who fits that description. Anyone else in particular you're looking for?" the Keeper asked.
Ruby couldn't think of anyone else that could meet with them, so she had no other descriptions to give. "No, thank you."
Ruby then turned to the others; Blake was the first to ask, "What do we do now?"
Yang answered her question by walking up to the bartender and asked, "Hey, Bartender, can I get a Strawberry Sunrise?"
The Bartender looked at her with confusion, "Where do you think you are, the capitol? Here we have Vale Whiskey or Vacuo Bourbon."
Yang then rolled her eyes, "Ok fine, give whichever is strongest."
All the other girls rolled their eyes, Yang looked at them with a half smile, "What? We've been moving constantly for the past three days, I need to get the edge off somehow."
Ruby then looked to Blake and Weiss, "Looks like we're staying for a while."
"Lets get some food then, I'm starving." Blake said as she went to an open table and called for a waitress.
Ruby and her friends hadn't been there for an hour, but Raven couldn't stop staring them down. "You've been staring at them since they got here."
Raven looked to Jaune, "I'm making sure nobody makes a move on them."
Jaune ate some of the food off his plate; after he finished a roll of break he spoke whispered. "You're staring is making me feel uncomfortable, and I can only imagine what they're feeling right now."
Over at RWBY's table, Ruby had just finished informing the others on what is going on.
"So that's what they were after? Where did your uncle say we should take it?" Weiss asked.
"Rivendell… For some reason, he thinks it can keep it safe, and us too." Ruby said with a hopeful tone. She then looks to Yang with a bit of curiosity. "Yang, what's wrong."
Yang had a rather serious look on her face as she looked down at her drink. "That person in the blood red hood over there has been staring at us since we got here."
They were all about to look, but Yang stopped them, "Don't look, they'll know that we know."
Blake stopped one of the waitress and asked her, "Those two in the back, under the hoods, who are they?"
"I don't know too much about the woman, she's only been here for a day. But the man, he's been here for at least three days." When she described him she didn't seam as afraid as when she described the woman. "I think he might be a Huntsman, or one of those Sky Knights. Everyone here calls him 'Strider'."
Ruby couldn't help but feel worried. What if the Nazgul aren't working alone? She reached for her bag and gripped tight over the pocket that held the Ring. She pulled it out to look at it again. Last time she looked at it, she could have sworn she saw something different about it. She looked down on her lap to look at it. As she stared at it, for a second she could have sworn she saw the black jewel in the center emit a tiny glow.
All of a sudden, someone was shoved into her, pushing her against the table. The other girls looked up to find a few drunken huntsmen fighting and shoving each other. Once Ruby sat herself up, she brushed the food off her shirt and realized something terrible. The ring was no longer in her hands.
She panicked as she stood up form her chair, and dove under the table to try and find it. She saw the ring skid across the floor and land near the feet of one of the drunken huntsmen. Yang, Blake and Weiss were clueless as to what Ruby was doing. They wanted to help but if they got up it would bring the attention of the room to them too.
She crawled towards it, hoping to not be seen by anyone else, but then one of the men kicked the ring hard as he moved his foot, sending it flying towards a bar stool. The ring ricocheted upward above Ruby; some of the men in the room saw it go up. Ruby got up on her knees to try and catch it on the way down.
Just as her hands opened to catch it, the ring grew larger and went around her index finger, Ruby tried to move her finger to stop it from going all the way on but it wouldn't stop going up her finger. It then tightened around her finger once it reached the knuckle.
And in an instant, Ruby vanished before everyone's eyes. Both Raven and Jaune stood up from their stools in shock. "That idiot!" Raven hissed under her breath.
In the Emerald Forest, the three maidens waited for any sigh of the ring or it's power. Just then, Jadis opened her eyes sharply and looked to her 'sisters', "You sense it too?"
Jackie and Zyra nodded. Zyra opened her arms wide and began to fly as fast as she could to the source, while Jadis and Jackie rode off as fast as their horses could run.
Ruby was still on her knees, looking up at her hand. But what appeared to be different was that instead of being in well lit room, it was dark, and a loud wind rushed through.
She looked around and everyone were standing around her all looked to be in solid colors, some darker than others, she even looked to see team and saw them in their primary colors. (AN: She was looking at the world as if everything around her was a 'World of Remnant' video.)
She looked around in complete confusion, "Where am I?" She heard an echo of her own voice in this 'shadow world'.
"You cannot hide from me…"
Then she started to see an orange glow come from behind her. She turned around and saw what appeared to be a burning red eye, its 'pupil' was long like a cat's eye, and she could feel the heat coming off of it.
Then the pupil of the eye began to widen, and she saw a silhouette of a woman in the center. Once Ruby's eyes focused she could see the woman a lot more clearly. She appeared to be in a black kimono, her hair and skin appeared to be pail white, and had black roots creep right up from her hair to her eyes. Her eyes, they were black all around, but her irises were blood red and glowing bright.
Ruby knew, without a doubt, who she was staring at, the "Queen of Shadows", Salem. Ruby's fear began to grow when Salem started to smile at her, "I see you…"
Ruby tried to stand up but stumbled over something that was behind her. She then started to pull at the ring on her finger. It was tight, but not tight enough to stay on indefinitely. She tugged until the ring was all the way off. The moment the ring was removed form her finger; she was back in the real world.
Ruby slowly stood up, still trying to get her barring's. She was about to walk back to the table but was pulled on by the shoulder. She was then pushed against the wall and held there by the woman in the red hood, "For someone who's supposed to be hiding, you draw too much attention." The man in the black hood stood behind her, "We should leave."
Ruby felt she knew those voices, but she was still a bit dazed from her experience with the ring to know for sure whom they belonged to.
Ruby was then pushed into a room while the Raven and Jaune closed the door and turned out the lights.
"It took me years to learn the basic skills on how to hide in plain sight. But to vanish completely is almost impossible." Raven said as she removed her hood.
"Raven?" Ruby was shocked to find her of all people to be here. She then turned to the other under the hood, "And who is-?"
Jaune then removed his hood, "And that freelancer said I was bad at being discreet."
"JAUNE!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran up to him and hugged him hard. He quickly hugged her back and patted her head. "What are you doing here?"
Once they let go, Jaune gave relief, "Ozpin sent me to help. I am to be your escort to Rivendell."
Ruby looked around the room, "Where is Pyrrha?"
"Dealing with her own problems. What's happening here isn't just in Vale." Jaune said with a bit of anger.
Before Ruby could ask another question, the door burst open and revealed three huntresses whom were ready to fight, "LET MY SISTER GO, YOU BASTARDS!"
Ruby, Jaune and Raven all jumped at the sudden entrance, but then they relaxed. Yang, Blake and Weiss all relaxed as well when they recognized the friendly faces.
But then Blake cocked her head as she asked, "Jaune? You're Strider?"
Jaune nodded with a slight smirk, but then vanished when he heard Raven chuckling. "What?"
"'Strider?' That's the name you chose? Wasn't that your dog's name once?" Raven asked trying not to laugh.
And then Ruby started to laugh, "You… you… you named yourself after your dog?!"
Jaune hunched over and growled, "He was a good dog!"
"AAAAAHAHAHAHA!" She then laughed harder, hard enough that she fell over and landed on her back laughing. Even Yang started to laugh a bit along with her. Blake started to chuckle at the fact that he used his dogs name as a cover name.
"Knock it off, Ruby. We need to be serious right now!" Weiss said with an annoyed voice.
"No-no! Let me HAVE THIS! I need a laugh! AAAHAHAHAHAHA" Ruby said as she raised her feet up with laughter.
Jaune didn't have the heart to stop them; given what's after them, they deserve this.
By the front gate to the village, the guard heard horses outside. Before he touched the window he looked down to see his breath. "What the hell?"
Then the gate began to frost over, and then the frost turned to ice. He backed away just when the gate shattered into hundreds of pieces of ice and wood. The shockwave from the explosion knocked him back and through a window behind him.
The two maidens then rode into the village slowly; they looked to find all the windows closing and all the lights turning out.
Overhead, Zyra flew over, she tried her best to smell for the four girls, but there were too many different kinds of sents in the air. She landed in the one place she felt the most drawn to. She waved her hand for her sisters to follow.
They walked into the Inn, and stood at the center of the bar. "She was here… this is where she put it on…" Jadis said as she knelt down and brushed her hand on the floor.
Zyra sniffed the air, "I think I have her sent." She then walked up the stairs to one of the rooms.
Jackie started to get excited, as she quickly followed Zyra without a word.
All three walked up to the door. Jackie held out her index finger and used her long fingernail to pick the door lock. They then quietly opened the door and walked into the room. There they found two queen sized beds with two people in each.
Zyra was about to jump on one of the beds in an attempt to surprise attack them, but Jadis stopped her. She then placed her hand on the ground. From there, four 'streams' of frost moved through the floor and under both beds. And then with a sudden shift of her hand, four ice spikes propelled straight up, impaling the beds, and the occupants in them.
Jadis did it as a means of weakening them all at once to take the ring. Afterwards they could have their way with them. But to all their disappointment, they discovered that the 'occupants' were really body pillows.
Jackie began to get extremely aggravated; she opened her mouth all the way and let out a screech that shattered all the windows, mirrors, the TV, and the ice spikes that were holding the beds up. "AHHEEEEEEA!"
Ruby and Blake both sat up straight form their beds. Yang and Weiss were both already awake and upright. Jaune and Raven were sitting at the chairs near the window. After their little incident at the Inn, they went to the building across the street and rented a room for the night.
The screech was so loud that it made them all feel chills run down their spines. Raven put her hands to her face and breathed in to keep them warm. Jadis' cold abilities could be felt all the way across the street.
Zyra scratched the wall next to her in irritation, "WE WERE SO CLOSE!"
Jadis quickly garbed them both by their mouths to shut them both up. "We are close… We know they were here, which means they are still close by." After she let them go, they both rubbed ice off their faces.
Jadis then walked out the door, "Lets go."
"What about the villagers?" Jackie asked, "I'm in the mood for killing…"
"Salem ordered us to find the ring, not to start a massacre." Jadis said with a serious tone.
"But we already caused one." Jackie says with a snicker.
Jadis then walked up to Jackie and grabbed her by the neck, "The key to this mission is to not attract too much attention, or else the whole kingdom would be coming after us." She then lets Jackie go and walks past Zyra out the door.
"So long as we get to make them suffer when we catch them…" Zyra says as she licked one of her talons, which made it drip with a green liquid.
"You'll get your chance soon enough." Jadis said as she led them out.
Form inside the window, Jaune and Raven could see two of the maidens get on their horses and ride off, while the third took to the skies.
"They're gone…" Jaune said with a sigh of relief.
Ruby climbed out of the bed and walked over to window and up to Jaune. She could still fell the cold on the window, "What are they?"
Raven sat back in her chair, "You sure you want to know?"
"Mom," Yang said, "If we're on the run from these things, we should know what we're up against…"
Raven sighed; she then looked to the frost on the window. "They were once humans… And then they became Maidens of the four seasons." Raven then listed each one with her fingers, "Winter, Spring and Summer. Each of them was from different generations, and like any other Maiden, they were given the gift of their season. One by one they turned on their code, and succumbed to their personal desires and greed."
Raven then pulled up pictures she had been given by Qrow that Penny took while encountering them at Minis Ithil. "This one is the Winter Witch; the Spring Harpy; and the Summer Banshee… They are the 'Nazgul'. Three of them anyway."
Jaune felt that it was his turn to tell the story, "There were two others that fell to the same darkness as them, but they weren't Maidens. The Black Knights of Mantle and Vacuo."
"What were they?" Blake asked.
Raven answered for Jaune, "They were Star Knights that abandoned their oaths and fell to their own darkness, like the Maidens. It's what Jaune could have become had you and your friends not pulled him out of it."
Jaune looked away, "But they aren't here… Salem must be using them somewhere else."
"Is that a good thing?" Weiss asked in confusion.
Jaune gave a rather hard look, trying to see the logic in Salem's strategy, but nothing could come to mind. "I don't know… But one thing is for sure. The Maidens are hunting you, Ruby, and they won't stop until they have the ring."
"Can they be killed?" Yang asked.
Raven smiled at her daughter's eagerness to fight, "Yes, but it is very hard. We tried to kill them before but they came back because of the Necromancer… but now that he's dead, I don't know…"
Jaune looked to the others, "Get some rest, we'll need it tomorrow."
He got no argument from them; however, it was hard for them to get any sleep after what they just saw.
They woke up at dawn, the sun wasn't in sight yet, but the cloud cover overhead was lighter. Everyone gathered at Yang's bike to discuss what to do next.
Raven pulled up a holo-map of the area in a 10-mile radius. "Ok, here is where the Nazgul are. They positioned themselves well, between us and the way to Rivendell."
"What's the plan?" Jaune asked.
"Well, I think the best way for you five is to get ahead of them again is for me to distract them." Raven says as she walks over to the bike Blake and Weiss were using.
"But they are after us, not you." Ruby says in confusion.
"They can only sense the ring if you wear it, but until then they have to use their eyes." Raven then gestures to her red cloak and hood, "They'll come after me, thinking it's you. Call me when you're on the road and I'll start the diversion."
Raven then starts up her bike, Yang then walks up to her and rests her hand on her shoulder, "Be careful."
Raven winks at her, and then turns to Jaune, "They're in your hands now; take care of them." She then revved up the engine and rode off.
Weiss then spoke up, "Um… How are we going to get to Rivendell now? We only had two bikes, and she took one."
Jaune smiled, "The rest of you can ride in my rover."
Jaune took them to a nearby parking garage that held his rover. It was a five-seated that had four-wheel drive, high horse power and strong skeleton. "If Nora were here, I'm sure she'd have an animal name for it." (AN: It looks like a Halo Warthog, but instead of a rear turret it has three seats in the back, like a Jeep.)
Ruby runs to the rover and sat in the front seat, "Why not call it, 'the Pitbull'?" Everyone looked to each other and agreed that it was a good name.
While Blake and Weiss were forced to sit in the back, after Ruby called 'shotgun' and refused to give up her seat, Yang rode in her bike. Jaune made sure to add five extra fuel tanks to the back in case they don't see any fuel stations on the way to Vacuo.
The two vehicles rode out of the village and down the roads to Vacuo. Jaune then pulled out his scroll and sent Raven the message, "Now".
Raven got the message and then rode down the road where she knew they'd be. She could see the large shadow on the ground. It almost looked like a bird, but she knew better. Once she heard the screech form the Harpy, she turned hard and drove down a dirt road.
She then heard horses nearby; they were catching up to her. Just then she could feel the Harpy coming up right behind her.
Zyra landed right in front of Raven and jumped onto the front of the bike. She had her legs on the front while her claws were at the ready to strike. "Found you!"
Raven then looked up, allowing the wind to pull her hood back for her, revealing her face. Zyra gasped in shock. "Where you expecting someone else?"
Before Zyra could react, Raven quickly drew her sword and cut off Zyra's left arm, wing included, and then braked hard on the bike. Zyra was sent flying forward and crashed into a tree. Raven then gunned the engine and pulled a full one-eighty and drove between both Jadis and Jackie, not before getting scratched by the Banshee and hit with an ice block by the Witch. Raven shook off both their attacks and continued to ride away.
Jackie and Jadis rode their horses to Zyra; there they found her sitting in a decaying tree. Zyra stood up with full fury in her eyes, "It was a DECOY! Damn it! I thought it was her!"
"There's only one reason I could think of on why they would use a decoy…" Jackie said in a teasing fashion.
Jadis then growled in anger, "They're back on the road." She then looked to Zyra, "Your personal anger is costing us our mission; from now on you will wait for the rest of us before engaging."
"Can't have all the fun to yourself, he-he…" Jackie says with a chuckle.
Zyra cursed under her breath and got onto Jackie's horse. She won't be able to fly until her arm regenerates fully. Which is exactly what they had intended; with her grounded, she can't scout ahead anymore.
Jaune and Yang drove down the road at a high enough speed to feel safe. (I would guess 80-95 miles per hour on any straight streets.) They passed the mile marker that said, "Now leaving the Kingdom of Vale" and continued on down the road to Vacuo, again.
As they were driving, Ruby sat in the front seat, with her feet out the window and her hood over her head as she slept. Weiss was on her scroll, looking over the map of the road to make sure they were going the right way. Blake was reading a book she had brought along, she wasn't sure she would need it, but thanks to Jaune she got the chance to read it.
Jaune was more relaxed behind the wheel; he had his left elbow up on the door with the window open and his right hand on the top of the steering wheel. Yang was a bit tenser, given that she's riding a bike rather than a car.
"So I was completely invisible?" Ruby asked. They told her about when the ring was on her hand; she was surprised to learn that she went invisible when it happened.
"It was like you just vanished." Weiss said with a bit intrigue.
Blake raised an eyebrow, "I wonder why it would do that? I thought it wanted to be found… how could you find something invisible?"
"Whatever the reason, don't do it again. The Nazgul can find the ring when you put it on like a tower can track someone's scroll." Jaune said as he drove the rover.
They continued down the road for hours on end. They would only stop every few hours to stretch, walk around to get their legs moving and to refuel their rides. They packed enough food and field rations to last the trip to Vacuo.
Unlike before where it took them almost three days to get there, with the tower up and running and not in hiding from White Fang, they had a lot easier options to reach Rivendell. But the Nazgul were still a threat; they may be behind, but they are still following them on the road.
None of them had seen any signs of the Harpy in the air since they started; whatever Raven did worked more in their favor than they thought. But that didn't mean she won't be up there soon enough.
"I sure hope mom got away form them ok." Yang said on one of their breaks. She was stretching out her arms and legs.
Jaune was stretching his legs when he heard Yang say that. At first he was going to tell her what he would expect from someone like Raven, but she still didn't know the truth. In reality, he had no idea on how to tell her, or even if he should be the one to do it. Family, not a friend, should share something like that. "My father said she is a head strong warrior like you; she can handle herself, don't worry."
Yang couldn't help but smile at Jaune's attempt to ease her worries. Not long after that they got back into their vehicles and continued down the road.
As nighttime came overhead, Jaune started to yawn and feel a bit sleepy. He looked at his mirror to see Blake asleep, Weiss was still awake on her scroll, and turned to find Ruby asleep. Jaune wanted to go to sleep too, as would Yang, but they couldn't park on the road and sleep, the Nazgul would catch them before the sun would rise; they would need to find shelter for the night. "Hey, Weiss, are there any structures nearby we can stay in for the night?"
Weiss nodded as she pulled up a more geographical map of the area to look for suitable shelters. There were no villages or local farms to stay in, "I'm sure Beorn and Merida wouldn't mind letting us stay the night again." Sadly they were going in the opposite direction of Beorn and Merida's house for them to stay there for the night.
Weiss then saw what appeared to be an abandoned base that dated back to the Great War, called Weathertop, or Amon Sul. "I found a place. Turn left on the next dirt road and then go west. There's an old base on a hill top we can stay for the night."
Jaune nodded in agreement. Once he came up on the dirt road he slowed down so that Yang could see where he was turning off. After the turn they went west until they found the hills. Weathertop wasn't hard to miss.
It was a rather large hill in the middle of large grasslands. The hill made the base on top look like a watchtower. Jaune had no choice but to park at the bottom; luckily there was a stairwell that led up to the top.
Once Jaune parked he tapped Ruby to wake up, she fussed at first but eventually woke up to see the large hill tower in front of her, "Wow, where are we?" she asked as she yawned.
"Weathertop. This used to be a watchtower that was used in the Great War." Weiss said, as she looked it over in her scroll.
"The Sky knights used towers like these as look out points in the event Grimm tried to make any sudden attacks on nearby villages." Jaune said. He remembered reading about these in his family's history. "Luckily now we use the Grimm detection system through the towers to do that these days."
Blake yawned, "Oh good… Are we sleeping here?"
Jaune smiled, "Yup, now come on, get out of the car."
Blake hopped out and followed the others into the tower. They walked up the stairs until they reached a halfway point in the structure. There, they found an open cliff like area that had a full view of the grassland and beyond.
Jaune set down his stuff as they did. He picked up his sword and pistol and put them on his belt. "Where are you going?" Yang asked.
"I need to make sure the area is safe. You never know if Grimm could be nearby. I'll be back in a minute, try not to attract any attention to yourselves while I'm gone." Jaune said as he started to walk away.
Blake set her bag of cloths on the ground as a makeshift pillow and used her cloak as a blanket. She was fast asleep within seconds. While everyone else stated to gather rocks in a circle and collect sticks.
Blake could smell smoke, and burning pine. She quickie opened her eyes and rolled over to find Ruby, Weiss and Yang cooking food over a fire. She stood up suddenly, "What are you doing?"
All three women turned to her, Weiss was the first to speak, "Dawn is coming in a few hours, so I made an early breakfast. You want bacon or sausage?"
"There's plenty of both." Yang said while a piece of bacon was hanging out of her mouth.
"You idiots, put it out!" Blake said as she ran over to the fire and kicked it, snuffing out the flames.
"What's your deal?" Ruby asked as she pulled the hot pan away before Blake knocked it over with her stomping.
"Jaune said not to attract attention! It's still dark and you're lighting a fire?!" Blake said with irritation in her tone.
"Oh, come on, Blake. We lost those things at least a hundred miles ago, there's no way they could find us here." Weiss said with a smart-alecky tone.
"AHEEEAH!"
Everyone froze instantly when the screech reached their eardrums. They all looked down to ground below and saw two shadowy figures moving towards the stairwell. Ruby looked down to see that she could see her breath again.
"They're here." Ruby then drew her weapon and converted it into its scythe mode. All the other huntresses drew their weapons and prepared for a fight. "We need to get to higher ground." Ruby said as she led them to the stairwell that leads to the top of the tower.
Once they reached the top they formed a circle at the center of the tower. The tower itself was wide enough for them to feel they have a home field advantage, but it was so dark it was hard to see beyond the stone pillars and broken brick walls.
"So there are three of them, and four of us. We can take them." Yang said as she cocked her Emerald Celicas.
Blake pulled out Gambol in katana form and held her sheath in her other hand, prepared to fight with both if need be.
Weiss drew her Myrtenaster and set it to wind dust.
Ruby loaded Crescent Rose with lighting bullets in the hope that it would affect all three of them.
As they waited they could feel the air getting colder, and a whistle in the wind. Blake was the first to see the Winter Witch come out of the darkness with ice forming around her. Weiss saw the Summer Banshee walk out with her teeth showing in a grin and her claws long and open. Yang and Ruby then were suddenly surprised to find the Spring Harpy land not too far from them, she had her talons open, with some kind of liquid dripping form them.
Blake moved first, going after the witch. Jadis formed an ice sword out of a ice spike that came up next to her and blocked Blake's first strike. "Your fast… I fought faster…" she then pushed Blake off and then shot several ice shards at her.
The shards stabbed Blake in the legs and the chest. Jadis was about to gloat on how easy it was until Blake vanished into thin air, "What the?"
Blake then came at her from behind in the hope to surprise attack her. Jadis moved her sword behind her back to block Blake's strike, "You can clone yourself, impressive."
Jackie didn't want to wait any longer, she charged at Weiss at full speed. Weiss used her glyphs to propel her forward and tried to run Jackie through the chest with her sword. Weiss managed to stab Jackie in the shoulder, and she quickly grabbed onto her hand, Weiss tried to pull her hand out but the Banshee was too strong. "Big mistake."
Jackie then let out a screech at Weiss' face. It only last for a few seconds before Weiss pulled up a small gravity glyph that forced Jackie's mouth together. She pulled her sword out and backed away in time before Jackie forced her mouth back open. Weiss' ears were still ringing though. "Ugh… I don't like your music…" Weiss then stabbed her blade into the ground and formed her construct of a giant Knight.
"Ooh, shiny…" Jackie said with a smile. She then quickly dodged the first swing of the knight's sword and then continued to do so. It may have been large, but it was slow.
Yang and Ruby moved in their own combo move; Yang fired as many shots as she could at the Harpy, while backed up and lined herself for a fast and strong swing of her scythe.
Zyra held her ground when Yang fired at her, and then she actually ran toward her and attempted to scratch her with her talons, hoping to get her with a neurotoxin. Yang tried to match her punch with the Harpy's swing of her claws, they both were moving fast. Yang blocked all her strikes by firing her shells every time their hands would have collided.
Yang then backed up quickly when Ruby zoomed in and swung her scythe at Zyra, in the hope of cutting her in half with the blade. Zyra blocked the blade with her talons and managed to stop Ruby's scythe in its tracks, "Oooh, so close." Zyra said with a grin as she gripped onto the scythe and then pulled Ruby along with it.
She then through Ruby into yang, and then they both flew through a stone pillar. Zyra threw the scythe away and ran toward them to continue the fight but she was quickly met with a burning fist to the face. She was then sent flying toward the brick wall behind her and crashed right through it.
Jadis had just froze Blake's legs to the ground, as she tried to struggle, Jadis lifted her chin up and said, "You are a fascinating one aren't you?" Jadis' attention was pulled away from Blake when she saw Zyra get blasted into a wall.
After blocking another attack form the giant knight, Jackie ran up its blade and decapitated it with her fingernails. On the way down form her jump she let out a powerful sonic wave that knocked Weiss unconscious. When she landed, she brushed her claws against Weiss' cheek, no cutting the skin, but just to feel it. "Such pretty skin, I can't wait to watch it bleed." She raised up her hand and aimed for her throat, but her attention was drawn to Yang's sudden outburst of power.
Jadis and Jackie both stood side by side as they stared down the blonde girl with the flaming hair. Yang turned to them with burning red eyes; she put her fists together and then took her normal fighting stance.
Jackie ran at her first and tried to claw at her, Yang moved faster and hard than before, blocking Jackie's claws blow for blow. Much like she did with Zyra she fired a shell every time their hands would collide. Then Yang saw Jackie cut off a lock of her hair in the barrage of slashes. Yang quickly backed up and stared at the hair on the ground. Jackie looked at it and then back to Yang, "Aw, did I damage your hair? I'm sorry… NOT!"
Jackie charged forward but was quickly stopped when she was blasted in the foot by Yang's gauntlet, then in the chest, and then got an uppercut so hard it knocked a few of her teeth out.
Jadis then saw Jackie land right beside her, "You're powerful… but that means nothing if you don't have the skill to match it." Jadis then formed two ice swords and stood in more of a defensive posture.
Yang came at her like a fireball and threw several jabs and one strong uppercut. Jadis blocked the jabs easily, and then blocked the uppercut. She then swung her blades at Yang's arms, aiming more for her weapons than her body. Yang then tried to fire a round at Jadis' chest but her left arm was caught by Jadis' hand.
The Witch then froze her weapon and then her arm, forming ice over it up to the elbow. Jadis then quickly elbowed Yang in the chest with her left arm; palm punched up the jaw, and then punched her in the chest.
When she was hit in the chest both times, ice formed over her chest, making her heavier and forcing her heart rate to lower to the point that the adrenaline was gone from her system.
Yang used her free hand to break the ice off her chest, but she was already starting to feel the first stages of hypothermia. She was breathing heavily and she didn't have the strength to stand up.
Jadis walked up to her, "I know you don't have the ring, nor the girl with the bow."
Jackie stood back up and put her jaw back into place, "The Atlas girl doesn't have it either."
Zyra climbed out of the broken bricks and walked out of the hole in the wall. "Which leaves only one…"
All three maidens turned to Ruby, who was standing at the broken pillar, seeing her sister and teammates at the mercy of these monsters. All three started to move towards Ruby with a creepy intent in their eyes.
Ruby pulled out her scroll and pressed the button with Jaune's picture on it. The scroll started to ring until it was hit by a shard of ice. She looked away for a brief second to keep the ice from hitting her eyes, when she looked back, there was a long ice stabbing through the scroll. Luckily it missed her hand, only by a few centimeters.
Ruby backed away, her weapon was right by the feet of the Harpy, and so she had no chance to grab it. She kept backing up until she tripped over a pile of rubble and landed on her butt.
Jadis walked ahead of Jackie and Zyra, "You know why were are here… you know what we want… give us the Ring!"
Ruby crawled backwards until she had her back to a wall. She was terrified; no weapon, her friends were beaten, and she had no way to contact Jaune. She then pulled out the ring in her pocket, "If it makes me invisible, then they cant see me."
Jadis smiled when she saw the ring out in the open, but then her smile vanished when Ruby put the ring over her finger and vanished right in front of her.
In the shadow world, Ruby was still on the ground, looking up at the three maidens. But something was different, they weren't covered in shadows like the people in the bar were, they were normal. They looked human.
"This must have been what they used to look like…" Ruby didn't know how to react to this; they looked a lot more sympathetic.
Jadis turned her head slowly in both directions, as if she was looking for her, and then looked Ruby dead in the eye, "We may not see you, but we sense you."
Jadis then held out her hand, and Ruby's hand started to get pulled towards her. The ring forced Ruby to hold her hand out, but she kept her hand in a fist to keep the ring from coming off her finger.
Jadis held her hand out, waiting for the ring to come to her. Ruby then pulled her hand back and held it close to her chest. Jadis then groaned in irritation as she stood up straight, "Very well then…"
The Witch then pulled out a dagger from under her cloak and quickly came down and stabbed Ruby in her left shoulder. "AAAAHHHHH!" Ruby screamed in complete agony; the pain of being stabbed wasn't the only pain she felt, she felt her veins near the wound burning as if her shoulder was on fire.
Jadis gave kept her cold composure as she held her dagger in place, but then her attention was drawn above the wall and was instantly blinded by what she saw. She and the other two Nazgul backed away as they hissed and tried to cover the light form their eyes.
Through Ruby's eyes in the shadow world, she saw a man jump down from above; he had golden wings on his back that shined as bright as the sun. The three maidens backed away and tried to cover their eyes. Ruby heard a familiar voice shout through the shadows, "Jaune?"
Less than two minutes before the maidens attacked RWBY at the top of the tower, Jaune was walking through the grass field below. He killed a few wandering Grimm that came close. He even managed to find a good source of water that they could use tomorrow.
Jaune then looked up into the sky and marveled at the view, especially the way the stars shined. It wasn't often that he could see a clear sky, being that he's normally in the cities, and their lights overpowering the natural starlight. Jaune's sank when he heard a screech in the air. He turned around to find nobody there, but when he looked up at the sky over Weathertop, he saw a figure flying under the starlight. "No…" he whispered under his breath
Jaune then sprinted forward, he ran as fast as he could as he heard more screeches and gunshots in the distance. He used his aura to make himself run faster but it wasn't enough. "NO NO NO NO!" Jaune then felt the aura in his legs move up to his body.
Jaune then felt something dragging him back, when he looked behind him he saw his wings forming out of the yellow light of his aura. "Huh, they're back!" Jaune smiled at seeing his wings again, it had been years since he was able to get them to come out.
Jaune's smile went away when he felt his scroll vibrating, he looked to see it was Ruby calling, but the call ended before he could answer. Jaune then flapped his wings and gave a more determined look as he flew towards Weathertop.
Once he was over the tower, he could see Weiss, Blake and Yang all on the ground and incapacitated. He looked down to see all three maidens facing a wall, if he were to guess, Ruby was using the ring to be invisible. "But they'll still know where she is!"
Jaune angled his wings inward and dive-bombed at the tower. He then saw Jadis pull out a dagger and stab at the wall; he could hear a loud scream. Jaune used his wings to put his feet forward and kick the Witch in the face with both feet.
Jadis and the other maidens backed up and hissed as they shielded their eyes from his wing's light. Jaune held his bright yellow wings out wide and drew his sword and shield in a defensive posture, his eyes began to glow; making his blue irises shine like demands, "GET AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!" Like when Jaune faced Cinder at the Spire, his voice sounded more resonated and almost sounded like more than one person was speaking.
(AN: Star Knight version of the Avatar State, if you get the reference)
As they backed away, the light form Jaune's wings started to fade and not harm them as much anymore. It was like coming into the sun after being in the dark for too long, and now their eyes have adjusted.
Jadis looked at the wings and growled, "You have got to be kidding me… Locus didn't say there was a Zenith in Vale!"
"Who cares, lets KILL HIM!" Jackie shouted as she charged at him with her claws out and swinging.
Jaune lifts his shield up and blocks her attacks. He moved fast enough to block most of her blows, but whenever she got lucky, she hit him in either the shoulder or elbow with a light scratch.
"Damn you! Hold still!" the Banshee shouted as she grabbed his shield with both her hands and tried to pull on him. Jaune swung his sword at her; she quickly ducked under his blade and scratches his right forearm. The cut wasn't too deep, thanks to his gauntlets.
She started to get angry, so she backed up, inhaled a lot of air and opened her mouth to let out a powerful screech. But before she could release her build up of air, Jaune swung his shield arm at the Banshee; the edge of his shield hit her in the neck, collapsing her windpipe.
She then began choking and coughing loudly, Jaune smirked as his eyes dimmed back to their natural look and his voice was normal again, "A mute Banshee, go figure."
Jaune quickly moved his shield to the left just in time to block a massive wave of super cooled air and ice shards. Jaune held his posture, even used his wings to stab into the ground to keep him from being pushed back.
Jaune then took a step forward, after stabbing one wing blade into the ground and then another and then another until he was right at the Witch. She then grabbed his shield and pulled it off his arm.
Jaune then swung his blade at her, aiming for her neck. Jadis held up two ice swords to block his blade. As Jaune holds her in a blade lock, he could feel her forming ice around his blade and down to his arm. Jaune let go with his dominant hand right when the ice was about to touch his hand.
Jaune squeezed his hand into a fist and then opened it, activating the magnetic glove, Jaune's desert Eagle detached form his magnetic holster and into his hand.
Jaune then pointed his gun at her legs and fired twice, one in each kneecap. Jadis dropped her swords and fell to her knees crying in pain. She looked down at her knees and looked to see them burning. "What the hell?"
Jaune backed away and clashed the butt of his gun to the side of his blade, shattering the ice off his sword; he looked at the Witch with a witty smile, "Fire Dust, bitch."
As if on cue, Zyra clashed into Jaune and pushed him through a wall and off the ledge. Zyra tried to stab her talons into his back but Jaune's personal barrier kept the claws from breaking the skin, long enough for Jaune to break her grip and get her to let go.
Once he was free he opened his wings back up and flapped hard enough to land on the ground softly. Once he landed he looked up to see the Harpy floating above him. "You may have wings, but I own the skies!"
Jaune smirked and flapped his wings as he ran at her until he took flight again. He flew fast upward and swung his sword at her. Zyra blocked his blade with her talons; she then attempted to scratch with her foot talons.
Jaune backed away and spun around swinging his sword with more power. She blocked his attack but was knocked back a few feet away. Once she slowed herself down, she hovered.
They both then moved forward and collided, her sword holding his sword, and Jaune holding his pistol while holding the sword. For a split second he realized that his pistol was pointing in the general direction of her head and fired. "AAAHH!"
The fire Dust round grazed her left eye, leaving behind a fire in the cut. The fire burned her face, causing half of it to melt into glass. Due to the pain of the fire, she let go and flapped backwards, Jaune then shot her twice in her right wing, melting it into solid glass.
She then plummeted downward and crashed into the trees below. Jaune smiled at his half victory, he knew that wouldn't kill her, but he was sure it hurt like hell.
Jaune then flew toward the tower, he saw the Witch moving toward Ruby while Yang and the others were standing between Jadis and Ruby.
Yang managed to retain enough heat to move again; she then started to crawl towards Ruby. Ruby had already pulled off the ring and cried out in pain, giving Yang a chance to try and help her. "R-Ruby…" She was still shivering from the ice, but she was determined to get to her sister.
Weiss woke up and sat straight up with a painful headache. For a second she was afraid she could hear so she snapped her fingers near both her ears to see if she could hear them. "Oh thank Oum." She could hear the snaps.
Blake broke the ice that covered her feet with a rock she had nearby, once freed she picked up her sword and ran over to Yang. She helped her to stand right when Weiss reached them.
"RUBY!" Weiss shouted as they all ran to Ruby.
Ruby was shaking, holding her hand over her arm. Yang reached her and put her hand Ruby's arm, "Let me see how bad it is…" Yang said as she got ruby to remove her hand form the wound.
Yang looked at the wound and found it very familiar; it was black in the wound, and the skin around it had black roots spreading outward in all directions, "Oh no… This looks like when Sun's leg got hit with Adam's bullet…"
Weiss quickly moved to Ruby's left side and formed her healing glyph over the wound. It didn't heal the wound, but it seamed to easy Ruby's pain; she didn't cry as loudly when she placed the glyph over the wound.
All three of them then heard what sounded like someone groaning behind htem. They saw the Witch stand back up, weak on her feet, but moving toward them step-by-step. "I… will not… fail her…" She was grunting in pain from walking on damaged legs, but she was determined to get to the Ring.
Blake and Yang stood up with their weapons at the ready. They didn't know if they had the strength to take her, but that wouldn't stop them from trying.
From the corner of her eye, Blake saw something glowing in the air and coming down towards them. She looked to see Jaune landing to her right, as he landed he pointed his pistol at the Witch.
"Don't try it…" Jaune said as he pulled the hammer back with his thumb.
Jadis looked to Jaune and grinned a devious smile, "It doesn't matter… soon enough she'll be one of us!"
Jaune gave her a cold glare (No pun intended), "Not today." Jaune first energized the bullet to be an explosive bullet and then fired. The fire dust round flew toward Jadis glowing like a lighting bug.
When the bullet made contact with the Witch's face, it exploded in a loud blast. The fire Dust ignited on her face, setting it on fire, "AAAAAHHHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed as she backed away and fell on her back. She then turned over, quickly picked herself back up and ran away form the group.
Jaune turned to the girls and ran toward them, dropping both his weapons and going down to Ruby. "Oh my god…" He looked at the wound with sadness and fear in his eyes. He picked up the blade Jadis dropped when he arrived, "She used a Morgul Blade on her."
The moment he picked it up, the blade disintegrated into dust. Jaune then picked Ruby up from the ground and carried her bridal style, "We can't heal her, but Headmaster Elrond can."
As he walked way with her, Weiss and Blake picked up their weapons and his as they followed him down the tower.
Once outside, Jaune placed Ruby in the seat behind the driver seat. "Weiss, your glyph can slow the poison, so sit in the back with her. Yang you take the map and navigate for us. Blake, you drive Yang's bike."
"I can drive my bike!" Yang said with an angered tone.
Jaune then looks to Yang, "You're still recovering from the ice, you wont' be able to ride. Now get in the car."
Blake set Jaune's stuff in the back and took Yang's keys. She walked over to the bike and put Yang's helmet on her head. Yang was given Weiss' with the map to Rivendell already programed in. Weiss climbed in back and put a blanket over Ruby while holding her green glyph over her shoulder.
As Blake was starting the bike up, she couldn't help but ask, "Jaune, we're still a day from Rivendell… Can we make it?"
Before getting into the car, Jaune gave Blake a worried look, "We have to try." He then climbed into the car and started the engine. He put it in reverse and then turned the car around until it was facing the dirt path, switched to third gear and gunned it.
Blake did the same and rode up next to the car; she tried her best to be far enough away to be safe from hitting them. She might know how to ride a motorcycle, but she never rode one at such high speeds.
Weiss kept Ruby's wound covered, and as she was holding onto the wound she could see Ruby crying, tears were dripping down her tightly closed eyes. For a second there, Weiss thought she heard Ruby whisper something softly in her pain, "Mommy…"
AN: AND CLIFFHANGER!
Sorry, had to do it.
Don't worry, there is a part three after this, and those three Nazgul aren't done yet!
Hope I didn't go overboard with how I did the fight, but I felt that if those Nazgul had fogugh against someone who could match them in a fight, it would be a lot like that.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Until then, ARKOS!