Dawn of Salvation

AN: This chapter will be quite an eventful one; I hope you guys enjoy it.

I had this one made and posted early as a sort of present and message to say that September will not be having a chapter.
I know, I'm sorry, but school is starting for me this week and I need to get back into the system of it.

Anyway, that's not what's important right now, the story is.

ENJOY!

Four Atlas dropships landed at the main landing field in Aletsch. A wide river divided the city; one side appeared to be at war with the other. The Atlas defenders were on the north side, while the Orcs controlled the south. The fight appeared to be even on either side: while the Orcs appeared to have the numbers, the Atlas forces had better weapons to even out the difference.

With the arrival of more Sky Knight troops, General Schnee hopes it will be enough to push the enemy back out of the city. It was less than a month ago that city was theirs, now they are just fighting as hard as they can to keep the rest of the city from falling.

The hatch to Faramir's drop ship lowered to allow him and his 'guests' to exit. Ruby and Yang were cuffed while Gollum had his hands tied behind his back and a leash tied around his neck. It was obvious Gollum was having a hard time walking on his legs alone, being that he normaly walks on all fours.

Faramir walked ahead of the rest as they made their way to the forward operations base. There he found Winter Schnee commanding and coordinating troops with the holomap of the city in front of her. She looked up and smiled at the sight of her commander's return, "Commander, good to see you, although I wish they were under better circumstances."

Faramir nodded in agreement, he looked towards the holomap, "What's your status?"

"Orcs own the Southern half of the city. We destroyed the bridges to make sure they wouldn't spill over to our side too," Winter zooms the hologram at the river itself, "They overwhelmed us, the boarder defenses didn't even stand a chance."

Faramir looked at the map curiously, "I saw plenty of Grimm, large ones, on the flight in… why aren't they making a move to cross the water. Afraid to get picked off?"

"No, actually, some tried. They melted, something in the water maybe." Winter stated with an unsure tone.

"It's enchanted."

They both turned around to see Ruby and Yang standing against the wall behind Faramir. "Like at Laketown and Rivendell, that river is enchanted. Acts like acid to Grimm and Nazgul alike."

"Ruby Rose? What are you doing here?" Winter asked in complete shock.

"I found them behind enemy lines," Faramir said while he focused on the map.

"Why are they cuffed? They are allies, Faramir," Winter spoke in confusion. She looked at him and saw a look on his face she's never seen before.

He turned to her with an intimidating glare, "You will take them to my father." Winter didn't know how to respond to that order. He then added, "And tell him, 'Faramir sends a mighty gift'."

Winter's eyes widened at the realization of why he had them in cuffs. She looked to the two huntresses, "She has it? And you brought it here?"

"This is my chance, Winter," Faramir exclaimed, "I'm not wasting it!"

Before the Guards could grab them, Yang pushed them back and moved towards Faramir, not to attack him but to look him straight in the eye, "Do you REALLY want to know what happened to him?! Do you want to know WHY Boromir died?!"

Faramir turned around sharply at Yang, before any guard could punch her for advancing on their commander he was willing to humor the blonde huntress.

"The RING! The Ring drove him crazy, so much so it caused him to try to murder her!" Yang exclaimed, "He SWORE he'd protect her and the Ring almost made him kill her! THAT'S YOUR 'MIGHTY GIFT'!"

Faramir's heart sank a bit at the thought of his brother becoming the monster she described. Before he could say anything in response, they all heard a loud screech from outside. Ruby recognized that screech anywhere, "The Harpy is here…" she spoke aloud with fear in her tone.

Faramir and Winter turned to her and knew exactly who she was talking about. Winter grabbed her radio and spoke, "All troops, eyes on the sky, we have a Nazgul in the area! Bring those AA-Guns back online or we're all going to be sitting ducks!"

Faramir pulls his sniper rifle off his back and moves to the door, "The Harpy is here for the Ring… Keep them out of sight."

Winter, Ruby and Yang remained in the FOB. First thing Winter did was remove their cuffs, "If you have the Ring, it needs to go. Bringing it here will only make things worse for Atlas."

Ruby grips her wrist, the cuffs were a little too tight, "We need our weapons, and Gollum."

"Gollum is here?" Winter asked in shock, "What do you need him for?"

"Long story," Yang replied, "But he is our only chance of getting into Mordor."

Winter walked to the door and looked to the sky, it would appear Zyra isn't the only thing in the sky at the moment; dozens of Griffons and Nevermores were flying overhead. "Lets get the weapons first, follow me," she then looked to both of them, "but keep your heads down."

From the air, Helms Deep was crawling with Uruks and Grimm. The force that started as 20 thousand was swarming the keep; flooding the outside of the fortress through the front gate and the hole in the main wall. It took them a while, but they managed to bring the same battering ram they used on the front gate to the gate that was keeping them from finishing off their mission.

Inside the steel door, a handful of soldiers were doing their best to barricade the door. Some put objects in the way while also pinning heavy objects in front of it to keep it shut. All the others soldiers that weren't there were more wounded than others and needed immediate treatment.

Jaune was sitting at one of the tables in the main hall, with a full view of the soldiers trying to keep the door shut. He had his shirt off with Leere using her semblance to remove the Obsidian bullets that were embedded in his back. "Sorry if I hurt you," Leere said with a bit of hesitation.

Grun stood beside Jaune, holding one of his shoulders to keep him still, as best he could. Leere's power would have Jaune's blood flow remove the bullets by 'pushing' them out, but that would mean they have to go out the same way they came in. Once removed, his aura should heal the wounds quickly.

"Just get them out," Jaune said as he grabbed a bullet casing and bit on it as he felt the bullets as they were removed from his body. The pain didn't last, but it was intense, nonetheless.

Theoden looked in shame at the struggle of his men, "The fortress is taken… it's over."

Grun let go of Jaune and turned to the king, "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" He then gestures to the men at the door, "They're still defending it! They're dying defending it!" He then turned around and held both his hands up towards the door; he started using his gravity manipulation semblance on the door. It was holding, but he couldn't keep up this strength for too long.

Pyrrha checked out Jaune's back and was relieved to see his aura act quickly to heal most of his wounds, mostly the bullet ones. Jaune stood up and put his shirt and armor back on, he turned to Cardin as he was being treated for his wounds, "Did the pilots fill the last shuttles up with what fuel we have left?"

Cardin nodded, "Yes." Although the moment seemed hopeful, he didn't feel that it was, "But they'll never make it if all those Uruks start shooting at them the moment they fly over the fortress."

"He's right," Robin stated, "Resistant to small arms or not, an amount like the force outside would take down any aircraft."

Jaune understood the situation but he had to prepare for the opportunity, he turned to Robin, "Tell all the children and elderly to make for the shuttle's and only take off when they reach max loads, no less! Tell all captains to launch the moment we get the Uruk's attention."

"Get their attention?" Theoden asked in confusion, "What could men do against the chaos that lies beyond that door?" It was clear all over his face that he had lost all hope.

Jaune started to get a bit of a familiar feeling about the situation, "Same thing I did…" Jaune turned towards the door, "Throw some chaos back in their face… ride out there and face them head on."

Theoden remembered hearing how Jaune helped turn the tied at Beacon; there was no way the Sky Knights and the Atlas Defenders had a chance in a battle like that, but Jaune managed to bring them a victory anyway. His warrior spirit started to spark once more at the thought of Jaune doing the same here, "For death and glory…"

"For Mistral," Jaune corrected, "For your people." Jaune felt his left hand being held by Pyrrha's, he turned to see her give him a proud smile, which made him smile back.

"Jaune," Ren spoke out, "the sun is rising…"

Jaune's mind instantly clicked. It was the fifth day, which meant Ozpin must be close by now. "We can win this," he whispered under his breath.

"Yes…" Theoden started to gain some strength in his voice, "The men of Mistral will charge out of this fortress, one last time!"

Cardin began to smile, "Not without our rides," he motioned for his team to go with him to start bringing some of the vehicles they will need for this last ditch effort.

Theoden turned to Jaune and held his hand out, Jaune took it and they both gripped each other's forearms, "Let this be the hour, when we draw swords together, Lord Commander…"

Jaune was a bit shocked to hear a king call him that; as was Pyrrha, she had never heard anyone call Jaune that before.

Grun started to lose his grip on the door, his gravity began to weaken and the door started to loose its integrity from the ram outside. "If you guys are going to do something, NOW would be good!"

It didn't take long for enough bikes to be brought to the main hall. Everyone mounted up, with Jaune and Pyrrha on the front bike, King Theoden on his own behind them, Ren and Nora behind him and CRDL on their own bikes behind them. Behind them were about two dozen more soldiers on bikes, with dozens more still getting their bikes.

"Fell deeds, awake," Theoden spoke out.

Grun let go of the door and let it slowly get broken open on its own by the Uruks. He and his team hopped on their own bikes to join the Calvary charge.

"Now for wrath," Theoden continued to speak, "now for ruin and a RED DAWN!" With that last remark he placed his helmet on his head and all other riders started their engines.

The door broke down with one last punch from the ram, and in came several Uruks blood thirsty and angry. To their surprise they were met by dozens of soldiers on bikes revving their engines.

"FORTH EORLINGAS!" Theoden shouted like a war cry, all the soldiers behind him cheered with him as Jaune opened up the throttle and lead the charge.

Just as Jaune was about to collide with the Uruks, his wings came out from his back and folded over the front of the bike. The tips came together and pointed downward, making a sort of plow for the front wheel. When their bike hit the front line of Uruks, they punched right threw them, knocking them over like bowling pins.

All the soldiers behind them rode out right behind them, making sure they wouldn't get surrounded as they pushed their way though the fortress. As Jaune was riding, Pyrrha swung her sword and shield as hard as she could on either side of them, not in any particular manner other than keeping them away from the driver and hurting as many as possible.

As the last rider exited the door, all the hundreds of soldiers that were inside the mountain started to pour out. They used the moment of shock the Uruks received as their chance to push them back and take as many as possible in this last charge. It was all or nothing now.

The calvary charge rode all the way to the front gate and made it to the causeway, as they rode onto it they pushed off dozens upon dozens of Uruks off the sides. Just as they reached near the bottom of the causeway, Jaune was about to give the order to the civilian airship to take off.

But then something caught his eye that caused him to stop his bike and the rest of the Calvary behind him. He and everyone else looked up to find Ozpin sitting on his bike at top of a steep hill, with the glow of the sun shining behind him.

"Ozpin," Jaune said with a bit of a smile growing on his lips.

Some of the Uruks saw that Jaune was looking at something behind them and turned to see what it was, soon enough half the army was interested and looked for themselves.

At the top of the steep hill, Ozpin looked down at the army of darkness that stood before him, "Theoden King stands alone."

From behind him a man in mistral armor rode up beside him with his own bike, it was Eomer, "Not anymore." The Star Knight of Mistral drew his sword, Agoge, and held it high as he called out to his men, "Rohirrim!"

The Uruks down below then saw bikers ride up along side the two men that were alone a moment ago. They then stated forming defensive positions, waiting for their enemy to come to them.

Theoden was overjoyed to see his nephew arrive just in time to help them win the day.

Eomer motion his sword forward, "FOR MISTRAL!" he and all the soldiers charged forward, with Ozpin at the lead. As they were going down the hill, the Uruks pointed their spears forward, while some started opening fire on the charging soldiers.

Ozpin then held his cane up high and made his diamond dust shard shoot a blast up into the sky and open up the cloud cover that was blocking the sun. The light from the sun blinded many of the Uruks, causing most to shift their spears out of place in an attempt to shield their eyes. Those that were shooting stopped when they could no longer see their enemy and only see blinding light.

The Sky Knights of Mistral rode so quickly down the hill that when they collided with the Uruks, some were even knocked back as if they were hit by a tidal wave.

Jaune couldn't help but smile at the sudden arrival of allied forces, and his joy only got better when he saw dropships with Vale symbols on them start to fly in overhead. One of the dropships opened its main door, and there he saw team CFVY leaning out the open door and started providing their own fire support with the mounted turrets on the Bullheads.

Coco spoke into her radio, "All troops, drop off where you think you can do the most damage, shuttles are going to stay in the sky to provide MUCH needed fire support. Lets show the Mistral fighters how it's done!" on the radio she heard cheers and laughter in agreement with her orders.

"Vale Berserkers?" Pyrrha asked with excitement.

"Coco always did love making an entrance!" Jaune exclaimed. And with these new arrivals, all the Mistral soldiers and remaining Vacuo Knights started fighting a lot harder now. This will not be the last day of Mistral.

Meanwhile, in Haven Academy, the Ents were attacking in force. It took them seconds to overrun the outer wall and start tearing it down. Some Ents grabbed the broken parts of the wall and threw them into the Academy grounds like they were softballs.

The boulders hit the ground hard; smashing through some of the buildings the goblins had set up as armories and weapon factories. Some even exploded into oblivion form the dust crystals inside going off all at once. Other boulders rolled on the ground, crushing or knocking goblins over like bowling pins.

The Goblin workers came out from beneath the pits below to try and help defend their facility but were overwhelmed. The Ents that made their way into the academy grounds proceeded to stomp or swipe at any and all goblins they came across.

Weiss could be seen taking on a pack of goblins with only a fire poker she picked up off the ground. It was no rapier, but she was making great use with it. She blocked several goblin blades from hitting her, and then stabbed the ground. She created her 'construct glyph' and formed her Knight and Boarbatusk to join in the battle.

Weiss then saw a Deathstalker knocking over an Ent and attempting to sting it with its green stinger. Weiss charged at it with her speed glyphs and then shot ice cycles at it to get its attention. She succeeded, and now the scorpion was after her. Weiss then ordered her constructs to attack the beast as she shot more ice at it.

The Knight blocked the Stalker's stinger while the Board charged and collided with its head. The Boar bounced off the Deathstalker's head and crashed into the ground beside Weiss. Just then, the Stalker latched onto the Knight's body with its left pincer and grabbed the knight's leg with its right and pulled until the construct split in two. Weiss squinted her eyes, "Alright then…"

Weiss then mustered her strength and formed a large construct glyph behind her, out of it came a head of a King Taijitu, but this one appeared to have the head of a King Cobra instead of the usual viper head, the rare breed known as "Hydratus". Weiss then charged forward with her snake backing her up; she dodged the scorpion stinger just before it landed at her feet. She then commanded the snake to bite at the stinger and then proceed to wrap its body around the scorpion.

With the snake coiled around the stalker's exoskeleton, Weiss formed a construct glyph behind her again, this time it was the Knight's sword. She held her hand up and then made a throwing motion, causing the sword to be propelled forward and stab the Scorpion's face, killing it instantly.

"I hate bugs," Weiss spat.

Blake was fighting nearer to the Academy's tower; she and Vernal were trying to make a move for Saruman himself but were cut off by goblins. Blake fought them off with hand-to-hand combat; she dodged faster than they could land a blow on.

Just as one came at her with a sword that she thought she could use, she grabbed the wrist of the goblin that had one. She twisted the Goblin's grip and broke its wrist and caught the sword as it fell out of its hand. She then used it to slash across the Goblin's back and then move on to attack the others.

Blake grabbed a hatchet off a log and through it like she would her own weapon, hitting a Goblin in the face. She then moved in and struck down three more Goblins faster than they could block her attack. A goblin pointed a gun at her and fired, but only hit a shadow clone that was in Blake's way as she dodged the shot. She then advanced the Goblin and stabbed it in the chest.

After finishing her cutting motion, Blake could hear something snarling right behind her. She turned around quickly and saw an Ursa charge at her. Before it could pounce on her, a wooden foot came down and crushed it on the ground. Blake looked up to see Treebeard winking at her and then letting out a war cry.

Vernal put her hands on the ground, her eyes began to glow 'lightish red' as the ground began to shake a bit. Within seconds large roots and tree bark punched out from under the dirt and began thrashing around at Goblins and Grimm alike. "You tried to kill all plant life in Haven, well now it's going to try to kill you BACK!"

Using her Maiden powers, she accelerated the growth of the surviving roots from the old trees that used to be planted in the school's grounds. Now she turned them into stalks full of fury and wrath to those that cut them down before.

Down below the surface in the tunnels, more roots sprouted from the walls and ceiling and began attacking the Goblins. Some started to surround the Uruk Hai war machine factories, destroying their armories and even causing cave-ins to bury the Goblins and Uruk pups before they could join in the fight on the surface.

As the battle continued in Haven, there were several Ents that made their way to the hydro electric dam that was used to help power their war machine factories. The Ents attacked the supports that were holding the dam up from giving in to the weight of the water behind it. As the last support was ripped from the dam, the stones fell apart and released the waves.

Weiss and Blake looked to see the waves come for them and all the creatures in haven. Before they did anything, Treebeard picked up Blake and another Ent picked up Weiss while Vernal used her growth powers to form a stalk to hold her high above the newly established waterline.

"Hold on, little huntress!" Treebeard said as he held Bake high as he leaned forward against the wave to avoid being swept away by it. All other creatures of Grimm and Goblins were washed away; some were pushed into the caverns that were starting to flood, while others were washed out beyond the academy ground and into the Great Lake of Anima.

Saruman looked out in compete horror. All his work, everything he did up till this moment was being destroyed before his eyes. And all he could do was watch.

Back in Atlas, the air attack by the Grimm and Zyra continued. The Harpy attacked several gun emplacements, slashing her venomous claws at some unfortunate soldiers. Some died foaming at the mouth while others screamed in agony as the venom paralyzed them in pain. As much fun as she was having wreaking havoc to this side of the city, she was still focusing on her mission to find the ring.

"I know it's here… I can smell it…" she thought to herself as she flew over the city, searching fiercely with her bird-like eyes.

Down below, Winter helped Ruby and Yang get their weapons back, now they had to find Gollum. They were moving through the city, with the echoing chaos of gunfire around them. There were dozens of soldiers shooting their rifles into the sky, trying to bring down the Nevermores and Griffins overhead.

In all of the chaos, Ruby took a wrong step and realized she was alone, Yang and Winter were gone. They only thing she could think of to find them now was to get to higher ground and see if she can narrow down where they are.

Yang and Winter stopped near a checkpoint to catch their breath, "Ruby, try to keep-" Yang turned to see her sister was gone, "Oh, come on!"

"She really is a wanderer, isn't she?" Winter asked.

"More like a trailblazer," Yang looked up at the buildings, "She'll go to higher ground, come on." Winter followed as they made their way into one of the buildings and started climbing up to the roof.

Ruby used her scope to looked from her vantage point, form there she was able to see Faramir giving commands to his soldiers. She was surprised to find that Gollum was tied up to a wall behind him. "Guess he wanted to keep a closer eye on him than us."

Ruby sheathed her weapon and started using her speed to jump from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the traffic down below. After jumping the third building, she heard a 'caw' sound. She turned quickly and saw the Spring Harpy dive bomb towards her. "Crap!" Ruby cursed out loud as she started to run faster.

Ruby jumped across another building, while in mid air she pulled out Crescent Rose and turned to point her barrel at Zyra. She fired three shots at Zyra, but the Harpy moved out of the way of the shots before they could hit her.

Before Ruby landed on the next building she was tackled by the Harpy, they both tumbled on the roof top, almost falling off right after crashing. Ruby got back up, stabbed her scythe's blade into he ground and started shooting rapidly. Zyra folded her wings in front of her body as she charged the red huntress, the shots were only causing minor damage to her wings, but it was enough for her to get close and force Ruby to back off.

Ruby pulled her scythe out of the ground and swung hard, Zyra dodged the large blade and took a step back. "Quite a pretty blade… won't save you though." Zyra charged again, this time she was knocked away by a fire blast that scorched half her face.

Ruby turned to see Yang and Winter arrive, "Ruby, next time, don't take your eyes off me when we're running together!"

All three women stood at the ready, facing down the Harpy as she slowly healed her face. "Hehehe…" She chuckled, "One huntress or three, it won't matter in the end. SALEM WILL HAVE WHAT BELONGS TO HER!"

All three charge the Harpy, to her enjoyment. Winter went first in a stabbing motion, Zyra caught he blade with one hand and then slashed Winter's hand with one of her venom talons. Yang quickly punched Zyra in the face, dislocating her jaw and forcing her to let go of Winter.

Luckily for Winter the venom she was hit with wasn't a fatal one, but she was quickly feeling a massive amount of pain from it. Ruby jumped up high and swung her scythe down like a saw, but only managed to hit the floor after the Harpy jumped back and took flight again.

Yang started shooting several fire shots from where she stood, swinging her fists as hard as she could and hoping one of her shots hits her target. Zyra, however, proved to be very fast in the air, so fast that she seemed untouchable.

Zyra came down fast and hard and grabbed onto Ruby, digging one of her talons into Ruby's arm, and hitting her with a neurotoxin. Zyra landed on another building with Ruby and held her close to avoid Yang trying to shoot her while she proceeded to torture her prey. "You're in WAY over your head, little huntress… you should have stayed in school!" she started to cackle with laughter but was cut short when she felt something hit her in the back.

Zyra turned around to look where the shot came from, to her shock; Faramir was pointing his sniper rifle at her. He loaded another shot, charged it with his aura and fired, the bullet flew so fast out of his gun, Zyra didn't know it was coming until it impacted her shoulder. She immediately dropped Ruby and started flying away.

"Agh!" She grunted in pain from trying to fly with a damaged arm, "You're going to pay for that, Numenor!" As Zyra flew away, the AA-Guns became active and started mopping up the remaining flying Grimm, some even hitting Zyra a few times until she was out of their range.

Yang used her gauntlets to boost her over to the building Ruby was on. She picked her up and carried her down to the street below, "MEDIC! MEDIC!"

A medic ran over to them and started to apply healing liquids to Ruby's wound, but Ruby appeared to be unresponsive to Yang trying to wake her up. They picked the catatonic Ruby and moved her to a more secure building; the same one Gollum was currently tied up in. Faramir stood by the entrance, in a standby position, waiting if there was anything else that was going to come for her next.

Before he realized it, Winter rushed past him and knelt right beside Ruby and Yang. She looked a lot better than she was earlier, but still in pain. She used her healing glyph on Ruby's wound, within a few seconds; Ruby woke up and began to start crying uncontrollably.

Yang tried to help sit Ruby up from where she was laying; Ruby folded her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She continued to cry as Yang and Winter looked at her in sorrow.

"What's wrong with her?" Yang said whispered to Winter. What Ruby just went through would be scary to anyone, but Yang's never known Ruby to breakdown like this.

"The venom she was injected with must be messing with her mind. Neurotoxins plus stress of the situation would turn the most levelheaded person into a nervous wreck." Winter spoke from experience; she's seen it happen a few times in her career.

Ruby sobbed as she spoke out, "I can't do this anymore, Yang… I don't belong in this mess, I never did!"

Yang knelt down and hugged on her sister, "I know, sis… This is beyond insane." Yang stood up and looked out to the street in front of her, looking at all the soldiers rushing to their ordered positions, "If anything, we don't even belong in this chaos. But we're here, because we have to be…"

Yang looked into the sky, watching the Grimm get shot out of the air and seeing Zyra retreat. "It's like some of those stories Qrow and dad used to tell us, the scary ones. They the fact that they were scary is why they mattered the most. There were times I didn't want to know the end, because how could it end well after the scary parts?"

With a glimpse of Helms Deep, we see the Uruk Hai armies run away with the sudden arrival of enemy armies and no higher leadership telling them to stay and fight.

"How could they find joy when so many bad things happened?"

As the Uruk army turned tail and ran, King Theoden held his sword high and shouted at the top of his lungs, "VICTORY! WE HAVE VICTORY!"

A few at a time, the allied soldiers stopped fighting their enemy and watched them flee, some even started to smile and give of sighs of relief.

"When I asked mom, she told me, 'It's only a passing thing, this shadow.'"

In Haven, the Goblins and Grimm are still being washed away, cleansing the once corrupted academy. This attack alone gave not only hope to the Ents, but back into Weiss and Blake on whether they could win this war or not.

"'Even darkness must pass. A new day always comes, and when the sun shines it shines brighter than ever'."

We then see Saruman and Slate look out at the chaos that decimated all their plans in less than an hour.

"For a while I didn't understand what she meant, until we saw Beacon fall apart in front of us, and we lost so much so quickly: our friends, our school, our hope."

In Atlas, the soldiers that still fight manage to find some sense of pride at the sight of sending a Nazgul packing with her tail feathers between her legs, giving them more motivation to keep fighting. Even Faramir felt more hopeful for their chances.

"But then the sun rose over Beacon again, when we took it back." Yang said as she stood up and looked out the window, with the sun shining over the damaged city, "It was only then that I realized what our parents had that kept them going, they believed in something. The same thing I still believe in now…"

Ruby was calm enough now to not be sobbing, she heard the whole thing and started to feel a bit better; Winter's healing glyphs helped in removing what was left of the venom in her system as well. "What do you believe in?"

Ruby was almost begging for the answer. Yang turned around and helped her sister stand up, brushed the dust and ruble off her cloak and then held both her shoulders, "I believe that there is still a chance to save this world, even if the odds are against us. That's something worth fighting for." Yang put her hand in her pocket, "And besides, I'm more determined to end this war than most…" She then pulls her hand out of her pocket to reveal the engagement ring Grun gave her months ago.

Ruby recognized the wolf style engravings on the ring; only Grun would use this kind of decoration. Ruby began to tear up again, this time with joy, and she embraced her sister tightly, "Oh, Yang… I am so happy for you…"

Yang began to tear up a bit herself as she hugged Ruby back. The two held on for good minute, and they felt better afterwards. Gollum looked at the two with a content look; he's never seen such devotion between two people before. The only devotion he has ever known was to the Ring, but seeing this made him feel 'warm' inside. A feeling he had almost forgotten.

Faramir walked towards them from his guard post, he had a look of clarity as he looked at the two huntresses. "I think I understand the true burden that has been placed in your care… And that I am an idiot for attempting to make it harder."

Winter stood there with a bit of a proud, yet surprised look on her face, "So you're letting them go? What about your father? And his Mighty Gift?"

Faramir looked to his general with a half smile, "It's a time of war, Star Knights don't take orders from anyone. Besides, it's not like he's going to hear about it from me, all the way out here." Winter returned his smile, as did Ruby and Yang. "Lets get you out of this city."

As the armies of Uruks flee Helms Deep, the allied armies pushed them out into the fields beyond. As they reached over a hill, they were surprised to find a forest out there. Eomer called out on all channels, "All troops, stay back, don't go near the forest!"

As the allied armies stopped, they watched the Uruks and Grimm run into the forest without delay. Once the last Uruk was out of sight, hidden behind the tree line, the allied soldiers stated to hear loud groans and loud squeals coming from the trees. Some of the trees could be seen moving, thrashing around, others were shaking and more sounds could be heard, sounds of Uruks and Grimm being killed by the dozens.

The sight of the whole thing both surprised and horrified some of the soldiers. It was clear; nature was on their side in this fight.

Once the battle had officially over, the remaining soldiers sifted though the dead. If there were any survivors in the wake of the battle, they were determined to find them and give them immediate aid. Jaune and Eomer both made their way up to the top of the wall and found John's body.

It was still sitting with his back against the rampart and the sword on his lap. Jaune knelt down and placed his hand on his fallen brother.

"Mistral will remember this, I swear," Eomer said with a soft tone, "They will know that a Star Knight of Vacuo came and honored the debt Vacuo had with Mistral, and we will never forget."

"First time I met him, he helped me save my kingdom, and now he saved yours…" Jaune said with a proud smile. He then picked up John's sword, "Freedom's Will," and held it tightly, "And now his watch has ended."

"Now his watch has ended," Eomer repeated.

Jaune turned to Eomer, "Ready the fastest shuttle we have, he's going home." Eomer nodded in agreement.

As this was happening above, down below, Nora and Macht were both standing over some of the dead bodies of Uruks. Macht appeared to be sitting on his last kill of the fight, with his Kukri sword in its skull.

Nora put her hammer over her shoulder, "Final count, 59."

"59?" Macht seemed almost impressed, "That's not bad for a little Valkyrie." He crossed his arms while leaning back and made a proud smile, "I am currently sitting on number 60."

Nora looked at the body and then swung her hammer down and crushed the skull of the Uruk, "60."

Macht gave a frown, "He's already dead!"

"He was twitching!" Nora said as she pointed at its left leg.

"He was twitching because he's got my knife embedded in his nervous system!" he exclaimed as he moved the knife's handle and caused the creature to move as if it was a puppet.

With the overall chaos over in Haven, Saruman turned around sharply from his viewing spot and ran to the Palantir. He placed his hand on it and began calling Salem with fear all over his face. Once the signal was made he then saw her in front of him, with Rourke and Jackie in the room with her.

"Your grace! Fangorn Forest has risen up against us!" Saruman sounded both angry and scared, "I need support, please!"

Salem sat on her throne; she looked disappointed by Saruman's plea. Rourke spoke up for his queen, "Correction, Lionheart, Fangorn has risen up against YOU. You knew the risks of building your army, you choose the easy way out instead of playing the game slowly and surely like the rest of us."

"Please," Saruman went down to his knees, "all my forces are out finishing off Mistral as we speak, surely you can spare some aid?"

Jackie started to laugh a bit, more of a giggle, "Guess you should have saved some of your soldiers instead of send everything at once… dummy."

Saruman looked straight at Salem, "Please your grace! I'm begging for your aid."

Salem broke her silence, standing from her throne, "Saruman, I must thank you for all the things you've done for me and my cause. I very well couldn't have made it this far into my plan without your help... but it seems your use has run its course. As well as informing me on valuable information, including about my younger brother..."

Saruman's eyes widened at how well he played into her hands, even when he was working for her she used him in more way than simply building an army to attack a kingdom. He continued to show a frightful look on his face.

Salem continued, "If it's any consolation, I am going to miss our talks, they were very enjoyable."

Saruman pleaded once more, "I beg you, your grace, don't abandon me! I have been your most faithful servant!" Unbeknownst to him, a Grimm Seer came down from the chandelier and slowly creped up behind him.

Salem lowered her head and grew a smile, she then looked him in the eye, "And I'll make sure they remember you. After all, I couldn't have gotten this far without your help."

The Seer raised its bladed tentacles and lined it up with Saruman's back. The last thing he ever saw was the glowing center of the Seer's 'head'.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Blake, stood down in the flooded school, near the outer wall of the academy. The water was up to their thighs. They were both pondering on what Saruman could be doing up there by now.

"Can only imagine what's going though his head by now," Blake said with a bit of a smirk.

"I would like to think he's planning an escape," Weiss said while smiling, "anything that ends with us putting a boot to his back."

Blake chuckled as she looked down at the water level, "Hopefully we can reestablish this school some day. I'd hate to tell the locals that their academy is gone for good." Blake looked down and saw an apple floating in the water.

"That is, assuming they want it to be here, after everything that's happened," Weiss thought out loud. Weiss turned to see Blake was gone; she then turned around to see Blake walking towards the wall and saw a big wooden door.

They both reached the door and looked inside, what they found lit up both their faces. "Saruman's food stores!" Blake exclaimed as they ran into the large pantry. Inside, they found baskets of fruit, vegetables, lockers full of ingredients and a few large refrigerators full of wine and other beverages.

"No way," Blake exclaimed as she stared at the top of one of the shelves and saw two large bags of beans with a Mistral symbol on the bag. "MISTRAL COFFEE!" Blake ran into the pantry and jumped onto the shelves and looked at them closely, "There's two whole bags."

Weiss began to get excited; it had been months since she had tasted coffee, "One for each of us!" She ran up to the shelf and helped Blake lower one of the bags to the counter. Once it was set down, they opened it, "This will last us for months!" Weiss looked up to Blake with an excited grin, "Oh, should we share it with Treebeard?"

Blake initially thought it would be good, but then immediately realized the problem that might cause, "Uh… not sure that's a good idea. He's a tree, and these beans are seeds, and all…" Weiss didn't seem to understand until Blake picked up a handful of seeds and whispered, "Could be a distant relative…"

Weiss' eyes widened at how bad that would have looked, "Oh crap, you're right…" she turned to look around the counter until she found what she was looking for, which was a coffee grinder, "Lets get brewing!"

Both then started the first batch of beans and ground them down. Outside, Treebeard came to come check on them, with Vernal on his shoulder. Both sniffed the air when the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans reached them. Vernal dropped from Treebeard's shoulder the moment she knew what it was, "YOU TWO BETTER SHARE!" she then ran towards the pantry and walked inside. While Treebeard looked down at them all in complete confusion.

After giving the order to let Ruby and Yang go, Faramir also ordered that a shuttle to take them back to Draco, that way they wouldn't have to take a boat to cross the sea. The pilot had strict orders to drop them off at a safe zone and leave, while being under radio silence the whole way.

Ruby and Yang were given extra supplies for their journey; food rations, bullets and even an updated map of the area so as to avoid Grimm hotspots and known White Fang camps. The map was all the info Faramir gathered while in Draco, unfortunately the map had no info on anything beyond the Black Gate, once they were in Mordor they were on their own again.

"You can trust my pilot, he'll get you there safely…" Faramir said as he turned towards the two huntresses that entered the shuttle, along with their frog like friend.

"Thanks for the map, it'll help us a lot," Ruby said with a joyful smile.

Faramir couldn't help but smile back, he was happy to see that there were some that still found a way to smile in this time of war.

Yang crossed her arms and smirked, "Well, as long as we don't get sidetracked again, we should have this mission done within the next month." Yang couldn't help but be a smartass to him, even if he was a Star Knight.

"Well, it won't be from me or my men," Faramir spat back with a smirk, "I assure you." He then gave a rather curious look at them, "How will you reach Mordor once you land? My map only shows the Black Gate as an entrance, nothing else."

Ruby gestured to Gollum as she answered, "Smeagol says there's an entrance near Minas Morgul, we were hoping to sneak through there before you caught us." Ruby didn't see, but Gollum started to lower his head and lean away.

Faramir's face went pail for a second, "Cirith Ungol…" Faramir looked down to see Gollum try to move away and grabbed him before he could run. He forced him against the wall, "Is that it's name!? Answer me!"

Gollum coughed as Faramir gripped his hand around his neck, "No! No!" Faramir seemed unconvinced and began to grip his throat tighter, "Yes!"

Faramir continued to hold Gollum as he turned to the girls, "Ruby, Cirith Ungol is not a safe route. It's a cursed path that has taken the lives of numerous people who try to pass through. Troops at Minas Ithil used to call it 'no-man's land'. You can't go there!"

"It is the only way!" Gollum interjects, "Mistress Rose says we must go to Mordor, so we must try, at least!" Faramir continued to hold his grip on Gollum, making it harder for him to breath.

Ruby grabbed Faramir's arm and pulled him off of Gollum, "I know he doesn't look like the most trustworthy person, but he's helped us thus far."

Faramir stood up straight after letting go and looked to Yang, she didn't like the creature either, but she showed that she backed her sister's claim. "Ok…" He then looked to Ruby, "I don't envy your mission, but from what I've heard about you two from Winter, you two might be our best chance."

"Might be?" Yang said with a smile, "We are your best chance."

Faramir smiled and nodded, "Go with the Gods, and the hopes of all our people." Yang and Ruby nodded their heads in appreciation. Faramir took one more look at Gollum, "If you betray them, I'll hunt you down myself…"

Faramir then walked down the ramp of the shuttle and held his hand up and twirled his fingers, giving the sign to the pilot to take off. The ramp of the shuttle closed and the engines powered up and began to lift the shuttle off the landing pad.

With the AA turrets online, the shuttle had a clear path East to Draco, with clear skies in front of them. Ruby and Yang sat beside each other, while Gollum sat on the opposite side, gripping tightly to his seat. It would appear that he didn't like flying, the sight of it almost made Yang chuckle, but she was stopped when Ruby elbowed her arm.

Ruby spoke out to Gollum across the shuttle, "I'm sorry they caught you like that… I didn't think they'd do that to you."

Gollum looked at Ruby, "What did mistress thinks they do, huh?"

"I thought they'd just let you go if I told you to…" Ruby said with a guilty look on her face, she then went from regret to hope as she thought about what came next, "But at least now we will be back on our journey."

Gollum didn't expect to see her look regretful about what happened, with his anger subsiding, Gollum could start to feel his grip on control was fading, and that Smeagol was starting to 'return'.

Back in Anima, the flotilla of survivors began their return trip to Mistral city. On the deck of the Royal flagship, Sleipnir, Ozpin stood with Theoden, Jaune, Eomer, Grun and Cardin, looking out at the sea to the west as the sun reached the top of the sky.

Ozpin spoke out, "Salem will make sure that what happened today wont go unchallenged. Mistral might have survived this theater of war, but the War of Remnant has only reached its next chapter."

Jaune gripped his sword tightly, so many lost in such a short time, and they are nowhere near done with the war. The grip on his fist loosened when he felt a wrap around his, he turned to see Pyrrha standing beside him. He opened his hand and they interlocked fingers as they looked out to the sea again.

"The only hope we have in winning this war lie with two huntresses," Ozpin couldn't help but smile, "somewhere in wilderness."

It didn't take long for the shuttle to land at Draco, once they made landfall they disembarked and thanked their pilot for the private flight. He wished them luck and then flew back home to the war he needed to help fight.

Ruby and Yang walked through the forest, they started talking about some of the stories their parents talked about and compared them to what they were doing now. Yang then had a thought, "You think someone will ever make a song about us? Or maybe a book, or even a movie?" She chuckled at that last one.

Ruby chuckled too, "A movie? Please, I see our adventures as a TV series."

"I wonder if someone will ever say, 'Lets hear that story about Ruby and the Ring.' And they'll say 'Oh yeah! That's my all time favorite!'" They continued to walk through the forest as Yang kept going, "'Ruby was the best huntress in the world, wasn't she, mom?' 'The best to ever graduate Beacon Academy!'"

Ruby chuckled, "You're forgetting one of the best parts of the story, 'Yang Xiao Long the Strong'. If it wasn't for her, Ruby never would have made it though the journey."

Yang smirked, "You give me too much credit, Sis."

Ruby stopped and looked at her sister with a half smile, "It's not if I'm being truthful." Yang smiled back a 'thank you'.

Ruby then walked on with Yang following, "'Yang Xiao Long the Strong', sounds a bit too wordy."

"Yeah, nicknames were your thing," Ruby said as she rolled her eyes, "SO!" She turned sharply, "When were you planning on telling me?"

Yang cocked her head, "Tell you what?"

"Oh COME ON!" Ruby grabbed Yang's left hand and picked it up to point at the engagement ring, "You can't drop a bomb like that and not elaborate on it!"

Yang started to laugh, "I was going to tell you!"

"When? When we finished the mission?" Ruby exclaimed, when she saw her sister shrug her shoulders, Ruby groaned, "Jerk."

Ruby looked around and realized they were missing someone, "Smeagol?"

Yang realized it too, "Gollum? Where are you?"

They both looked around and didn't see him anywhere. He was out of sight completely. He watched them from a few yards away, hidden behind trees. He appeared to be at war with himself, hitting his head against the trees and groaning.

"No! I am in control of US!" Gollum hissed.

"Mistress helped us, she protected us!" Smeagol spoke out.

"She TRICKED us! She led them to us, to be beaten, to be hurt! She is our ENEMY!" Gollum grunted.

"Mistress saved us… she is helping us…" Smeagol laid down, resting his head into the grass, "I want to help her…"

"She will trick you AGAIN! She doesn't care about you, she only cares about destroying the PRECIOUS!" Gollum gripped his fingers in the dirt; "We should kill them both and take the precious for ourselves…"

"I don't want the precious anymore…" Smeagol spoke with a voice of clarity. "I don't need you anymore…"

"You said that before, and look what she did to us! She BETRAYED us!" Gollum spat back.

"You made us like this… you made me what I am…" Smeagol started to sit up a bit more and look 'tall' to Gollum, "Ruby is my friend, and I'm going to do what is right."

"Then why do you lie to her?" Gollum asked with a devious smile, "The Knight was right… you are leading them to HER… why haven't you warned them of her yet if you don't want the precious anymore…"

"I will warn them, when I know they can trust me…" Smeagol then sat up and started running towards the voices of the huntresses.

Once they were in sight, Smeagol called out to them, "Come on, Huntresses! Long ways to go yet!"

Both started running towards him to catch up as he started leading them through the forest. As they were walking, Ruby walked up beside him and said, "Thank you for helping us, Smeagol."

Smeagol started to smile, a real genuine smile. He had long since forgotten what it felt like to have friends, Ruby helped to revive that missing part. Whatever they were to face, Smeagol was determined to help his friends see it through to the end.

In the Dark Kingdom of Mordor, Salem sat down on her throne and looked out into the window that let her see her kingdom. She turned to her guests, Watts and Tyrian, for their reports.

Watts looked at his scroll and said, "Everything is going as you predicted, your grace."

"Good," Salem said with a smile.

AN: And SO… that concludes the Two Towers segment of this story.

I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.
Growing up, this movie was my favorite, but then I grew to love Return of the King more.

Like I said at the beginning, the next chapter will be posted in October due to my first month back in school and getting back into the system of it.

Have a good September and good luck in school, those of you that are still in it.

Oh, I almost forgot… ARKOS!