Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Secrets

With the incoming Grimm horde still a few minutes out, and with Torchwick and Neo having escaped again, Ruby was on high alert as she navigated through the abandoned area that was the marketplace. Fortunately, she had Crescent Rose back, which was one of the major worries off her back. The other was looking for Zwei, because she knew the dog would be out here fighting if he could help it.

Against a lone Grimm, Ruby would bet that Zwei would take it without a doubt in her mind. The dog was capable of defeating many even upper tier Grimm without breaking a sweat.

Not that dogs actually sweat, but it was with an ease that would leave Zwei not even panting, despite the fact he panted near all the time. Ruby wondered if that was just an affliction or if she should take him to the vet for that kind of thing, because that means that he may not be getting enough water...she wondered if she should give him more wet food rather than dry.

She did try to give him some wet food though, and last time she did she ended up regretting it because he figured out it was to hide a pill inside it. He instead ate the pill, and made sure to leave the wet food in such a way that it resembled a pile of his manure.

She had since given up on trying to give him the wet food from the cans. Maybe he'd enjoy some baked or roasted chicken, she could do that. Wasn't that something that others did when their dogs needed some time to heal after something? Chicken and something basic. Although if it was a stove top dish then she'd need to find it in the store. She was terrible on the stove top.

Although Ruby had last seen him running away with Lilac, so it was quite possible he was at the food hall. She checked her scroll, hoping to see if it was still down or if Atlas had helped bring it back up.

It was Atlas' originally, so it would only be normal if they brought it back up after someone, Ruby specifically not naming names, brought it down.

It was technically her fault that allowed Cinder to escape, considering that she'd escaped through a giant hole in the ceiling that may or may not have been Ruby's fault. And yet Ozpin still thought she was good for the job. Put like that, she had to admit it didn't make much sense. Neither did the 'Cinder running off' thing. She had screamed at nothing about being able to kill Ozpin though. She should probably look into that...

A small roar off to the side attracted her attention, especially after she saw that the scroll network was still down. Of course it was still down by now. It would be far too convenient for it to be up.

The food hall was just over there, not even three or five hundred feet away. She could just...oh hey a beowulf was right there she should probably take care of that.

By the time she had that thought it was already dead, its head cleanly bisected from its shoulders and she had Crescent Rose unfurled. Its blade was very easily positioned to show how the Grimm was killed.

"I should pay more attention. I didn't even see it," Ruby muttered to herself. The food hall wasn't far from here. Her shop wasn't too far either. It would take her longer to go to the shop than to the food hall, but wouldn't be a detour of more than a minute or two. Mind made up, she bolted into her Semblance, flying around the abandoned marketplace towards the food hall. The doors to the food hall were closed, but it had Velvet and Coco standing outside on guard, with both Aneisadora and Gianduja ready to go.

"Ruby! Glad to see you're safe," Velvet said as soon as she got closer. "I was wondering what happened to you, I didn't see you in there," she said, pointing back towards the food hall. "Come on in."

"Thanks Velvet. Where's Fox and uh..." Ruby said, trying to remember the giant's name. She remembered Fox, if only because the blind puns made it very difficult to forget him.

"Yatsuhashi?" Coco asked. "They're wandering around, trying to find anybody else still not here. Most everyone's inside, but your Uncle came by a moment ago to warn of the horde incoming."

"I don't think Vale's ever seen an attack this blatant before," Velvet commented. "Usually it's just a few Grimm here or there. I wonder then if that woman's actually controlling them or not."

Velvet's words sparked a memory for Ruby, of Qrow mentioning the Grimm Queen. Salem, her name was. Did Cinder somehow overpower her and take the power to command the Grimm? But then why would she want the Maiden's power so badly?

Actually in hindsight she should probably avoid being around so many civilians, because that would just give Cinder more targets on people who can't defend themselves.

"I think I'll go help them, but I want to make sure Zwei is safe first. Can you go in and see if he's there?" Ruby asked. Coco raised an eyebrow over her sunglasses, but Velvet immediately turned around and ran in.

"Who's Zwei? You don't have a kid do you?" Coco asked. "I don't think I remember seeing anybody like that at your shop..."

"He's my dog," Ruby explained. Coco nodded in understanding. "His aura is activated so he could fight the Grimm, but he's also a corgi and he's super cute and I know he was sleeping in the bed when you were there-"

"Relax, I get it. Velvet's good, she'll know if your dog is in there. You sure you don't want to go in?"

"I'm sure," Ruby nodded. Velvet came out a moment later, closing the door again as she left.

"I didn't see him in there, nor did I hear him. Team PABY is still out here too, they brought your employee and ran off to find more. Team SILV's out here too. CRDN is on the inside keeping the peace," Velvet explained. "See if you can't rendezvous with either of them to find him, Zwei has to be around here somewhere."

Ruby nodded. "Knowing my luck, he's probably off killing more Grimm than I've been able to," she commented. She gave a quick wave to both Coco and Velvet, heading off towards her shop.

If Zwei was lost, that was where he'd be.

The sun was off over the hills, giving the clouds an awful red hue that reminded Ruby a lot of the Grimm coloring. Gray, black, and red. But with both Emerald and Mercury out of the way, the only one she really had to worry about was that Cinder woman. Her shop was empty, exactly as it was when she'd left nearly ten...twenty minutes ago. Ruby waited for only a moment, before she called out a soft "Zwei?"

She was expecting to hear the confirming bark of her puppy. When she heard nothing, her eyes narrowed. "Zwei?" She called out a bit louder. The wind blew around her lightly, as if trying to comfort her. Had the Maiden powers turned on without her approval...again? She glanced at an axe on the display, seeing her reflection in it. Her eye was not on fire.

Her scroll dinged, and Ruby glanced down towards it. Scroll network was back online? About time, Ruby thought. She brought it up, seeing the small blinking red message that said, 'Alert; Grimm Horde incoming on Beacon grounds. All civilians get to shelter.'

Well, that was helpful. Did she technically count as a civilian, considering that she was a huntress-in-training? "Zwei, come on, we need to go!" She shouted.

Her shouting caught someone's attention, although it wasn't the dog's attention that she wanted. Instead the white hair of Weiss Schnee popped over a tent. "Ms. Rose. What are you doing out here?" She asked in that same haughty tone of voice that Winter had, and yet...it was a bit softer, and much less harsh than the first few times that Ruby had heard it.

And why was she being called 'Ms. Rose's all of a sudden? She wasn't a Ms. Rose! She was just Ruby, just Ruby! Always just Ruby! It wasn't that hard to remember her name. "Ah, I'm looking for Zwei-" Ruby started.

"The cute corgi that Ren and Nora say is always at your shop?" Weiss asked instantly. Ruby nodded. "It's not safe here. Go to the food hall, and I'll stay around here to look for him. This was where you saw him last, wasn't it?"

"I just walked the path where I last saw him. Team PABY took my employee to the food hall. I asked Velvet when I was there but he wasn't inside," Ruby said.

Weiss nodded. "This area isn't safe though. And with the CCT knocked out we've been told all stragglers are supposed to get to the food hall."

"You mean with that?" Ruby pointed out towards the wall of Grimm incoming, barely ten minutes out. Its shadows barely overcame the setting sun.

"Yes, because of that," Weiss said sharply. There was the Weiss that she knew. "So get to the food hall!"

"I can help find other people. You're within shouting distance of your teammates right? I'll stay within those," Ruby offered.

"Oh, they're on the other side of Beacon," Weiss said instantly. Ruby stared at her.

"They...aren't here?"

"No?"

"So you're out here by yourself."

"No."

She wasn't out here by herself but she wasn't with her team? "Then who are you out here with?" Ruby asked, trying to figure it out. She probably didn't really have the time, but it was honestly times like this that made her want to think.

"My sister, Winter. She's just over there," Weiss answered, pointing to another storefront. A ramen stand, if Ruby was right, although its top had caved in and looked like a nevermore had ripped up the roof.

As if to tell that she was telling the truth, the roof gently pulled up to see a slightly older Weiss there, in the same blue and white outfit that Ruby had last seen her in, although slightly more harried than last time. "Ah, Ruby. I was wondering where you got to. You weren't in the tower."

"No. Ironwood brought me Crescent Rose back though," Ruby said, gesturing to the scythe on her back. The wind started to howl around. It wouldn't be long at all before the Grimm started to arrive on Beacon proper. She had to check in the nearby axe again to make sure it wasn't her own power again.

"You should get to a safe area. Ozpin and Ironwood took the other two to the flagship. It won't be safe out here for long, and you technically are a civilian. Despite your training," Winter said.

Ruby shook her head. "I'm looking for my dog, Zwei. Have you seen him?"

Winter looked upwards. "I haven't seen him, no. Try heading towards the courtyard though. Weiss, we should head back to a better area as well, there's no one around here."

"I agree. I haven't heard anything in a while," Weiss nodded. "Perhaps we should move as a group."

"That's the safest thing," Winter agreed. Ruby nodded, pulling up her scope to look at the wall of darkness slowly darkening the skies.

Before it had been a bright dusk, with the sun slowly bleeding its light onto the clouds and shadows on their back. But now it was much, much darker.

"You two go on ahead, I have one more area to check just in case Zwei's there," Ruby said, as she glanced over at the bathrooms. They were small constructions, the kind that could be taken down and put up in only a second. Most of them were open, but there was one that was closed.

"Alright," Winter said, and she motioned to Weiss to follow her. The huntress-in-training seemed taken aback as if she couldn't understand why they were leaving Ruby behind.

Ruby did, though. There were always secrets, it seemed.

Versus Cinder

The area around the bathrooms was clear, Ruby noticed. In fact the air seemed almost unnaturally still, if she had to be honest. There was a hesitancy in the air.

Although how she could tell that particular feature, Ruby wasn't sure. "Zwei?" She asked loudly as she knocked on the door. There was only silence, but she saw that the lock was still on 'occupied'. "Anyone in there?" She asked again.

There was no answer. "I'm sorry but there's an emergency," Ruby said as she unfurled Crescent Rose, slicing the door off its hinges in a single shot.

Zwei was asleep. In his bed. That he'd drug into the bathroom.

Ruby stared for a moment. "How. How did you do this," Ruby muttered for a second. "And better question, why?"

Actually...hiding in the bathroom wasn't the worst mistake Zwei had ever made. It wasn't even a mistake, really. From there, he could probably smell the Grimm coming. For another, he'd know which way they came from, so he could dodge any attacks. And for a third, if he was asleep he wouldn't be having many negative emotions, which wouldn't draw them in. His aura would, however, but he would effectively be deterring the Grimm by acting as a slight magnet without actually doing a thing.

"You are by far the most brilliant dog a girl can have," Ruby said as she picked him up quickly. Zwei woke up, panting softly before he licked her face. "So what made you come out here?" Ruby asked.

Zwei glanced at the wall of oncoming Grimm. Ruby's eyes narrowed as she looked at one of the shapes on the land. It wasn't a beowulf, or an ursa. Rather humanoid actually.

Zwei barked, and Ruby pushed herself back as the thing launched a small fireball at her. It was obviously meant as some kind of warning shot, as if it was intending to miss, as it hit one of the nearby bathroom stalls.

The fact that it exploded made Ruby wonder just what were they putting in those things...by all rights, they shouldn't explode. It cast light everywhere, and she felt the wind and heat on her face, so it was a certifiable explosion. She was well-versed enough in explosions to know one when she saw one. The figure was running closer now, and Ruby saw the black hair of Cinder Fall, but this time without the crazed look on her, the same look she had when taking on Ozpin.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She was saying as she got closer. "I thought you were a Grimm. I didn't hurt you?" She asked. Her voice was high and nonthreatening, as if she was really regretful.

If Ruby hadn't already known that she was a bad person, she might have been taken in. But, well...fire Semblance, which explains how she burned the inside of her arena, almost killed Amber and would have if it wasn't for Uncle Qrow, cast her voice around while maintaining defeatist tones...

Wow. She was really bad at this whole 'acting good' thing wasn't she?

Her eyes narrowed. "It took you this long to figure it out. I think I'm doing good," Cinder shrugged. Ruby glanced around. Had she said that aloud? She must have. "Put the puppy down. I don't care if he dies or not, but steam hurts more than fire," she said, dropping the tone instantly.

Ruby took a step back, before she gently put Zwei down on the ground. She tilted her head towards the food hall. "Go," Ruby said. "I'll handle it here."

Zwei barked at her, before he let out a sad little yip and ran off to the side. Cinder watched him go for a moment, satisfied that he wasn't going to come around. "Good. You know when to quit," she started to say, before she suddenly had to make a glass shield to stop the instant blow of Crescent Rose on her. If she had been just a half or quarter second slower, Ruby would have had her.

As it was, the scythe blade had still nicked her. "I gave you a chance," Cinder said, scowling. "But I guess I'll just take it. I was going to try to make it painless. But if you insist..." She said, reaching back with one arm.

Ruby stepped back, and stayed silent. Cinder's arm was barely out of reach, and Ruby could see the small black tendrils that reminded her strongly of Grimm. It reached out to her, reached out to her mind, trying to grab and drag at her soul. Crescent Rose was better at mid-range melee, and unfortunately Cinder was very, very good at close-range melee as Ruby learned. Fire surged out from her at every opportunity, glass shards popping up all over the ground. She burst into her Semblance to try and take a step back.

No matter how Ruby moved, she felt her aura take another dive. She deflected and moved as best she could. Honestly, it would have taken a fresh Pyrrha to be able to dodge some of the strikes, simply because she covered so many angles. Swords and arrows all made of glass and fire. Ruby burst into her Semblance whenever she needed to get more than a second away, only to find Cinder had already beaten her there.

It didn't matter where Ruby moved to, whether it be out of the way or less in the way, Cinder was already there. She was quiet as a snake now, only her visible eye glaring as to where Ruby was.

Ruby noted that the eye was on fire. Fire seemed to be well attuned to her, if anything. She was controlling it far better than Ruby could control any of the Maiden's elements, bar maybe wind, but wind and fire was generally just as destructive as bathroom and fire.

"Out of the way!" Ruby heard someone's voice shout behind her. Ruby burst into her Semblance straight up just as a line of white glyphs carved themselves on the air beneath her, and Ruby got a first hand sight of Winter fighting Cinder.

The white haired woman moved insanely quickly, each strike of her...it was a cutlass, wasn't it? A short curved sword, guarded handle, folded metal at least seven or eight times with good quality steel, definitely an Atlas weapon.

Also definitely a cutlass. Maybe. She'd have to ask, assuming she lived to ask. But that was a negative thought, and not one she wanted to have.

It was weird though; Ruby wasn't afraid. She wasn't scared of Cinder. Cinder was strong, overwhelmingly so. She fought Ozpin to a standstill. But Ruby wasn't afraid of her. She wasn't afraid of the Grimm either, having been able to kill hundreds of them.

Maybe that was it? She'd fought Mercury, and she fought others who were just as quick and powerful. Cinder was just...another one in the books.

She fired Crescent Rose up, slamming the blade down onto the glass shield that raised itself barely in time. The cutlass strikes bounced off of it, and Ruby saw a large ursa made of white take its place behind Cinder.

The woman barely noticed, casually aiming a spear made of fire towards its head, ending its short lived life. "Ruby. You should leave," Winter said without hesitation.

"I should have left ages ago. Did Zwei get you?" Ruby asked. There was a familiar sound hitting her ears, the sound of shotguns. Someone did get the message though, Ruby knew. If Zwei didn't get to Winter, then he did find someone else just as valuable...

"Zwei?" Cinder asked, her eyes narrowing. The question was repeated from Winter, who seemed to be struggling to figure it out.

Winter figured it out at the same time Cinder did, when Yang came from out of left field, a right hook barreling into Cinder's head. "Get away from my sister!" She shouted, her hair on fire. Cinder was knocked away into another of the broken down stands. Ruby tried to remember what it was, it was some kind of cold food stand. Sushi, maybe? Some kind of fish stand. Blake would be sad.

Not that she seemed all that sad as she popped out of the shadows to slam Cinder down into the ground. There was a look of ferocity in her golden eyes that made Ruby wonder just why.

Cinder rolled onto the ground, quickly pushing herself up. Her aura sparked, a dark blood red that Ruby had never seen before, even with Ozpin. Was this a different type of aura, or was she honestly just never hit against Ozpin!? No, he'd definitely hit but her aura hadn't ever flared. Which meant...could the Long Memory cut through aura? It was about the only explanation that made sense to her.

"Alright. I guess I get to kill more than one," Cinder said softly, glass swords appearing in her hands. She flipped her hair back, the eye on fire taking center stage. "I didn't want to, but if you're making me I guess I'll oblige," Cinder said, launching herself forwards straight towards Ruby.

Winter's cutlass took on one of the blades, trying to deflect it. Ruby knocked the other away with the blunt side of Crescent Rose, before she felt the flames start. A burst of flame emanated from where she'd attacked from, and Ruby jumped back just as Winter had.

But Winter stared at her cut in half blade. Steel melted at nearly twenty five hundred degrees. But yet, she wasn't on fire just from Cinder swinging the swords around...unless she was using it as a flash forge.

In other words, it exhausted her greatly to get temperatures that high that she could only do it for a second. A second was long enough to cut a sword, but to set things on fire? No, she would have needed to keep it that hot for longer than that.

Winter growled, using the same point that had melted down to rush at the black haired girl. Wind came out of nowhere, blowing her back, and Ruby felt her own eye catch.

"Sorry it took us so long, Rubes! Zwei got lost!" Yang said as she stepped up next to her. Cinder and Winter traded blows quicker and quicker, but it was obvious that Cinder was far more experienced with her blades, not to mention that she could randomly crystallize arrows and send them flying at her opponent. And Winter had a much shortened sword on her end, missing obvious strikes that would have hit had she a full blade.

"Least you're here now!" Ruby said as she bolted on, using the dull edge of Crescent Rose to pull Winter back from a glass knife to the gut. She used the momentum to slide under Cinder, trying to trip her at the same time as slicing upwards.

Cinder attempted to crunch down on her shins with her own boot rather than try to be tripped up, with a glass knife deflecting the scythe. Blake came in a moment later with her own strikes, an aura-filled array of devastation mirrored by Yang on the other side. Cinder's arms were moving as quick as they could, but just as Ruby could deflect with the wind, so could Cinder.

A sphere of fire came from her, forcing everyone to make a jump back. "So this is how Beacon ends. Rather than trying to fight off the Grimm, you fight off another Huntress, better than you all," Cinder commented. She gave a knowing glance towards the wall of Grimm, now having landed on the side of the Forever Fall Forest, marching their way towards Beacon grounds proper.

Ruby could already hear some small shouts from the Hunters over there, working their way to ending the incursion. "They can handle it," Winter said. "But you're no Huntress."

Cinder's eye widened in maddened glee. "And yet...I'm far more of a Hunter than any of you are. Not even you, Winter Schnee, can keep up against me. And I am only going to get so much stronger. Once...you...die," she said softly, enunciating each word as she stared at Ruby.

With one final word, she ran ahead, the glass swords made of fire making one more appearance. Ruby moved to deflect it, instinctively realizing at the last second that it was a bad, bad idea.

Crescent Rose's head was raised, only to fall onto the ground a moment later, its shaft still held up. Ruby felt her heart break. "A baby without her blade!" Cinder taunted, jumping back. A small smokescreen filled the air around her, a combination of wind and fire on the grass.

Instantly Ruby made a small breath of wind to give them fresh air, but Cinder was already gone.

Crescent Rose was gone. Crescent Rose was gone.

Crescent Rose was gone.

She wasn't sure who screamed, really, but all she knew as her eye burned with blazing power, that Cinder Fall had to die.

Crescent Rose has had a really bad run of it so far, hasn't she?

Until Next Time!