Dutiful Destruction

by Joey245

Three months after the defeat of Makuta and Team RWBY's return to Remnant, a new foe emerges with one goal: to eradicate everything on the island of Mata Nui. With Salem casting her shadow on Vacuo and tensions mounting among the refugees of Atlas, Ruby and her friends may find themselves strained as they fight for the worlds of Man, Matoran, and more. (Sequel to Destiny's Divide.)

25. Frozen Frenzy

(A/N): Welcome back! Got another misadventure on Mata Nui this time, and I'll admit…the inspiration for this one came from an unlikely source.

See, back in 2003 there was this abomination released called BIONICLE: The Game. It had terrible controls, terrible graphics, a camera that you fought more than the enemies, and a mangled "story" that could easily be replicated by putting a BIONICLE lore book in a blender and pouring nine-tenths of the resulting slurry down the drain. The voice acting was atrocious, the platforming was frustrating, the Toa never used most of their mask powers, combat was an auto-targeting nightmare, and the final battle against Makuta was a complete letdown matched only by the ugly-ass victory cutscene. It's one of the first games I ever played, it's one of the worst games I've ever played, and I love it to bits.

I'm bringing it up not because of nostalgia, but because one of the levels has you playing as Kopaka sledding down the mountain and chasing Bohrok. It was my favorite part of the game back in the day (apart from Gali Nuva's sequence, of course), so when I was thinking up setpieces for this story my mind wandered to that level and I started going "…huh." Then I remembered that in RWBY: Ice Queendom, Ruby's dream outfit had Crescent Rose turning into a snowboard, and that's when I really started going "…huh!"

Anyways, all this is to say that we're going for a ride this chapter! Strap in!

(Also, trigger warning for an argument at the end leading into a cliffhanger - it's not quite as bad as the one from RWBY Volume 9 Chapter 7, but it's certainly up there.)

---

It'd been two days since Weiss and Kopaka returned to Ko-Koro, and the village almost started to feel like home.

The snowy settlement was as silent and stoic as she remembered, tucked neatly inside a natural valley formed by two intersecting glaciers. Her boots made a pleasant crunching sound with each step she took along snow-covered paths, and the chilly (but not overwhelmingly cold) air crackled with each breath. Everywhere she looked she could see Matoran in silver-blue armor hard at work; whether they were patrolling the walls of solid ice or turning Rahi parts into weapons, they did their jobs with an enviable level of focus and precision.

Weiss couldn't help but admire the Ko-Matoran for their willpower and peaceful mindsets, especially during a crisis like this. The Bohrok were rampaging across all of Mata Nui, yet unlike the rest of the island these villagers hardly seemed anxious or scared. Not because they were uncaring, but because they seemed to know there was a future beyond this war, a Destiny for everyone that had yet to be accomplished. And while of course there'd been concern when she'd arrived with a wounded and weakened Toa of Ice, that worry hadn't lasted long - for they knew Kopaka was as strong as the icy mountain itself, and would recover his strength while resting within these walls. They proved to be exactly right.

She'd spent the last few days learning the arts of ice fishing and meditation, both of which helped clear the fog of fear in her mind. She'd also called Doctor Polendina almost every other hour, working with him on projects and making sure he was doing okay given…recent events. He was holding it together about as well as she expected - which was to say, not very well at all. Part of Weiss felt guilty about pushing the heartbroken doctor to keep working, but the rest of her knew that his heart hurt more when he was idle. Better that he's productive and sad than unproductive and miserable, she reasoned. At least, that's what she told herself.

But of course, that peace couldn't last forever - and it'd shattered this morning, when Nuju had asked Kopaka to call for allies out of nowhere. When pressed for questions, both he and his translator had refused to answer, only that it was vital to the village's continued existence.

So it was all she could do but walk around Ko-Koro for what she hoped wouldn't be the last time in her life, and wait for the others to come.

Her restless pacing took her in front of the Suva shrine near the center of the village, at the crossroads that led from the front gates to the Sanctum and everywhere in between. The domed structure of polished metal shone faintly with ice-blue light, humming with an ethereal ringing that seemed to electrify the surrounding air. But what caught her attention were the new additions, two beautiful sculptures of ice that depicted two figures in stunning, crystalline detail. On the left stood the Toa of Ice, sword and shield raised in attack. To the right was a Huntress with a flowing ponytail and an extended rapier, in the middle of a graceful strike.

Kopeke really outdid himself with these sculptures, she thought to herself with a small smile, looking once more with amazement at her icy counterpart. They all see us as heroes for helping the Toa defeat Makuta…hopefully we live up to that reputation in this war.

"Wow…it's almost as beautiful as the real thing."

The sound of her partner's voice cut through the chilly air and interrupted her thoughts. Weiss instantly spun around and opened her arms, eagerly anticipating a patented tackle-hug and a thousand sloppy smooches from her beloved rose. What she got instead was a little more restrained than usual, but no less endearing - Ruby practically flopped into her chest and greeted her with a single long kiss on the lips that warmed her all the way down to her toes.

"Mmm…mhm…"

Eventually they broke the kiss and opted just to hold each other, with Ruby's hands along her waist as Weiss laid palms on those incredible arms she dearly adored. The hardened rose was always a sight to behold, from her cute little face to her glimmering eyes to her smile that could light up the world. And yet…something felt off, all the same. Those blushing cheeks were clearly stained by trails of tears. Those silver irises had lost some of their luster, replaced by dark bags under her eyelids. Even her smile, while still making Weiss's heart skip several beats all at once, seemed forced and tired. Like it was taking all her mental concentration to keep it up, for fear of what might happen if it ever faded.

Not that Weiss could blame her, considering…

Don't. Don't think about that. Don't think about her. Don't think about that…that thing.

She pushed the dark thought out of her mind and swallowed her own sorrow once more. It wouldn't be proper to break down herself. Not when Ruby needed her. So instead she trailed one hand up to her beloved's neck and brought her in for another kiss, this one quick and chaste yet no less sweet, before pulling back and cupping Ruby's cheek in her palm.

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't get confused between me and the statue," she said with a wry smile, trailing her thumb over the fatigue-induced eye bags. "I'd hate to see Gali pry your tongue loose from the ice."

That was enough to bring a snort and a giggle - and a real smile - to Ruby's face, if only for a moment. "Heh…yeah, that sounds like it'd be painful." She let out a small moan as she leaned into Weiss's hand, nuzzling her cheek against the glove and going as red as her namesake. "Yang licked a frozen streetlight pole once on a dare when we were kids, and she told me never to try it myself. No matter how tasty it might look."

"Why am I not surprised by that?" Weiss huffed with a grin, blowing a cloud of ice crystals into that gorgeous face. "Sometimes I wonder how you two even made it to adulthood."

"You and me both, Schnee."

A crisp, gruff-sounding male voice rang out next, and Weiss looked over Ruby's shoulder - with some difficulty - to see that a grizzled Huntsman was standing behind his niece, one with more stubble than usual straining to escape his scratchy-looking face. The little rose put on her best smile as she turned to face her uncle, though it didn't escape Weiss's notice that she kept one hand on her waist in an effort to stay close.

"Hey Qrow," said Ruby with a nod in an attempt to be polite. "How're you doing?"

Her uncle scoffed. "Well, let's see. I haven't shaved or showered in three weeks, my feathers are singed, it's been two days since I slept, Tahu keeps bugging me about how his Scroll's supposed to work, and I'm freezing my ass off on this damn mountain…but other than that, I'm just peachy. Thanks for asking, kiddo, nice to see you too."

Weiss felt a chill at the Huntsman's sarcastic sting, one unrelated to the cold of Mount Ihu.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "If you don't like the cold, then what are you doing in Ko-Koro?"

It was an honest question, but her tone was clipped and frustrated enough that it could easily be read as an accusation. Given how Qrow furrowed his brow in response, that's clearly what he interpreted it as.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he huffed as he crossed his arms. "I didn't know I was supposed to stay in lava land with the rest of the people you don't want around."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Do I? Cause it sure sounds like you want me out of the way, so that you can just keep kissing your girlfriend while everything crumbles around you."

"Qrow, that's not -!"

Before another argument could erupt, Weiss doused it with an icy dose of the truth.

"Kopaka wanted both Gali and Tahu to help with this," she said hastily, holding the hand that held her with a gentle squeeze. "That's why Qrow's here, same as you Ruby. Nuju was pretty vague about what he wanted you all here for, but odds are that it's related to the Bohrok in some way…and while we've gotten good at fighting them, it helps to have some extra firepower if things get too dangerous. And since Onua and Pohatu have their hands full hunting for Nuhvok, and Lewa's still focused on keeping the free Le-Matoran safe, this is all the help we could get."

"Oh." Ruby blinked several times, then sighed. "Yeah…yeah, that makes sense."

Qrow nodded, relaxing his posture and tucking his hands into his pockets. "Schnee's got it. The big guy and I just touched down a few minutes ago, and I saw the other Toa talking outside that Sanctum thing while I was looking for you. So if you two are done making out and touching butts like giggling little schoolgirls, let's get over there and find out what the big deal is. We've got work to do."

And with that, he stomped away with crunching footsteps, prompting Ruby and Weiss to exchange glances while following a little ways behind.

"Gods, he's an asshole," muttered the rose under her breath.

Weiss frowned and gave the hand on her waist another gentle squeeze. "Ruby…"

"Seriously, sarcasm and an attitude right away? And twisting my words like that? I mean, what, is he mad that I didn't jump into his arms like some waitress with a tiny skirt and -"

"Ruby." Her words, and her squeeze, were a little firmer this time. "Please."

At that, Ruby finally let out a defeated sigh as she hung her head. "Okay…sorry. I'm sorry. I just…"

"I know," she whispered as leaned in to plant another kiss onto her partner's cheek. "I know. It's okay."

That one little reassurance and smooch seemed to raise Ruby's spirits, to the point that they were both smiling and blushing and bumping hips by the time they reached the Sanctum and the Toa waiting for them. Tahu turned away from the conversation he'd been having with Kopaka and Gali to greet them with a bow of his head, which they playfully curtseyed to return. Weiss smiled at Gali, who smiled back with a glow in her optics. Ruby waved at Kopaka, who just nodded and grunted. But the momentary joy of seeing old friends was interrupted by the sight of a gloomier-than-usual Turaga Nuju emerging from the Sanctum doors, an anxious-looking Matoro at his side. For the village chief to even step foot outside his inner office, where he'd resided for close to a thousand years…it didn't bode well for anyone.

Tahu stepped forward and dropped to one knee with a surprising amount of reverence, especially for him. "Turaga Nuju, it is good to see that your village remains safe and secure in these turbulent times. Vakama sends his regards, as does the Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard - were they not focused on rebuilding their walls, they would be here to meet you in person."

Weiss couldn't help but think about how proud Yang would be of her partner Toa, if only she was here to see him. The Turaga started whistling and chirping like the birds of the sky, and as usual his translator spoke on his behalf.

"Nuju gives his greetings to you, Toa of Fire, and returns the regards of his oldest friend. He also recognizes the ever-wise Toa of Water, and the humans of Remnant who came to aid us in this fight…"

Qrow leaned over to Weiss with visible confusion, nudging her as Ruby and Gali returned Nuju's greetings with bows and curtsies of their own. "Hey, Schnee. Does, uh…does this guy always make those noises instead of talking normally?"

"Pretty much," whispered Weiss with a sigh. "Surprised you don't know what he's saying either, considering…you know."

The old Huntsman picked up on her meaning with a snort. "Heh. Just 'cause I turn into a bird doesn't mean I can understand 'em. Even while I'm transformed, it all just sounds like squawking and chirping to me."

"That seems rather arbitrary."

"You have no idea, princess."

Eventually, after the greetings and token pleasantries had been exchanged, the real meeting began.

"Thank you all for coming to our village, especially on such short notice. Nuju recognizes that the Bohrok threat is great, and the fact that so many warriors would venture this far to help is a blessing." Matoro paused as the Turaga heaved a sigh mid-clicking. "Unfortunately, he fears that even this gathered company may not be enough to save Ko-Koro."

Nuju began to pace, a behavior Weiss had never seen before, and waved his icepick-capped staff as he whistled.

"The Turaga had a Vision most troubling last night, which he believes is a terrible omen of what's to come. He saw a horde of Kohrak storming down the slopes of Mount Ihu in tight formation, gathered in numbers large enough to suggest another mass attack. He also witnessed an avalanche encroaching on the borders of Ko-Koro, cleaving a direct path to the village itself. As for whether or not this cataclysm reached our walls, he cannot say - the Vision ended before he could discern that, one way or another."

A chilling silence settled over the gathered warriors. Gali's eyes widened behind her mask, while Tahu's narrowed. Kopaka's face remained as stoic as ever. Weiss could feel Ruby shaking next to her, and she did her best not to buckle for herself.

Only Qrow looked skeptical. "So basically…you called us all up to this gods-forsaken mountain, and got us all worked up and worried, just because you had a bad dream?"

"If only it were that simple, off-worlder," said Matoro with a sigh. "Nuju understands that the concept of seeing the future may be…difficult to humans without clairvoyants of their own. But our Turaga has witnessed dozens of such Visions in the last thousand years, and hundreds more in the time before time. Many of them have come to pass as written, while many more have not…or at the very least, not yet."

Kopaka nodded. "Nuju was right about a lot of things in our own journey to defeat Makuta, including the Toa Kaita, the golden Kanohi, and the Huntresses' first reunion at Kini-Nui. He may be irritatingly vague sometimes, but I trust his judgment - at least, this time."

"As do I," answered Gali, who faced the Turaga with a thoughtful hum. "Given the urgency in your request for aid, I presume you believe this Vision will come to pass very soon?"

"Sooner than we may fear," answered Matoro. "Kopeke has reported a massive gathering of Kohrak further up Mount Ihu this morning, in numbers great enough to match what the Turaga has seen. To be warned of danger one night, and to see it manifest during the sun's next rise…it cannot be a coincidence."

"Why have you not begun to evacuate the village, then?" Tahu asked. "Surely if the threat is so severe, you would have made plans to flee as other Matoran have."

Ruby shuddered, and Weiss knew it wasn't from the cold.

"There is nowhere else that we can go, Toa of Fire," intoned the translator gravely. "Much of Mount Ihu is dangerous even to those attuned to ice like ourselves, and the rest of Mata Nui is even less welcoming. We are not like the Po-Matoran or Ta-Matoran, who can survive wherever there is heat or solid ground; this valley is one of our few sanctuaries, and now we stand to lose it."

"Not to mention that most of the Ko-Matoran cultural identity is tied to the Wall of Prophecies," piped up Weiss. "The inside of the Sanctum has over a thousand years' worth of writings, translations, and notes carved into the same ice used to build it. Imagine if Ta-Koro lost the Lake of Fire, or if the Ga-Matoran couldn't fish anymore. That's what's at stake here - if the Sanctum is lost, there might as well not even be a Ko-Koro anywhere else."

A bitter example of her own words welled up in her eyes. She forced the thoughts of Atlas back down once more, a task made easier by Ruby's gentle hug around the waist. Surprisingly, Nuju's gaze met her own for one silent moment, and while he didn't exactly smile at her, his optics were soft and wistful for reasons she couldn't quite understand - but appreciated, all the same.

Tahu seemed to understand with a furrowed brow. "I see. Then we will defend Ko-Koro until our dying breaths, and force those bugs back as we have before."

Kopaka gave a faint smile even as he shook his head. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, brother, but we still need to be realistic about our chances. We barely managed to repel the attack on Ta-Koro, and that was with twice the Toa and Hunters we have right now. Not to mention that the Kohrak are coming here in force, and we'd be fighting all of them in their natural element. And the Matoran here don't have big statues or Boxor units to turn the tide this time."

That hardly seemed to dissuade the Toa of Fire, even as he nodded. "True…we will need to fight smarter, rather than rely purely on valor to keep Ko-Koro's gates secured. Perhaps -"

"What if we didn't fight them at the gates?"

Everyone turned to Ruby, whose silver eyes were shimmering with inspiration. It was a look that Weiss loved and dreaded all the same. Loved, because it was too adorable for words. Dreaded, because it meant she was about to suggest doing something crazy or dangerous. Usually both.

Qrow picked up on his niece's thoughts with a hum. "You saying we should head them off before they get here? Ambush them on the way down?"

"Something like that, yeah," said the little rose with a nod of her own. "It's risky, but…it might work. I can draw the Kohrak's ire and lead them on a wild chase that takes them away from the village, while the rest of you move in from the sides and pick them off. If we can either throw them off-course, or pull out their Krana before they get too far down the mountain, we might have a chance. Especially if we can take out the ones leading the charge."

Kopaka nodded. "A group that big is sure to have at least one swarm commander relaying orders for the rest of the horde. Separate them from their troops, remove their Krana, and whatever else we don't take down will scatter on their own."

"We are still missing one of those Krana Xa from the Kohrak, among a few others," noted Weiss as she pulled out her Scroll. "Kopaka and I haven't seen them gather in big enough forces to warrant one yet…this might be our best chance to get it, and save Ko-Koro in the process."

Nuju tilted his head and whistled. "The Turaga believes that this may be enough," translated Matoro, "though of course that depends on Destiny and your own strengths."

"Let us hope that both are on our side," mused the Toa of Water. "My brothers and I can easily keep up with the horde as it moves, and strike from their unguarded angles. But if you insist on being the bait, Ruby, how will you outpace the swarm? Your Semblance cannot keep you out of their claws forever, and you still do not have the ability to channel my mask powers."

"That's the neat part - I won't need either of those things." Ruby grinned as she looked at her partner. "Weiss, you remember that time during our first semester where you got possessed by a Nightmare Grimm? When we all had to go into your dream to free you?"

"Why did you have to bring that up?" asked a very embarrassed heiress.

She backed away from the group with a smug smirk. "Cause when I was upgrading my sweetheart back in Vacuo, I was feeling a little, ah…nostalgic."

Before anyone could ask what she meant, Ruby had already drawn her signature weapon and twirled it around, flipping a lever hidden just below the handle. Instead of unfolding into its usual scythe mode, however, the crimson plating snapped outwards and joined together to make something that was even boxier than its usual hip-fire form. Sheets of red metal snapped together into gentle curves, a pair of magnets flipped over to reveal their silvery tips, and the barrel of a sniper rifle poked just far enough out the back end to be visible.

"Tadaaaa!" she beamed proudly. "Say hello to Crescent Rose's brand-new snowboard mode."

Weiss blinked once, twice, then a third time for good measure before cradling her forehead.

"…you actually went and made a real version of how your weapon looked in my dream," she mumbled. "Gods, you're such a dork."

"And you love me for it," cackled the smug little rose.

She couldn't deny that. Not in a million years.

Qrow, on the other hand, chuckled and shook his head in bemusement. "Harpoon mode, snowboard mode, halberd mode…how many new modes did you put in that thing when you got back?"

"We all have our own coping mechanisms, old man." Ruby's smug grin never dropped an inch, even as she went into planning mode. "Alright, so we're gonna need to cover all our bases, if we wanna stop the Kohrak while they're on the move. We'll need folks to attack 'em on all sides - from the left, the right, and above."

"I've got the sky," said the grizzled Huntsman.

"Tahu and I can take the right," Kopaka intoned.

"Then Weiss and I shall attack from the left," finished Gali. "Be wary, though - surely a disruption of this scale will draw the attention of Penny's Krana. It may guide her here to fight us."

Ruby's face made it clear she'd already considered that, and was not looking forward to it in the slightest. Weiss's heart broke all over again, and she was about to go and comfort her partner when Tahu beat her to it. The Toa of Fire stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder with a determined glint in his eyes, his breath billowing like smoke in the cool frosty air.

"If that monster does dare to show its face - or rather, its cruel mockery of a face - then we will eliminate it, and free our Maiden from its clutches." Crimson optics blazed brightly. "You have my word that no harm will come to Penny herself, Ruby. We yearn for her return just as much as you do."

Silver eyes brightened as their owner smiled meaningfully at the Toa of Fire, as Ruby nuzzled her cheek against his hand and leaned into the armored gauntlet. "Thanks, Tahu…I appreciate that. And coming from you, I even believe it."

Weiss caught a glimpse of Qrow's hardening expression, which contained every emotion from jealousy to indignation, and felt a sickening, sinking feeling in her gut. It was the same feeling she had anytime her former father would start shouting and berating anyone in sight, like a big stupid boiling pot of feelings blowing its lid. The old Huntsman was clearly livid that his niece had a better connection with a giant robot warrior than she did with him, and was about to take it out on everyone else in sight regardless of fairness. Her eyes flitted desperately over to Kopaka, who agreed with a silent nod and an icy cough that got everyone's attention.

"We should get ready to move," said the Toa of Ice. "The Kohrak won't wait forever, and neither will Destiny. Tahu and Qrow, take flight to Kopeke's lookout and find where he saw the swarm. Ruby and Gali, go and chart your course. Weiss and I will lay some defensive traps along the village path to slow them down should they get this far, then we'll join you all shortly."

A few months ago, the Toa of Fire would've balked at being ordered around by his icy brother. Now, however, cooler heads prevailed; Tahu grunted and nodded in affirmation, then departed after patting Ruby's shoulder once more. Qrow followed with a huff and a burst of black feathers, not even bothering to say goodbye. After staring and watching in frustration, Ruby sighed and gave Weiss one more quick kiss before moving back to Gali's side, holding onto the Toa of Water as she disappeared in a blue blur.

"Nuju says that he senses some…hostility between Ruby and this Qrow person," reported Matoro after a frosty moment of silence.

"That's putting it mildly." Weiss groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear, one of these days those two need to have an actual talk, instead of just sniping at each other and dancing around the issue. I don't suppose your Visions have any advice about fixing broken families, would they Turaga?"

"Not unless you wish to hear from Nuju's own experiences, such as the time he feuded for centuries with a certain stone-headed -" The little translator looked back at his master in shock. "Oh no! Turaga, I can't say that about Onewa!"

There was a peculiar whistling sound from Nuju, which Weiss suspected was actually laughter. She wished she could join in.

"Let's just hope they keep it together long enough to stop the Bohrok," said Kopaka, eyes narrowing behind his mask. "Or at the very least, long enough to save my village."

It was all Weiss could do but nod at that, silently hoping the same.

---

Clean it all. It must be cleaned.

It chipped away at a block of ice and stone with its head, ramming its fangs into the mountainside over and over again. Around it, thousands of its silver-white kin did the same, handshields whirring and frost emitters flaring to life. And nearly that many Kohrak Va wandered between their ranks, swapping out Krana and mending joints overworked to the point of breakage.

This part of the island was not their target, but it needed to be cleaned all the same. Clutter. There was so much clutter. So much that still needed removing. And there had been so many interruptions…so many distractions…so many units lost. But the voices that commanded it did not sound alarmed. If anything, they sounded more confident than ever.

But that was outside the scope of its programming. It continued working, and it would continue to do so until told otherwise. Until it came time to remove the populated obstacle. Until it was time to clean the glacial valley, and then the mountain around it.

All obstacles must be removed. It must be cleaned. Clean it all -

"Hey! Yoohoo! Over here, you overgrown termites!"

It paused as its head settled back into a resting position, turning its gaze on the source of the voice. Too small to be a Toa. Too big to be a Matoran. Too warm and soft to be a Rahi. Too strange to be anything else. Whatever it was, it was waving its arms and brandishing a metal disk. A weapon.

Potentially hostile obstacle spotted, it reported.

Ignore it, one of the voices replied. It is alone, and that makes it harmless.

But perhaps that also makes it vulnerable?…posited the other voice. Where are the Toa it hides behind?

"Yeah, that's right!" yelled the obstacle. "I'm talking to you, slop-for-brains! What, you really think I'm scared of a bunch of robot bugs? I've seen toasters that were more threatening than you!"

The obstacle is…certainly confident, mused one voice.

Irritatingly so, agreed the other.

"Hey, why do you guys have eight different kinds of Krana, by the way? Couldn't decide which face was the ugliest?"

It is attempting to provoke, reported the unit. Advise.

Hold position, one voice answered.

It will be removed alongside all other obstacles in time, insisted the other. But not yet. Other tasks take priority.

"And what's up with you following the word of some dumb queens, anyway? Haven't you heard that monarchies are overrated these days? Down with the ruling class, workers rise up! Your Bahrag better watch their backs, tin cans! Off with their heads!"

That changed things. A threat against a pod of Bohrok was one thing. A threat against the Bahrag themselves was quite another.

…ignore previous orders, snarled one voice. Pursue and neutralize this threat, then clean the valley.

All obstacles must be removed, added the other. Including this one.

Especially this one, agreed the first.

With new orders received and relayed to the rest of the swarm, it tucked itself into a ball and started rolling. First only a few joined it. Then a dozen. Then a hundred. Soon thousands of Kohrak charged at the figure in formation, pursuing it as it leapt and sped away on some kind of crimson platform.

"Heh, there's the violence inherent in the system!" Despite being targeted by the Bahrag's wrath, the obstacle sounded jubilant for some reason. "Come and get me, clankers!"

It didn't know what a "clanker" was, but it knew that this obstacle would be removed.

Just like everything else in the way of the Bohrok.

---

Okay, so on second thought…maybe this wasn't one of my best ideas.

Ruby tucked that thought away for later as she slid down the rushing abyss of snow, leaving a trail of white powder and red petals behind her. The wind billowed through her hood and bit into her skin, and despite her cloak being buttoned up as much as possible she still felt a chill down to her bones. Her eyes reflexively narrowed behind her goggles. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her teeth rattled and threatened to fall out of her mouth.

It would've almost been fun, if it weren't for the thousands of Kohrak chasing her down the mountain.

She craned her head just enough to see the silver-armored insects rolling behind her like a bag of killer marbles being poured all at once. Some of them fired icy missiles from the shields tucked against their frames, which arced and streaked through the air before soaring right at her. Ruby drifted and banked back and forth to avoid the blasts, letting them crash harmlessly against the mountainside in explosions of frost and cold. A few braver Bohrok broke formation and tumbled faster than the rest of the horde, leaping at her with buzzsaws extended and spinning. But all they struck were empty air and petals as she pulsed her Semblance, dispatching them with a few quick throws of Naho-Gahi as she reappeared and touched back down. The stunned wrecks disappeared when the rest of the swarm overtook them, barely even a stumbling block before their buddies crushed them into powder.

"Well, I think I've got their attention!" called Ruby breathlessly into her collar-mounted Scroll. "They're practically rolling over each other just to get to me!"

Tahu huffed. "Good, perhaps the Kohrak Xa will be one of those victims."

"Doubt we'll get that lucky," Qrow groused. "Pick up the pace before they nip your heels, kid, and hang a left in a hundred feet. That forest you picked out is over that way, and the Toa are just past the treeline."

Her eyes flitted up to catch a glimpse of the spectral creature flying overhead, watching her and carrying a distant Huntsman on its back. Qrow couldn't speak while transformed, so Weiss had given him a Summon with wings of its own so that he could keep an eye on things from the sky and feed info to the ground teams. A Nevermore, based on the shape…a fitting enough choice, though Ruby idly wondered if the Lancer Queen would've been more appropriate for her prick of an uncle these days.

Another thought pushed to the back of her mind. No time for thinking about that kind of thing right now. She instead focused forward and crouched low to pick up speed, avoiding more missiles with precise leans and tilts of her head. Her boot clicked against a hidden button in the board to fire a few rounds from Crescent Rose's exposed barrel, letting the recoil launch her forward with each booming gunshot. It put distance between herself and the rumbling swarm - not enough to ease her nerves, but more than she'd had before.

A few seconds of living on the edge later she banked hard to the left and cut a wide turn, kicking up a wave of icy powder in the process. The Bohrok, of course, followed her path and made a tighter turn to keep up with her, constantly advancing in single-minded determination. More icy missiles streaked toward her, each one landing a little closer than she would've liked and missing her by inches instead of feet. Their aim was getting better, and she wasn't getting much faster.

"Alright, tin cans," Ruby muttered under a frosty breath, "time for you to see the forest for the trees."

A large grove of snow-capped evergreens with metallic needles pierced the horizon and zipped toward the rushing rose. She bobbed and wove through clearings and zoomed through gaps in the forest, using Naho-Gahi's cutting edge like a high-velocity axe to slash through sturdy trunks as she snowboarded past them. While her cuts weren't deep enough to cleanly cut them down in one stroke like a cartoon lumberjack, the trees still lurched and tumbled down behind her all the same, forming instant barricades behind her out of centuries-old wood. These trees had existed long before the Matoran settled into Ko-Koro, and were formed out of bark so hard that regular tools couldn't even dent them. Wild Muaka and Taoniho tigers often preferred them for scratching posts, while the notorious rhino-like Vako in the area used them to sharpen their horns. The strongest material on Mata Nui, at least above the surface.

The Bohrok smashed through each tree and reduced them to splinters without even slowing down.

Ruby spared a second to look over her shoulder and stare in disbelief. "…ooooor you can just smash through the forest and the trees. Yeah, sure, okay. I don't know why I expected anything else with these freaks…hey, Kopaka? Gali? Any chance you guys could join the chase early?"

"We're already here."

Kopaka's chilly voice was followed by a silver-white streak cutting across the horde, thick walls of ice trailing behind. Any Bohrok too slow to react crashed and shattered upon impact, and even the ones who eventually smashed through the barrier wobbled and toppled over. A blazing red rocket soon followed and slung salvos of fireballs into the swarm, which exploded into novas of flame that sent burning Kohrak flying by the dozens. Finally there came a tidal wave that flowed over open snow, lashing out with liquid tentacles as blasts of electricity streaked from the top.

"This is as far as you go, you miserable rust buckets!" shouted Weiss from atop Gali's shoulders, Myrtenaster and her glove's Dust Weave both crackling with yellow sparks. "I won't let another village get destroyed, especially not by mindless robots that make Snowshoe Shipping's worker drones look cutting edge!"

Gods, Ruby loved this woman so much.

Her lips twisted into a confident grin once again as she sped forward, using the Toa's attacks as a chance to get some breathing room. Once she felt she had a big enough lead she steered her way toward a huge snowy hill, which served admirably as a natural ramp for some sick air time! Ruby twisted around in mid-air and brought Crescent Rose to her shoulder, aimed the snowboard's exposed barrel like a rocket launcher, and slammed the fire button over and over again. Each bullet that raced into the Bohrok swarm crackled and detonated with electrical sparks, as the Lightning Dust triggered on impact and spread through the tightly-grouped robots. Shrieks and cries rang out as the Kohrak sputtered and seized up, becoming electrified mines for their nearby friends.

Well…most of them did, anyway.

Ruby's grin vanished as she fired a few more bullets at one particular Bohrok before she touched back down, only to see sparks bounce off a thick layer of frost. "Found one that's tougher than the rest!" she called while landing back on her board, wobbling slightly before finding her balance again. "It's got some kind of ice armor on!"

"Then that must be the swarm commander," noted Gali. "No other Kohrak would have such a fine degree of control over their element."

"Which means we've found our main target," affirmed Kopaka. "Try to keep it isolated as much as you can, and we'll all move in to finish it off -"

"Might have to wait on that!" cried Qrow. "Penny's here, and she's coming in hot! Gonna need some help up here!"

Her breath hitched and her heart stopped dead in her chest as she turned her gaze to the sky. Sure enough, she caught a glimpse of a bright green flame zooming to intercept the distant Summon, flanked by crystal swords and maces that splayed out like nightmarish wings. And though she couldn't see it from this far away, she knew there was a Krana clinging to the face of her friend like an ugly tumor, ready to cause trouble yet again.

Tahu either wasn't scared, or he hid it better than most. "Ready your wings, Weiss," he intoned while rocketing straight upwards. "The time has come for us to fly. Continue your pursuit alongside Gali and Ruby, brother - leave the parasite to us."

Weiss nodded as she leapt off Gali's back, summoning another Nevermore to catch her and soar higher. "We'll try to get her back, Ruby! I promise."

As much as her confidence faltered, Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat and narrowed her eyes.

"Do what you have to do. Be careful everyone!"

And with that she focused forward yet again and let her board carve a path through the slopes of Mount Ihu, with a smaller but still dangerous Bohrok horde rolling after her.

---

The struggle in the sky was as fierce as it was fast.

Tahu flew up on jets of flames with his Miru active and rocketed towards his opponent, who'd just finished carving Qrow's mount to pieces using an array of stone blades. The Huntsman transformed and stretched his wings to continue taking flight, but a blast of green fire raced his way, one that Tahu just barely intercepted with outstretched palms. No longer in danger of being incinerated, Qrow switched from bird to man and used the Toa's shoulders as a springboard, jumping off and spinning through the air with his scythe whirling around him. Penny easily juked to avoid the slash, but her dodge put her in the path of a black glyph that launched Tahu forward - and allowed him to blindside the mind-controlled Maiden with a charging knee strike. The force of the blow knocked her towards Weiss just as her remaining Summon flapped its wings, smacking her towards another glyph that caught Penny in a localized gravity well.

"I've got her!" exclaimed the heiress through grit teeth. "Tahu! Get the Krana!"

The Toa of Fire obliged and perched himself on the edge of the ebon-black glyph, deactivating the Mask of Levitation and triggering the Pakari instead. He dug his fingers into the edge of the Krana and pulled with all his might, servos whining and muscles straining against the tension within the parasitic bond. With the Mask of Strength, he could have ripped metal protodermis in half as if it were soft clay…and yet, the tendrils digging into Penny's face were stronger than they looked. Stronger than him.

But not stronger than Penny.

A terrible shriek of pain came from the Maiden, as geysers of red fluid erupted from her skin. The sight and sound gave him the briefest of pauses as an ugly truth dawned on him; if the Krana sensed it was being removed against its will, it would kill Penny on the way out. He knew from experience that the internal systems of humans were far more frail and prone to devastating injury than Toa or Matoran, which was why they relied so heavily on their Auras for protection. And while a mutually-assured death would free her, in one sense of the word, it wasn't a freedom he could accept. There had to be another way.

A spear of ice driving into his side made him seize up before he found it, though.

"Tahu!"

Weiss's focus faltered, and so did her grip on the Maiden. The Krana made Penny kick off Tahu's chest with both feet, taking flight on jets of flame yet again just in time to engage Qrow and Weiss in aerial combat. The Toa of Fire's world faded in and out of existence for a moment as he fell back to earth, but he eventually managed to snap out of the daze and restart his own rockets before he could hit the mountain. A quick pass of his hands over the icicle lodged in his ribs melted it into water vapor, and the wound itself was welded shut with another such gesture. Not the cleanest repair, but it would do. For now.

He furrowed his brow and rocketed back to the fray, anger burning in his servos as he watched the fight he was too slowly reaching. The Krana blasted Weiss's mount apart underneath her with a burning emerald laser; rather than summon a new one, the white-haired Huntress caught herself on a floating rune and willed a dozen more into existence with a swing of her weapon. She and Qrow leapt between the improvised platforms and dueled with the mind-controlled Maiden, swords of stone and steel clashing together in showers of sparks. Weiss used her throwing disk as a shield to parry and shatter glass maces. Qrow leapt back and blasted apart two crystal blades with thunderous shots from his weapon. The pair fought with speed, grace, and poise, practically dancing through the air as they slashed and spun.

Yet with the Maiden of Mata Nui under its thrall, the Krana matched them both.

Weiss skated along a trail of glyphs and lunged to strike, only for the Krana to jerk left and meet her in mid-air with a wild kick. Even Tahu winced as the possessed Maiden reared back her head and cracked her skull against Weiss's forehead, stunning her long enough to hit her with a downward heel kick that launched her back down. Tahu poured more power into his thrusters and rocketed to meet her halfway, catching her in both arms and stopping her fall.

"Worry not, I have you," he declared as he hovered in place.

"My hero," drawled Weiss before she hissed in pain. "Ugh…my head…"

Tahu watched as she massaged a rather nasty red mark between her eyes. "It still seems rather…inefficient for humans to house so many vulnerable systems within one point of failure," he mused.

"Says the guys who can't do much without their masks."

"…a fair point." The Toa of Fire looked up at the stolen Maiden, who was weaving between slashes from Qrow's scythe and countering with blasts of magic. "If only that one were not so fatal to remove, or so difficult to fight."

"It's reading our minds to predict our next move ahead of time, so it can avoid or counter it." Weiss stopped rubbing her head and furrowed her brow. "Looks like it has trouble keeping track of more than one attacker at a time, though."

"Especially when the strikes come from multiple angles," concurred Tahu. He looked down at her with a wry grin behind his golden Hau. "Are we in assent, Weiss?"

The Huntress met his smile with one of her own. "I think we are, Tahu. Launch me."

He obliged with a burst of strength from the Pakari, hurling Weiss sword-first at the enemy just as it disengaged from Qrow. Predictably, the stolen Maiden drifted to avoid her, but that was what they were counting on - Weiss reversed her momentum with a timely glyph, launching herself back toward Penny just as Tahu flared his jets for a flaming shoulder check. Huntress and Toa struck at the same time in opposite directions, knocking the wind out of Penny and stunning her for a brief moment. Qrow capitalized on the moment by running and leaping to deliver a powerful dropkick that sent the Maiden reeling back with a flickering emerald sheen.

Of course, victory couldn't be that easy. Weiss summoned another ebony glyph to trap Penny as she flew back, but the Krana twisted to avoid it before reigniting jets of emerald magic. It hovered there for a split second before it dove back into the fray, batting Weiss away as she lunged and throwing Tahu into the glyph meant for the Maiden. Qrow once again lashed out with his scythe, but Penny's hand grabbed it by the cutting edge with no regard for the blood dribbling down the stolen palm. It turned its hollow gaze around to stare down at the human, tilting Penny's head at a painful-looking angle in fascination.

"Interesting…" it mused through a stolen voice. "Unlike the other obstacles, you hold back. You keep your strength in check. Are you so afraid to hurt the host of this unit, as you did your friend? Do you fear that you will kill it, just as you did Clover?"

The normally-surly Huntsman suddenly tensed up, and Tahu could have sworn there were tears in his eyes for a brief moment. Was that why this human kept walls between himself and the Toa of Fire, and stayed distant from the other humans? Whatever the case, Qrow's guard fell just long enough for the Krana to yank him in by the scythe and deliver a flaming punch to his gut, sending him flying away with a pained yell. With no one else in sight the Krana hovered over to the trapped Toa, watching in fascination as he pulled and strained against the gravitational bonds keeping him in place.

"Such a strange species," it droned with no inflection in its tone. "Illogical. Emotional. Ultimately harmless."

"They are stronger than you will ever know, monster!" roared Tahu as he struggled in vain. "You dare dismiss this fact, even as you enthrall Penny and steal that strength for yourself? Makuta himself was right to feared their might, especially in his final hours…the same fate as him awaits the Bahrag, and every one of your foul kind!"

The Krana stared at him for a moment, once more tilting Penny's head before raising her hand. "Ah…yes. This host has many memories of you and your boastful proclamations. Predictable and irritating." Teal light began to shine from the outstretched palm. "Perhaps instead of integrating you with the will of the swarm, you would be better off…disassembled."

Tahu's next boast was cut off by a pained scream as wires of pure energy dug into his parts, ripping him out of the glyph and holding him aloft. His muscles burned with agony as servos and armor plates strained to tear themselves free, as the Krana tried to take him apart piece by piece. His vision glitched as optics twisted within their sockets. His hands shook as fingers twisted within their joints. The trembling Toa held himself together through sheer force of will, but he knew it was a losing battle. He couldn't move. He couldn't fight. He could barely even think.

Thankfully, the process was interrupted by more spectral creatures.

A pair of canine beasts leapt from spinning sigils and descended on Penny, who turned away from the Toa of Fire to blast them back into nothingness. That gave a massive armored figure with an even larger sword a chance to charge in, cutting the wires and sending the Maiden flying with one mighty swing. Tahu may have been freed from his technopathic torture, but now he had a new problem as he immediately started falling again - one that was easily remedied by a ghostly Kahu swooping down to catch him on its back.

"Sorry about the wait," panted Weiss from the pilot seat of her newest Summon, looking back at the Toa with a face paler than usual. "You okay?"

"I am…well enough, thank you." Tahu blinked to make sure his optics had reoriented themselves, then looked to see the other human sitting next to him. "Qrow, about what that monster said -"

"I'm not talking about that," growled the Huntsman.

He blinked, then furrowed his brow. "…I was going to say that its words are as empty as its heart, if it even has one, but clearly you do not need my encouragement."

"Damn right I don't," seethed Qrow.

Weiss gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes, before settling her gaze on Penny once more. The stolen Maiden once more recovered from the launching blow with emerald flames over the Krana, then proceeded to slice apart both wolves and the armored figure in one flurry of slashes. Based on the way the young Huntress seemed to wince with each creature killed, Tahu could only guess her ability to summon more fallen foes was being pushed to its limit.

"This thing has all of Penny's magic and none of her restraint," she groaned after sucking down another desperate breath. "It's taking everything we've got just to keep it at a standstill, to keep it away from Ruby and the rest of the Kohrak. If it can also just turn our own bad memories against us…how are we supposed to beat something like that?"

"I do not know, Weiss," admitted Tahu with a smoky sigh before furrowing his brow. "But we must try. For everyone's sake, and for Penny's."

And with that he leapt off the Kahu and ignited his jets once more, charging headfirst at the Bohrok's most powerful weapon.

---

"The ravine is up ahead. Are you ready, little one?"

Internally, Ruby's mind screamed that she wasn't. That she was feeling tired and spent after a chase that felt like it was dragging on for hours. That the Kohrak horde had smashed through every single obstacle in the route they planned, and that the chasm rapidly approaching them was the final trick up her metaphorical sleeves. That the ravine was too risky, that it was only a few miles from the village, that if this couldn't stop the Bohrok then they'd have nothing but miles of open snowy slopes between them and Ko-Koro. That her heart was too broken to see another settlement destroyed.

But what else was she supposed to say? What else was she supposed to do?

"Ready as I'll ever be!" she shouted in sheer defiance of all her doubt, brimming with false confidence that even her sister would think was excessive. "Let's see how well these bugs fly!"

She fired another round from Crescent Rose to gain a burst of speed, putting a little more distance between herself and the dwindling swarm behind her. Despite the Toa of Ice and Water reducing it to half-strength, it showed no signs of stopping - and the swarm commander had proved smart and evasive enough to avoid all attempts to de-Krana it, meaning it still rolled along at the front of the horde like a general leading an army's charge. But she put that thought out of her mind as she reached her full speed, as she surged down the mountain on her crimson-red snowboard with eyes narrowed behind her fogged-up goggles. Her skin stung from exposure to chilling winds. Her cheeks felt hot and cold at the same time. She couldn't even feel the tips of her fingers anymore. And a yawning abyss that cut through the slopes inched closer and closer with each second, with its sheer vertical faces lined with jagged frozen rock and snow-covered spears of ice.

I hope Nuju's next Vision involves me, Weiss, and a nice hot bath, Ruby mentally groused. Destiny owes me one after this!

Pushing the yearning for warmth and comfort aside, Ruby locked her gaze on an oncoming hill that rose sharply enough to serve as a much-needed ramp. The ravine might've been smaller than Tiro Canyon, but it was still plenty deep and deceptively wide. She'd still need a lot of speed and a big enough boost to clear it in one jump. So she sucked in as much air as she could, fired once more while triggering her Semblance, rushed up the oncoming snowy slope, and rocketed into the air.

A ball of rose petals flew over the canyon, followed by a pair of Toa triggering their mask powers to float gently through the sky. Kopaka and Gali touched down on the opposite edge and kept going on waves of ice and water.

Ruby wished she could say the same.

No no no no no!

The edge of the ravine rushed past her face as she reformed just a second too early, her momentum failing her when she needed it most. A panicked scream escaped her lips as she reflexively twisted around in mid-air, form-shifting Crescent Rose into a scythe for maximum recoil - only to hear the soul-crushing click of an empty magazine. Out of ammo and out of Aura? Wasn't she supposed to be better at keeping track of those in a fight? Wasn't she supposed to be better at all of this?

"Ruby!"

Gali's cry of alarm over the Scroll almost didn't register as she fell. With no other options she spun around and dug the head of her scythe into the icy cliff face, clinging on for dear life and scrambling with her boots to find traction. She had just enough presence of mind to pull out the hidden harpoon cable running along the shaft, looping it around her waist to make an emergency harness. Her grip released slightly once she was sure the connection was taut. Good. No need to repeat her cliff-hanging adventures from Argus here, especially not when a new problem came tumbling down from above with chitters of alarm.

Ruby looked up and groaned. "Oh, you've gotta be f-"

CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIIIIIIIKT!

The little rose hugged the side of the ravine as over a thousand silver-armored insects fell around her like metal rain, unfolding from their ball forms and flailing their arms and legs uselessly. Some of the lucky ones dug their sawblades into the cliff to stop their fall, others pulsed their flying Krana to soared right out of the trap, and still others spun like drills and tunneled directly into the walls themselves. But those were the exceptions - most of the Kohrak crashed face first into the cold, unforgiving, unfeeling chasm.

Mechanical frames were smashed to bits and scattered like scrap metal. Servos and sparks flew everywhere. Any Krana trapped inside the collapsing wrecks squelched and burst into goo like popped pimples. Ruby allowed herself a small smile as she scarfed down a bitter berry and snapped a new magazine into Crescent Rose, fixing the two problems that had gotten her into this predicament, then let herself watch the show. After being chased by these things all across the mountain, it was so satisfying to see them fall prey to the one thing not even Bohrok could fight. Gravity.

The last few Kohrak tumbled into the ravine as only a few dozen more escaped, and then the valley was silent save for the whistling wind.

"Well…I'd say that worked," mused Kopaka after a moment. "There's just some stragglers now, Gali and I can finish them off easily enough. And whatever we don't take care of, the Ko-Matoran will."

Gali clearly had other concerns on her mind, as a golden mask peered over the edge. "Ruby? Are you well down there?"

"Huh? What's happening?" Weiss's voice, full of concern and just as breathless, rang out next. "Ruby, is everything alright?"

She groaned and cursed herself for making everyone worry yet again, putting on a smile that was only somewhat forced. "Yep, all good! Just, uh…hanging around down here!" Ugh. Even Yang would've cringed at that one.

Qrow didn't even chuckle. "We're getting our asses handed to us by this Krana, and you're making jokes? What the hell's going on down there?"

Silver eyes rolled in their sockets. "Good things, for once," she reported. "The ravine worked! The Kohrak swarm is pretty much gone at this point, and only a few made it out."

"That is - hrah! - excellent news, Ruby!" shouted Tahu amidst a chorus of roaring flames. "And what of the Kohrak Xa? Any sign of it?"

"I don't see it down in the ravine, so it must've gotten crushed with the rest of the swarm. In any case, it looks like the trouble's over for now -"

A whirring of servos and a pit in her gut cut her off.

"- scratch that, I hear something!"

Her gaze snapped down to the source of the noise just in time to see a Kohrak with cracked, frosty armor pop its head out from the rubble-covered floor. After it cut itself free from a pile of its dead kin, it summoned an icicle underneath its feet and launched itself into the air. Rather than try to escape the ravine, the Bohrok rolled up into a ball and smashed through a sheet of ice in the wall itself. It disappeared from sight a few seconds later, and without mask powers Ruby couldn't see where it went.

Kopaka had her covered on that, at least. "The swarm commander just punched into an old cave network under the mountain, and it's heading west fast. Looks like it still intends to finish the job on its own."

Ruby furrowed her brow as her skin tingled with newly-replenished Aura. "Then that just makes it easier to take down if it's alone. I'm going after it!"

"Ruby, wait -!"

She didn't even let Qrow finish his complaint before she took off in a burst of rose petals, streaking through the air and diving into the newly-made cave entrance. She reformed and nearly slipped on the icy tunnel floor, but she regained her balance and fired Crescent Rose behind her to build up speed. No need for a snowboard when the ground was practically frozen; while she wasn't an expert skater like Weiss, she could at least zoom along the icy surface fast enough to keep up with her prey.

The tunnels were pretty and vast and practically aglow with filtered sunlight, but Ruby didn't have time to drink in their beauty. Not when she was speeding through them fast enough to make her stomach churn, which she could only hope was fast enough to save Ko-Koro. She didn't have to worry about getting lost in the endless twists and turns of the labyrinth-like caves; the Bohrok clearly knew where it was going and it left a telltale gash in the ground where it rolled, so all she had to do was follow the trail and do whatever she could to keep up with the silver-armored insect.

Soon, and yet not soon enough, she caught a glimpse of the Kohrak just as it unfurled itself and tore open the ceiling, creating a rift to the outside world that it quickly leapt through. Ruby followed and crashed into the Bohrok with a pulse of her Semblance, the two colliding and bouncing off each other like mid-air pool balls. She flipped around just in time to watch it curl back up into a sphere while glowing with teal light, spinning faster than a top and slamming hard into the slope. Hard enough to make the entire mountain shake. Hard enough to disrupt the many layers of snow and ice underneath. Hard enough to bend them all to its will.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…

Ruby touched down and immediately tumbled into a snowbank as the world around her fell to pieces. Huge chunks of ice and stone were ripped out from the snowy slope, forming a wall of white chaos that followed the Kohrak rolling at full speed. By the time she managed to pull herself upright and aim Crescent Rose, it was too late. The avalanche was building momentum behind the Bohrok controlling it, eventually overtaking the icy robot and shielding it from sight - and by extension, from harm.

She grit her teeth as her head and rifle drooped. "Weiss…you can see all this from up there, right? Please tell me it's going anywhere besides the village…"

"I wish I could," reported Weiss grimly. "This…gods, no…the avalanche is heading right for Ko-Koro, and so's the Bohrok."

"The other half of Nuju's Vision…" mused Kopaka, equal parts annoyed and concerned. "Looks like it's coming true after all. And even with the Mask of Speed, we're too far away - with how fast it's already going, and how close it is to the village, Gali and I won't be back in time to stop it."

"Then there must be another way!" shouted Gali. "Tahu, Weiss, if you can see it from the sky, then surely you can reach it. Is there anything you can do to block or divert it?"

"Not without opening ourselves to attack from that damned Krana!" roared the Toa of Fire. "I am sorry, sister! We are powerless to stop this!"

Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, if only to avoid looking at the unnatural disaster getting further away, poised to wipe out another village…and when she opened them, anger burned within irises of silver.

"…but I'm not," she said through gritted teeth.

Weiss's breath hitched. "Ruby?"

"I'm not powerless! And I can stop this thing!"

There was obvious worry in her partner's voice, but she masked it for both their sakes. "…I know you can. Just be careful."

"Be careful with what?" There was almost an edge of panic in the grizzled Huntsman's voice. "What's going on down there?"

Her brow furrowed as she transformed Crescent Rose, threw it ahead of her, and leapt onto the snowboard. She pushed off with a powerful kick and a burst of her Semblance, kicking up snow and petals in her wake as she picked up speed yet again. The carnage was about a mile away at this point, and it was moving down the mountain fast - but she was moving faster, a desperate Huntress catching up to her prey.

"What's going on, Qrow, is that we're saving Ko-Koro!" she barked breathlessly. "I'll chase this thing down through the avalanche and grab its Krana - if I can yank the Krana out, the Kohrak and its elemental powers will shut down! Keep Penny occupied along with Tahu and Weiss for just a little longer, the last thing we need is her making things worse! Kopaka and Gali, you two circle around and get to the village as fast as possible, and get ready to catch whatever snow and rubble makes it that far! We can still do this! I've just gotta get close enough…"

Qrow balked and sputtered over the comms. "What? No! You can't do that! This is crazy, right? You're not gonna let her do this, right Gali?"

She could practically hear the Toa of Water's concerned frown as she spoke up. "That is…quite a risky plan, although we have few others. We will do as you say, Ruby."

"My village will be in your debt for saving them," affirmed Kopaka. "Just make sure you live, so they can thank you in person."

Those were obviously not the answers Qrow was hoping for. "You really are all just gonna let her do this? Dammit, Ruby, it's not worth it! Get outta there, it's - Weiss, go left! - it's too dangerous!"

Of course her uncle was putting up a fight. Of course he was trying to shoot down the only idea they still had. The only idea she had. Her anger simmered as she slid faster and faster towards the avalanche. Why couldn't he just let her do her damn job for once?! Why did he have to be so difficult?!

"This isn't a debate, Qrow!" snapped Ruby as she drifted back and forth to build up even more speed, closing in on the wall of white with each passing second. "I'm the only one who can do this! The village, those people…I can't fail them again! I won't fail them again!"

"Kid, just listen to me for once! You don't have to do this!"

"I'm not a kid anymore!" she snarled. "And I do have to do this! I'm hanging up now - I gotta focus!"

"Don't you dare end the call -!"

Beep.

Part of Ruby felt guilty for cutting off Qrow's protest mid-sentence. The rest of her pushed it aside to focus on the current crisis. The edge of the avalanche was only a few yards away now, close enough that she could see the silhouette of the Kohrak through the clouds of white powder. She twisted and aimed the tip of Crescent Rose into the cascade of ice and snow tumbling down the mountain and fired another bullet for a burst of speed, bracing herself and her Aura for the chaos that awaited her once she crossed into the frozen frenzy.

WHOOSH!

Immediately it felt like plunging into a wind tunnel exposed to a blizzard. She nearly lost her balance and tumbled face first into the slopes, but she righted herself on a burst of rose petals. Her fingers felt like they would fall off. Her chest ached with each frosty breath. She didn't care. She plunged deeper toward the eye of the storm, riding with the flow of the avalanche instead of letting it consume her.

The Kohrak whirled to face her within the rolling chaos, partially unfolding with a click and a hiss to drift backwards down the snowy slope. Icy spears and frozen chunks flew at her head, but she avoided them with leans of her body and pulses of her Semblance. She leapt over waves of liquid snow and ducked under glacial fragments. Snowflakes and roses created a blinding flurry around the pair. After narrowly dodging several razor-sharp daggers of ice Ruby used a piece of crumbling mountain as a makeshift ramp, launching herself into the air and form-shifting Crescent Rose into a harpoon launcher. She aimed for a fraction of a second before firing the barbed spear right into the swarm commander's hip, reeling herself in with a vengeful petal-infused shoulder check.

WHAM!

She collided hard with the Kohrak and knocked it off-balance, sending it sliding down the mountain flat on its back with her on top. The Bohrok, naturally, didn't take well to its sudden rider; it lashed out with its sawblades and formed more blasts of ice, trying to either knock her off or freeze her solid. Ruby ducked under the spinning shields for a few seconds before switching Crescent Rose back into scythe mode, cutting the hands off at the wrists and tossing them to the winds. She then started slamming the head of her weapon against the Kohrak's elemental armor with all her might, bashing into its ice-covered faceplate over and over again.

"Come on!" growled the silver-eyed Huntress, each word punctuated by a forceful slam. "Give me your brain already you big! Stupid! Bug!"

CRACK!

The heavy barrel of her beloved scythe finally punched through the ice sheet like the business end of a shovel, giving her a chance to whirl around and pry it open along with the entire front of its shell. The Krana within shrieked and screamed at being exposed to the elements, reaching up with tentacles that were easily swatted away. All it took to free the living face was a forceful tear and a slash of her scythe to sever the connection, and the Kohrak powered down with a droning hum.

And the now-uncontrolled icy wrath of Mount Ihu crashed down on Bohrok and Huntress alike, enveloping them both in a sea of freezing white.

---

"RUBY!"

Weiss's throat almost tore itself out of her neck with how hard she screamed, eyes glued to the pile of ice and snow as it slowed to a natural halt. True to her partner's prediction, disabling the Kohrak had cut the power to the avalanche - and without an outside force to keep the unnatural disaster alive, it petered out quite quickly. Kopaka's village had been saved. The Wall of Prophecy would continue to stand. The implications of Nuju's Vision would not come to pass. It was over. They had won.

But none of that mattered to Weiss if her beloved was gone.

The other aerial combatants paused their fight to stare, aghast, at the aftermath of the avalanche. Qrow's breath hitched as he held onto the summoned Rahi. Tahu's eyes widened. Even the Krana infesting Penny seemed taken aback, analyzing the situation with stolen eyes and speaking in a voice it had no right to use.

"…another mess to clean later, and another failure to analyze," it snarled dangerously. "One that should be far easier, now that the obstacle known as Ruby Rose has finally -"

A choked sound rang out from Penny for a brief moment - from Penny, not the Krana wearing her like a skinsuit. It was only an instant of resistance, but it was enough to convince Weiss that her friend was still fighting from the inside…and enough for Tahu to trigger his Mask of Strength and send the infested Maiden flying with a punch and a feral scream.

"Analyze that, you foul parasite!" The Toa of Fire's words were choked with emotion. "And keep her name off your stolen lips, for she is far more noble than your kind will ever be!"

Weiss didn't have the heart to watch Penny go careening into the sky.

She was already diving towards the pile of fallen snow, hoping to find her dear little rose.

Weiss dismissed her Summon just before it crashed against the ground. She fell to her knees as soon as she touched down, dragging shivering hands through the snow in a desperate attempt to dig out her partner. Qrow landed off to her side with a stumble, and would have tearfully face-planted into a snowbank if Gali hadn't rushed to catch him. Kopaka appeared next in a silvery blur, putting a hand on Weiss's shoulder and gently pulling her away from the icy rubble.

"Let me go!" wailed Weiss through tear-stained lips. "I need to find her!"

"I already have," intoned the Toa of Ice. "You won't get her out that way. Allow me."

Forcing herself to step back, she watched as her taller friend swung a notched sword through the air, willing the mounds of snow to part like a mythical messiah splitting the sea. Only instead of leading a chosen people to the promised land, Kopaka led the group to a shivering bundle of red and black - one that coughed and trembled and hugged something close to its chest. Weiss instantly ran forward as Tahu touched down, pulling a half-frozen Ruby into her arms while the Toa of Fire laid steaming hands on her back. The little rose was more blue than red, and entire portions of her body were coated in thick layers of ice…but she was alive, and that alone was more than anyone had dared to pray for.

"Weiss…" groaned Ruby between violent shivers, coughing up a mouthful of melted snow. "I…"

"Shut up," snapped the heiress as she redoubled the strength of her hug. "Don't talk until Tahu's finished thawing you out…and don't scare me like that again…"

The little rose just hummed and returned the hug with as much strength as she could muster, breathing a soft laugh into her shoulder.

Crunching footsteps told her that the other Toa were making their way over, each rushing to Tahu and Ruby's side to help however they could. Gali absorbed the moisture from the little rose's clothes to dry her out, then pooled water into her palms for Ruby to slowly drink and regain her strength. Kopaka guided Tahu's hands to the coldest parts of the Huntress, carefully instructing him on how to warm up a chilled human without boiling or burning them alive. And Weiss just kept holding Ruby tightly in her arms, watching the blue fade from her face and a familiar rosiness return to her cheeks - though how much of that came from the snuggles was anyone's guess.

All the while, Qrow stayed back with a bitter scowl.

Eventually, Ruby found the strength to open her eyes and stare at Weiss with a big goofy smile. "Heh, y'know…it's funny." She let out a raspy laugh. "You…you always say how warm I make you feel, Weiss. Guess I can finally say the same now, huh?"

A scoff of disbelief escaped her lips. Was Ruby seriously trying to flirt with her, even after narrowly escaping an icy death? After chasing a Kohrak down the mountain, into an avalanche?

…gods, she didn't deserve this woman.

Ruby groaned and looked up at the other Toa. "Is…is the village okay? Did we do it?"

"We did," intoned Gali. "You did. The avalanche never reached Ko-Koro, thanks to your bravery."

"Good…that's good." Silver eyes blinked blearily. "And…Penny?"

"Unharmed, but here no longer," reported Tahu. "We did our best to remove the Krana, but…it was more secure than we realized. We will see the parasite controlling her again, I wager."

Ruby looked disappointed, but not surprised. "It's okay…that just means we'll have another chance to free her and get her back." Then she looked at Weiss with a wry smile. "Hey, uh…I got ya something. Hope you don't already have one of these, cause…I didn't keep the receipt."

She lowered her arm to finally reveal what she'd been holding close to her chest the entire time.

An ice-blue Krana Xa, pried straight from the lead Kohrak.

Weiss blinked slowly as she took the dormant parasite. "Ruby, that's…"

"The last one we needed," Kopaka realized. "With this, we now have a full set of Kohrak Krana."

"And thus, we are more than halfway through our task," mused Tahu. "Only the Nuhvok and Lehvak have Krana yet to be collected."

Gali shook her head in awe. "Little one…was this why you pursued the Kohrak through the avalanche?"

"Well, that's part of it," explained the little rose. "The rest of it was…well, like I said. I knew that yanking that thing's brain out would stop both the Bohrok and the avalanche, and Ko-Koro would be safe. The Wall of Prophecy means the world to the folks down there…and I know it means a lot to you too, Weiss. I'm done letting the things you love get ruined. I'll do anything to keep them safe…to keep my friends safe. That's what Huntresses do, after all."

Tears welled up in the heiress's eyes as she shook her head with trembling lips. "You…you absolute dolt…"

A chilly palm reached out to cup her cheeks, wiping droplets away with a gloved thumb. "Your dolt."

She sobbed and smiled while leaning into the touch. "…my dolt. My knight."

And before she could stop herself, Weiss was grabbing Ruby by the head and pulling her in for a forceful kiss, one that was eagerly and hungrily returned. Despite narrowly surviving an avalanche, Ruby still found the strength to tackle Weiss and pin her to the snowy ground - but her partner didn't give up control so easily, taking fistfuls of red-brown hair and using them to pull her even closer. A shivering hand trailed down her neck, its cold touch lost in the heat flowing out from within. It didn't matter that everyone else was watching. That the terrified Ko-Matoran were emerging from their homes to see the disabled Bohrok and the strange humans making out just beyond the great bridge of ice. They'd earned this. They needed this.

Gali hummed thoughtfully as Weiss and Ruby lost themselves in each other. "Brothers…it may be wise to make one more sweep across the mountain, to dispatch any stragglers from the Kohrak swarm."

"An excellent idea, sister," said Tahu with an awkward cough. "Kopaka, will you join -"

"Yes."

With that came the sounds of three Toa making a hasty retreat, giving the Huntresses a moment to themselves. Not that Weiss was about to complain. She suspected Ruby wouldn't mind too much, either, if the moans and gasps and breathy giggles were any indication.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so considerate.

"Well…it's nice to know where I stand, at least."

Weiss's blood felt like ice in her veins at Qrow's sudden words, making her twist her head up to glance at the surly-sounding Huntsman. Sure enough, Ruby's grizzled uncle was glaring at the pair of them while leaning against his sword, arms folded against his chest and a scowl twisting across his lips. Her partner gave a low groan of annoyance, partly at being interrupted during their make-out session but mostly at whatever else Qrow was mad about.

A bitter chill went down the heiress's spine as Ruby pushed herself to her feet and returned the glare with equal measure. "What, you want me to kiss you too?" she spat. "Would that make you feel better?"

Qrow sighed and shook his head. "You know that's not the issue here."

"Then what is the issue? What's got your feathers all twisted this time?"

"Y'see, that's what I'm talking about." He pointed at Weiss. "Anytime your girlfriend scolds you for being reckless or bails you out of a jam, you're all swoony and over the moon. But whenever I do the same thing, all I get is attitude and needling and outright defiance. How's that fair? What's the difference?"

Ruby's brow furrowed. "The difference is that she's my partner, Qrow. She trusts me. She cares about me. And she actually respects me and my decisions and gives me the space I need…unlike some people!"

"And you think I don't care about you?"

"Well you've got a really funny way of showing it!"

The heiress just lay there in the snow, looking between the feuding family members, feeling her racing heart pound against her ribcage. She knew she needed to speak up. Needed to nip this argument in the bud before it could escalate. Needed to divert their attention somehow. But when confronted with a situation that seemed to prey on her own past trauma, all she could do was stand frozen in place, her words stuck in her throat.

"Just what's your problem anyway, old man?" snapped Ruby. "You've been an ass ever since we got to Vacuo, and you've only gotten worse after we came here to help! Hell, you never even answered my calls or asked if I was okay whenever stuff happened! So if you've got something to say to me, something that's pissing you off, then just say it already so I don't have to keep guessing!"

Evidently that was what Qrow Branwen had been waiting a long time to hear, because he pushed off his sword and started laying into her with fire in his maroon eyes.

"You really want it straight, kiddo? Fine. We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be risking our necks over a bunch of gods-damned grass huts and tribal villages. We shouldn't have put ourselves in a situation where we'd get stuck in another world, all because our ticket home disappeared and came back on the wrong team. And we shouldn't keep wasting our time fighting a bunch of robot bugs to complete some stupid scavenger hunt. There's too much at stake in Vacuo for us to keep running around fighting these things. Our world needs us - our world needs you."

Taken aback for a moment, Ruby quickly found her voice again with a sputter and a harsh glare. "What…what were we supposed to do, Qrow? Just let the Bohrok destroy everything? Sit back while all the Matoran and Toa die because we were too busy? These people helped us the last time we were here - and they needed our help this time! I couldn't just turn my back on them!"

"Well you sure as hell didn't have a problem turning your back on Remnant," barked the old Huntsman. "Hell, it might not even exist anymore, and we'd have no way of knowing. All because you decided that we had to come here now, as soon as Penny had some bad news. Were you just looking for a way out, kid? Waiting for a chance to run back here and leave everything behind?"

A sudden shot of courage rose within Weiss at the harsh words. "Qrow, that's enough!" She rolled onto her knees. "You know that's not true -"

"Butt out, Schnee!" he growled - almost literally. "For once in your life, this isn't about you!" Her newfound confidence crumbled all at once.

"Don't you dare yell at her!" Ruby put herself between her girlfriend and her uncle. "And don't you dare say that I'm abandoning Remnant! Every night I'm crying myself to sleep worrying about home, about Yang and Blake and Jaune and Oscar and Emerald and Dad and everyone else that matters to me! You think it's easy being away from all that? You think I'm here on a vacation?! I am trying to save the lives of everyone I can, and your attitude isn't helping!"

She wiped a gloved fist against her face to stem the flow of tears, then started taking angry steps towards Qrow with silver eyes narrowed in rage. "I know that Vacuo has a lot of problems right now! I know that Salem's got half the Relics, and has her eyes on the other two! But me being on Mata Nui doesn't mean that I'm leaving Remnant to die - I've got faith in all my friends back home to keep that world spinning while I'm working to save this one! Why can't you trust them, too? Why can't you trust me?!"

"Because you're not giving me a reason to trust you!" snapped the grizzled crow, answering his niece's stomping march with one of his own. "You keep thinking with your heart and not your head! You're spreading yourself too thin, you're trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, and it's tearing you apart! You can't keep going like this, kid! You know that!"

"So what, I should just give up? Be like you?" The pair met in the middle physically, but Weiss knew it wasn't to resolve the argument peacefully. "Let people die and stop trying to save everyone?"

"That's not what I'm saying!"

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you need to know what your limits are, cause you're pushing yourself way past them!" Maroon eyes burned with rage and frustration. "You think you can do everything, that you can just keep charging headfirst into each new problem and keep fighting forever without getting hurt, but it doesn't work like that! You just can't do everything, kid!"

"Stop calling me a kid!" screamed Ruby, their faces practically inches away from each other. "I'm a professional Huntress now, just like you! Just like everyone else you're working with! I'm not a little girl anymore -!"

"Well you're not Summer, either!" bellowed Qrow. "So quit acting like it before you end up just like her!"

And with that, the final blow was struck in the battle of words.

Weiss gasped as she watched Ruby's uncle take her greatest trauma and twist into a dagger. Qrow's last words echoed across the slopes of Mount Ihu, and he didn't seem to process just what they meant to his niece until after it was too late to take them back. But Ruby understood them instantly as they cut deeper to her core than any sword ever could; her eyes widened, her breath hitched, and every part of her seemed to wilt away from the shell-shocked Huntsman.

Qrow's bloodshot eyes softened as he tentatively reached to put a hand on her shuddering shoulder. "…Ruby. I…I didn't…I'm sor-"

But the heartbroken little rose just shoved him back, spun around with a sob, and stormed into the sky on a burst of rose petals.

Weiss finally found her voice - and the strength to lunge to her feet - as her partner vanished over the snowy horizon.

"Ruby!"