Chapter 17

Team YYRN and Team RWBY, with the exception of Ruby herself, arrived at Ruby's world. It had been quite a walk, located as it was deep within the shadow world. It was a snowy forest with leafless trees lining a thin and winding path. The path was coated with a thin layer of snow and had a trail of blood drips down the center. Somehow it was not cold.

"It's beautiful in its own way, desolate as it is." Naoto observed.

"It feels so sad." Rise said. "Normally in a shadow world, I sense danger or anger, but here I just feel profound sadness."

"What do you make of this place Yang?" Blake asked. Yang did not answer. She stared off into the distance looking worried. "Yang?" Blake tapped Yang on the shoulder. Yang flinched in surprise. "What is this place?" Blake asked.

"I'm not sure." Yang replied. That was only partially true. "Ruby's never been all that open with me when it comes to her feelings."

"There's something you're not telling us." Blake said. "It's obvious just from looking at you."

"I…I'm just worried about Ruby." Yang said. "I don't…we should get moving." There was no point pressing the issue further. Yang would talk when she was ready.

The group headed down the winding path. Without obvious landmarks, it was difficult to tell how far they were walking. Every bend in the path looked like every other. As they proceeded deeper into the forest, light snow flurries began to fall. The flakes disappeared at the slightest touch and it was still somehow not cold. The path abruptly opened up into a broad snowy field. It felt like an arena, and in a sense it was. In the center was a shadow in the form of a twisted Deathstalker. The beast stood there silently, waiting for the intruders to make the first move.

Yang charged straight at the shadow. Ruby was in danger and Yang was not about to waste time. "Yang wait!" Rise called after her. Yang ignored the warning. At a full sprint she slammed her fist straight into the shadow's face. There was a blinding flash and Yang tumbled backward. She rolled to her feet, gripping her arm in pain. "It reflects physical attacks." Rise warned, too late. The shadow was not going to wait for Yang to recover. It lunged forward and swung one of its claws into her. Yang sailed through the air and slammed down on her side.

The shadow charged at the group. Weiss laid down a sheet of ice in the shadow's path. Its legs struggled for grip but found none. It fell down onto its belly and slid past the group. Weiss went to work encasing the shadow's limbs in ice. For a moment it appeared to be working, but the shadow jerked free and stood back up. It slammed its legs into the ground, shattering Weiss' sheet of ice. Clearly ice was not going to do the job. The shadow charged at Weiss as she tried to lay down another sheet. The insectoid shadow strafed away from the trap and resumed its charge. Weiss dove away but the shadow managed to hit her with one of its claws. She tumbled through the air and slammed into the trees that surrounded the clearing. Instead of individual trees, it felt more like hitting a solid wall.

Naoto launched fireballs at the shadow to get its attention. The beast cried in pain as the searing projectiles burned into it. Yu joined in, hitting the shadow with fire of his own. The shadow roared and charged the pair. The fire was hurting it but not enough to deter it. Naoto and Yu ran in opposite directions, forcing the shadow to make a choice. It chose Yu. He was not fast enough and it grabbed him in one of its colossal pincers. Yu groaned as it squeezed him tighter and tighter, only his aura keeping him from being sliced in two. He reached out both hands toward the shadow's face and blasted it with a continuous stream of fire. The shadow threw Yu down and thrashed at him as he retreated.

"Fire's the answer but you need more power." Rise said. "You're only burning the surface."

"Do you have any ideas?" Yu asked as the group reformed. "I was giving it all I have."

"Well, there is always science." Naoto said after thinking for a moment. "Yosuke, fan the flames."

The shadow recovered and charged at the group, snapping its claws as it raced toward them. Yu and Naoto unleashed streams of fire at the shadow but it continued its charge, undeterred by the flames. Yosuke stepped between the pair and blasted wind into their attacks. The flames immediately increased in intensity, completely surrounding the shadow as it continued to run at them. Yosuke added a twist to his wind and the fire was whipped into a tornado of flame that engulfed the shadow. It ceased its attack and screamed as the intense flames burned away at it. The shadow fell silent, melted and evaporated away.

"I hate Deathstalkers." Blake said.

"Those things exist in the real world?!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're usually not that hard to kill though." Yang said, stretching her arm in an attempt to deaden the pain.

"Good call on the wind Naoto." Rise said. "That was really clever."

"We've never really tried combining out attacks before, but I couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't work." Naoto said with a shrug.

Adachi had not had much to do for the last few days. His face had been all over the news, and he was quite possibly the most wanted man in Vale. It was too dangerous to go out without taking precautions, so he spent his time sitting in Adam's safe house, just waiting. It was comfortable enough, being a large and well-furnished apartment. He spent a lot of time watching TV and was getting a kick out of seeing himself on the news. Infamy and fame were interchangeable anyway. Still, it was getting boring. He had the dust to keep himself strong, but nothing to use that strength for.

Adam walked into the room and took a long look at Adachi, seemingly sizing him up. "Adachi, I need you to come with me." Adam said. "There's work to be done."

"What's up?" Adachi asked. As much as he wanted to get out he was not really in the mood to do any real work.

"We're going to use your newfound fame to our advantage." Adam replied. "Some individuals need impressing…or intimidating, and you're the man for the job. We're going to pay them a visit."

Standing there and looking tough was something Adachi could handle. "Should I bring any dust?" He asked. He had just injected himself with some but he needed the injections more and more often to keep himself strong. He was entirely addicted.

"We should only be an hour or so." Adam answered. "I don't think you'll need it."

Adachi shrugged. "Alright." He said. He stood and walked out with Adam, leaving his stash behind.

As Team YYRN and Team RWBY, sans Ruby, proceeded further into Ruby's world, the look of the place became more threatening. The trees became increasingly twisted, the drips of blood on the trail got more frequent and larger, and the entire place just got darker. The overwhelming sense of sadness became stronger as well. Eventually they could all feel it. Yang looked more and more worried but still refused to say anything.

In time the group arrived at another large, open field. As they crossed threshold, vines and branches rapidly grew across the trail, blocking the way back. The way ahead was similarly obstructed. Whatever enemy surely faced them was nowhere to be seen. "There's one shadow." Rise reported, concentrating hard. "It's a big one, moving really fast. It's…airborne?"

With an ear-shattering screech the visage of a twisted giant Nevermore swooped down over the group. It flew across the area, pitched steeply up and hovered in place, flapping its massive wings wildly. After letting out another screech it flew at the group. As it closed in, it opened its terrifying maw to unleash a blast of fiery breath. Yang stood there, the flames surrounding her, as the rest of the group scattered. Being more or less fireproof would be useful in this fight. As the shadow flew over her, Yang leapt up and grabbed onto the feathers that lined its belly. The shadow flew on, rapidly changing directions in an attempt to shake her off as Yang maneuvered onto its back.

Yang got onto position just behind the shadow's head and punched it repeatedly, Ember Celica adding more impetus to each strike. The shadow screeched and thrashed but Yang had a strong grip. As the shadow struggled she continued to attack, though her attacks seemed to do little damage. Finally the shadow had enough. It dove at the ground, flipped over, and slammed down on its back, sheering Yang off as it scraped along the snowy ground. The shadow soared back into the air, leaving Yang motionless in the middle of the field.

Yu blasted the shadow with electricity as Naoto did the same with fire, but their attacks were ineffective. Weiss used a glyph to create a wall of ice in the shadow's path, but a combination of its fire breath and sheer bulk allowed it to break through as easily as if the wall were made of cardboard. Blake threw the bladed end of Gambol Shroud, extended on its ribbon, at the shadow. The blade sunk into the shadow's skin and hooked in place, and soon Blake, holding onto the other end, was tugged skyward. She retracted the ribbon, pulling herself to the shadow. Using Gambol Shroud's blade to anchor herself in place, she fired into the shadow's neck.

With a screech the shadow swept down, attempting to scrape Blake off the way it had done to Yang. Blake leapt off, still attached to the shadow by Gambol Shroud, and skidded along behind it on her feet. The trees on the edge of the field were coming up fast. Yosuke stepped up and hit the shadow with a powerful downdraft. It slammed down into the ground and slid into the trees, stopping as suddenly as if it had hit a brick wall. The shadow was dazed. It flapped its wings futilely as it lay on its back. Weiss saw her opportunity. She raced toward the shadow and leapt into the air. At the height of her leap she caught a glyph that rocketed her down, Myrtenaster first, into the shadow. Her blade sunk deep into the monster's neck. She cycled Myrtenaster and fired innumerable ice crystals into the shadow until the frozen spikes severed the shadow's head. The shadow melted and evaporated away.

"Yang, are you okay?!" Blake shouted as she ran to Yang's side.

"I hate those things." Yang groaned. She staggered to her feet and dusted herself off.

"So those things exist too?" Yosuke asked. To him, Remnant seemed an increasingly terrifying place.

"Yes, but they don't breathe fire." Blake said without any hint of emotion. "They're difficult to fight all the same."

Ruby awoke to find herself in a snowy field. Though she did not know how she had gotten there, Ruby knew immediately where she was. Before attending Beacon she had come to this place often. She could not understand why it was not cold, but it did not matter. This place was more important to her than any other, even her home. Though sometimes she could find solace here, today there was only sorrow.

Adam had dragged Adachi around for hours. They met with a bunch of White Fang lackeys but it did not seem like anything Adachi needed to be there for. It was a boring waste of time. Worse, having been without dust injections for so long, he was feeling weak. By Adachi's estimation he was only a little more powerful than he would have been before dust. He needed a shot and he needed it now. Fortunately, Adam was finally done making his rounds and they were back at the safe house.

"Why did you drag me along?" Adachi growled as Adam unlocked the door and waved him in.

"Oh, I have my reasons." Adam said. Adachi stepped into the safe house, only to be confronted by Torchwick.

"What the hell is this?!" Adachi demanded.

"This is me making a business deal." Adam replied. "You've failed over and over, and with your face all over the news there's no way left for you to help me. Serving you up to my ally will makes him happy and takes care of my problem. It's been a pleasure." Adam exited, closed the door and locked it, leaving Torchwick and Adachi alone.

"So you're the guy that tried to kill Neo." Torchwick said. "She's going to be so happy when she hears about this. I'm going to make you suffer."

"Just try it." Adachi said, electricity arcing between his fingers. Hours from his last injection he was well below his full strength, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. The two combatants stared each other down for a moment, each looking for a weakness to exploit. The stalemate was soon broken as Adachi drew his revolver and fired.

The winding path finally reached its end. It opened into a large field bordered on one side by a cliff and on the others by densely packed trees. Ruby was there, kneeling before a stone monument near the cliff, her back to the new arrivals.

"Why?" Yang asked, her voice trembling. "Why here?"

"What is this place?" Blake asked, hoping she would finally answer.

"It's her mother's grave." Yang replied, tears in her eyes. "She died when we were very young. I guess you could say it was the defining moment in her life." Yang wanted to rush to Ruby's side to comfort her, but she could not bring herself to do it. As much as Summer's death had been painful for them both, Ruby's suffering was on an entirely different level. As much as Yang wanted to help, as much as she wanted to take away Ruby's pain, it simply was not something she could do. So she approached, walking slowly, Blake and Weiss, Naoto – who had lost her own parents – next with the rest of Team YYRN lagging behind, unsure of what to do.

As they crossed the vast field, it became apparent that Ruby was not alone. It had been difficult to see, a white figure against a snowy white background, but there was someone else. Maybe the figure had not even been there before, this world was known to play tricks. Standing before Ruby was a woman in a white cloak, her face shrouded in shadow. "That's the shadow." Rise warned.

"That's her mother." Yang said, her voice clearly wavering, tears streaming down her face. "I'm not sure I can do it."

"Ruby, it's been a long time." Summer said. Her voice was soft and friendly, not at all like a shadow.

"I missed you so much." Ruby cried. "I thought you were…"

"Dead?" Summer cut her off. "I'm here now."

Yang reached Ruby's side. The others stayed back. "Come on Ruby, we need to leave." Yang said. "It's not safe here."

"But…mom…" Ruby trailed off. "I can't lose her again." This was not Ruby the powerful warrior. This was Ruby the little girl who missed her mother.

"That's not mom." Yang said. "It's a shadow. We have to go." Ruby refused to budge. Yang looked back at the group, unsure of what to do.

If Ruby would not leave, the others would have to deal with the shadow, no matter what form it had taken. Weiss and Blake nodded at each other and charged forward. Ruby stood and grabbed Crescent Rose, swung the weapon around as it extended, and slammed it down in front of the pair, barring their path. "No." Ruby said. "I won't let you."

"Ruby, please." Weiss implored. She started to push Ruby's weapon aside.

In response Ruby aggressively twisted Crescent Rose, pointing the blade at Weiss. "I said no!" Ruby screamed. Weiss backed off.

"Ruby, as much as you want it to be, that's not mom." Yang said. "Mom's gone and nothing will bring her back. All we can do is go on as best we can. It's what she would have wanted."

Suddenly, the entire atmosphere took a dark turn. The sky turned blood red and cast an eerie glow on everything. Summer, that is the shadow, laughed. "What I would have wanted?" The shadow said. "I would have wanted a better daughter! You're so pathetic."

"Leave her alone!" Yang hopped over Crescent Rose and charged at the shadow. With a wave of its hand it pushed her back with a blast of wind.

"The only friends you can make are losers and those forced upon you." The shadow continued. "And now you've even turned on them. It's no surprise. I mean, what manner of friends are they anyway? Your partner hates you because you're the leader and she isn't. Your sister is just as unreliable as always. Blake didn't even trust you enough to tell you she's a Faunus. You're a failure, as a person and as a leader. You're just a worthless, sad child." Ruby dropped Crescent Rose, fell to her knees and started crying inconsolably.

"Now, go!" Blake shouted. Weiss and Blake charged at the shadow with Yang close behind.

With a wave the shadow pushed them all back with wind. "I will end your short, pathetic life." The shadow boomed. With that it melted into a mass of black liquid before reforming into a grotesque, giant Beowolf. It retained Summer's face and still wore her cloak, and bore bloody and exaggerated claws. "You will all fall here as I did!"