Author's Note:

This chapter is a little late, but that's because I was doing another one-shot. Its one I've had on the backburner for a while, and I think it turned out pretty good. Maybe go check it out, its called "A Wilted Lotus."

Anyways, as always, tell me what you think of this chapter. Amber's pretty cool.

Amber clutched her holy book to her chest, watching as people started to reluctantly retake the streets. The alarms had died down, and things seemed quiet.

She was eager to get out, and see what had been going on. She had lived in Vale all her life, and knew that the alarms only went off in cases of dire emergencies. The first thing that she saw was the large plume of smoke that drifted lazily into the sky. She didn't want to think that someone had been hurt, but she knew it was more than likely.

She called to the other members of the Order who had agreed to come with her, and announced that they would be going to the source of the smoke. Maybe there they would be able to find out what had happened a little faster than they would otherwise. Confirmations hit her ears, and she started to walk.

It was a strange feeling, telling people what to do. She wasn't used to it, but she wasn't necessarily uncomfortable. Her main concern was that she might tell them to do something that they didn't like, and that they wouldn't speak up about it. If they didn't, she couldn't know that it was bad.

She tried to dispel those fears, though. Solace had told her that confidence was very important. And besides, she knew most of them personally. Being a Priestess, it was one of her jobs to make sure that they were all in good mental health. She knew that they wouldn't think worse of her if she did start giving such orders, which was a large weight off of her shoulders.

None of them spoke while they walked, which might've been odd to someone else, but Amber knew why it was the case. Solace had told them that Paladins were to keep a certain image in the public eye, not aloof or unapproachable, but not undisciplined either.

Amber still wore her pearly white robes, and the others had on darker colored, looser robes meant to conceal the fact that they were wearing armor. None had quite come to grips with movement in such an armored state, so they stuck to lighter kinds of protection. Their auras would be able to work in combination with the scarce metal and leather. Once they had become comfortable enough, they would be given heavier armor, like Solace's. Amber could tell by the way they talked about it, when they did, that there wasn't a one among them who would even dream of denying it.

It wasn't for her though, and for good reason. Her body was still weak, even with the light. Sometimes she wondered what it would feel like to be encased like that in metal, made impervious to almost everything.

She had with her ten Paladins, and walked at the front of the group. All of them were armed, just in case things didn't turn out quite so safe. Civilians were also walking in the same direction as she was, interested in finding out what the source of the smoke was, to see the extent of the damage, or to check on loved ones who lived in the general area. Amber hoped that nothing had gone horribly wrong.

If there were injured, she would do her best to see to them, and if they had already been moved, than she would go with them. The others were capable of healing, of course, but none had the abilities she did.

She felt the urge to open her book again, and ensure that the passages inside were just as she memorized them, but resisted. Not while she was walking. The Holy power radiating off the book gave her comfort, and in the emerging dusk, it seemed to emit a faint glow.

She looked over her shoulder, and saw that her brothers and sisters were also giving off such a slight glow. It was a little less pronounced than that of the tome, but still noticeable. She wondered if she was giving off a similar glow, and if so, how bright it was.

They started to get close enough to smell the smoke, and realized that there was more than simple building materials that were giving off the fumes. The acrid scent of charred meat was definitely thick in the air, and a large amount of dust in the air seemed to indicate that buildings had collapsed. Also hanging in the sky were Bullheads, hovering directly over the smoke, jets of water shooting down from their hulls. The crowd of people started to get thicker, and Amber realized that they were very close. She stopped, motioning for her followers to get into tighter formation. She didn't want them to get separated.

Next, when they had pulled together, she started to try getting through the crowd. Her slight figure made it easier for her to slip between the increasingly small gaps between people, but she knew that the others would probably have to push to get through. She started to apologize, not necessarily for herself, but for the others. They would be courteous, she was sure, but it never hurt.

When they got closer to the front of the crowd, she started to hear a voice being projected from the Bullheads that had been previously drowned out by the sounds of the hundreds around her. "Please keep your distance, there are still fires in the area that could be potentially dangerous. We cannot allow you across the yellow line, the chances of injury are too great. Thank you for your understanding."

It didn't sound like a recorded message, but a few seconds after the voice stopped, it immediately started up again, but this time with different inflection. It was the same message though, so she felt fairly safe in simply blocking it out. She needed to find someone to talk to. If they were already giving the situation this much attention, most of the injured would probably have been dealt with somehow. She needed to find out if they were still here, or had been taken somewhere else.

She slipped her way past the last few people who formed a line between her and the scene, and found her view promptly blocked by a large body. She was moving a bit too fast to stop in time, and she hit her nose on the hard breastplate of the man.

She took a step back, and looked up into the face of the man, blinking away the tears that started to accumulate as her body's response to the pain. He had a kind of guilty smirk on his face, and said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but this area is off limits. No one allowed in until things get cleared up."

Amber couldn't say that she cared too much about the area itself, but the people were another matter. "Fine, yes, I know, but where are the injured? I'm a Priestess, I can help them."

He raised an eyebrow, and looked Amber over with a curious eye. "Really? From the Holy light, or whatever it is, right? Heard something about that recently, yeah. So, what, you going to heal them or something?"

Amber gritted her teeth, and answered, "Yes! Now please, where are they? If there are any major injuries, I need to be there as soon as possible!" It was obvious that the man didn't understand the urgency of the situation, and Amber didn't have the time to deal with him. Luckily, just as she thought this, the rest of the Paladins managed to make their way through the crowd. They all stood close together, and made it clear that they were with Amber.

The man looked up, gulped down a large lump in his throat, and took an involuntary step back. They did nothing to outright threaten him, but their mere presence seemed to be enough to focus the man.

"Oh, uh, well, I don't know exactly what happened, but most of the injured were taken to the hospital. Not many were really hurt though, a lot got evacuated before anything too bad went down. I think the ones who got it worst were the Huntresses who were here. I don't know what they were doing here, but they fought like hell against the guy who did this. Or so I hear, at least. I wasn't there. My friend told me."

Amber rolled her eyes. That was probably the best information they were going to get out of him, so she should just take it and be happy with it. She did just that, and turned to face her Paladins. "If they were taken away, they will have been taken to the nearest hospital. We should check there first, then, if we don't find them here, we move on."

They all nodded, and started to push their way through the crowd again. This time Amber followed behind them, as it would be better than having to wait for them. She couldn't leave them behind, and couldn't argue with the ease of the way.

Once they were out of the thick of people enough to speed up, she made sure to take the front of the group. She led her friends again, and tried to recall the fastest way to the hospital. This challenge was made even more difficult when she realized that she would also have to take into consideration the large number of people who were refilling the streets. She remembered turns, street names, and past experience though, and that was enough to make her confident.

Her arms tightened around the holy tome she held, and she softly began to whisper to herself the prayers and hymns within. She felt their blessings strengthen her body and soul, as well as those of her friends. They were going to heal everything that they could, and what they couldn't, they would do their best to help.

Amber had the niggling feeling that she knew the Huntresses who had been injured in the fight. She couldn't explain quite what the feeling was, but it was definitely there. There was only a small handful of Hunters that she knew, and she would be happy to see any of them. Even Yang, if that was who it was. It would allow her to give the good news. Chances of Yang being in a hospital were not good though, unless one of her teammates or friends had been hurt. She hoped that wasn't the case.

She did her best to keep the light bright in her chest, and her hopes high. Things weren't too bad yet, and she hoped that things would keep up like that as well.

As they walked, one body emerged from behind her to walk by her side. She was a few inches taller than Amber, and about twice as strongly built. Celeste, someone who Amber had become close friends with, had come to speak with her. It was a slight break from the things that Solace had told them to do, but he had also said that they should also seek guidance from a Priest if ever they felt their own musings were leading them astray. Amber thought that she could guess what was troubling her friend, but didn't try to assume. "What's the matter?"

A small, slightly awkward smile came across the taller woman's face, but she didn't hesitate to say, "You're really going to help the undead, right? Even after everything we've been told?"

Amber thought that would be the case. She hadn't really gone into a great deal of depth as to why she wanted to lead what she considered her closest family in such a cause, and knew that she would have to soon, not only to Celeste, but to the group as a whole. She was sure that Celeste's doubt wasn't an isolated incident.

She spoke softly, as she always did. "Yes, I really am. I know, Solace has told us about what the undead did in his time, but this isn't his time anymore. Things have changed. And I'm not saying that I trust the undead completely, because I don't. I simply see that they are not the biggest threat to things anymore. I mean, I don't think the undead set that fire back there." She indicated the place they had left behind with a nod on her head. "If they did, why stop there, and why that place? You've seen Naze, and you've heard about how he acts. He wouldn't just pick a random place in the city to burn. Demons, on the other hand, would be perfectly fine doing something like that."

Celeste walked in silence for a few more moments, processing everything that Amber had said. She wasn't the quickest thinker, and tended to stay on the simple side of things. Amber knew that a complex explanation of the situation wouldn't do much good, so instead opted to simplify it. "Have you seen anything Solace was talking about? The rampant attacks, and lunges for power?"

Celeste smiled, happy to have a question she could answer with assurance. "No, none of that. But he did bring back the old Hunters. I'd say that counts."

Amber sighed. "If the Hunters hadn't been brought back from the dead, then the military would not be able to respond completely to the demons. That would be even worse. And besides, they still have their minds, and their souls aren't corrupted. I've met with Yang twice, and she is almost exactly the same as a living person. It's not the same as what Solace said necromancers used to do."

Celeste went quiet again, and Amber looked up to find that they were almost to the hospital. "Get with the others, we can talk about this when we get back. I'll talk with everybody when we get back. And get ready to do what healing you can."

Celeste looked up at the hospital for a brief second, then nodded, doing as she was told. Amber felt a shiver run up her spine as her command was obeyed. It was still a totally alien feeling.

She returned to her prayer for a few seconds as she approached the door, then stopped as she pushed them open. The small amount she had finished gave her some confidence, and she continued to walk towards the desk. One of the doors seemed to have been subject to a large impact recently, but she didn't know if that was from before or after the alarms had started to go off.

It was a different person behind the desk now than it had been last time, but she didn't mind that too much. They looked rather frazzled, and she could imagine that the stress of the situation had gotten to them. She didn't want to place any more undue stress on the person, and simply said, "Are the injured from the fire here?"

She secretary looked up at her, and nodded. "There were some burns and scratched, major and minor, but the two worst were Huntress girls. Beacon students, I think. They're still being examined, though, so if you want to get in to see them, you'd better hurry."

Amber was somewhat shocked by his forthcoming nature, and it must've shown on her face, because he smirked and said, "Yeah, about the whole hospital knows about you. Someone doesn't just walk into a hospital, heal majorly injured patients, and walk out without getting noticed. I'm supposed to let you go wherever you want to go." He leaned to the side, peering at the other Paladins behind her. "You can take your friends too, I guess."

He gave her the location that the Huntresses were at, and she thanked him. It was good that she was being let in so easily.

The halls of the hospital were sterile, and somewhat comforting to Amber, but she knew that she was getting strange looks from everyone they passed. She knew that their robes and rather large entourage were out of place, but she was going to do good.

When they got to the emergency room, she told the Paladins to wait outside. The last thing that injured people needed was to be crowded by so many people. The door opened, and she stepped in, finding the room startling.

The bright yellow of Yang's hair was the first thing that she saw, and the undead girl quickly turned to see who the newcomer was. She didn't look happy, though, and Amber quickly saw why. On two beds behind her, the ones who Amber was fairly sure were her teammates lay still, one with a welt of alarming size on their head, and the other with their torso tilted at an odd angle.

There was no time to take the situation in, though, as Yang quickly stepped towards Amber, grabbing her shoulders with her hands in a grip that would probably leave bruises, and said, "Oh thank everything! Listen, they need you, like, now! You've got to do something!"

She was pushed towards the beds, and it was clear that Yang was in a state of distress. Amber tried to speak as she was pushed, wanting to find out what their issues were. "Yang, you need to calm down. Tell me what happened. Quickly, if possible."

The quick explanation left her with many more questions than she had anticipated, but she was able to tell the basics. Weiss had been kicked from a rooftop, and Blake had been struck in the head. Neither were particularly encouraging as to Amber's job, but she was going to do her best. Apparently Yang's sister had also broken an arm, but an injury like that was dwarfed by what the other two had suffered, and she had been taken elsewhere in the hospital.

Amber stepped towards one of the beds, putting her hands out and summoning the Light she had become so familiar with, and started to bring them towards Blake's wound. The welt was large, discolored, and looked like it was going to burst, but before she tried to treat it she needed to know the extent of the damage.

Before she could finish diagnosing the damage, Yang put a hand on her shoulder, distracting her. "What's wrong with her? Is she going to be alright?" A second after she asked the question, she drew her hand back like it had been burned. "Ow! Right, Holy power, I forgot…" her voice trailed off, and left a silence for Amber to speak.

"Yes, I'm using Holy energy, so you'd better stand back. Now, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to focus to find out what's wrong. To do that, I need some quiet, alright?"

The undead sighed and stepped back, saying, "Alright, I guess you're right. You kind of sound like Blake, you know that?"

Amber smiled, taking it as a compliment.

She returned to healing, letting the light flow through her and into Blake once again. It didn't look good, there was major damage. She was no doctor, but it appeared that her skull had actually been fractured by the force of the blow, as well as some heavy bruising of the brain. It was a serious injury, and one that if left untreated, could cost Blake her life.

Fortunately, it was also a fairly easy thing for the light to fix. Amber let the power surge out, feeling the hairline cracks in the bone close up, and the fluid stop flowing from inside. The soft tissue of the brain was harder to manage, but with great care, Amber knit the closely tied blood vessels back together. Unfortunately, the blood and spinal fluid that had already leaked out could not be returned to circulation. Amber was good, but she wasn't that good. The fluid would have to dissipate on its own, or be drained by a professional, she wasn't going to try anything.

She let out a breath, and looked down at Blake's face. She was tense, and looked troubled, but Amber suspected that that was only the result of bad dreams. Even so, she knew that when the faunus woke up, she would have what was going to be the worst headache of her life.

Amber turned to face the other bed, containing the Schnee girl. She looked like even more of a mess than Blake did, and her injury looked like it was far less treatable. As she walked over to the bed, she turned lightly and spoke to Yang, saying, "I did what I could. Her skull was fractured, and I healed most of her concussion. She might still have a few problems when she waked up, but they should be far more manageable now. Now, you said that Weiss fell on her back from a rooftop?"

Yang nodded before taking a step to Weiss's side, then immediately stepped back when she realized how close to Amber she was. "Yeah, and got kicked in the chest. She's got to be really messed up."

Amber put her hands out, and before she even started to use the light, she could tell that Yang's assessment of "really messed up" was something of an understatement. She was laid out on the bed flat on her back, and her torso bent to the side. If it were possible, Amber would have turned her over, but she knew it would be best to inspect the damage to her chest first.

She conjured the light again, and gently put her hands on Weiss's sternum. Or, at least, where her sternum should have been. Instead of the hard bone she expected to find, disconnected fragments and shards met with Amber's fingertips, sliding and shifting in ways that bone shouldn't.

Amber immediately felt guilty. She shouldn't have spent the time on Blake first. Every second that Weiss's injury was affecting her, more bone cells would die, making the bone harder and harder to repair. Amber felt the light inside of her dim a little when she realized her mistake. The girl could die because of such a poor decision.

The glow began to subside from Amber's hands, but she soon refocused her mind. No, she wasn't going to lose control, and she certainly wasn't going to let Weiss die. Her light returned, stronger than it had been before, and she pushed herself to make it do as she wished.

The light was blinding, and Yang was forced to cover her eyes, as not even the dead receptors could withstand such a burst. An odd feeling filled her body like nothing had since she had died, and as she took a few more steps back from the Priestess, she tried to figure out what it was. Pain? It didn't seem as sharp as she remembered, but that was definitely a possibility. Her body stopped responding as much as it should have when she gave it commands, and she soon found that she had slunk to her knees, leaning against a wall for support. Whatever happened, it would be good for Weiss, but she didn't want to get forced back into the nothingness of death. Not yet, anyways. There was a lot left to do. Demons to kill, people to save, adventures to have…

Before her musings could continue, the light dimmed again, and Amber crumpled to the floor, just barely catching herself with her hands before her face hit the ground. Yang raised an eyebrow, and pushed herself back to her feet. "You alright? That looked like it took a lot out of you."

Yang took a shambling, zombie-like step towards Amber, holding out a stiff arm to help the Priestess up. Amber peered back, disoriented for a few seconds, before smiling and reaching out to take the help. Yang tried to close her hand around Amber's wrist to better help her up, but her fingers didn't respond. She settled for letting Amber do the gripping.

Amber smiled her thanks, and turned back to Weiss, putting an arm on the side of the bed to help support her weight. "Well, I managed to fix her chest, but I'm afraid that the problem is deeper than that. There's a spinal injury that could potentially ruin Weiss's life, and if I want a better look at it, we're going to have to flip her over. If we had done it before, we could have collapsed her ribcage, but now it should be much safer. There's still a risk that we could make her back injury worse flipping her, but as long as we're gentle, it should be alright."

Yang gave Amber another raised eyebrow, but agreed. Weiss couldn't be helped if they didn't know the extent of her injury.

Amber took a few small steps to the side, making room for Yang, and started to slowly slide her hands under Weiss's back. She motioned for Yang to do the same, and she did. Her body was starting to come under her control again, which was good, because she was sure that something like this was going to require a lot of coordination.

Weiss felt hot, and Amber was startled to find that she could feel the vertebrae of Weiss's spine several inches before she should've. She didn't let that distract her though, instead starting to gently lift. "Come on. Slowly, but not too soft."

Yang lifted, and Weiss's unconscious body started to move. As she did so, Amber moved her hands out from under her and adjusted Weiss's arms so that they wouldn't get in the way. Weiss completed the flip, and both girls breathes a sigh of relief that nothing else had happened.

"Now, I would be able to tell more precisely what the damage is if I could touch her skin. With her chest it was fine, bone isn't too complex, but this…" Amber didn't need to finish the sentence. Before she had, Yang was tearing the white clothing off, being careful not to disturb her body, but not giving the cloth any mercy. The hole was wide enough in seconds, and when the majority of the wound was revealed Amber said, "That's enough."

Yang was smart enough to put as much distance between herself and the Paladin as she could this time, and got ready to turn away from the process if she needed to. She was sure to be close by the door as well, but in case Amber needed to go all out with her miracles.

Amber's fingers started to glow again, but it was nowhere near as harsh a light as the last time. She had no intent of healing it yet. She needed to know everything she could.

The results were not good. She found as she probed gently with her fingers that the bones of Weiss's spine had been crushed, and several were misaligned so that any more pressure could slice right through her spinal cord, paralyzing her from the waist down.

She shuddered to think of what something like that must have felt like. Her mind raced with possibilities she might be able to use to save the girl, but nothing came to mind. If he tried to heal the wound, the structure of the spine would shift, potentially severing precious nerve connections, which she knew she couldn't fix.

The risk was too great. Something else would have to be done first, before she was even willing to attempt something like that.

She stepped back from the bed, and gave Yang a sad shake of her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about that one. Something else has to be done first. Maybe a surgery can get her to the point where I could help, but she's not there now."

Yang looked worried, but nodded her head understandingly. "That's alright. And, I mean, that last one really wiped you out, didn't it? You collapsed and everything. Maybe it's best that you get some rest first. Don't worry, I'm sure that we can figure something out."

Her words were comforting, but Amber's head still spun with thoughts. Maybe she could try healing slowly. That would reduce the risk of reforming vertebrae damaging the spinal cord, but wouldn't help if the angle caused it to be severed. Using not only her powers, but those of the Paladins she had brought as well wouldn't make that any better, as the healing needed to be guided, and none of them were capable of the control needed. There had to be some way…

Amber gave a startled gasp when a hand touched her shoulder, and she found Yang waving her other hand in front of her face. "Hello? Remnant to Amber, come in."

She saw that she had snapped her out of her focus, and gave her a small smile. "Listen, you can't do everything. I know it sucks, but sometimes other people have to do their jobs. I'll make sure that they don't make a move without you, if you want. Then you can jump in and heal her up whenever you get the chance. Does that sound good?"

Amber sighed, looked at the ground, and nodded. Yang seemed to speak with some kind of personal passion on this. It was easy to imagine the heavily built blonde getting herself into more trouble than she could handle, and Amber would've guessed that it took more than a few lessons to teach her what she had just said.

Turning down wisdom like that was nothing but folly, so Amber decided to listen. She stepped away from the bed, and looked around for a place to sit. She hadn't noticed it before, but her legs felt like they were about to give out on her again. She had used more power than she needed to heal her sternum, she knew that now. She had simply gotten caught up in the moment, and let the zeal she had felt guide her actions.

Yang pulled a char from the nearby corner, and scooted it along the ground, seat facing Amber. She looked at it a few seconds, then took it gratefully. As she sat, a positive thought entered her mind. "Oh, Yang, I've something to tell you!"

Yang leaned back against the wall, folding her arms and saying, "Yeah? What is it?"

Amber smiled, in spite of the grim state she had been in before, as she tried to imagine Yang's reaction to the only good news that Amber could give. "Remember your little… offer you made me a while ago? I talked to Solace, and he agreed to let me lead the Order in helping you. I think working together is going to be good."

When Yang reacted, it was with a crooked, cocky smile. She leaned forwards off of the wall and clapped her hands together, stepping towards Amber again. "That's awesome! I'm sure Naze will be… well, he is never really happy about anything, but he'll do the closest thing he can. I'm happy, though! I'm sure you'll do a great job. And besides, the world could sure use a little more help against the demons and all that."

Amber nodded eagerly, and asked, "Yes, but how can we get into that? I mean, we don't have means for transportation, or provisions to support an extended campaign. We barely have enough to fight a battle!"

Her voice raised gradually as the thoughts of everything they didn't have flooded into her head, but Yang reached out and put a hand on her shoulder again. "Hey, it's going to be fine. I don't think Naze is going to have any objections to us taking you somewhere, and even if he does, I'm sure that you can find someone else who will want you out there fighting. Don't worry about it."

A moment after she finished encouraging Amber, she withdrew her hand, flipping her wrist from side to side like her fingers had been burned and making a high pitched yelp. Amber moved towards her, concerned, then stopped herself. It was touching that hurt her, so doing it more wouldn't help anything. Still, it didn't feel good to know that she had hurt Yang, even if it was something so minor.

The door opened, and both girls turned to find a man in a white coat staring at them, a shocked look on his face. Yang was the first to speak, saying, "Hey, Doc, about time you showed up. Weiss needs your help." She gestured to her unconscious friend, and the doctor took a few steps towards her, a mortified look on his face.

Amber turned to face her too, and started to speak in a slightly timid voice, saying, "She's been badly injured. Her chest was in danger of collapse, but I was able to fix it. Now the only problem is her spine. A few vertebrae are broken, and she's in danger of becoming paralyzed. I didn't want to try healing it, because I could end up doing far more harm than good."

He eyed Amber for a moment before saying, "Healed? Ah, you're the Priest. Right, well, if your powers cannot heal the wound, what can we do? I apologize, but the limits of your abilities are rather unknown to us."

Amber shook her head, and replied, "No, its fine. To be honest, I'm not really too sure myself. Anyways, her spine needs to be straightened before I can do anything, and I'm certain that the only way that could be done is through surgery. Please, every moment we delay, the healing process is going to be more difficult. If we could hurry this up…"

The man grunted, and pulled a clipboard from his side, looking it over. "Yes, emergency preparations have been made for surgery. You will want to be present, correct?" Amber nodded, and he continued. "Then you will have to come with me to prep. What about her?"

He gestured to Blake, eyeing the discolored welt on her head. Amber answered as best she could, with as much surety as she could manage. "She had a concussion, and a slight skull fracture, but I was able to heal that. I am concerned about the fluids, though. Will those left behind have to be drained to relieve pressure, or would it be better to left to drain naturally?"

The doctor peered for a minute before shaking his head, saying, "No, I do not believe that to be necessary. It may be painful for a while, but it should be better in a day or two. The one that requires more urgent attention is her." He indicated Weiss, and started to move again, taking the head of her bed in his hands and thumbing some mechanism that the others hadn't known was there. A small click indicated that a lock had been released, and he started to push. The bed moved easily, and Amber walked with him and the bed.

Yang started to follow them, but Amber looked over her shoulder, a sorry look on her face. "I'm sorry, but it'd probably be best if you didn't come. I know you mean well, but you'd probably only get in the way. If you really want to help, you could find something else to do. How is your sister? You could go and check on her."

Yang felt somewhat dejected, but she knew that Amber was probably right. The last things that surgeons needed was for her to be hovering around during the operation. She nodded, and let the three leave before leaving herself. She would be sure to come back before Blake woke up, and tell her what happened. Until then, she guessed that she could hang out with Ruby and Summer.

She waited a few more moments before leaving the room, and when she did, she found herself surrounded by Holy power. She could feel it, pushing against her, but she stood against it as best as she could.

The Paladins looked at her with shocked expressions, and she thought she could detect a few malicious or mistrusting glints in their eyes. She walked past them, not saying a word. She guessed that they didn't have anything to say to her, which was good, because she wasn't terribly interested in having a conversation either.

She walked, and they parted before her, giving a path out. At least their manners were alright. As she walked past, she tried to keep from looking at any one in particular for too long. They all had an odd haze surrounding them, like there was some kind of gaseous light surrounding them. It obscured their faces, some more heavily than others, and made Yang feel uneasy. They would certainly have the edge in a fight against her, but she wouldn't count herself out. She had tricks up her sleeves too, more magic than they would know what to do with. It'd just be a matter of being able to pop it off before she got taken down.

She shook the violent thoughts out of her mind. It was her brawling nature to size up any possible opponent, but now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to get to Ruby and Summer. She hurried her steps, and tried to find her way through the hospital as fast as she could. Ruby's injuries weren't too bad, she had only broken an arm, a small blow compared to what her other team members had suffered, but still something that she would have to deal with. Her aura would be able to heal it in a few days if she just got a cast, but Yang hoped that maybe Amber would be able to stop by after Weiss was all fixed up and repair Ruby as well. She wasn't about to ask one of those Paladins to do it, they were strangers. She wasn't going to trust Ruby to one of them.

She rounded a corner and walked towards an elevator, trying to remember what room Ruby had been placed in. She wasn't going to stay, of course, but she would have to stay there for a while after she got the cast.

Yang stopped before pushing the button to call the elevator, distracted for a second by the fact that the doors looked deformed, like someone had tried to shove their hand through the doors. She couldn't imagine who would do that, but figured that they'd probably done a pretty good job of it.

She hit the button, and waited, arms crossed, for the elevator to come. As she waited, she thought about the Paladins. They gave off that energy that almost repelled her, and in Amber's case did, but did they mean to do that? She didn't think so. Amber certainly hadn't, at least. Whether they meant it or not didn't change the fact that it did repel her, though, and that put the two groups, undead and Holy Order, at natural odds with one another.

It was a shame. She'd learned all about the battles that had been fought between the two. Vicious didn't even begin to describe some of the conflicts between the Order and Necromancers. Entire cities were fought over by both sides, and for a long while it seemed the Order was doomed to fail, and that the dead would overtake the living.

Then something strange happened. The Paladins got an upper hand, a more complete understanding of the powers that they wielded. It was something that they didn't hesitate to use in their fights, and that had essentially borne them out of the dire situation they had been in. She hadn't studied far enough to know where that little leap had come from, but she had the feeling that Naze had something to do with it. It was hard to imagine, and would be more than a little ironic, but by no means impossible. Naze had done stranger things, to be sure.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, one more slowly than the other. It sounded damaged, but then again, it probably was. She stepped inside, wondering if the thing was actually safe, and hit the button again. The doors slid closed again, and it started to move up.

Falling down the elevator shaft would probably be pretty exciting, at least for a few seconds. The fact that she would probably have to spend a few hours digging pieces of herself out of the rubble, however, was enough to make her reconsider that.

Her foot tapped against the floor of the box as it was dragged up by its cables, and she wished that it was going faster. Thankfully, Ruby wasn't too far up, so the ride would be short anyways. When the doors did finally slide slowly open, she stepped out, and started to look for Ruby's room. It didn't take long to find, as she heard her mother's voice far before she could see her.

She peeked around a doorway, and smiled when she saw what was happening. Ruby already had her arm wrapped in a hard cast, and was rubbing on its side gently. Summer was saying, "Ruby, don't pick at it. You need to let it dry first. Trust me, I've had my share of casts."

Yang entered the room, tapping the doorway as she did, smiling and waving. "How's things up here? I see Ruby has a stylish new accessory to show off."

Her sister stuck her tongue out, blowing a childish raspberry that made Yang smirk. Yang returned the action, and then shrugged her shoulders, stepping closer. "What? I'm serious, it looks good on you! You can get it signed, show it off, everything! That sounds fun, right?"

Ruby snorted, and gave the injured arm a stiff wave. "Beware all who face the mighty cast arm!"

Both Yang and Summer laughed, but Ruby instantly looked like her mood was dampened. She waited for a moment for the laughter to die down, then asked, "So, how are Weiss and Blake? Are they going to be alright?"

Yang hesitated, and rubbed the back of her head as she tried to think of a way to say it without actually revealing just how damaged Weiss was. "Well, I mean, Blake isn't bad, Amber came by and healed her. But Weiss…" her voice trailed off for a few seconds, and both Ruby and her mother started to look worried. She picked up quickly, saying, "She isn't too great, but she's getting surgery right now. She's going to be good to go before you know it."

Ruby had a hopeful look, but Summer didn't mirror that. Instead, she stood, and said gently to Ruby, "Stay here, please. I'd like to talk to Yang about some undead stuff. Nothing too important."

Ruby tilted her head, puzzled, then shrugged. "Alright, whatever."

Yang stepped out of the room, and waited as her mother followed her. She closed the door behind her, and looked at her daughter with a slightly anxious expression. "I'm sorry, I know you probably want to comfort your sister, but I need to discuss a few things. Has Naze been telling you what's going on?"

Yang shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, I know what's up with Adam, but I haven't heard about Cinder in a while. Why?"

Summer sighed, and leaned up against the wall. "Cinder is coming to Vytal next. Menagerie is hers, and now she wants this place. If either Vale or Vacuo fall to her, she'll become too powerful to stop. Luckily Naze doesn't think she'll try for either of those places first. She'd rather have him out of the way, then take the world at her leisure. Do you see why that's a good thing?"

Yang nodded, and gave a smile. "If she thinks she can take the ziggurat, she's got another thing coming. She could throw as much of an army she wants at it, and never make any progress."

Summer nodded, but didn't seem too happy. "Yes, but it's only a matter of time until she realizes that, and diverts her attention elsewhere. You know the reason Naze hasn't attacked her outright yet is, right? Because he doesn't want to be seen as someone who will rise up and save the world. He's not interested in that, but he's less interested in everyone dying off. When Cinder attacks, he will have no reservations about destroying her. We just have to wait until then."

Yang nodded again, and asked, "Will he actually fight? Like, as in, go toe to toe with her? If so, we could try to sell tickets. I'd pay to see that."

Summer shook her head. "Yang, this isn't something to joke about. My worry is that Cinder may be too powerful. Yes, Naze is a Lich, but Cinder may be on another level entirely. She might not take the ziggurat, but Naze might not be able to push back. If that happens, Cinder wins. I think that's why he wants to use Adam to his advantage, as well as the people of Remnant. He knows what's coming, and he is trying to soften her up as much as he can before they meet."

This news came as a great surprise to Yang. She had never thought that someone would be able to outclass Naze. He could command the very powers of death itself, so how could someone kill him? He was already dead!

Her voice was slow to exit her throat. "So… what? Why are you telling me this?"

Her mother heaved another sigh, and put an arm out towards her daughter. She wanted to give what little comfort she could before she gave her daughter the terrible warning. It wrapped around her shoulders, and she said in a hushed voice, "Because a lot of sacrifices will have to be made, and I don't want you to be hurt if someone close to you…"

She couldn't finish the sentence. By the look on Yang's face, she got what Summer meant. Any one of her friends, any number of people, all could potentially die. Or worse, be corrupted.

Its wasn't a good piece of news to deliver, but she had to anyways. Now that she had, there was a weight off her chest. Yang wouldn't like confronting that fact, though. There was nothing she could do about that. It was better that she know and be somewhat prepared than not.

The weight was gone, but that didn't change the fact that the terrible event was coming. She would have to enforce the defenses of Vytal to ensure that no stragglers from the demonic force were able to corrupt the cities.