Chapter 112:

Pyrrha's Polarity-enhanced shot tore right through the skull of an Elder Creep, opening up a wide hole all the way along its spine, before exiting out the back, tearing its way right through the Grimm's bone plates in the process. Lowering her rifle, Pyrrha cast her eyes around for her next target.

There were a fair few to choose from, but none that urgently required her attention. From atop Aiwendil's palisade, the militia's soldiers had planted several tripod-mounted turrets, nowhere near as powerful as the Dust-turrets that larger settlements might have mounted permanently, but possessing more punch, and a higher rate of fire, than standard Dust-rifles. Said turrets were now mostly engaged in bringing down any Griffons or Nevermores that were trying to fly over the walls. Fortunately, the Nevermores were of the larger variety, not the smaller, crow and raven-sized, younger ones, which would have been ridiculously hard to target; while also fortunately not being gargantuan titans of the size of the one that Pyrrha and her team had faced in the Emerald Forest.

On the ground, things were even less pressing. Jaune, Yang, and Blake were holding their own at the point of the main attack, tearing through the waves of weaker and younger Grimm with ease. Meanwhile, the older and stronger ones were trying to attack from other points. But Ren's decision to station himself, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake at different points around the perimeter wall was allowing them to lessen that threat to the point that the militia could handle the rest.

Glancing over, Pyrrha's eyes widened as she spotted the bounding form of a Beringel, the gorilla-like Grimm running on its hind legs and the knuckles of its forelimbs. It was making a beeline for the wall. It demonstrated the innate cunning that made elder Grimm so dangerous, making its approach while a small, mixed group of Nevermores and Griffons was swooping down from above on that very same section of the wall, ensuring that the defenders' eyes were turned upwards, first and foremost. By the time enough of them noticed the incoming Beringel for their guns to make a difference against its tough hide, it would already be among them. A Grimm like that could easily make the leap needed to clear the palisade.

Pyrrha broke into a run, leading with several regular shots from her rifle, rather than her Semblance-enhanced ones. It wasn't so much to hurt the Grimm as it was to attract its attention. She wanted to draw the Beringel's eyes to her and, hopefully, its natural inclination towards aggression would do the rest.

Her assessment was spot on, and the Beringel turned towards her with a look of murderous fury in its eyes. The Grimm pivoted and, with a guttural roar, charged right for her. Pyrrha met its charge head on, transforming her weapon into its javelin-mode. She hurled her weapon as she closed in. The Beringel lifted one arm and swiped to the side, knocking Pyrrha's weapon away with a deflecting move, using its bone-armor. The javelin spun through the air, before Pyrrha's Semblance arrested its movement, prompting it to orient its point back around, and then fly at the Grimm from behind. At the last second, the rifle barrel in its butt end fired, accelerating Milo so that it pierced right where the Beringel's muscular neck met its shoulder.

The monster roared in anger and pain, its charge faltering. In front of it, Pyrrha threw her shield next, Akouo's bronze disk flying up into the Beringel's chin, Pyrrha using her Semblance to enhance its spin and velocity as much as possible. At the same time, she extended her right hand, calling Milo back to her. As she did, she transformed the javelin into its sword-mode, the blade elongating inside the Beringel's body, causing it to slice its way down along its chest in the process.

The Beringel reared back, having been knocked upwards and backwards by the force of Pyrrha's shield. It screeched in agony as Milo cut itself free of the black flesh, before flying back to Pyrrha's hand. As soon as the handle of her sword thudded securely into her hand, Pyrrha jumped, executing a leap that carried her past the Beringel, enabling her to behead it with a smooth, easy slash, cutting into the wound that her shield had already opened.

Landing behind the collapsing Grimm, Pyrrha extended her left arm, calling her shield back. Casting her eyes around, she looked for the next big threat, only to find herself gratified that there didn't appear to be any immediate ones. The Grimm assault already looked to be tapering off. Pyrrha found herself hoping that her friends were meeting with similar success.

Blake landed easily, letting out a relieved breath as a pair of older, but not quite Alpha, Beowolves collapsed behind her, their forms dissolving into black smoke. Glancing around, she surveyed her area with both her eyes and ears, on the lookout for the next hint of an attacking Grimm. However, her space appeared to be clear. Up above, the last of the flyers were being picked off by the turrets that had been set atop the wall. She found herself wondering how the others were doing, but mostly how Ruby was doing.

It had been hard, sitting there and listening to Faolan rant about faunus. She yearned to put him in his place, to show him, by virtue of a mirror, that humans had just as much potential to be as violent and savage as any faunus. But she couldn't, not without outing herself. It would have been bad enough, here in a settlement full of faunus who were likely to judge her for daring to hide her heritage. But it would be all the worse to reveal that she was a concealed faunus to a man who viewed her entire race with nothing more than contempt and suspicion. He'd take it as a virtual confirmation of his worst assumptions about faunus in general.

In the end, Blake had decided to stand back and let Ruby and Ren take the lead in handling Faolan's investigation, or take the lead in keeping him from carrying his investigations too far rather. It was a reluctant decision. Even now, her fingers ached with the need to take Gambol Shroud, and use it to teach the arrogant bastard a lesson.

But she couldn't do that...not now. There were bigger things at stake. Blake just had to hope that Ruby was up to the job of stopping him.

Who am I kidding? Blake mentally chided herself. Of course she's up to the job. She's Ruby Rose. She's beaten Adam twice. She fought and defeated Cinder, who had actual magic. Compared to that, a Huntsman like Hargrave is nothing.

Still, it was always difficult to stand back and watch.

Ren stood and watched as his target collapsed, black curls of smoke already dancing away from its body as it began to disintegrate. Activating his Semblance, he allowed himself to fade away, slipping past the senses of his enemies. His Semblance had always been effective against the Grimm. After refining it, much of that thanks to applying what he had learned from Ruby through their Aura training, he had found that his Semblance enabled him to slip through the awareness of people as well. It was similar to the Suppression Ruby had had them practice incessantly. Ren's presence vanished, allowing him to become a part of the background, completely unnoticeable to nearly everyone...even if he was standing right in front of them. And he didn't need to forgo his Aura's protection to do it.

Casting his eyes about for his next target, Ren had to resist the urge to go check on the others. With Ruby engaged with Faolan, he was the primary authority in the field. However, as a leader, part of his job was to put his trust in his friends and teammates to do their jobs right. He had the responsibility to make sure he didn't falter with his own work. His friends were arguably stronger than he was (even Jaune, by his estimation now), so it was easy to stand back and trust in their strength to see things through.

Truth be told, Ren still didn't think much of himself as a leader. Sure, he'd gotten his teammates to acknowledge his authority, and he could effectively guide them in the field. But, more often than not, the best thing he could do was stand back and let them all do what they did best. He supposed, in its own way, that was a sign that he was an effective leader, that he knew and trusted both the skill and judgment of those who were beneath him. In this situation, that was a good thing.

RYNB and the other three members of RASP could handle the Grimm easily enough. So long as Ruby could handle Faolan, they would be fine. As he looked up, and saw black clouds rumbling overhead, Ren knew that he didn't have anything to worry about.

Faolan's spear met Ruby's swords, the flames concentrating, before being fanned by the wind, creating an explosive blast. The lightning wreathing Ruby's swords responded with an angry crackle, and the explosion washed out to either side and above her. Instead, Faolan was sent skidding back, arcs of electricity dancing along the length of his spear's shaft, before running up his arms, making them spasm, the spear's shaft rattling against the pipe as Faolan's body lurched.

With a grimace that accentuated the scars of his face, Faolan managed to rally, bringing the spear back around for another thrust. However, Ruby had already turned side on, swinging her own sword in a downwards stroke. Even though the skies were completely clear once more, a blast of lightning still roared down, striking the ground right in front of her, before stretching along in a trail, along the path of her swing, rushing right towards her opponent.

Faolan threw himself to the side, the edges of his cloak smoldering from just brushing against the wave of lightning Ruby had launched against him. Going through a cartwheeling flip, he landed on his feet, ready to continue the battle, only to find that Ruby had used his evasion as an opportunity to close the distance between them. In her left hand, Bara descended, threatening to bite into his shoulder.

Faolan's instincts, honed by years of training and experience, told him that blocking Ruby's strike head on was an invitation to get his spear sliced in two. The lightning of her sword enhanced the edge, threatening to split both the Aura he was channeling through the spear, and the steel beneath it. Instead, Faolan snapped his right arm up, bringing the butt of his spear up to intercept Ruby's slash from the side. He managed to knock her strike far enough off course that it passed by him, another blast of lightning lancing down to meet the blade, right as she finished her stroke. Just that flash, combined with the brief contact his descending spear made with her sword was enough to send another painful jolt through his arms.

Faolan turned with the movement of his block though, switching his grip, so that his right hand was now gripping the pipe around his spear, while the left gripped the shaft, on the end near the spear's head. Thrusting with his left hand sent the butt of his spear flying for Ruby's abdomen. It wouldn't cut at her Aura, but it would drive her back, and hopefully drive the breath from her lungs while he was at it.

However, the butt of his spear met the pommel of Ibara, Ruby bringing up her sword's handle, essentially countering him with the same movement. The force behind his blow still managed to send her sliding back. More to the point, since the lightning was concentrated around her sword's blade, rather than where her hand was gripping it, Faolan was spared a painful jolt this time.

They paused, neither bothering to try and bridge the space between them, both breathing hard from the exertion of their fight. A silence, broken only by the angry crackling of the lightning writhing around Ruby's swords, hovered between them.

Faolan was the first to speak. "An impressive parlor trick," he declared. "I find it hard to believe that you could possibly perform something like this with mere lightning-Dust."

"You're right," agreed Ruby. She wasn't about to give this man any tips behind how her technique worked. Instead, she opted to smile confidently. She supposed now was the time to put all her hard work and training to the test.

Streaks of red lightning, created from Ruby's own Aura, began to wind amongst the blue and white of the lightning she'd called down from the heavens, tangling together, like the vines from two different thorny plants. At the same time, she called upon the wind, which answered her will even more readily than it had before. Ruby realized that her reach had grown wider.

That was because simply learning to tap into the wind itself had been a forerunner to the understanding needed to utilize the Raikoken, she now realized. Her Aura didn't conjure air, the way it did lightning. Instead, it meshed with the air around her, bringing it under her control, making it into an extension of herself. And now, with her greater understanding, the ability to tap into the Aura of the One, she was able to call upon the wind to an even greater extent than ever before.

This is what Kyo-nii does with the Mizuchi...even his other techniques, Ruby realized, her eyes widening in private jubilation. This then, was one of the secrets behind the almighty power of the Mumyo Jinpu Ryu that her brother wielded. Even for his most basic techniques, he was calling upon the power of the One, as naturally as breathing and walking. No wonder he had always seemed to stand at some unreachable pinnacle.

Granted, Ruby suspected there was more to her brother's power than just that. Knowledge of the One, an understanding that was an important key, was the basis of Kyo's techniques, but that didn't even begin to cover the tremendous well of power he possessed. However, pondering that was neither here nor there. She had to focus on the opponent in front of her, first and foremost.

The vines of red weaved in and out with the streamers of white and blue, swirling air flowing around and through them, twisting together like individual strings to become twine, then rope, her power, and the World's power, now binding together and becoming one. From there, Ruby began to work them into the image she had within her mind of what she wanted to achieve.

The streaming arc of energy that stretched up and over her shoulders, connecting the blades of her swords like a crackling rainbow, intensified, the individual arcs of red and blue electricity twisting and winding together more tightly, forming a broad band, a nimbus of pure energy that hovered behind her. Then, like knots on a string, the arc began to bulge at six different points along the length of that arc. Red flared within the core of each knot, a white shell forming around it. Then the whole thing washed to white-edged violet, the knots breaking free from the string. Now, the energy of Ruby's technique hovered behind her in the form of six orbs of intense plasma, filling the air with a gentle hum.

It was amazing to Ruby. They felt so much more stable, so much more natural, than her previous techniques. This was a world apart from her Hibana technique. She could fully control these orbs like true extensions of herself, not merely launch them like projectiles.

Of course, Faolan didn't really notice the difference. The creasing of his forehead above his already-narrowed eyes indicated a subtle contempt. "For all that flash and flare earlier, you still resort to the same tricks. Pitiful."

Ruby merely smiled at him. "Hoshizora no Mai."

Stepping off, Ruby fired her Aura out through the balls of her feet, using her Shukuchi to close the distance between her and her opponent, like lightning itself. She was fast, her body nothing more than a flickering blur to Faolan's eyes. But he'd already shown that her speed alone wasn't enough to get inside his reach so easily. Faolan immediately lashed out at her with his spear, spinning it as he thrust it through the pipe, the Dust in its shaft creating a mirage that made its image bend and dance wildly.

Ruby responded by batting aside the thrusting blade, having no trouble tracking or locating it. The spear retracted quickly, Faolan working to keep the blade between him and Ruby. However, the orbs that had been hovering behind Ruby flew ahead of her, dancing and weaving through the air to converge on Faolan from different directions. Faolan jumped back away from her, his weapon whirling to bat away the orbs of plasma, receiving painful shocks through the shaft of his spear as it made contact with them.

But Ruby advanced faster than the man could retreat, adding her attack to that of her plasma spheres. Faolan desperately parried her strikes, while struggling to block and dodge the swooping orbs. Extending his spear, he swept it out, the green cylinder of wind-Dust now directly behind the head, his swing creating a powerful gust that caught Ruby's cloak, sending her skidding back, while also sending her orbs scattering through the air.

They quickly corrected their trajectories, converging back in. But Faolan used the opening to go back on the offensive, lunging and thrusting at Ruby, the fire-Dust cylinder of his spear's segments moving to the point behind the head, fire streaming out like jets from a rocket engine to speed the thrust. At the same time, the blade of the spear flared with the ebony and violet energy of gravity-Dust, lending weight and power to Faolan's attack.

Ruby caught and deflected his thrust off to the side, the momentum of the blow sending her body into a spin that wrapped her cloak around her. Her will guided the weaving orbs of her technique, sending them flying at Faolan from behind. But the Huntsman paid them no mind, focusing on ending this battle before Ruby could land a decisive blow of her own. His spear retracted like lightning, then thrust forward again just as quickly, the edge of its blade shimmering a faint green color, wind sharpening the edge to a lethal extent, enough to cut through her Aura without needing to break it entirely.

His spear pierced through Ruby's cloak, where it would have plunged into her undefended back...had she been there. But the cloak dissolved into a cloud of red petals, which exploded through the air around Faolan, swamping his vision with their dancing movements. He'd lost track of Ruby entirely, and his head whipped around, eyes searching frantically for where Ruby's next attack would come from.

The light from above faded, and Faolan realized a shadow had fallen over him. Looking up, his eyes widened, fixating on Ruby, who was now in the air overhead. She joined Bara and Ibara together, raising Akaibara over her head, the blade shimmering, the white and blue energy washing out the normal red of its blade. The sky directly above darkened, a single, concentrated, near-pitch-black storm cloud now hovering directly over her head.

Faolan prepared to jump out of the way of whatever attack she was about to launch. It seemed powerful, but the windup was long enough that he could easily get out of the way, before she unleashed it. However, his body abruptly refused to respond. His muscles locked up, a sensation like countless stinging needles running through his limbs, his muscles tightening and stiffening to the point where he was rendered completely immobile.

Straining against the stiffening of his neck, Faolan lowered his gaze, and would have gasped, had his chest not begun to feel just as constricted as the rest of him. The six orbs of Ruby's Hoshizora no Mai now circled around him, their blurring forms seeming to form a ring to his eyes. From that ring, thin streamers of lightning, thin as the strands of a spider's web, stretched inwards, meshing with his body. Rolling his eyes downward, Faolan could see the minuscule streams of energy working their way though his body...beneath his skin. His eyes rolled back upwards, seeing a growing point of light forming in the cloud over Ruby's head, a shaft of pure energy stretching down to meet the tip of her glowing sword.

This is impossible, he ranted within the space of his own head. I can't be defeated by a child, not like this...definitely not by one who fights on behalf of those damn mongrels.

"Ame-no-nu-hoko!" Ruby swung her sword downwards, and a shaft of pure electrical energy plunged down from above, washing out Faolan's body, and even his shadow, a hysterical scream wrenching itself from the man's lips, before being drowned out by the sound of roaring thunder.

Ruby landed, panting for breath, turning to bring her swords up, ready to continue the fight. She couldn't sense any further resistance from Faolan, but she knew better than to lower her guard, not until she was absolutely sure her enemy was unable to fight back. It would be best if she didn't kill him. The man would need to stand trial for what he had done, and that would ensure that everyone knew what he'd been trying to do out here.

The dust raised by her attack began to clear, and when it did, Ruby's throat went dry.

Faolan was standing there, mostly unharmed. There were some scorch marks on the fringes of his cloak. His hair was singed. There were angry red lines that stood out starkly against the pale color of his skin. But he definitely hadn't been taken out by her attack.

But that had been through no merit of his own. Faolan was standing, but only by virtue of the hand that gripped the collar of his cloak, behind his neck. The man standing behind Faolan kept the Huntsman on his feet, even though Faolan himself looked to be on the verge of collapse. It was the sight of that man that had turned Ruby's mouth drier than a desert. She recognized him all too well. Ilia had never given a detailed description of the man who'd spirited away Adam Taurus. But; with that dark motley costume, the jingling bells on the ends of that fool's cap, the white domino mask over his eyes, the skull-topped marotte in his right hand; there could be no mistaking him. This was the mysterious Jester. He couldn't be anybody else.

"Not bad, Little Missy," said Jester, lips curling back in a cruel grin. "Man, watching that takes me back. If I hadn't stepped in, this poor fellow would be a quivering lump." He gently shook Faolan in his grip to prove his point.

Ruby swallowed, her arms trembling, struggling to hold up her swords. Her instincts were screaming at her that this man was dangerous-No!-not just dangerous, beyond dangerous. This man...this thing, was unlike anyone or anything she had ever encountered, standing so far beyond her as to defy even basic comprehension.

"Ooh! What a clever one you are," cooed Jester, his grin widening. "You're smart enough to be afraid at least. That's a good sign, little missy. Most people don't even notice, you know. I'm so high above them that they can't even begin to sense anything about me. But you...you're strong enough to sense that I'm out of your league...for now."

Ruby tried to swallow, but couldn't. She could feel the man's Aura now, chilling, like an arctic wind during the deepest of winter, the kind of wind that knifed its way through the skin to chill a person to the core, only deeper and colder, her bones turning to ice beneath her muscles, her entire body going rigid from fear.

Jester chuckled, making the bells on his hat chime softly. "Oh, I sooo look forward to seeing how you progress. This is gonna be fun. If you can clear the next couple of hurdles, you'll be on your way."

"Wha-what do you m-mean?" asked Ruby. "You work for Salem, don't you?"

"We have an arrangement...she and I," said Jester, chuckling darkly. "She lets me do my thing, and I brush the occasional spark away from her, sparks from a very specific flame."

Ruby had no idea what that meant, but she could tell that no more hints were forthcoming.

"But...if you can get past the next hurdle, you'll be on your way," he repeated. "Of course, if you want to get to her, you'll have to go through me, at some point. If you can manage that, you'll have good as won. But don't hold out hope. Those stronger than you have tried...and failed...for millennia, that includes your precious big bro, and all his ancestors."

Ruby gasped, her eyes widening. There had been something about Jester, something familiar that tugged at the fringes of her awareness. But now she understood.

His Aura...it felt familiar. It reminded her of Kyo's; darker and more evil for sure, but there was that same sense of an unending well of power. This man had a connection with the Mibu Clan, possibly even with the Royal Family. "Who...who are you?"

"I'm put a pathetic clown," said Jester, hanging his head with mock sadness. "I am one who has cried and cried and cried...cried until he lost the ability to cry at all, one who can no longer shed tears or blood...and so...I can only laugh." Lifting his head, he began to cackle. "I laugh at the absurdity, the unfairness of life. I laugh and laugh and laugh...because it's all I have left now."

The Ennui, thought Ruby, horrified. Just how old is he?

Jester lifted his head up again, his horrifying grin in place. "In any case, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ruby Rose. I look forward to seeing what comes next. I know that Adam is looking forward to seeing you again too."

"What are you doing with him?" asked Ruby.

"Training him, of course," said Jester. "After that silly boy was foolish enough to challenge you a second time, without doing a single thing to better himself, I knew that somebody had to step in, or he'd just get himself killed. So I've taken it upon myself to give the man a few...pointers...and some new equipment. He's still not quite ready yet, but I promise that he'll be ready by the time the big festival swings around. It's gonna be an event to remember."

Ruby shuddered at the promise. Her gaze drifted down to Faolan, the Huntsman's strength slowly returning, the angry lines, left by Ruby's binding, fading from his skin. It wouldn't be long before he was strong enough to fight again. "What about him?"

"Oh...him?" Jester glanced down at Faolan. "I'm taking him with me. Adam's been doing pretty well, so I thought I'd throw him a bone. The chance to off this fellow should be a suitable reward, don't you think?"

With Faolan's reputation, the things he'd tried, the crimes he was guilty of (even if he'd never been tried or convicted for them), Ruby could understand why Adam would probably be giddy at the chance to cut the Huntsman down. But she needed to keep Faolan here, to turn him over to the authorities, along with a detailed list of his crimes. Yet she was also aware that she had no hope of keeping him here. She couldn't demand that Jester leave him, and certainly couldn't make the man leave him. In the end...all she could do was watch.

Jester appeared to appreciate her train of thought. He chuckled again. "Either way, you don't have to worry about him coming after you again. You're a treat, Ruby Rose. You might just be able to do it, what the Mibu, or the Pretenders who came after them, couldn't. If you can clear the hurdle of Adam Taurus, I'll be next in line."

Ruby watched as the forms of Jester and Faolan began to run and stretch, swirling inwards, like paint flowing down a drain. A second later, they were gone, and Ruby was left alone...the winner...but feeling far from victorious.

Faolan landed on the ground with a pained grunt. Looking up, he saw that he was surrounded by trees; not the neat rows of Aiwendil's orchards, but the crowded trees of the deep forest. After being bound by Ruby's technique, about to take her finishing blow, he'd barely been conscious of what had come after. All he knew was that someone had saved him, kept him standing, exchanged words with the little red brat, and then whisked him away. Faolan had felt his body lurch and distort. And now he was here.

"You'll get your feet back under you in a moment," said the man who'd rescued him. "Luckily, you're not tapped out yet. I know you've got plenty of fight left in you. You'll need it for what comes next."

"Hmm?" grunted Faolan, planting the butt of his spear, using it to lever himself up. "Who are you?"

"Just a clown," demurred Jester, stepping back.

"You saved me...but don't expect any thanks," growled Faolan.

"Yeah, well...you definitely won't be thanking me for this," said Jester, chuckling.

"For what?" asked Faolan.

Jester gestured with his marotte, pointing to a figure, his presence obscured by the shadows of the trees. The man stepped forward, and Faolan's eyes widened. "Adam Taurus!"

Indeed, it was Adam Taurus. But he looked different from the most recent pictures and posters of the man. The main difference was his hair. The spiky red locks had grown out considerably, since the last time Adam had been photographed, running down nearly to the level of his shoulders. Aside from that, he was dressed in his usual clothes. The other big difference was his choice of weapon.

Faolan had long dreamed of the day he would be the one to hunt down Adam Taurus, and bring the man to justice...just his head, that was. To that end, he'd fervently studied all the available information on the infamous faunus terrorist, particularly his favored weapons. It was fairly well-known that Adam's weapons were a sword and a sheath, the latter a disguised rifle. But these were not the weapons he carried now.

His new weapon was a sword, but much larger and broader than the one he'd previously wielded. The blade was very nearly five-feet in length, though it was presently hidden in the black-lacquered sheath that hung from Adam's belt, so that it rested behind him, with its exceptionally-long handle extending out to his right, but could be pulled around into a more typical drawing position when he needed to. In many ways, it looked somewhere between an oversized katana and a broad dao-sword, the sheath indicating the weapon's graceful curve, despite its impressive width.

"I've heard of you," growled Adam. "A filthy Huntsman, who takes any excuse he can to kill faunus. How I've longed for the chance to give you a taste of your own medicine."

Faolan chuckled darkly. "I could say the same, Taurus," he said, his scarred cheeks stretching as he grinned. "You, the self-proclaimed hero of the faunus, who's nothing more than a butcher, even of his own kind, if he has an excuse for it."

"Looks to me like you boys have plenty in common," said Jester with a chuckle.

Neither of the men noticed him, instead facing one another down. Faolan took up his spear, leveling it at Adam. For his part, Adam appeared to do nothing.

"I'm annoyed that the little, red brat kept me from exacting punishment on that village," growled Faolan. "But killing you will be the ultimate consolation for that."

Adam said nothing, instead standing and waiting.

With a bestial snarl, Faolan surged forward, thrusting his spear's shaft through the pipe, the weapon extending, the blade flickering in its circular path towards its target.

There was a crimson flash. Faolan froze, his thrust stopping cold. For a second, time seemed to stand still. Then the shaft of his spear dropped, sliced cleanly through. A few seconds later, Faolan's body followed suit, a diagonal line stretching up from his right hip to his left shoulder. The top portion of his torso slid off to the side, hitting the ground with a wet thud, blood fountaining from the cut on both sides. The split section of Faolan's cloak was tossed through the air like a discarded rag. Finally, the lower portion of his body toppled over.

Adam stood where he was, his right arm now extended up and to the side, the handle of the massive blade sitting firmly in his hand. Bringing it back down, he slid it into its sheath with a movement that looked almost so casual that he appeared to be tossing it in.

"That was disappointing," declared Adam.

"It goes to show that you're much stronger now," said Jester. "You're nearly ready for your next fight."

"Was that meant to be training?" asked Adam.

"It was a treat...for all your hard work," said Jester. "I figured that the chance to dispose of someone like him would be quite...appealing to you."

"It works, I suppose," said Adam, glancing down at his weapon. "It seems that this blade will do."

"That it will," agreed Jester. "From the looks of things, you two get along quite well. Before long, you're gonna be strong enough that you can kill your big rival."

"Ruby Rose..." growled Adam.

"She's gotten stronger since the last time you fought her," explained Jester. "It's a race now. Which of you will be farther ahead when the time finally comes?" He chuckled maniacally. "I can't wait to find out."

"Ruby!"

Ruby looked up at Jaune's shout, glad to see that he, Yang, and Nora were unharmed as the three of them rushed over to her. Ruby herself had slumped tiredly in the middle of the plaza. Her fight against Faolan had not been as difficult as she'd feared, but still draining. Drawing upon and using the Aura of the World was still a pretty tiring task for her.

"Are you okay?" asked Yang worriedly, the three of them coming to a stop around Ruby.

"I'm fine," said Ruby, giving her friends the best smile she could manage.

"Where's Hargrave?" asked Jaune, looking around warily.

"Gone," said Ruby.

"What?" gasped Nora. "He ran?"

Ruby shook her head. "He was taken."

"Taken...?" Yang and the other traded confused looks. "Taken by who?"

"Jester," said Ruby, "the same guy who took Adam Taurus from the White Fang."

"What?" grunted Jaune. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," said Ruby. "But Jester's training Adam, I guess. I think he took Faolan to be a...practice dummy...maybe."

"Seriously?" grunted Yang, barely able to believe what she was hearing.

"You couldn't stop him?" asked Nora.

Ruby gave Nora a sober look. "Jester...he's not like anyone we've seen before. He's...dangerous...way more than Cinder or Adam. And..."

"And what?" asked Yang.

Thinking about her suppositions regarding Jester's connection to the Mibu Clan, Ruby averted her eyes. "Nothing," she said. "At least...nothing I can be sure of."

The other three frowned, able to tell that Ruby wasn't telling them everything. In the end, they decided to leave it be. If Ruby felt it was something they needed to know, she would tell them.

"What about the Grimm?" asked Ruby.

"All taken care of," declared Weiss as she, Pyrrha, and Blake all entered the plaza.

"Where's Ren?" asked Nora.

"Checking with the militia's commander," said Blake. "They're confirming that the threat is past."

Ruby grunted, getting back to her feet. "We'll need to let Vale know what happened," she commented. "I get the feeling this isn't gonna go over well."

"It'll be fine," said Yang dismissively.

"Yeah, it's all Hargrave's fault for throwing his weight around," added Nora.

I get the feeling someone in Vale isn't gonna see it that way...or let it be seen that way, thought Ruby glumly. Regardless of the outcome, she was fairly certain that them ending up on a mission with the racist Huntsman was no accident. Whoever had arranged this wanted it to come to blows. Did whoever was after her think that Faolan would have been able to kill her?

That didn't make sense in the slightest. Given the nature of the abduction attempt, whoever this person was, they wanted her alive, at least for now, probably to question her about something. So then...what was the plan here?

Ruby made her way back to the militia's headquarters, where she knew she'd find Ren, the others in her wake. Arriving at the building, she found Ren and the commander waiting for her, they were glad to see her, and get confirmation that Faolan was no longer a threat. The commander had difficulty stomaching that the Huntsman had disappeared, no doubt fearing that Faolan would show his face again, sooner or later. But Ruby was quick to assure him that he wouldn't be a threat any longer. She understood well enough that Jester had no plans for letting corrupt Huntsman live.

She just wished she could take comfort from that knowledge.

From there, it was a matter of submitting their report to Vale over the CCT, including checking in with Ozpin, and letting him know what happened. That included informing Ozpin about Jester. Ozpin was clearly unhappy that someone connected with Salem had taken Faolan away. But there was nothing to be done at the moment. Ozpin promised to have a bullhead out to them the very next morning, advising them to get some rest, and congratulating them on defending the settlement. Even though the mission had become a mess, it still seemed to be successful, overall. Aside from that, he'd also shared with them the good news that the virus Cinder had implanted in the CCT had been removed.

At the very least, the residents were grateful to the two teams for saving them from Faolan. Ruby was glad that they wouldn't be bearing any extra enmity against humans in general. Hopefully, that would keep this place from becoming a recruiting ground for the White Fang in the future, especially now that the organization was no longer trying to strong-arm faunus into joining.

Still, Ruby couldn't quite keep a sense of disquiet at bay, even as she settled in for a night's sleep.

The day began with a clear sky. During the night, a couple of Grimm, stragglers of the massed attack from earlier, had wandered in, but had been dealt with by the militia. As she and her friends headed for the cleared patch of ground that acted as Aiwendil's air-dock to wait for the incoming bullhead, she noticed several workers heading out into the orchards.

"I hope the Grimm didn't do too much damage to the trees," she said quietly.

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Ren, a relaxed smile on his face. "The Grimm don't generally pay much attention to vegetation, unless it gets in the way. The orchards would only really pose an impediment to the largest ones."

"Ursa Majors and Alpha Beowolves can get between the trees well enough," added Weiss. "Thankfully, there weren't any Elder Deathstalkers drawn in."

"Yeah, we're pretty lucky in that respect," noted Yang.

Arriving at the circle of bare earth, it was easy to see that their transport from Beacon hadn't arrived yet. "By the way," said Blake. "Does anyone know when our flight is supposed to arrive?"

"Professor Ozpin said it should be here before noon," said Ruby.

A moment later, the sound of rushing jets reached their ears. Ruby felt a strange sensation run through her body, one of unease and trepidation. Her ears were picking up the sound of, not one, but three sets of engines. Looking up, her eyes narrowed.

"Uh...Did Professor Ozpin really need to send three bullheads to pick us up?" asked Nora.

"I don't think those are Beacon's bullheads," said Weiss warily.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Pyrrha.

The air-dock was large enough to accommodate all three airships as they switched into their hover-configuration and drifted down. They arranged themselves in a loose, crescent formation, lining up nose to tail in the process. Upon touching down, their passenger-bay doors opened, and a dozen armed men emerged from within each bullhead. Ruby and her friends watched in shock as the soldiers quickly ran out to encircle the eight students, before turning and aiming their rifles at the group.

"Hey! What's going on?" demanded Yang, baring her teeth, hands clenching into fists, ready to deploy her gauntlets.

She was stopped by Ruby, who held out a hand to forestall Yang's action. "So that's how it is," she said glumly.

"Ruby…?" Jaune whispered, giving her a confused look.

The others appeared to have varying degrees of understanding. Nora was just as upset and confused as Yang, if less overtly hostile. Blake was glaring at the soldiers, baring her teeth. Pyrrha and Weiss looked on with faces of uneasy comprehension. Ren didn't show his feelings openly, but Ruby could easily tell that he understood what was going on.

"As expected, you understand things quickly," called out a woman's voice from within the bullhead sitting at the center of the formation.

A woman with light-gray hair combed to the left side of her head jumped out, landing lightly on the ground, the soldiers parting to make room for her as she stepped between them, coming to the front of the group. Ruby took in her lean frame and steely gaze, recognizing that this woman was more dangerous than all these soldiers put together, possibly stronger than the Huntsman she'd just defeated.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Weiss, coming forward to stand next to Ruby, hand resting on the handle of her rapier.

"It's quite simple," said Eira. "My name is Eira Vass of the Valean Bureau of Investigation. Ruby Rose, for interfering in a mission officially sanctioned by the Council of Vale, obstructing the duties of an appointed Huntsman on a critical mission, it is my duty to place you under arrest."

And the trap is sprung.