Chapter Text
Summer was dying, the cold feeling that gripped her very soul told her she didn't have long. She lay on the ground with broken bones, slashes from a bladed weapon, and a bullet hole through her leg. She couldn't see the damage as her eyes hadn't made it out of the fight either.
Blinded by the cackling scorpion with deep purple eyes. After that she remembered falling backward and down the side of a hill, she hit a lot of things on the way down and had probably gotten a few of her wounds infected by her tumble.
Of course, the worst of it was the final free fall onto the stone where she lay now. She didn't know where she was nor did she know why the people who did this hadn't come to finish her off. She didn't know where her weapon, Sundered Rose, had fallen to nor did she know how long it'd been.
She just knew she was dying and she'd never see her family again.
Tears began to pool in bloody sockets, she'd never hear Taiyang's crappy puns or the stories of Qrow's escapades across Remnant again. She'd never be able to track down Raven and give her the scolding of a lifetime for abandoning Yang, she'd never read fairy tales to her daughters again.
She'd never watch as her daughters grew into the beautiful young women she knew they'd one day become. She'd never watch her baby girls learn, nor would she be able to help Ruby with her eyes.
Summer cried all alone as she began to regret her decisions in the last twenty-four hours since she decided to go after Salem. All because she thought she knew better, never even got to Salem's domain before she was attacked.
She desperately wished she'd made a different decision, a different choice, who the hell did she think she was? She wasn't Ozpin. He'd been fighting this war longer than she had been, longer than anyone, and what? She thought she'd end it?
Arrogance drove her. She'd gotten too big. Summer Rose, an awesome Huntress and baker of badass cookies. The greatest of her generation. Look where that got her.
This was her fault and she'd die for her mistake. Leaving behind a family that would probably collapse without her, poor Tai had already lost a wife, even if Raven had just left it'd nearly broken him.
Summer had pulled him back. Who would pull him back this time?
The cold gripped her even tighter now, she was closer to death, and all she could do was lay there and accept it…
Footsteps. Someone was walking on the stone she'd been lying on, metallic boot soles most likely. A Hunter? Someone to save her?
Or was it one of the people that attacked her?
She chose the latter, she gripped onto what was left of her life and hoped. She needed to hope. A voice came from the darkness, it was low, almost mechanical in the way he spoke, but she still understood perfectly.
"I need you to grip this as tightly as you can." He said before a hilt found its way into her palm, fingers clasped around her own folding her fingers over the hilt. Something happened as she held the hilt, a feeling of warmth battling away the cold.
She wasn't sure what was happening but instead focused on her grip. The man had asked her to hold it tightly, so she did just that. She would not let go of it.
"Hmph, well at least you won't be a waste of time."
Her senses went dark and Summer Rose slipped into unconsciousness.
-Forty-Six Minutes Later-
Anna Cross was overworked but overworked willingly. She saw the hundreds of people that came through the doors of Vale Central Hospital, be it a sprained ankle, razor in the mouth, or a Huntsman nearly disemboweled. She'd seen all this and felt it was her responsibility to help anyone who came through those doors.
Anna was currently at the front desk for emergency care. Her emerald eyes scanned the paperwork she was currently doing for her doctorate. Dr. Anna Cross was her dream, her goal, and her passion.
Anna wasn't Huntress material but she knew other ways of helping people, a doctorate in medical science and aura was one of them.
Anna was writing an essay on the medical materials to boost aura to save a patient. Her fingers glided across the keyboard and the essay requirements got closer and closer, if this kept up she'd finish the essay in just under two hours.
A scream interrupted her, however.
Her head snapped up to the entrance and a woman was staring at a man holding a person bundled in white with red splotches everywhere. She stood up and digested the scene in its entirety. A woman wrapped up in what seemed to be a cloak, a quick and easy way of keeping the wounds wrapped up. Her eyes were wrapped up in a torn red fabric, her eyes were bleeding as well.
Blood still leaking from the bottom of the cloak on her back but only slightly, it was getting all over the floor as the man marched forward.
"What happened!" Anna literally slid over the desk as she pressed an emergency button directly tied to an emergency team of doctors and nurses that'd be here quicker than anyone else. She moved toward the two but was far more focused on the patient.
"I found her lying on the floor of a ruined structure out in the wilds of Vale, she'd been attacked but I've no clue who attacked her. Her eyes were sliced, and she was bleeding from her torso. I had to use her cloak to keep her from bleeding out." The man said, his voice clinical as he detailed the injuries.
Anna nodded and put her fingers to the woman's neck. A pulse was still there even though the woman's face was ghastly pale. She looked over to the man and studied him for a moment, tanned skin, white hair poking out from the hood and molten gold eyes staring into her emerald ones.
It was somewhat unsettling but she kept her composure as the emergency team ran in wheeling a stretcher with an oxygen mask. The man placed the woman on the stretcher and stood back as the nurses and doctors looked her over before rushing out into the hospital.
Anna made to follow but stopped and looked back at the man, "Sir, please wait here." she said before taking off not bothering to see if the man had actually listened to her or not.
-Three Hours Later-
Taiyang rushed into Vale Central Hospital in a panic, his clothes hastily put on and missing his usual vest as he instead went for a t-shirt in his panic to leave. An hour ago Taiyang was in bed reading a joke book when his scroll rang, he'd answered and was given the absolutely terrifying news that Summer was in the hospital.
He'd scooped the girls out of their rooms and dropped them off at a friend's house having apologized to them for waking them up and sped all the way here while ignoring several street laws.
Taiyang moved up to the desk, "Excuse me is my wife-I mean is Summer Rose here!?" he asked.
The receptionist looked panicked for a moment but looked down at a clipboard and nodded, "Yes, uh she's on the second floor in surgery." she told him.
Taiyang paled, what could have happened!?
"Do you know what happened!?" he asked.
"N-no, sir I'm sorry but the receptionist in Surgery should know and she's on the second floor."
Taiyang was already sprinting for the stairwell as she finished speaking. The elevator would take too long and he could literally jump up the steps. He never noticed the man sitting in the waiting area or the fact he watched Taiyang as he spoke to the receptionist before running for the stairwell.
-Half an Hour Later-
Qrow walked into the hospital and immediately checked his corners. He'd gotten a call from Taiyang about Summer and was lucky enough to be in Vale for the call so came straight here. Ozpin was also notified about Summer but Qrow wasn't sure when Ozpin would get here.
He walked up to the receptionist, still keeping an eye out for unattended gurneys.
"Excuse me?" Qrow said, getting the receptionist's attention, "Do you know where Summer Rose is?"
"Summer Rose," the girl muttered to herself, her eyes brightened in recognition, "Yes, she's on the second floor in surgery. If I may, how are you related to her?"
"Family friend. How is she?"
"I'm not sure sir, if she's on the second floor I can only assume she's in surgery." Qrow nodded, anxiety spiking as he began walking to the elevator.
He stopped as he was about to press the button and realized he should probably not take the elevator. He turned on his foot and walked toward the stairwell.
He didn't want to get stuck between floors, or if his semblance was feeling really bitchy, drop the elevator entirely.
Qrow walked into the stairwell.
The man watched as he went, his presence continuing to go unnoticed by the people coming in.
-A Few Hours Later-
When Summer slowly oozed back into consciousness the first thing she noticed was the distinct lack of her surroundings. She couldn't see anything, her eyes were open but she couldn't see anything.
Why couldn't she see?
Her breathing picked up.
Why couldn't she see?
Her eyes were open! Something had to be covering them!
She shakily reached for her face but was stopped by a firm but gentle grip.
"Don't do that," the voice of her husband said, "don't touch them, Summer."
Summer gulped, her panic cooling at the presence of Taiyang.
Then she remembered.
She left to end Salem.
She left Taiyang to end Salem.
She left the girls to fight Salem.
She left and nearly died for her hubris.
Something gave within her and she began crying. It stung slightly, her tears as they rolled from her sockets, "I-I'm sorry," she choked out through her sobs.
Taiyang moved his hand to her shoulder, hushing her as he did, "It's okay, you're alive. That's all that matters."
Summer continues sobbing but realizes she's been out and doesn't know how long she's been out.
"H-how long?" She asks.
"Bout a day, I dropped the girls off at the Burney's so they're alright."
Summer relaxed a little after hearing that. She hadn't been asleep that long, relatively speaking, so the girls wouldn't be that worried.
"D-did you tell them?"
"No, at least not the extent of the injuries. I didn't want to make the girls scared, gods know I was terrified when I got the call. I didn't want them in my boat, so I just told them the call was about you and I needed to go to you."
Summer nodded, she would've done the same. Mitigate panic until she knew the whole picture…
She was forgetting something.
Summer knew she was, a blank spot in the situation. She knew there was something else. But what?
Summer concentrated on the last memory she had before waking up.
Cold stone.
Bleeding out.
Regret.
Warmth…
The man who saved her!
"The m-man who saved me?" She asked Taiyang, "I-Is he here?"
Taiyang didn't answer right away, she couldn't see him but she assumed he was thinking, "No, I don't remember seeing anyone else in the waiting room. Qrow came a while after I got here but no one else was there."
Summer deflates slightly, she'd wanted to thank the man for saving her. Her savior had allowed Summer to still be in her family's life and she'd be there as they grew. Summer hoped she'd meet the man again.
"Well, what about Qrow?"
"He's waiting outside. Afraid his semblance may act up around the equipment in the room."
"Oh, really? Well, you tell that bird to get his ass in here, I'm not gonna sit here and just talk to you all day."
"Ha! Message received."
-Meanwhile-
Ozpin had gotten the call about Summer from Qrow a few hours ago. Unfortunately, he'd been in a meeting with the Vale Council and couldn't leave due to its importance so he had to grit his teeth and get through it.
The moment the meeting ended he'd called Glynda and she'd decided to come as well. They both boarded a bullhead and left for Vale.
The two entered the lobby of Vale Central Hospital and b-lined directly toward the front desk. The receptionist looked up and froze at seeing Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy standing directly in front of her.
"Hello, ma'am," Ozpin greeted, "Do you know where Summer Rose is currently."
"S-second f-floor, I'm not privy to her room but y-you could ask the secretary upstairs." The receptionist responded, her finger pointing to the elevator.
Ozpin gives the woman a kind nod and begins to move toward the elevator. Glynda automatically followed from behind as she usually did.
Ozpin about pressed the button to call the elevator when he stopped. He felt something, something nagging at him, as if he missed something.
Ozpin was old, older than anyone had a right to be, and in those years he'd honed a kinda six sense. He could feel when someone's eyes were on him, good or bad. A pair of eyes staring at him with an intent of some kind had always made a feeling creep up his back.
And now that feeling was rearing its head.
Ozpin turned around and looked into the lobby. Empty seats adorned the area and would sometimes be stuffed with people waiting for their turn at the desk or simply waiting for someone to come back from a check-up.
Brown eyes scanned the lobby and found themselves locked onto a figure.
The man was hunched over with a black leather overcoat and his hood covered the man's head casting his face in shadows. The only real color on the man was his red scarf that draped from his neck. He also held a sword in his hands which he seemed to be leaning over as he stared at Ozpin.
Glynda stopped behind Ozpin questioningly before noticing his gaze and turning to look as well. Her eyes widened at the figure as she hadn't even noticed them, she immediately went on alert and put her hand on the Disciplinary which was clipped onto her hip but Ozpin raised his hand in a placating manner.
"Why don't you head up and check on Summer," Ozpin says while looking at the man, "I'll speak with him and see what his intentions are."
"Are you sure, sir?" She asks, "If a fig-"
She's cut off by a pointed look from Ozpin, "There won't be a fight, Glynda. He would've revealed himself long before if that were the case."
Glynda looks back at the man, his hands still gripping the pommel. She looks back to Ozpin and reluctantly nods before turning back and opening the elevator door before the doors closed and Ozpin is left with the man.
Ozpin turned to the man and walked over, his eyes looking over the man before he sat down in the chair next to the man. His own hands resting on the Long Memory in a similar stance to the man just with his back straight.
"What are your intentions?" Ozpin asked as he looked at the man who seemed to be staring forward at the elevator and stairwell.
The man was quiet, not even a small shift in his stillness.
"I brought the woman in," the man said, his voice cold and Ozpin could hear the undertones of a rasp. Like the man hadn't really used his voice much.
"I assume you mean Summer?" The man nodded, "Then you have my thanks."
This time the man shifted somewhat, he seemed uncomfortable, like he wasn't used to hearing the very word.
"In regards to Summer, I must ask. Why?"
This time the man turned his head slightly, Ozpin could see the man's mouth but the hood still obscured his features.
"It didn't inconvenience me," A small twitch of the man's lip told Ozpin otherwise but kept that to himself.
Ozpin looked at the sword the man was leaning on. A general look at it and most, even some Hunters, would just see a normal sword. Its handle was fine wood with a silver piece as the guard, the blade was double-edged and looked taken care of.
Ozpin assumed the blade was made of steel but there was something else he couldn't put his finger on. The strange part was the aura of the sword. It seemed as if it wanted people to look away from it as if it were ashamed of its usage.
Ozpin frowned as he thought of why the sword had this feeling.
"What is your name?" Ozpin asked.
The man immediately stood and Opzin was surprised to see the sword disappear into blue motes which themselves dissolved into thin air. The man grabbed a long case and hoisted it onto his back before turning to look directly at Ozpin.
Their eyes met and Ozpin could suddenly make out more features, tanned skin, stark white hair but the thing that caught Ozpin's eyes were the molten gold eyes that met his own brown eyes.
"I've stayed to look after the woman, don't look for me. It won't be worth it," the man said as he strode past Ozpin and toward the exit of the hospital.
Ozpin didn't stand to pursue, he could have and certainly wished to but he had more pressing concerns. He watched the man leave and disappear out the doors of the hospital into the dark streets of Vale.
Ozpin sat for a moment, pondering what this could mean. Had a wildcard entered the scene or was this a one-off? Ozpin wasn't completely sure.
Sighing, Ozpin stood and walked toward the elevator and pressed the button to call it down. He glanced back toward the doors, the molten gold still in his mind before the elevator arrived and he walked inside.
He'd focus on Summer as she was more important but he'd make sure to ask Qrow to look up the man and hopefully find some information.
-Outside in the City of Vale-
He walked down the dimly lit sidewalk barely lit under the streetlights that dotted the road with cars cruising past. The man didn't know where he was going, nor did he have a true plan for his new situation.
He only had a goal. One that he'd imposed on himself after years of letting himself move as if he were a sword and nothing more.
He refused to allow-
BANG
And suddenly as it occurred Taiga Fujimaru fell to the floor with a bullet through the head-
-himself to ever do something like that again. He'd failed all those years ago to keep himself in check. He'd lost himself to the steel he believed he had to become until his heart of glass couldn't take it and fractured under the weight.
Feelings had poured from the fracture and disgust had seeped from it in abundance, but it only directed itself at him. He'd killed so many in the pursuit of Justice but he'd never taken a moment to feel only think.
He couldn't let himself continue on this path.
He owed it to the people he'd killed and the ones who never deserved it.
Rin, Illya, Sakura, and now Taiga.
He'd be better.
Even if it took destroying himself to rebuild what was broken.
He looked up into the night sky, stars danced across it and a shattered moon hung in the center. He stared at it, the first time he'd looked at the sky, looked at any sky, in a long time. A memory of a promise pressed up from the recesses of his mind. A time when things were simple, and when he lost his own Father.
A Hero of Justice
He felt it was fitting the moon was shattered as it reflected in the golden eyes of the shattered remains of Shirou Emiya.