Taken, but Returned

An: Hey, guys! Welcome to my first Multi-crossover story! This is one of the three RWBY themed stories that I am posting in celebration of RWBY vol. 5's release! The others are Grimm Ascension and Breaking Expectations (formerly known as A rose with a dash of coco).

This story consists of RWBY, Tales of the Abyss, Legend of Zelda, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Lord of the Rings, just so you guys are aware, the how will be explained later.

I hope you enjoy this story and the others. Now let's get started!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, Tales of the Abyss, Legend of Zelda, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, or Lord of the Rings.

One

Separated Across dimensions

"Ugh! Not even back two days, and we're already back to work!" Ruby Rose complained as she trudged down the path to the Bullhead platform.

It had been two days since Team RWBY (Ruby) had left the island of Dr. Merlot, and all four teens were hoping for some well needed R&R. However, Beacon Academy's headmaster, Professor Ozpin, informed them that their skills were needed, along with JNPR's (Juniper) and CVFY's (Coffee), in a new Dust mine being mined by the Schnee Dust Company. According to the report, the crew found a large system of tunnels leading to old ruins, but each tunnel was running rampant with Grimm.

"I know right?!" Ruby's sister, Yang Xiao Long, moaned loudly. "I thought we had the week off!"

Blake Belladonna rolled her eyes. "Well, Professor Ozpin said he needed his best on this one," she drawled in her usual bored tone. "And he said this would help settle any hard feelings between Vale and Atlas after the Breach."

"That's unimportant at the moment!" the haughty voice of Weiss Schnee snapped as she walked out in front. "Right now, my family's newest Dust mine is under siege, and we need to secure it!"

"Oh, sure, that's way more important," Blake said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Quiet you!" she hissed.

"Couldn't Coco's team handle this, though?" Ruby whined, not wanting to give up more precious sleep she was deprived of during the Merlot incident.

"Apparently not," Blake grumbled, also not too happy about giving up her own beauty sleep and reading time for this mission.

"I know what you girls are talking about," Yang said with a dramatic sigh. She grabbed her hair and began smoothing it out. "Do you think this hair is so smooth and beautiful on its own? It's a whole day's work to get it to this level of perfection!"

"Quit complaining!" Weiss snapped again. "This is serious!"

"But…" Blake drawled, "…weren't you complaining as well before you found out about the mine?" Weiss flushed.

"I said quiet you!" she repeated, making her team laugh at her expense.

"Good. You've arrived," came the voice of their combat teacher, Glynda Goodwitch, as she stood with teams CVFY and JNPR. "I must apologize for interrupting your weekend off, but this is a very serious matter."

"It's no problem, Professor Goodwitch," Weiss said, recovering quickly from her embarrassment. The three other members of the team just grumbled incoherently at her.

"Well, now that you four are here, we can get going," she said curtly. She nodded to CFVY and JNPR and they all started towards the Bullhead.

Coco smirked to the all-girl team and adjusted her glasses. "It's going to be a genuine pleasure to work alongside you hotshots!" she told them. She turned around to enter the Bullhead, but turned her head back and called out teasingly, "Just don't be offended when we steal the spotlight this time!"

Nora couldn't help but laugh at that. "Sorry, but we're taking that spotlight for ourselves!" Nora told the second year with the upmost confidence.

Coco laughed. "We'll see, Valkyrie! We'll see!" she shouted as her team and she loaded up in the Bullhead.

Pyrrha turned to team RWBY with a small smile. "Well, I guess that's our cue to board!" she said smiling. With that, the rest of her team agreed and boarded the Bullhead.

The four girls looked at each other and sighed. "Well, here we go again," Yang grumbled.

"Hopefully this will be relatively simple," Ruby said.

"It should be," Blake assured her. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

Schnee Dust mine

BANG!

CRASH!

SHINK!

BOOM!

The worst had happened.

Upon arriving at the mine, it started simply enough. Atleasian military had secured the entrance and informed the Huntress and her students of the Grimm infested tunnels and of the miners still trapped down below the earth. Glynda, and teams CVFY, JNPR, and RWBY had quickly split up to eliminate the threat.

However, it soon went downhill after that.

The White Fang had apparently decided to siege the mine to promote their cause by 'liberating' the Faunus working there and to fuel their army with Dust. The chaos this caused forced the soldiers guarding the entrance to advance into the mine in order to retreat and protect the others inside. What made matters worse was that the remnants of Merlot's faction and his mutant Grimm had set their sights on the mine as well.

What was supposed to be a simple Search and Destroy mission had now turned into a giant turf war.

Team RWBY dragged an unconscious team CFVY and Glynda into a small but spacious cave occupied by Atleasian soldiers. Every member of team CVFY was bruised and bloodied and Glynda herself had a bad cut on her forehead that Ruby couldn't get to stop bleeding.

Team RWBY was also not looking too hot themselves. After being blindsided by Grimm, White Fang, and Merlot's faction; the four girls had been thrown around like rag dolls in a washing machine before they could retaliate, which resulted in the girls having to fight the men to the death.

A fact that was weighing the all-girl team down greatly.

Ruby's shirt and cloak were cut and ripped and she was covered in blood, some of it hers, a little more being Glynda's, but most of it being White Fang grunts she had been forced to kill. Her right arm felt like it was dipped into a roaring fire, and she felt really lightheaded, curtesy of a boulder that hit her in the head during a cave-in.

Weiss's outfit was in a similar state of disrepair, but she was suffering more cuts and abrasions than Ruby due to Myrtenaster's shorter length than Ruby's massive scythe. Three long cuts from what looked like claws raced down her right arm, and her jacket had been ripped to shreds and wrapped around her arm to try and stall the bleeding.

Blake's shirt now only covered her breast, having taken too many blows from weapons. Her stomach looked similar to ground beef from all the cuts and slashes crisscrossing her flesh. She favored her left side because of several gun shots to her right knee cap. Blood ran down Gambol Shroud, and it was also riddled with dings and nicks. She was out of breath, and her left eye was swollen.

Yang was covered in blood. Being a close range fighter, she was up close and personal when blood splattered everywhere. Her arms and chest were dyed red, and her clothes were hanging off her in bloodied rags. She had dislocated her shoulder at one point and forcibly had to relocate it, so she was holding it close to her. Her precious Ember Celica was cracked badly and her hair was slowly turning red from the blood.

Currently, Ruby was trying to stop the blood flowing from the cut on Glynda's forehead, but to no avail. A soldier came over and stated he'd take over for her. She nodded shakily. "T-Thanks," she stuttered and stumbled away from her professor's prone form. The soldier picked up the Huntress and carried her to a makeshift medical center, team CVFY being grabbed by a few miners in the cave and carried to the medic tent as well.

Suddenly, Yang screamed loudly and punched the wall. "This is bullshit!" she shouted. No one bothered to reprimand her or scold her. The situation was that dire.

Blake tried to steady her breathing as she rested against a wall while Ruby tried to help Weiss with her arm. Yang began to shake from the force of her holding back her sobs. She punched the wall again. "How the hell did this happen?! Why did this happen?!" she demanded. She forced back a sob. "W-Why?!"

An explosion sounded farther in the cave, making everyone flinch. Ruby tried to tighten Weiss's bandages, but was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of lightheadedness and had to rest her head against the wall. She whimpered in pain as her eyes began to shut.

"H-Hey! Don't fall asleep, Ruby!" Weiss cried, shaking the younger girl lightly. "You can't fall asleep with your concussion!"

"But it hurts!" she complained quietly.

"Weiss is right, Ruby," Blake mumbled, coming over to pick up her red clad leader. "Stay with us Ruby," she ordered softly, lightly slapping the girl's cheek in an effort to keep her awake. "We need you here with us right now!"

Yang then walked over and grabbed her sister's shoulders. "Don't go to sleep, Rubes!" the blonde pleaded. "Please stay with me! Don't you dare leave me!"

"Y-Yang…" Ruby whispered.

Another explosion resounded through the cavern, shaking loose rubble from the ceiling as the others tensed again. However, this explosion was accented by a loud voice screaming, "MAKE WAY! WE GOT MORE INJURED COMING THROUGH!"

Everyone turned to see team JNPR, looking just as beat up as team RWBY was, dragging miners and a few soldiers through. A few more miners ran through the entrance as well followed by a blonde haired youth with a monkey tail…

"SUN?!" Blake shouted as she limped over to the monkey Faunus. Sun looked terrible. His chest was bloodied and bruised, and his arms had cuts all up and down them. Blood ran down his face and there was a small blonde girl with a blonde monkey tail swinging behind her in his arms.

Sun looked over to the disguised cat Faunus and gaped. "Blake?! What are you doing here?!" he asked/demanded.

"I'm on a mission! What are you doing here?!" she demanded back.

"Some jackass named Adam kidnapped my sister!" he shouted in response, motioning to the girl in his arms. "Said if I didn't come here he'd kill her!"

"A-Adam?!" Blake asked in shock.

"Who's that, Blake?" Weiss asked. But before she could answer, the sound of a soldier dying caught everyone's attention. They turned and saw an Atleasian soldier fall to a masked man wearing a black tux with red accents. Blake let out a choked gasp.

"Adam?!" she said, causing the man to whirl her way. He gave an eerie smile.

"Hello, my darling," he said in a dark, alluring voice. The other soldiers in the cave raced over to the entrance and leveled their guns at him. He chuckled and drew his sword, Wilt.

"This your new army, Blake?" he asked in amusement. "Not much of a trade-off if you ask me." Suddenly, he blurred forward and cut down a whole line of soldiers in a single stroke. "They die too easily!"

"You bastard!" Yang shouted and ran towards the bull Faunus. Blake tried to stop her but was too slow because of her limp.

"Yang no!" Blake shouted. Yang threw her arm back for a punch, and Adam smirked at the blonde. He waited until she was right in front of him and dodged her punch. He swung Wilt at her arm and it connected right above her elbow, easily sinking halfway through her unprotected skin. Yang couldn't even scream as he began to cut her arm off.

He would have succeeded too if it hadn't have been for a massive red and silver scythe blade came racing for his head.

Adam was forced to duck under the massive blade and let his sword slide out of the cut he made on Yang's arm. Yang screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, her arm barely attached to her body. She put a hand on the wound in an effort to stifle out the pain, as a shadow fell over her. Blearily, she looked up to see her sister standing wobbly above her.

"R-Ruby?" she mumbled through the pain.

"L-Leave her alone!" the silver eyed girl screamed and held her blade threateningly at the terrorist. Adam stared at her in amusement.

"Well, well, what do we have here-" He couldn't finish because Ruby rushed him with at speeds that surprised him and tackled him back through the cave's entrance, sending the two tumbling down a random corridor.

"Ruby!" Weiss, Blake, Yang, and team JNPR screamed. Without any preamble, the seven raced out of the cave in order to find and save their teammate and friend. Weiss turned back just long enough to say, "We'll handle this!" before vanishing.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Adam had tumbled into another room in the cave, one that was suspiciously lit by luminous rocks. Adam quickly jumped to his feet as Ruby tumbled a bit further and shakily got to her feet. The bull Faunus laughed a little. "Alright, girly, I'm slightly impressed!" he told her, gesturing to a cut she gave him on his cheek. "I'll humor you! Five minutes. Survive that long, and I might let you live long enough to see what I have planned for my darling Blake."

Ruby breathed in heavily as she swayed on her feet. "I-I won't l-let you h-hurt her!" she proclaimed. Adam smirked at her.

"Then prove it," he said, gesturing at her to bring it on.

Meanwhile, the others ended up taking a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of a major fight. The group became separated, ending up fighting for their lives while surround. Weiss was stuck fighting a mutated Ursa from Merlot's island and having to defend several injured miners.

"Stay back!" she shouted and tried to stab the Ursa. It did little and she was forced to jump away from the massive Grimm's clawed hand as it swung at her.

"Miss Schnee!" a soldier cried as he and his platoon raced into the corridor.

"Stay back!" she repeated, turning to them. A big mistake. Because as she turned back to the Ursa, she was too slow to defend against the Grimm's claw flying at her. Eyes wide, she tried to move away, but the claw made contact with her neck, opening it up in a spray of blood.

A choked gasp escaped her lips as she fell to the ground. The soldiers were stunned to silence for a moment before one screamed out, "MISS SCHNEE!" The mutated Grimm began walking slowly towards the downed Schnee heiress, who could only begin to crawl away from the massive beast with one hand over her open throat in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The soldiers raced forward and were able to draw the mutated Ursa's attention, but sadly, they couldn't get to Weiss because the Grimm barred their path.

No one noticed a glowing line of runes appear and start pulsating as Weiss passed them.

Yang cried out as another Grimm got a lucky swipe at her bad arm before she slammed her good arm into its face. She growled as she tried to turn around, but a Borbatusk slammed into her back, causing her to scream in surprise and pain as she fell to the ground. Tucking and rolling, she whirled and fired a round at the beast, knocking it back a few feet, only for a Beowolf to punch her in the face. She cried out again and stumbled away from the Grimm, only to cross a series of runes, which began to glow and pulse.

Blake ended up running into a room where White Fang and Atleasian soldiers were already locked in combat. "Blake! Wait up!" She turned to the shout and saw Sun running towards her.

"Sun?! What are you doing following me?!" she demanded. "You should be getting your sister to safety!"

"She's safe enough right now! We can't make it out of the mine right now, and you guys need as much help as you can get!" he shouted back.

"I don't need help!" she shouted again, just as another soldier cried out as he died. They turned towards the fighting, and Blake immediately took off flying towards the group.

"Blake wait!" Sun shouted, attempting to stop her. He cursed and was about to grab his weapon when he noticed something glowing in front of the group. It was a series of runes that stretched the whole way across the back of the room. They pulsated at a rather fast and disturbing pace. Sun felt uneasy. "Blake!" he shouted, and ran to try and find her.

Blake ran through the crowd, fighting any White Fang grunt she came across when she heard a loud voice scream out, "TRAITOR!" She whirled around in shock as the masked face of the Faunus known only as 'Lieutenant' meticulously stalked towards her, his chainsaw sword revved up and ready to slice her in half. She grabbed Gambol Shroud and prepared to protect herself.

Team JNPR was currently fighting off a large horde of Grimm and Merlot's mutants. Ren ducked under a mutated Beowolf's swipe as Nora slammed Maghild into its chest, sending it flying away. Turning on her heel, she whirled around and hit an Ursa in the head, sending it to the ground and leaving a crater. "Boom!" she shouted.

Pyrrha was fending off horde of mutated Creeps with Jaune as she was forced to dodge one trying to kick her. "There's too many!" she shouted to her team. Jaune cursed as he stabbed a Creep in the face and jumped away quickly to avoid the resulting explosion.

"Fall back!" he ordered. They didn't protest and quickly moved as a unit towards the back wall, never noticing a series of glowing runes appear and begin to pulsate at a rapid pace.

Back with Ruby and Adam, Adam was beginning to grow frustrated that he couldn't get a solid hit on a physically drained and disoriented girl! She ducked and weaved around his sword and bullets with a finesse that shouldn't have come from a person in her condition. She shouldn't have been able to cut him as much as she did, either. Of course, her large weapon played a role in that, he supposed.

Ruby herself was panting loudly as she tried to steady herself against Crescent Rose. Her clothes were ruined and barely covering her modesty, and her body was slowly turning from milky white to crimson red from all the cuts and slashes across her skin. Her vision had gotten progressively worse since the fight and now everything looked as if someone put the whole world on a spinning top. Black dots flickered across her vision as darkness attempted to envelop her.

Honestly, her dizziness and weakened state somehow proved to be an asset to her in the fight because of Adam's fast and precise strikes. She simply followed her body's demands and fell or stumbled before the strikes hit her. However, she wasn't lucky enough because of the number of cuts on her so far.

Finally, Adam tired of her insolence and raced forward and stabbed Ruby in the stomach. She hadn't reacted in time, and took the hit, making her let out a strangled gasp as she fell to the ground. Adam smiled as he grabbed the handle of his blade when something happened. A glowing set of runes flashed into existence as Ruby's body fell across them, and in a flash of light, she vanished!

As did half of Adam's arm.

Adam scream in pain as his life blood began spewing out of his new stump. Suddenly, several more flashes of light erupted from various caverns, illuminating the tunnels.

Weiss futilely tried to stall her bleeding neck when a white flash filled her vision and she knew no more.

Team JNPR were losing more ground as they vanished in a flash of white light, shielding their eye all the while.

Sun ran through the crowd and saw Blake fighting a large Faunus with a massive chainsaw sword. He prepared his weapon when a bright flash flashed around the whole group, and they vanished without a chance.

Yang was slammed into by an Ursa and sent to the ground, but before the Grimm could finish her off, a bright, harsh light flashed through the room, making the blonde vanish and disintegrating the Grimm in the room.

Middle Earth

On a dark foot path, thunder clapped above head as lightning lit up the blackened sky as rain pelted a green cloaked man on horseback. He pulled his cloak closer to his person as a particularly bright flash of lightning turned night into day, followed by an extremely loud thunderclap.

His horse reared and neighed in fright. The man held on as best he could and tried to soothe his terrified mount. As the light faded, the man heard groaning. He frowned and tried to locate the source.

"What in Middle Earth…?" Aragorn, son of Arathorn, said aloud as he stared at the bodies of four kids, face down on the ground.

Kingdom of Hyrule

Yang awoke to howling winds. She tried to open her eyes but soon found sand fly at her eyes, causing her to cry in annoyance and slam her eyes shut again. Pain flooded her system as sand ended up in her wound. She cried in pain and pushed herself to her feet. She tried to move, but it was difficult because for some reason, Ember Celica and her clothes kept trying to fall off her body. Were her weapons and clothes damaged that badly?

Meanwhile, at the gates leading to a massive fortress, two women stood guard. They were dark skinned with red hair and golden colored eyes and wore white baggy pants and white crop tops with long sleeves. One looked out to a massive sandstorm and frowned. "Aviel, is that what I think it is?" one asked the other.

The other, Aviel, looked out to the sandstorm and gasped when she saw a young child, only eight or nine years of age, stumbling out of the storm, sporting several injuries.

Skyrim

Atop of a snowy mountain, a gothic style castle stood proudly amidst the white clouds and light snow fall. Within its high walls, a tall man in dark robes walked through a snow covered courtyard when he felt a sudden spike of energy as a bright light blinded him. As it died down, he looked around alertly, and was shocked to see a young girl face down in the snow.

"Miss! Are you alright?!" he called out and ran towards her. His concern turned to horror as he discovered her to be in the middle of a patch of red snow.

Ferelden

Blake's eyes fluttered open with slight difficultly as she groaned in pain. She pushed herself off the ground and soon her heightened sense of hearing caught wind of arguing. She looked up to see Sun in front of her, getting up as well.

The arguing increased, and they both looked around and saw the Atleasian soldiers and White Fang grunts attempting to restart their fight. But what was even more concerning was that they were not in a cave anymore, but a dark forested area, and the sun was setting.

"W-Wait…Stop!" Blake shouted, and tried to stand. Sun was right behind her.

Daath

As a bright light shined over a massive city centered around a large cathedral and a loud BANG resounded through the area, the civilians began cowering in shock while several men and women in armor tensed and readied for a fight. A young girl with pink hair surveyed her surroundings and noticed something falling from the sky. "Up there!" she shouted, causing a teen with spikey green hair to look up. Instantly, he jumped to a roof of a building and began jumping to larger structures, hoping to catch whatever was falling.

He closed in quickly and took a large jump and grabbed the object and landed on a steeple of the cathedral. His surprise came as he noticed he was holding a very critically wounded girl, a little older than himself, bridal style. A loud cawing caught his attention and he saw the pink haired girl riding a massive blue feathered bird, a giant scythe in its clutches.