Chapter 1: Catalyst
Ruby
"So. You four were the unlucky ones to find that White Fang operation?" The huntsman we had been assigned to shadow for this mission gave us a look that was a combination of amused, and disinterested. His eyes, a sort of dull brown, glittered in the flickering lights; that was a good description of him. Dull and brown. "Gotta say, that was a nice piece of work. Gave the bastards the what for." His lips curled into a smile. "Don't think this little shindig is going to be that exciting though." Inside, I couldn't decide if that was good or bad. Our last few missions had been quite action packed, yet the idea of a boring mission wasn't great either.
"That's alright." Weiss spoke up, no doubt speaking for herself and Blake as well. I wasn't so sure Yang would be okay with a lazy mission, although for a different set of reasons. The man securitized us for a moment more, and it was an effort not to squirm under that gaze.
"Heh. Not too keen on fighting a whole army by your lonesome?" The Huntsman nodded. "A good choice. Stay alive longer that way." With a shrug, he seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for. "Well, you four seem ready to go?"
"Yup!" I nodded. We'd gotten into the habit of keeping everything we need to travel on a mission present at all times. Well, it wasn't quite a habit, we hadn't done that many missions. "Where are we off to?" This was another Search and Destroy mission, so we'd be out in the wilderness…. again. The one sucky part about all these mission, was sleeping on the ground.
"Northern quadrant. Bunch of Ursa running rampant through the countryside, shouldn't be too hard to handle." The Huntsman shrugged. "Meet me on the landing pad in ten minutes, packed for a couple days." And without a further word, he turned, sweeping from the room, long purposeful strides eating up the distance.
"Well, he seems very businesslike." Weiss offered, watching the man's retreating back with one of her customary frowns. That was something she was doing more and more as we went on missions, although I was learning more and more to trust the meaning behind those frowns.
"How'd he know about the White Fang incident?" Blake's eyes were narrow as she turned to the rest of us. That was kinda weird, of all the things to talk about. "Our involvement in that was kept pretty secret, or at least the parts outside of the city. So how does he know?" It was a secret? I hadn't heard that it was going to be a secret. We'd just sort of avoided talking about it, except late at night, when one of us woke up from dreaming. Then again, nobody had talked about it, so I guess it was a secret.
"Maybe Ozpin told him?" It was a bit of a wild guess, the Headmaster had always seemed a little strange to me, but he didn't seem to try and put us in harm's way. Inviting the White Fang to attack us in retaliation however, didn't seem like something he'd so. So, the Headmaster was out as an option.
"It's possible he simply has useful connections?" Weiss sounded a bit skeptical of her suggestion. It was possible, but I didn't know enough to say for sure. "Or he was there somewhere. It isn't like we saw everyone who fought there." I nodded. It was true, there had been dozens fighting against the Grimm, especially after the word got out. We'd gotten comments from some Atlesean soldiers that had met us on missions even. It was kinda weird.
"Besides, it isn't as though being there was a bad thing." Yang offered a smirk. "We did help stop an invasion of Grimm." Only my sister would look at all this from the happy go lucky manner. Then again, for Yang, that's what it was.
"Let's get going then! We can worry about how he knows about things later?" Everyone nodded, pulling on backpacks, and double checking weapons, before putting game faces on. It was time for another mission….and we hadn't even got to sleep!
Then again, that was becoming our life, at least of the last month or two. Ever since that day when the White Fang breeched the walls of Beacon, we'd been getting more and more missions. Especially our team… Yang had asked around, according to her, we'd done twice as many missions as every time besides Jaune's. They at least got some sleep though! Everyone was really complimentary of we worked, which was super weird, telling us how good we were at killing stuff? One solider even said we did good, by killing the White Fang?! I'd thought Weiss was gonna puke.
I mean, I enjoyed fighting, and helping people was great, but it was tiring too, and we'd barely gotten any time to sleep between missions these last few times
As we walked, I took a moment to watch my team. Yang was cracking her knuckles, grinning just a bit. So, typical Yang. The idea of a fight always excited her, scratching that adrenaline bug she had. Ever since those Ursa in the Emerald Forest cut her hair, she'd been jumping at the bit to crack their heads. That said, her steps weren't quite as springy as normal…
Blake…well, I still wasn't that good at reading Blake. She was reserved, but there were growing bags under her eyes. Being a cat Faunus seemed to make her even more tired than the rest of us, or maybe it was because I don't think she slept much when we did get to sleep.
Weiss. She carried herself with the same grace that she always did, although I'm not sure I'd ever seen a time when Weiss wasn't graceful. Or, wasn't outwardly graceful. Months Weiss Watching, (yes, I called it that, yes it's embarrassing) had left me with a pretty good grasp of my partner. She was faking not being exhausted and worn down by the missions, but she was less than 100%.
"Good. Early. I like it." The Huntsman was leaning against the side of a Bullhead, giving a satisfied smile was we approached. My eyes snapped to the rifle hanging over his chest. The metal was matte finish, but it was easy to tell it was something unique. I'd have to ask him about it. "Hop in girlies, we've got ourselves a bit of a flight."
"Oh good. An actual time to sleep." I could almost hear the sarcastic, 'pity it isn't an actual bed' from Weiss. The biting sarcasm and snide tone were things she reserved for moments of high stress or anger, so she was even more tired than I thought. Whoops. Maybe I should tell Professor Ozpin we're not taking any more missions, we needed to sleep.
"A good use of time." The Huntsman nodded. "Flight's about two hours, give or take. Rest up if you need it, we're going to have to hit the ground running."
The others buckled themselves in, making sure their weapons were locked down, and within a moment were asleep, although it was the same light sleep we got out in the field. Taking the safety buckle that was provided, I made sure I was safe, before kneeling at the open door. Jaune had said something about being attacked by Griffons while flying home last week, not something I wanted to happen. Our… escort/guide/teacher/something, dropped down beside me, rifle held loosely in hand.
"Not going to sleep?" His voice was lowered, just barely audible over the roar of engines.
"Someone has to keep watch." I shrugged. I was the leader, it was my job to take first watch whenever we made camp, or had time to rest. Letting my eyes wander across the skyline, I took a moment to watch the dwindling form of Beacon Tower, a comforting and ominous sight all at once. Something cold was in my hand, and I realized with a bit of a jump that I had grabbed Crescent Rose.
"Easy there, girlie." The Huntsman rumbled. "Nothing's gonna pick a fight with a Bullhead. Least, not this close to town." That he was holding his own rifle close kinda made him look silly.
"But you've still got that ready." I pointed at his rifle. A small smile flashed across his thin lips, before it was hidden again. He was made even better than Weiss at hiding emotions.
"Better safe than sorry." We were silent for a while, scanning the skyline for any hint of Grimm, or at least I thought he was. "How many of these missions have you four been on lately?" The weight of his stare made me squirm inside, no matter how hard I tried to ignore the feeling. That had been getting worse as we kept getting more exhausted as well.
"After the White Fang one?" I took a moment to push some hair back into place. "Five? Six? A lot." I waited a minute, thinking he would say something, but the man stayed quiet, that chilling gaze into the trees. "This is the second one this week, at least." That was kinda a good question. How many missions had we done?
"Where was the first?" His voice was rough, growling out the words, expression severe. There was a certain level of…there-ness to him…presence! That was what Weiss called it.
"Mountain Glen again." A shudder got me for a moment. "Professor Ozpin said that since we had been in the area, and knew where the Grimm liked to concentrate, we should go back up the Atlesean troops." The meaty thumps of echoes played in my ears, equal halves of leaping beowolves that I had cut down, one after another after another. "It was just a single day, but…"
"But eight or nine hours of nothing but hacking and slashing Grimm to bits drains on you, doesn't it?"
"How did you-?" I snapped my eyes to him, twin brown orbs meeting my own without flinching.
He snorted, lips curling into a frown. "I've been reading the reports, from your other missions. Those soldiers gave you four a lot of praise. Said you went through Grimm like a hot knife." There was a pause, which only added to the weight in the moment. "Personally, I think Ozpin's lost his damn mind, sending you kids into this mess so much…" The man shook his head. "Particularly you first years. Just because you can leave a trail of five hundred dead Grimm in your wake doesn't mean that you can do so repeatedly."
"We can still fight." Don't be childish, don't' be childish, I chanted to myself. I'd be fighting monsters for age, so had Yang, and I think Blake. And Weiss was getting really good too!
"I never said you can't, Ruby Rose. I'm saying you shouldn't have too." His lips curled in distaste, and I felt my checks warm with embarrassment at being hasty. "At least, not so often. That fact those three, and I would assume you as well, have developed the ability to just collapse to sleep like that, in a flying vehicle, and your immediate response is to keep watch…That says a lot about what you've been doing." He nodded towards Crescent Rose, I had drawn and unfolded the rifle form, and had been checking the scope for danger every so often. Yet, there was nothing. "So does that."
"Um…?" What does that mean?
"I've been in this business for about six years. All of your team has the same instincts and skills as veteran fighters, who've been around the block more than once. The way you carry yourselves screams combat prowess and confidence, earned the hard way." He released a long sigh. "I guess what I'm getting at here is, I respect you four a hell of a lot, and I'm sorry for the shit we're putting you through. You kids deserve a lot more time off than you're getting."
Oh. Um…what was I supposed to say to that? And, it wasn't like this was the first time any of us had been in fights. We'd fought that Torchwick guy, and the White Fang, and Grimm. Besides, we were training to be Huntresses. This sort of thing was going to be our work from here on out.
Putting thoughts of our past missions away, I shifted Crescent Rose, again scanning the trees. It was strange, how quiet the forest was. Grimm weren't terribly smart about hiding, but they did usually know how to stay in the shadows and the trees. Yet, despite looking really hard, I wasn't seeing anything. Not even a cloud of Nevermore, and those existed even back at home.
Taking my attention away from the outside, I took a glance at my sleeping teammates. Not that I would admit it, but I really wanted to curl up with them, and sleep. But someone had to keep watch, and I was the leader. So, I kept watch. Sleep was for later. Besides, I had coffee this morning.
A bit of motion drew my attention, the Hunter stepping into the cabin from the cockpit. Frowning, I realized something. "You never told us your name?"
"Ian. Blackwood." He gave a long shrug, spinning the rifle over his shoulder, and into a comfortable grip. "Never been much of one for introductions I guess. Way I see it, here to kill monsters, not make friends." And once again, the silence stretched on, lasting several minutes into minutes. Next to me, the now named Ian swept his own rifle sights across the skyline, before letting the weapon drop against his chest. "See anything?" He asked, as I repeated the action. For a moment, the question surprised me, before I realized that Crescent Rose had a way more advanced sight than his own rifle.
"Nope." I shook my head. "It's almost to empty. Last time we flew this far, there was at least more birds flying about." There weren't even any regular birds?
"Hrm." Stock pressing into his shoulder, Ian became pensive. Eyes sweeping the lower trees, he made a face. "I'd suggest firing a few shots into the tree line, see what scares up, but your team evidently needs the sleep, and I never built a silencer into this." He patted the side of his weapon, a small look of pride crossing his face
"Have you ever tried making a sniper rifle quiet?" I couldn't help but snort a bit. "I tried it, when making Crescent Rose. Just didn't work. Or maybe I just made her a bit to high caliber…." Pushing that thought aside, I turned my attention to the skyline. "You can't just make a silencer for that thing? It shouldn't be very hard to do?" His rifle seemed to be a much more advanced assault rifle, and at a glance, didn't have a folding mechanism like Crescent Rose, so it shouldn't be very hard to silence, or at least suppress somewhat.
"Double the accelerant." It was hard not to stare. He'd made his rifle use twice as much Dust for propellant? What? "Makes it hard to quiet down. Besides, I'll take raw stopping power over quiet any time." How did he not- "And yes, I'm aware I should break my shoulder firing it."
"No, but how do you keep the barrel from melting?" And how did he not break his shoulder? Recoil compensation wasn't that hard for something as big as Crescent Rose, but for a weapon that small, doubling the propellant for every bullet was going to create far more heat, and assault rifles were designed for rapid fire. If he managed to make it work though… That would probably be as effective as a regular sniper rifle, but able to fire way faster.
Ian rumbled a laugh, apparently not minding my weapon obsession, and possibly starry eyed look as he started explaining the principles of his weapon.
"Guys." The pilot had entered a circling pattern near the village we were headed toward. Being careful to keep my balance, having unclipped the safety belt, as the aircraft turned, I moved over to my team, giving them each a bit of a tap on the shoulder. They snapped awake, reaching for weapons, before focusing on me, and relaxing a small amount. "We're getting ready to land."
All three nodded, blinking away the last bits of sleep, and pulling themselves out of the seats, expressions turning a bit more serious. Antics would wait until after the Grimm were gone.
"Oh fuck this." As one, our attention snapped to Ian, his expression impressed and angry, as he leaned out of the window "That's why the fuckers have been quiet." We traded a confused glance. Despite everything, we had yet to encounter a Huntsman who swore a lot, so this was a new experience. "They've been stalking underneath us. Clever." Ooh…. that was why we hadn't seen any…but it was also kinda weird. Grimm weren't that smart though?
"What?" Blake shook her head, the tips of her bow twitching a tiny bit, from nervousness or something else, I didn't know. Figuring out Blake's expressions had been hard enough, adding ears? Nope. "The Grimm followed under the aircraft?"
The Hunter made a face, firing a burst over the edge. "Looks like. There's about two dozen down there, slavering for blood. Just following us as we circle." His expression was far more serious than the previous laid back smirks and shrugs. "Got any ideas?"
"Drop down on their heads?" Yang offered, stretching a bit, as her gauntlets spiraled out to full size on her wrists. "Two dozen Beowolves isn't too bad." I'd fought worse than that going to school, and so had Yang.
Well, Yang could use her gauntlets to slow her fall. Weiss had her glyphs, and Blake's various acrobatics. And recoil would slow me down just as well as throw me about. Part of me thought it wasn't a good idea, but we'd done the whole, fighting our way off the Bullhead thing, and that was not fun at all. "We all have our own ways of getting down so …" I stopped talking as Weiss glared into the back of my head. Pulling out Crescent Rose, and thumbing the catch to fold the rifle out.
Ian gave a long stare, before a slight nod. "Well, it's better than fighting our way into a safe LZ." Glancing over the edge again, he fired a few more times, and mouthed more profanity. I guess he missed? "After you." Stepping away from the edge, he motioned towards me.
We were hovering over a fair sized forest clearing, easily large enough for the Bullhead to land in, had it not been teaming with Grimm. We were high enough up that…at least two Gravity rounds would be needed to slow me down. Weiss was still glaring into the back of my head, as I settled my grip, and jumped.
Flipping forwards, I got a brief view of Weiss leaping after me, a series of her glyphs spiraling into existence plotting the path she would take to the ground. Yang and Blake jumped at the same time, just falling as I was.
My flip completed, I fired my first shot, the jerk of the energy slowing the moment of the world around me a lot. Below, one of the Beowolves was smashed in half, blood flying everywhere. Another tap of the locking mechanism, and my scythe unfolded in my hand, before the ground was rushing up to meet me.
A small Aura pulse sent another shot flying, this time, the bullet smashed through a Beowolf's head, leaving a small crater underneath. As I slowed, I few into and out of the spray of blood, my knees bending to land, scythe twirling around.
The ground gave off the occasional hiss as a globe of Beowolf spit dropped, before two of them leapt towards me. Spinning Crescent Rose around me in a circle, I felt the small tug as the blade cut into wolves, before bringing it up, chopping the leaping monster in half. A shower of warm and sticky fluid, along with meaty chunks of…something splattered all over the ground…and me.
A beowolf lunged forwards, fangs dripping with the acidic imitation saliva that with a crash, Yang hit the ground, a whoop of glee as a pair of Grimm were smashed to dust underneath her, before she punched one that had been in the process of jumping towards me. The crack of her gauntlet firing signaled the end of the creature.
Weiss arrived with a more dignified landing, arms twisting to bring her rapier into her traditional fighting stance, a series of her haste glyphs whirling to life about her feet. Spinning off a tree, Blake rolled into position as well, firing a string of shots into the not thoroughly confused Grimm, killing two.
The still living Grimm snarled, fangs dripping, red eyes flitting between the four of us, as though unsure who to attack first. Adrenaline pulsing, the half a second of waiting drug on for ages. Then, the largest Beowolf lunged towards Weiss. Without a pause, however, she flipped a wrist, one of her barrier glyphs forming, and throwing the creature in my direction.
Crescent Rose twisted in my hand, and the Beowolf fell in two more pieces, signaling the rest of them to attack.
Six of them came at me, snarling and howling. Spinning full circle, they came to a mess death. Rolling forwards, I cut another in half as it jumped, before jumping backs, and firing to send myself away. Blake came flashing in and out of my vision, and the Grimm was headless.
Landing, someone's foot tapped against mine. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a flash of white, and a swirling of symbols, before the soft hiss of Grimm corpses was the only sound in the clearing, the explosions from Yang's punches, and sound of Blake flashing in and about.
"Ruby, must you run through the mess you make?" the exasperation in Weiss's was made worse by the roll of her eyes, as the pristine state of her own clothing. "We just got the bloodstains out of your clothes from the last time."
"Ehehe…sorry Weiss." It wasn't like anyone could see the bloodstains! Besides, all I needed was a shower. And I'd like to see her come up with a better way to fight using a scythe.
"No, you're not." The complaining was undercut by the way she smiled at me, although most people wouldn't realize it was a smile. Maybe being covered in blood was good, because she couldn't see my blush? Yup. A good thing.
"You two done flirting?" Ian's words cut in. I jumped, not having seen him leave the Bullhead, or take part in… well that wasn't really a fight. We'd fought a lot more things with equally little difficulty. "Nice work though. Swift and efficient." He paused, glancing around the clearing that, until ten minutes ago, and been pristine. "If messy."
"Err…whoops?" I glanced around. None of us looked particularly ashamed of what we'd caused. The previously natural clearing was now covering in blood, craters from Yang's punches, bullet holes, impact sights from my rifle, gashes in the trees, and more. It was as though a portion of the sections we cleared in Mountain Glenn were transported to this forest clearing. Although that wasn't a fun thought.
"Eh, all good. We need to get moving though. Grimm will be dropping on this place likes flies." His eyes gleamed in the fading sun. "The village is about hour north at a quick run. Go collect some information then get moving. Hordes of Grimm that big can't have gone very far."
And with that, we set off. Ian led the way, running with a long loping stride. We followed in a loose group.
"Weiss." Slowing myself down was hard, as running felt like moving through syrup or something. It helped a little to focus on matching Weiss's steps, instead of just running, because then I'd super speed off and that wasn't much help.
"What?" The Schnee heiress was frowning heavily. Her eyes were darting around, and the grip on her rapier was a little too much.
"Something's bugging you." Over six months, I had learned the ways to know that something wasn't right with my partner. She was good at hiding her emotions, and deflecting questions, so it was lots of watching her eyes, and grip, and the way she stood, or the little hitches in her voice when talking.
"I just can't shake the feeling something bad is coming." Jumping over a branch without breaking stride, she gave a sigh. The upside to getting Weiss to open up, at least a little bit, was that she'd at least tell me when things were wrong, so I didn't have to guess, and annoy her. "It's just a feeling but there is something not right. It's just like the times…." The Schnee heiress trailed off, but the small stumble at the end was all I needed to know what she was talking about.
None of us talked about our home lives much, Blake, because well…White Fang, Yang never liked talking about Raven, and I didn't tend to talk about Mom much either. Since home never came up, we wouldn't talk about Dad. And then there was Weiss. Aside from a few specific occasions, whenever Weiss's family came up, she'd clam up. Either that, or just trail off, just like that.
"Don't worry." Best thing I could manage whenever she'd get like this was just try and being there, and a friend, since she wouldn't talk about it. "We've dealt with everything that came our way so far right? We can handle whatever happens, as a team. Just like we always have." Before I realized I was going it, I grabbed her hand, hoping I was turning the same color as my cloak at the action.
"I guess. It's just…a bad feeling." She tried to smile, even though it wasn't very convincing one. "Probably just imagining things." Weiss didn't imagine things though. She'd yet to have a 'feeling' that turned out bad. All I could do though, was give her hand a bit of a squeeze, and try not to blush at how much I enjoyed the coolness of her skin.
"Heads up!" Ian's rumble "Village is up ahead!" His rifle was no longer on his back, instead held across his body. The symbol on the side of the magazine indicated it was non-standard variety of dust round. "Ruby, can you hop ahead and see if anything looks out of place?"
"Ready?" I shared bit glance with Weiss. A little smile crossed her face, I suspect at the nature of the question. Her free hand twitched, and I gave a small nod.
"Of course silly." Even as I released her hand, a glyph appeared on the side of a tree. I a burst of speed, I jumped, hitting the arcane symbol, and sprinting up the rest of the way. Crouching, I took off down the length of the tree branch, jumping at full speed, leaving behind my customary trail of rose petals.
Although it was only for a second to two at a time, running and jumping between trees, not having to slow down and wait for anyone else did feel good. Using Crescent Rose to spin myself around the last tree, before stopping on the last branch, I could help but gasp, my chest tightening in shock.
Even at a time like this, and so soon after Grimm attacks, people would be and about. Except, there weren't people. A tap, and Crescent Rose folded, and I brought the Scope up, a ball of worry continuing to form in my stomach.
The instant the image focused in, I regretted looking. Blood coated the walls of various houses and buildings, windows were smashed… Dust….so much blood… My fingers fumbled for my Scroll, and I almost dropped in in my panic.
"Ian! Everyone!" The short range radio communicators inside picked up, showing the miniature portraits of my team, and the Huntsman. "There's…There's nothing left!" Before I could continue, something in the distance released a trumpeting bellow.
"Ruby, what the hell was that?" Yang's worry was obvious. As was the unspoken, where is it?
"I don't know. I can't see anything that would do that, at least not in the village!" The only Grimm I knew that made that kind of noise were those Goliaths that Oobleck had shown me in Mountain Glen, when he said that even Crescent Rose couldn't hurt them from long range. If one of those things showed up…Almost at once ideas of how to kill one starting dancing around my head.
"Well, we can take that mercy as it is." Cool and collected, Ian took over, the underlying command in in his tone reminding me a bit of Uncle Qrow. "Hold tight until we get there, keep us updated it any Grimm make an appearance. And don't engage."
"Got it." Gulping, I tried to settle the nerves that had hit me, as well as not looking towards the village. We'd seen people die before, some soldiers, before they realized we knew what we were talking about in Mountain Glenn, and before that in the city. We'd even killed a few people, those White Fang jerks, although most of them where in those robots…. But these people…they weren't fighting, or terrorists, or anything like that. They just…got killed because they were in the wrong place. I wanted to be a Huntress so I could prevent this stuff from happening, and I had a Semblance made for getting places fast. So why was I too late? Why did we always seem just a little too late?
"Dust…." Weiss whispered, from the bottom of the tree I was in. Quiet incredulity filled her tone. "It's so quiet…." I dropped out of the tree, landing in my usual spot between Weiss and Yang.
"I don't see anybody alive in there." I reported, trying not to choke on the words. "The Grimm…they…" This time, it was Weiss's hand that slipped into mine. Taking a breath, I kept going. "Everyone's dead. Or at least…. there's a lot of blood. And I don't see any bodies."
"Damnit!" Yang swore, driving her fist into a nearby tree. The bark crunched under the blow, splintering in all directions, several pieces burying themselves into the dirt, a testament to the force of the blow.
Ian scowled as well, spinning his rifle around his back. "We'll need to search for any ideas what happened. Make sure we find the Grimm responsible." His sharp features almost seemed to elongate, as his jaw set in anger. "And give the dead a proper burial." He started towards the village, thunderous expression plain as day. "Search everything, top to bottom. Hopefully there are survivors…somewhere." He paused a step. "And see if there is a sturdy building we can camp in for the night."
"Um…right…" I gulped. "Pairs?" I offered, trading a glance with the others. Yang was still glaring, her eyes tinting a little bit red, while Blake's grip on her weapon was turning her knuckle white. Weiss had lost any semblance of emotion, and her hand was frigid against my own. "Weiss and I search the buildings?" She probably had a glyph to prop up and unstable ones…
"Sounds good sis." Yang nodded, more subdued than normal. "Be careful?" I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, and she followed Blake into the town. Weiss pulled me along by the hand, at least until the other two passed out of sight, before rounding on me.
"Something is bothering you." Had I mentioned that there was a big downside to being able to understand the little cues of Weiss was that she had figured out me too? And was really really good at it? How she didn't know about...something I'd never know.
"N-No there's not." I made the denial in the vain hope she would drop it, only get a frosty stare in return. Nope. She wasn't having any of it. Darn. Her free hand came to rest on her hip. "Can't we talk about it later?" That usually worked. Please work? Please?
"No." Oh. Come on. "You aren't your usual bubbly self. Now what's bugging you." Leave it to Weiss to just go right after the problem. She was my best friend/partner/crush, but she could be so annoying. "Ruby." And then she had to go and do that. It wasn't quite pleading, that concerned tone. But it made it even harder to avoid the question she was asking.
"Just…leave it for now Weiss? We need to worry about the mission." I wasn't sure she would, even though I was pleading for her to do so. Blue eye searched mine, before she huffed.
"Fine. For now," Twirling her rapier, she shifted her stance, and releasing my hand. "Start with that one?" I glanced at the building. One of its walls seemed to be falling in, and the windows were smashed, but we had to start somewhere.
"Darnit!" Spinning Crescent Rose, I hacked a chair in half out of frustration. Over two hours of searching, and hadn't found much of anything. No survivors, not even bodies. Just a bloody mess outside, and the occasional splash blood over the destroyed interiors. Just a few minutes ago, Blake had stuck her head in, to report they hadn't found anything, and although Ian had found a Huntsman, apparently it would have been better if didn't. I had tried not to think about what that meant.
"It's barbaric." Weiss agreed, as we stepped onto the roof of the building. The roof was caved in, making such a jump easy. "Just hop the roof?" We gotten in the habit of just hoping between buildings using her glyphs, although it did mean we had to be careful of falling in. This one however, was in good shape, the roof seemed sturdy enough, and the three walls we could see were still standing.
"Sure." A short hop, using a glyph as a stepping stone brought us across. I gave the roof a bit of a kick, surprised when it stayed standing. "I guess this wouldn't be bad place to camp, if the inside is still together."
"At least it has four walls." My partner agreed. "Although I'm not sure sleeping in this town is a good idea at all." This was getting beyond just usual Weiss levels of worried by now. On some of our other missions, she'd get bad feelings, but never this bad. That however could wait until later in the evening.
"Wonder why this one's still okay?" Weiss grumbled to herself. That was a good question. All the other houses were trashed, inside and out. While the windows were mostly smashed, the furniture inside was in once piece, as were the walls and doors. The floor wasn't covered in claw marks either. No blood either…but no shower. I really wanted a shower too. Grimm guts smelled awful dried into clothes. Pausing at a broken second floor window, I stared out into the remains of the village. This was all so weird…
"Ruby!" Weiss's almost panicked shout sent my heart racing. Crescent Rose unfurled into a full scythe, and in a flash of speed, I was across the room, and down the flight of stairs, expecting some kind of trouble. Instead, I found Weiss, kneeling over something. "This one seems to have a safe? I can't seem to understand this lock though…" She stood up, retrieving her rapier and glaring down at the offending object.
Vaulting a couch, I moved to stand beside the older girl, staring down at the heavily reinforced metal plate in the floor. Some kind of locking mechanism occupied the side closest to where we stood. "Wonder what's so important…" I trailed off, eyes widening. "Do you think there are people under there?!"
"Maybe…" She didn't sound very convinced though. "I would have thought they'd come out by now, and it seems awful small to be some kind of basement." Even as she said the words, she was pulling out her Scroll, finger's dancing. "We found something."
"Survivors?" Yang's face appeared on the screen, Blake beside her. Both were covered in dirt and grime. It was kinda weird, seeing my sister such a messy, normally I was the one who got covered in mud at things.
"It's possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. This building has some kind of safe or basement. Either way, it's locked." She flipped the Scroll to show them.
"Well, whatever's down there, it's well protected." Ian observed. "Be there in a minute to check it out."
The sun was falling fully as the group gathered over the locked trapdoor. I could see the exhaustion, emotional and otherwise, on the faces of my team, and even Ian seemed drained.
"Well, they wanted to keep people out, that's for damn sure." He growled, staring at the lock on what we had concluded was a safe. "This is Atlas Tech. Pain to crack by normal means. Probably got some kind of Dust sequence lock, which is going to complicate things just a bit."
"So we can't get into it?" Yang slumped at the thought. The Huntsman's lips thinned.
"I'm not sure. It's possible we could get lucky. Or, we can just brute force the thing." There was a pause. "The latter option is by far the worst one, as hitting this fucker with a high powered weapon is probably going to end horribly."
"I'm not shooting it." I declared flatly. When everyone, even my sister stared at me, I groaned, point at Crescent Rose, then the safe. "Shooting metal is bad! Bullets just short of explode all over the place! I don't want to die!"
"Caution from you?" Weiss teased. "Should we be getting lottery tickets?" Yang and Blake both chuckled.
Ian snorted. "Not yet. It's possible the only way we can get things thing open is brute force. Be that fire arms, or we just smash it was heavy objects until it breaks. Or sharp ones." His shrug was mystified. "It's possible that Ruby's scythe could just cut the damn thing open, and save us a ton of trouble, but that almost might just explode." I'm not dulling my sweetheart on that lump of metal!
"Oh." Yang went quiet. Blake shifted uneasily next to her.
"You said it's Atlas Tech? Our reserved Faunus teammate stepped forward, kneeling in front of it. "I might be able to get into it." Yang shrugged at my question look, so she didn't know about this either.
"Save it for tomorrow." Ian advised. "Dark's falling. We'll need to make camp, and figure out how we're doing watch."
"What do you mean, how we're doing watch?" Yang cut in. "We take shifts, just like normal." I shook my head, seeing what Ian meant.
"Ian and I are the only ones who have these," reaching behind me, I gave Crescent Rose a pat, "Long range weapons, and the scopes?" Giving Ian a look to ensure I got it right, I went on. "Since we don't know anything about what attacked, we need as much warning as we can get."
"Ruby is right. In a situation like this, we need at much edge on the Grimm as we can get. And that mean's the scopes on either of our rifles trump pretty much anything, even Faunus eyesight, due to distance." His words quenched Blake's complaint, and kept going at an exclamation from Yang. "Call it a hunch, but the way your carry yourself screams Faunus, much like how she," he gestured to Weiss, "Is obviously an aristocrat, or Ruby and her sister are obviously heavily experienced fighters." Now that was kinda weird. How could he just…know this stuff? I could almost feel the confusion and discontent radiating off of Weiss.
There wasn't much talking after that. Ian volunteered to take the first watch, leaning against the wall far enough away to not hear whispers, but close enough for earshot. His rifle rested on the window sill, and on occasion, his head would bend down, staring through the sights, before leaning back up again, the only signs of movement.
I couldn't rest, instead keeping myself busy by leaning up against the wall, and cleaning the dirt out of Crescent Rose. While there hadn't been enough going on to really risk the weapon being jammed, or the folding mechanism having a failure, I wasn't about to risk it. I'd had a few to many close calls during the prototyping stages to feel comfortable unless it as completely clean. …and maybe my scythe was dusty.
"Ruby?" With a soft rustle, Weiss dropped down next to me, not seeming to mind the dust getting on her otherwise relatively pristine outfit. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Can't." I shook my head. Flipping a bit of dust out of the locking mechanism, I pulled the bolt back to check the chamber for anything else.
"You need sleep as much as we do." Weiss pointed out, and I found myself suddenly very aware of just how close my teammate was sitting to me. Don't panic. It's just Weiss. "We know you didn't sleep on the flight out Ruby." Oh. Of course Weiss would notice…and probably so would Yang. At least my sister would leave it alone, unless she thought it was bad. I clicked the chamber of Crescent Rose shut, gripping the weapon tightly in an effort to focus on something, anything else. "We worry about you Ruby."
"I'm fine." That was a lie. Not even a good lie either. Even as I said the words, I knew Weiss would see through them.
"I'm Ruby Rose. I can do everything. I don't' need to sleep, even though I'm halfway to falling over." Yup. I couldn't remember who first called her Ice Queen, but it wasn't as although she didn't deserve the title…but most of those boys were creeps anyway. Except Jaune. He was okay. "And there is something else bothering you as well."
Of course she would remember that. Then again, we were partners, and did known each other really well. So maybe something else came up. And here I thought I was doing a good job keeping everything under control.
"I could have been here sooner; I should have been able to do…something." An effectual gesture was all I could come up with to convey the feelings bouncing around my head. "I…" words failed completely to convey the helplessness of it all. We'd never been this late. My knuckles were white on the grip of Crescent Rose. "My semblance is literally super speed Weiss, and I wasn't fast enough…"
Her fingers peeled my left hand off my scythe, only to be immediately crushed as my fist tried to ball. The tension let up a moment later when the shock of just how cold her hands were hit me. And the fact that I was holding hands with Weiss. For the second or third time today. If I wasn't so tired, and stressed out, I might have been internally dancing.
After a few moments, I slumped back against the wall. "Sorry Weiss." I hated dumping my problems on anyone, least of all Weiss. "You've got other stuff to worry about…."
"Nonsense." She declared, in the no nonsense manner that Weiss occasionally would get about herself whenever we had these disagreements. "Your part of the team Ruby. We care about you. And." She trailed off. In the half light, I couldn't tell what her expression was, but none the less, her words made something in me flutter with excitement.
Thanks' Weiss." I whispered, trying to figure out just what about that made me so happy. Or maybe it was just Weiss being this close to me.
"Ruby." Someone was shaking my shoulder, which I tried very hard to ignore. I was having a nice dream, and didn't want to leave it. "Ruby." The shoulder shaking was more forceful. Whoever that was needed to go away. When they continued, I reluctantly opened my eyes.
"Wha…" Two piercing blue eyes met mine, although the angle was a little strange. I was laying on something that wasn't a floor either.
"About time." Weiss's half smile undercut her sarcasm. "When did you decide I was a pillow." Oh! Oh!
Panic flared through me. I had fallen asleep on Weiss. Weiss was touching me. I was touching Weiss. Twisting, I forced myself into a twisting flip, accidently flying across the room. I had to get away, somewhere, not here! My checks were burning, and this was all sorts of not things I wanted to be doing now.
Well, I did. I really wanted to be doing that, but…no! Not thinking about that. Nothing thinking about sleeping on Weiss. Or Weiss. Or sleep. Or any of that right now.
"Eheehehe…sorry!" And Super speed is awesome. No longer there. Elsewhere. Hopefully Weiss wouldn't be to mad at me? Oh…oh that might had been not smart.
"Morning sis!" and now Yang. Please let her not have seen that? Please? One look at her face though, told me I was not getting off easy at all. "So…." She leaned against the table, radiating amusement.
"Yaannggg." It was an effort to keep my voice low, but years of experience helped.
"What?" Oh I hated that grin. She just had to enjoy this, didn't she? "It was cute?" She gave me a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Good for you sis!"
"Shut up!" Flailing about a bit, I knew that if I didn't distract her, I was basically done for. "Where's Blake? And Ian?" The face Yang made at me told me she knew I was changing the subject, before she waved towards the living room.
"Blake is trying to crack that safe…thing." She paused, sending a contemplative look towards the room. "Learn something new every day, you know?" I guess Blake did learn something cool from those White Fang jerks. "Ian is…I think up on the roof. He just sorta vanished this morning." She paused, rifling through a bag. "Should probably give him breakfast." A protein bar went flying at my head. "Pretty gross, but not really time to go cooking, you know?"
"Yeah." Grabbing a few more in a burst of speed, I chewed on the bar while making my way back up the building, hoping very much to not run into Weiss on the way.
Speaking of Weiss, how had I fallen asleep on Weiss? I hadn't fallen asleep on anyone since Mom died, not even Yang or Dad. And why didn't Weiss wake me up? Urgh. This all just made my head hurt.
Despite being good at knowing what went on in Weiss's head, I really had no idea what our relationship was exactly. Everyone at Beacon either thought we were just really strange friends, but I'd stop listening to what most people thought a long time ago. Most of them were just wrong or unhelpful. We'd banter and insult each other, but we both didn't mean anything by most of it, even though most everyone else found themselves really confused.
Though, maybe it was just my hopeless crush on her, but there always seems like…there was more to it than that? She seemed to care a lot more than any other friends I'd had and…I was probably just seeing things.
All those thoughts were derailed when I stepped onto the roof, and Weiss was there, speaking in low tones with Ian. In the distance, a swirling tide of blackness could be seen. My hand snapped to Crescent Rose. Grimm?
"Get your team." Yup. Grimm. "Whatever blew through here is back for more." He stood, unslinging his rifle. Weiss met my eyes, taking a slow gulp, before a nod. "Least, them Griffon's look pissy."
I pulled out my Scroll, typing a message to Blake and Yang, while Weiss asked the obvious question. "Why would so many Grimm be here, now of all times though? I thought they followed trails of human activity, which is why Grimm attacks have so few survivors." Waving a hand around, as though to emphasize the point, it looked like she wanted to go on, but just like the day before, there was a trumpeting roar. Only this time, closer, and longer. My heart skipped.
"Goliaths…" that was bad. Blake and Yang came clattering onto the roof, both of them weapons ready.
"What was that!" Blake's eyes were wide, her head darting back and forth across the tree line ahead.
"Really big Grimm." I offering into the silence. "And really old ones." For a moment, I found at least one bright spot. "At least now I can kill one!" That thought got my blood pumping a bit, and working past the instinctive fear of something I supposedly can't shoot to death. That was, of course, if Crescent Rose could cut them.
"How big are we talking?" The excitement in Yang's tone died in the second of silence.
"Several stories if their young. Five or six if their old." Ian scowled. "If the circumstances were different, I'd say this is the part where we run like hell. But running from those ugly bastards, once they smell you just isn't gonna happen.
"Why not?" Weiss demanded, eyes flitting between me and the Huntsman.
"Because they're smart." When Ian didn't speak, I took over. "And old. Professor Oobleck told me he doesn't even think Crescent Rose can hurt one from a distance." That drew startled looks from my entire team. Back at Beacon, most of the first years considered the metric of possible damage done to be what I could do with my Scythe, especially the sniper rifle. Even Cardin, with his massive mace had trouble matching the pin point destructive power of a .50 caliber sniper.
"So…" Yang filled the silence, only to be overtaken by a series of long, bone chilling howls. "…anyone know what those are?"
"Things that are here." Ian's rifle slid into his hand in a single motion, before he froze. "Dust…what the hell is that…."
I pulled Crescent Rose free of its holster, thumbing the action to unfold the scythe immediately. The weapon was halfway through flipping through expansion, when a thing came flying over the lip of the roof in a single massive bound.
Who or whatever that thing was, it had clearly been human at one point. The same could no longer be said. Flipping backwards in response to this new threat, I had only a split second to make a judgement.
Fur sprouted from every inch of the body, a mottled mess of grey and brown and block. The eyes were yellow, sunken and deranged. A previously human face was distorted, a muzzle now stretching forward several inches, lined with what seemed to be serrated teeth. Layers of muscle that wouldn't exist on a regular person rippled as the thing landed, crouching. Its eyes locked on Weiss.
My shot lined up.
The heavy bark of my sniper scattered the rising howls.
With a soft thump, my boots hit the roof, which shook from just a moment later, the corpse falling listless. Blood and organs splattered across the wall of the house not far away, if one looked hard enough, a single bullet sized hole in the center of the bloody mess. The creature was surrounded by an ever growing pool of blood spilling from what appeared to be oh so small hole in this side of the body, but would have results in a massive wound to the far side.
I took a shuddering breath. It wasn't as though it was the first time I killed a person…that thing had been a person, or at least I thought so. But it was the first where I saw the results of that killing so up close and personal. The blood and guts were the same as any Grimm, but it was the eyes that were different. In the half a second between my firing and hitting the ground, I'd watched the life vanish.
My stomach dropped, and I found myself kneeling, Crescent Rose hitting the wood before me. Cold fingers wrapped around my shoulder, and I looked up to find Weiss, expression filled with concern. That same warmth shot through me as before.
"What the hell are these things?" I looked up, just in time to see Yang punching another of those creatures in the chest, sending it flying off the roof. "People?"
Rifle rising to his shoulder, Ian fired a quick burst. "They were. Now there…. monsters. Twisted mockeries." He fired another volley. "This isn't the time for talking." The trumpeting bellow of the incoming goliath rang, closer than before. "Those things aren't human, at least no longer. Best thing you can give them is a quick painless death." The words struck me as pained, for some reason.
"We need to stop those Grimm." Grabbing Crescent Rose, I stood trying my best to ignore the dead…thing on the roof.
"We'll handle these things." Yang tossed me a cocky smile and a nod, before blasting two more of them mid leap with her gauntlets. Blake rolled her eyes, but gave a sharp nod. "You know more about whatever that thing is that we do sis."
Ian scowled, before nodding a bit. "You're going to have a better chance slowing down a Goliath than I will." He didn't seem to enjoy that admission. "Worry more about staying alive than fighting you two." A twitch, and he emptied more than two dozen rounds into the sky towards the flying Grimm. The click of the chamber emptying was surprisingly loud. "we'll handle this clusterfuck."
"Stay safe?" I gave Yang a weak smile, before leaping from room to roof in a flash of speed.
Two shots of Crescent Rose sent me flipping higher, Weiss following behind, leaping from glyph to glyph. Gravity Bullet's helped the makeshift flying, and with a third bullet, I performed a full slip, landing a glyph next to Weiss. Her eyes were locked toe massive Grimm approaching the remains of the village. Dozens of Grimm followed in the Goliath's wake as well, leaving a path of smashed trees and forest in their wake. Above them, several dozen Griffons circled.
"We're…supposed to kill that." Weiss gulped, grip on her rapier tightening. The chamber spun, settling on Ice Dust. "And everything else."
"Yup!" Spinning Crescent Rose, I took aim the giant Grimm, firing once. My aim was good, and the bullet struck the thing head on, sinking deep into bone without seeming to cause any further damage. "Dust…." It roared in response, my bullet having only made it mad. The Griffons, in response, came swooping.
"Weiss!" Her eyes hardened, giving me a bit of a nod. Her rapier twirled, and she was flipping through the air, conjuring rapid-fire glyphs, ice flashing and shattering.
Tearing my focus away from her, I had only a second to consider the best way to handle the mass of Grimm I was falling into. I had four Gravity Rounds left in this magazine. Firing two rounds into the Goliath, I reoriented, blasting a pair of Ursa.
Chunks of Grimm flew upwards, as the Gravity rounds drove massive craters into the earth where the Ursa had been. Yanking a fresh magazine from my belt, I hit the ground, ejected my old one, and reloaded in a single motion, before spinning to face the oncoming hordes.
The Goliath was even bigger from down here, each lumbering step knocking down a tree or even squishing a few Grimm. The Gravity bullets had done all of nothing, which was…okay, it was kinda scary. Those bullets left craters in the earth, and could break large rocks. And they didn't even phase this thing?
My freak out was cut short by the claws of an Ursa. Reflexes and instinct had my sliding back, Crescent Rose coming up for a cut that sent the beast to its untimely death, and opened the floodgates of Grimm. Blood pounding in my ears, I kicked off the ground, willing myself to the limits of my speed.
Two beowolves cut in half lengthwise. Plant, flip, a dead Ursa. Spin, fire twice. Three Ursa dead. Duck, twirl, fire again. Three more Grimm.
The earth was becoming soaked in Grimm blood as I exploded with speed, Crescent Rose tear through still more Grimm, the already sharp blade of my scythe enhanced by the fact that it was traveling at truly super human speeds. Spinning, I crouched, gathering energy for a second blistering charge.
The Grimm glanced around stupidly, not realizing I had already vanished, only that, out of nowhere dozens of them were dead.
I kicked off again, the earth denting from the force. My clothes had to be covering in blood, at least more than they were before, from the pools of it I was kicking up. To be honest it was kinda gross.
So too was the noise and Ursa made when you decapitate it from the side. Performing a flip over the swiping claws of a Beowolf, I fired into the ground, recoil propelling me into the air a dozen feet. As I fell, I kept firing, counting the exploding Grimm in time with my bullets. Yet, not matter how many of them I destroyed another just lunged from the shadows. And that was before I even thought about the Goliath.
Reloading, this time with Lightening Dust, I fired a few more shots, noting that the arcing shocks did a better job of clearing the massed Grimm, and let my Semblance carry me forwards once more.
Great sweeping slashes left more and more Grimm dead, and I let momentum carry me up a still standing tree, before flipping, and volleying fire into the hoard below.
The recoil of several continuous shots sent me flipping here than normal, high enough to hear the heavy boom of Yang's gauntlet's firing, and the higher pitched fire of Blake's pistol, overlaid with what could only be assault rifle fire. Ejecting the magazine from Crescent Rose, I started firing again, when something white went flying past my side.
White. The only thing white around here was, "WEISS!" NO no no no! I managed to twist around in midair in time to see a puff of dirt rising up from the woods, right in the path of the Grimm. Before I could figure out more, something crashing into my back, and I could feel talons ripping at the protective shield of my aura. Whatever it was, I started tumbling head over heels.
Firing one to reorient myself, I glared at the last few surviving Griffons. With a mechanical clatter, Crescent Rose reformed as a rifle, and I started shooting. Griffons weren't exactly smart, making the tumbling mid-air shots pretty simple. Feathers and gore flew everywhere as I scored hit after hit, until Crescent Rose clicked empty, and I realized the one mistake I might have made.
Firing upwards, while I was falling had sent me flying way past where Weiss had hit the ground, and way faster than I indeed. I hit the ground, and went rolling through the brush, wincing as branches and vines whipped into me from the force of my landing. The instant both my feet were on the ground as the same time, I threw my Aura into them, and my Semblance took over.
Twisting through the air, I used trees as a faster means of turning, not caring about the damage. I had to get to Weiss. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…" It wasn't until I actually saw her, collapsed motionless at the far end of a larger clearing, that I realized I was mumbling to myself. Jamming my scythe into the ground to slow myself down, I came skidding to a half next to her. "No. Nonononononono!" I was shaking her shoulders, trying to find something to convince me she was okay. I couldn't see any blood, but she wasn't moving. "Weiss!"
Slowly, her scarred eye opened, a little bit unfocused, before locking to me. "Ruby?" Her words slurred, just a bit, but she was okay."
"You're okay!" Throwing my arms around the other girl, I pulled her into a hug.
"Of course I'm okay." I couldn't see it, but she had to be rolling her eyes, before she pushed me back a bit, and glared down at her dress. "Aside from being covered in the results of your barbarity." Oh. Whoops.
"Sorry Weiss." I shrugged. Did I feel bad about ruining her dress? A little bit, but she'd just drag me into town to go shopping and get a new one. Besides, I was more interested in making sure she was okay. Worry about that later. "What happened?" Although she'd yell at me for thinking it, Weiss should have been good enough to handle all those Griffons. Well, I guess there were a lot of them…
"Just too many stupid, feathered, lumps." Wincing, my partner stood, twirling her rapier, the chamber spinning a few times. "I'd kill one, and then there was another two of them." That sounded about like killing the ones down here, really. I hadn't been really counting how many Grimm I sent to pieces but more just kept coming.
"There are a lot of them." I agreed, frowning a bit as I reloaded Crescent Rose, more Gravity Dust this time, although I realized I was running out of them. "We need to get the big one." As though to reinforce that point, the Goliath gave another trumpeting roar.
Weiss offered me one of her little half smirks, testing the way her legs took her weight, before nodding. "I'm guessing you have a plan?" Err? Before I got to answer, the trees at the far side of the clearing came crashing down, the horde of Grimm pouring in after. Weiss leapt to right, and I went rolling to the left.
My best guess was, we could maybe get the Grimm to run if we killed the Goliath, or if nothing else, once we killed it, we could run, and get the others. The problem was, of course, the thing was way too big to hurt with my normal bullets, or my gravity bullets. Although….
"Weiss! Freeze the ground in front of it!" I shouted, hitting the ground, and bursting with speed across the field killing a few Grimm, and drawing the attention of the rest.
"I'll need a few seconds!" I knew that silly. Twirling Crescent Rose, I faced the Grimm, and planted the scythe blade into the dirt, and started shooting. Two Boarbatusks, spinning full speed towards me, were ripped in half, the bullets going on to detonate in an Ursa, throwing more blood and gore everywhere.
Ducking under the claws of a Beowolf, I dragged Crescent Rose free, cutting the monster free, before spinning the Scythe around fully, clearing a moment to breathe, before another Ursa came charging. I cut its head off without pause, deflecting a Beowulf's claws before exploding into full speed, tearing through a leaping Grimm, letting the two halves hit the ground on either side as I streaked across the clearing, grip tight on my scythe as more Grimm died.
Twisting around, I started running again, swing Crescent Rose in long arcs, the howls of Grimm fading into gurgling death whimpers.
"Ruby!" Weiss's shout cut across the zoned in mindset of combat. Time to leave then. Planting Crescent Rose to the dirt until the chin of an Ursa, I let momentum carry me upwards, before pulling the trigger.
The retort and recoil of the Gravity round sent me flying downwards, followed by an arc of blood. Halfway through my flip, I caught sight of Weiss, hand flashing towards into the center of a truly massive glyph. A wave of ice went rocketing out from her hand, swallowing the Grimm in a mess of awful statues.
As I hit the ground, the Goliath started to step onto the ice sheet. For a moment, there was a pained groan, and I was afraid this wasn't going to work. Then, as it lifted another foot to take a step, the monster's trunk flared up and a panicked trumpet had me covering my ears, watching the gigantic Grimm go crashing to the ground, it's limbs flopping about helplessly. It was kinda funny, watching something that was nothing but years and years of malice and destruction flopping around like a beached fish.
Weiss was panting hard as she came to stand next to me. "Next time, we are finding a different way to do this." She declared. Well, next time, we'd hopefully have Yang and Blake, and I had about five different ideas of how to handle one of those with everyone.
"Ice skating?" I'd probably get yelled at for the question later. The flicker in her expression said that yes, she would give me grief but that was for later. Besides, it wasn't as if we hadn't talked about this idea before. Weiss just thought I was insane.
Twirling her rapier a few more times, she made a gesture, a series of glyphs flashing to life along the length of the new ice field. Each glyph started glowing yellow. Taking her usual stance, rapier glowing blue, Weiss turned her head towards me, and nodded.
It was only a second to plan out how I wanted to do this. The two time's we'd practiced, I'd managed to send myself flying off the ice sheet, and into a wall at high speed. Something about friction, according to my team.
Kicking off, I had to be careful to avoid running wild, even though the amount of force it took to cut a frozen Grimm in half was almost enough to yank Crescent Rose out of my hand. As I neared the edge of the sheet, turning, and firing two shots from Crescent Rose was enough to send me back the other way. As I criss crossed the ice sheet, shattering more and more Grimm Weiss moved at a far more sedate pace, although glowing yellow of her glyphs was getting brighter.
The Goliath was still thrashing about, trying and failing to bring its legs underneath itself. As I cross the field a final time, hitting the last of Weiss's time slowdown glyph thingies, I kicked into the air, firing three times into the Goliath to send myself higher into the air.
Below, Weiss's rapier snapped into her high guard, the blade glowing a brilliant blue.
I thumbed the magazine release for Crescent Rose, letting the empty box fall away as I continued flying upwards.
Weiss shot forwards, rapier extended.
I reached down, pulling a single bullet from its slot on my belt. Pulling the bolt back, I slotted the bullet in, feeling the heavy clunk of the mechanism setting.
I pulled the trigger.
Everything happened to fast to really understand, even with time moving in super slow motion. The Goliath was engulfed in white, before a massive crash, almost as though a bunch of plates broke at the same time.
Then, time returned to normal, and I hit the ground, stumbling a bit, before speeding towards Weiss. As it turned out though, I didn't need to protect her from the Grimm, as they were running away. And then I saw Weiss drop to her knees.
"Weisss!" No answer. Oh no. Had something happened? "Weiss!" I was next to her, trying to ignore the fact my partner looked more pale than she was supposed to. "We killed it!" And it was awesome!
Her smile in reply was a little shaky. "Well, you weren't going to let it squish me, where you?" She made an attempt to stand, and collapsed back to the ground.
"Um…. maybe?" I was way too excited about what just happened to care that maybe I shouldn't be teasing her, not when she looked ready to fall over…actually that was really bad.
"At least it would remove me from the misery of your presence." She grumbled with that same good natured eye roll, before she tried to stand. And once again, failed. Right. That was why this plan wasn't a good one. Weiss was always exhausted after. Not stand exhausted.
Without saying anything, I knelt, pulling one of her arms over my shoulder. She gave me a sharp glare, but accepted the help to stand. "You're paying to clean my dress." All the leftover bits of Grim covering me were seeping into the few unstained bits of her clothing from the close contact.
"Nope." I chirruped, taking a moment to collect myself, and ignore how close I was to Weiss.
There weren't any loud sounds from the direction of the town, so that seemed like a good thing. Well, it was either a good or bad thing, that was hard to say, but I didn't want to think about the bad.
"The others?" Weiss shook me out of rapidly darkening thoughts, more of her weight pressing into my shoulder than before. Folding Crescent Rose, I returned the weapon to my back, feeling confident there wouldn't be any more Grimm.
"I don't hear anything." I shrugged. "So I guess we can find out?" And, before Weiss had much of a chance to object, I twisted, picking her up, and racing off.
"RUBY!"
Oops. Maybe I should have asked permission first?
The area around the building we had been sleeping in resembled something out of the pictures from the last war. Massive craters and spent bullet casings littered the streets; the craters pooling with blood, and corpses interspersed throughout the rest. Some of the bodies were missing limbs, others just sliced in half with uncanny precision. The results were messy, and I had to run away before I felt compelled to puke.
"Dust…" From my side, Weiss gagged at the sight. "So many…"
"About three hundred." My hand flew to Crescent Rose at the words, before realizing it was just Ian. The Huntsman was leaning against a nearby wall, rifle slung in front of him. "Your sister is one scary woman Rose." Um…what had happened? Yang wasn't that scary, most of the time. Just when you made her mad. Or insulted her hair. That was a no no. "I've never seen a head explode into particulate matter before."
"That's disgusting." Deadpan, but accurate. Typical Weiss. I let her drop to the ground, and she swayed, but was able to at least walk under her own power. Inside, I gave a sigh of relief, not wanting to have to deal with the unpleasantness of being mad at myself over Weiss getting hurt for my silly ideas.
"Yes. It was." Ian gave a snort, before jerking his head the way we came. "I'm going to gather based upon explosions, and you two being here, the Grimm have been slowed down enough for us to catch our collective breath."
Weiss was trying, and failing to straighten her skirt. The bloodied fabric however was having none of it. "Ruby, you own me a new dress." Giving another yank, she huffed, and continued. "The Grimm are running away, actually."
A moment of silence followed, as the older warrior tried to process those words. "And what, in all of Creation, might the two of you have done to run off a Goliath." He was glowering, stance and expression hard to read.
I couldn't help but grin. "We killed it." I made a random gesture with my right hand. "and it was awesome." Pausing, I took in his stunned face. "Weiss froze it, and I made it explode!"
For what had to be at least a minute, he just stared, as though unable to understand what he had been told, before slowly beginning to massage his temples. "Remind me to shove something uncomfortable up Ozpin's ass." Giving a small shake, he pushed off the wall. "Probably should let the other two know you're alive. And I guess I owe you an explanation of what those," He waved a hand at the pile of corpses in the street, "are."
"It would be appreciated." Weiss spoke for both of us, especially with the follow up. "As would a shower."
A rumbling laugh was the main reply. Oh. Well darn. "Sorry Weiss." I did feel kinda bad about getting the mess I made in a fight all over her too. It was a pain to get out of my clothes, and even worse to get out of white ones. That might have been the reasons I started wearing black, to hide bloodstains. Might.
"Just come on." Grabbing my hand, she pulled me towards the house. I forced myself to ignore the whirlwind of feelings that resulted.
"Wow sis." Yang met us just inside, shaking her head. "I know red is your color and all, but isn't that overdoing it?"
"We can dispute whether or not Ruby is excessively violent later." Blake stopped the pending disagreement in its tracks. "I'd say we deserve some kind of explanation as to what those…. things, are." Her eyes bored into Ian.
The Huntsman groaned, dropping onto the couch. "Those? Those things are leftovers from the war. Twisted experiments, supposedly discontinued. Least, that's what they'd claim, although all this kinda flies in the face of that."
"From the war." Yang repeated, arms crossing over her chest. "Something that was over and done with eighty years ago." That did sound a little strange.
"Never said it made any sense. But, you ask anyone up in Atlas, government, military, R&D, even ask some of 'em down here in Vale, and they'd claim what we just saw was an accident, a one off fluke, as a result of some of their creations going haywire, things that got away and haven't been caught since then."
Weiss frowned, leaning forwards. "Atlas?" Her expression was skeptical.
"Well, Mantle first." Ian shrugged. "Stupid bastards. I've not been alive long enough to know for sure, but from reading, and listening, somewhere along the way during the war, someone half crazed idiot went 'oh hey, so Grimm are really nasty right? What if we fuse our soldiers with Grimm, so our soldiers get really nasty?'" We all recoiled at the thought. Half Grimm? How was that even possible? "And that is the reaction they should have had. Not sure why someone didn't." He paused. "Or what happened to the sorry bastard who did."
"Why haven't I heard of this?" Weiss was shaking her head. "I would think it would be taught, if the results were that…bad." She made a wave towards the outside of the house.
Rubbing a hand against his knee, Ian sighed. "Like I said, I'm not that old so it's impossible to say for sure what happened, or didn't happy for that matter. According to files, they only made a few of those…things during the war. First test results convinced the brass that, no matter who effective the killing might have been, the results were also just to brutal. Whole bunch of Vale soldiers got ripped apart, then one Mystral contingent." A wry chuckle left him. "Project was supposedly scrapped about two months before it all came to a halt. Least, so far as the public is concerned."
"But?" Blake challenged.
A sad smile crossed his face. "They've been encountered on occasion for years, just a few every now and again out here in the wilds. Enough for those who know about them to be wary, but nothing to challenge the official story we've all be fed." He gave a snort. "The fact that those of us who have fought them tend of react with extreme overkill, makes it hard to figure much else out, never mind challenge Atlas's narrative about it. Nobody has ever managed enough evidence to challenge Ironwood on the subject, so I suspect that he's clueless."
"So what was that then?" Yang gave a derisive snort. "Because that sure wasn't an accident." She leaned against the table.
"Right in one." The Huntsman nodded. Been asking that question for years now, ever since first time I had such a run in with those things. Haven't had any luck though. Atlas keeps their stupid mouth shut tight, telling me it 'doesn't concern me' or stupid crap." Pushing himself to his feet again, the man began pacing. "No one is going to get answers, unless you have proof beyond all reason that Atlas is responsible. Slippery fuckers won't take it laying down if you do regardless."
"And what makes you so sure this is Atlas?" I asked, eyes locked to Weiss's shaking form, gripping her rapier. It was hard to see, but every part of her was coiled like a spring.
He waved a hand, continuing to pace. "Because Mantle, not Atlas, and Vale were the only Kingdoms to try. Vale, and I understand, tried to make flying people. Not pretty. Atlas created those wolf monstrosities we just killed." A pause. "That, and there is an exceptionally high tech Atlas safe crammed in that corner, which would such that Atlas has its grubby little paws on whatever happened here." His tone had lost any sense of lighthearted annoyance that he usually carried, becoming stony. "Unless she," he nodded towards Blake, "Can pop that safe, not sure it matters much."
"I'll start on it again." Blake gave a sharp nod, her face set with its usual stoicism.
"Guess I'll take watch. Get some reason, and whatever else. We'll be here at least another night, unless something changes." He paused, giving Weiss and I a stare. "And try and get some of that gunk washed off."
Without another word, he turned, striding up the stairs, and out of the room. We watched him go, before Blake headed towards the safe.
"Is there a shower somewhere? Or at least running water?" Weiss broke the silence. "As is usual, Ruby knows no concept of restraint, and apparently found it impossible to wait long enough for me to walk."
"Hey!" She might have had a point, but I was going to object to that regardless.
"Afraid not." Yang's eyes twinkled with amusement at out little banter. "We haven't had any luck finding a source just yet. More than welcome to go looking though."
"It would be nice." Weiss nodded, while I shrugged.
"I need to clean Crescent Rose." That much at least needs to happen at once, before blood dried in the mechanism. "And probably try and get some of the stains out of my cloths."
"Wish you luck with that." Yang declared with a half grin, and a two fingered salute, before she turned, and slipped into the other room after Blake.
It was about half an hour of work to find a stream in the woods, and another ten to drag the water back enough to try and use it for anything. Then, however, we spent two more hours trying to get the gunk off Crescent Rose. Weiss had managed to wash more of the blood off of her dress, but the fabric was still stained lightly pink in its entirety.
I was in the process of pulling about the firing chamber of my weapon, to make sure it was still clean, when Blake stuck her head into the room.
"I think I've got it." Her expression suggested the results of her work weren't exactly good however.
"Oh!" I left Crescent Rose sitting on the table, and rushed to follow her. Yang was already there, her face drained of much color. Weiss followed me, stepped heaving than normal. In the corner, the safe lay open.
"No!" The denial came from Weiss, as she bolted across the room, pulling some of the contents of the safe out.
"Err…Weiss?" I leaned over her shoulder, before realizing what was up. "Oh…"
The safe was filled with a few vials of dust, some syringes, and several notebooks. Most of that didn't seem very interesting, until I saw the front of the notebook in Weiss hand.
There, on the worn leather, was the Symbol of the Schnee Dust Company.
"Oh…" Gulp. "Oh…that's bad…."
A/N: Righto. Congratulations on living this far! As you've probably noticed, this is more than likely going to earn that M rating in the violence department. The way I see it, Grimm might not have souls, but they're still gonna bleed, with all the messy results of that. I have more to say….but plans. And spoilers. Oh, and I'm gonna go ahead and be on record as calling this an AU, because I'm world building and crap. Feel free to PM me, or leave a review with questions/suggestions/feedback, etc. It is all appreciated, and I love talking about this stuff, probably more than I should.
That does however beg the question. What do you prefer? Massive chapters or shorter chapters? Either or works for me, but I do understand the super-sized chapters can be a bit intimidating to read, or just more time consuming in general. Of the upcoming parts I have written, I believe they can be split into smaller chunks without too much difficulty, so it isn't a major problem for me to do.
If no one minds longer chapters, I will probably stick to this method, as it is how I am writing it. Current plan is for Friday updates, and for those following my Fire Emblem story, to do Wednesday updates for that. At least, that's what I'm putting on my calendar. That might get changed to every two weeks for this thing, because well, these chapters are kinda massive, and while I can write them in a day or two, editing takes forever.
On an unrelated note, now that I've gone and promised chapters on time, Aura of Twilight (or whatever she goes by here, I realized it might now be that, just what I know her as everywhere) has permission to yell at me about not editing and posting.
Obviously nothing of the source material is mine. Sadness.