Well, yesterday 5/10/15 hit one member of the RWBY and Rooster Teeth families rather hard. Yesterday was supposed to be the wedding date of Monty and Sheena Duquette Oum. I read about this on Sheena's website, when I had finished I felt like Sheena needed someone or something to help her through that tough time. She was as much a part of both families as the rest of us. So it is with a heavy heart that I say Happy Anniversary Sheena and Monty, this is for both of you and what would have been. Sláinte mhaith (Good health).
The bat-eared Faunus looked agitated, "Crik-cree, you've certainly stumbled upon the find haven't you?" he said, "Probably, going to rat me out to the authorities for being a White Fang sympathizer, eh? Crik-cree."
"Only if the gigantic flesh-eating bat monster doesn't kill you first," Ruby said.
"Ah, yes, crik," The Faunus said putting his finger to his chin, "the Drakul will pose a bit of a problem to both you and I at this point." His voice was laced with a hint of worry. "Don't get me wrong," He said dropping his cane, "I am a sympathizer of the White Fang, rather the old White Fang."
"As in the former peace loving White Fang, who sought collaboration with the Whitmane family," Rowan asked, "that ship sunk with the passing of the torch of leadership of that now infamous organization five years ago." He sighed, "A real tragedy if you ask me."
"And that day marked a spark of animosity toward the Schnee family, my family," Weiss said.
"I'm a pacifist, crik-cree," the Faunus said, "I'd never hurt anyone, especially in the presence of the Mayor." He was trembling in his shoes. "Know that I have the utmost respect for you and your family, in spite of the atrocities made toward Faunus kind by President Schnee in recent years."
"And I will do all within my power to uphold the true Schnee honor." Weiss said holding out her hand, "I promise," She said as her intensity lightened, "that I will do all that I can to repair the damage to society that his negligence has caused."
The Faunus looked at her, "I would like that," he said clapping his hands together, "yes indeed, crik-cree. Thomas Blackwing approves of your preemptive decision, Miss Schnee, crik-cree."
A small cloud of dust fell from the ceiling of the room. "Looks like the Reaper is here," Rowan said, "and it's hungry."
"The Reaper," Professor asked, "Why would you name a Grimm that's been around this particular area only a few months?"
"Well for one, it's a rare Grimm," Rowan replied, "and even the older Grimm, like Ol' Gray Back, have been given names based on a unique physical trait." Professor Port scratched his chin recounting the large blade-like growths protruding from the points on its wings. "Plus," Rowan continued, "that thing doesn't have the hunting skills of a young Grimm, nor does it have the body of one. Otherwise, it would mean that people would be attacked and eaten."
"Yes, yes, crik-cree," Thomas said in agreeance, "Thomas has noticed what Reaper does. It's definitely seen some years, crik-cree."
The group looked at each other, deep in thought. "If Thomas isn't the one harboring negative feelings toward us," Azurus said, "why is that creature so interested in this building?"
"Likely because of the New White Fang members who come here to corral it," Thomas spoke up, "Thomas saw them, crik-crik. Very mean, bitter, didn't want to be near humans. They wanted to leave as soon as possible, but then they were sloppy and got themselves killed and eaten by the Reaper." His ears drooped, "it's a sad day to see ones so young try something so foolish."
"Yet we do things like that all the time." Weiss said shooting a shallow glare in Ruby's direction, "And yet we come out unscathed."
"Because we are conditioned for this and aren't charging headlong into something that was hopeless from the get go." Rowan said back to the heiress, softening her expression. "We have one thing that the new White Fang lacks," He continued, "we have a drive not to attack, but to defend."
"Spoken like a true hero," Azurus smiled, "but how do we get rid of that ghastly problem up stairs?"
"Thomas knows of Drakul weaknesses, crik-cree." The bat-eared Faunus piped up, "Super-sensitive eyes, and easily deafened, and a painful weak on the base of the skull." The hunters looked at him with worried expressions, "What? Thomas can't purvey helpful information to admirable young protectors of friendships between humans and Faunus alike? Crik-cree."
"We're just curious as to why you know this." Port said, "Grimm hunters, like myself have been trying to figure that out for years. How is it you know these weaknesses?"
"He's a Faunus with bat ears, dear boy," Azurus stated, "the Grimm we're fighting has the appearance of a bat. Common knowledge, plus the spikes on the beast's neck, there's a small area about three spikes wide that can disconnect the neck. We need to hold it down long enough to finish it off."
Rowan's ear widened briefly. He looked at Thomas and said, "Would ice be enough to hold it in place?"
"Hmm," Thomas pondered, "yes, yes, that may work, crik-cree. Though you'll need a lot based on its size."
"Oh, that certainly won't be a problem," Rowan said breathing out a cold wind with snowflakes in it, "no problem at all."
The Drakul was greedily clawing at the top of the building it was more aggressive than it was the night before. It was growling and murderously focused on the building's contents. It was completely oblivious to the hunters who were swiftly sneaking out of the basement area and into the ground floor of the building. "Ruby, use your semblance to get into a good position for a shot at that thing." Rowan said.
"Right," Ruby said rocketing out of the building across from them.
"Professor, Azurus, get ready to lay down some cover fire." Rowan said to the seasoned hunters, "Weiss and I are going to get that Drakul out of town to minimize any damage."
"We'll draw its attention away from you when things get tense." Port said.
"This is going to require all of us to be on point in order to get rid of this Grimm." Azurus said, "Best to be careful not to let it get airborne."
"That's where our dust abilities come into play." Rowan said, "Weiss and I will try to ground that Drakul with ice dust."
"Funny," Peter said, "I've heard that it takes a large amount of ice dust to down one. And I only see Miss Schnee's dust rounds. That won't be enough to stop that thing."
"You didn't read all of my background, did you professor?" Rowan asked.
"Of course I did," Port replied.
"The circumstances of my birth included?" Rowan asked with a smirk forming on his face.
"Hrm," Port thought, "that's the only part I didn't read."
"I nearly died when my mom gave birth to me and required a dust infusion." Rowan said, "Ice dust resonated best with my aura and, presto, I lived. The dust inside me has increased in potency and quantity over the past seventeen years. It was a bit of a blessing. Now, there's no time to waste. Get to the second floor and stay low, wait for the signal." The veteran huntsmen nodded and stealthily made their way to the second floor. Rowan turned to Weiss, his sai drawn and ready. Weiss drew Myrtenaster and prepped herself, "Ready, princess?" Rowan asked.
"Ready, my wolf," the heiress nodded.
"Good," Rowan sent a message to Ruby on her scroll indicating to begin the strategy.
Ruby drew Crescent Rose and carefully took aim at the Drakul's head. She fired her shot at the giant bat and knocked its head to the side. The beast shook off the attack, turned toward Ruby, and let out a blood curdling roar and dove across the street at Ruby. It was halfway across the gap when a ball of blue fire exploded on the side of its face knocking it off course while five icicles drove it out of the city town. The Drakul was not seriously injured, but being caught off guard like that was something it never expected. It looked up in time to see Weiss' glyphs launching shards of ice at its head. The Drakul was quick enough to shield itself from the attack, but was once again caught off guard by a bolt of white lightning that struck it in the face and froze its mouth shut.
"That takes care of the shriek," Rowan growled, "now, let's ground this rat with wings!" He whisteled loudly and two shots rang out from the nearby building's second floor. A ball of fire from Port's blunder-axe hit the Drakul in the chest while a spiraling shot from Azurus' musket-spear hit the creature square in its right knee. The Drakul's muffled cry of enraged humiliation and pain filled the older hunters with pride, but they didn't let the nostalgia give pause to their attacks.
Ruby took aim again and saw the weak point, a small gap at the back of the Drakul's horrifying head. Lining up a shot without the monster pinned in a position where she could take it out no problem. "This is going to be tougher than we thought." She groaned. A sudden twitch from the Drakul caught her attention. The monster flexed its blade pointed wings and prepared to take to the sky, This is bad, this is really really bad. She said calling out to her teammates, "Weiss, Rowan, it's going to take off, watch out!" As soon as the words left the scarlet clad huntress' lips the beast launched itself high into the air, the gust was powerful enough to blown both of the young hunters back a bit.
Rowan drove the points of his sai, Mac Tíre Éadrom and Mac Tíre Scáth, into the ground to catch himself before any further damage was done. Weiss caught herself on a glyph angled to prevent serious damage. "You okay, Weiss?" the heiress heard Rowan call to her.
"Yeah, just got caught off guard," Weiss called back gritting her teeth as she looked from the young Faunus to the, now airborne, monster.
"Well, be careful," Rowan cautioned her, "it has the advantage now." I was hoping this thing wouldn't go airborne, he thought with clenched teeth, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. He looked at Weiss again, "Do you have any defensive glyphs that can withstand a blast from those wings?" He called.
"No," Weiss replied, "I don't have enough dust in Myrtenaster to create a barrier against something like that."
Rowan looked back in the direction of the Drakul. While the pair had been discussing their defenses, the beast had climbed high into the air and was now readying for a dive no doubt coupling for a heavy wind that would easily tear its prey apart. "Then I guess I'll earn another thanks," He said jumping in front of the heiress, "I'll worry about the defense," he stated focusing his aura into the points of his sai, "you prepare an attack to follow up with."
"All right," Weiss said as she loaded three white dust rounds into Myrtenaster's ammo cartridge, "just give me a signal."
"Look for a literal opening in our defense," Rowan grinned as swirling gust of cold air started swirling around him, "you won't miss it."
Weiss began focusing her aura through Myrtenaster's blade, Okay, Weiss, remember just stay calm, She thought. Her heartbeat was so loud that it rang in her skull. She glanced at Rowan, seeing his silver and brown hair being whipped around by the frigid wind, Rowan's putting a lot of faith into you, Weiss, don't screw anything up.
Weiss, you're a loud thinker, did you know that? Rowan's disembodied voice said to her, I know you're worried, I am too. But, you're going to need to put a little faith in yourself before you take your next big step as a huntress. Also, and this is the most important thing I'll say, remember that you have Ruby and the others backing you up. Don't ever forget this, even if you lose faith in yourself, there's always at least one person who has faith in you, and that is between me and Ruby.
These words calmed Weiss, Rowan had never set the heiress astray, That makes me feel so much more confident, my noble wolf. She thought, Get ready, here it comes!
"Sorry, Reaper," Rowan growled, "but I have a birthday that I plan to see with the women of my dreams." The Drakul beat its wings and let loose a powerful gust of wind that sliced through the ground in front of the two young hunters, "And, I won't be taken down by the likes of you!" Rowan roared as he drove the points of his sai into the ground. Soon the two were shielded by a large dome of ice. The dome then cracked from the sheer force of the gust but as soon as it faded, Rowan touched the tips of his sai to the dome, "Now!" He shouted as he swiped the ice dome away.
Weiss shouted out as she thrust the point of Myrtenaster toward the Drakul, hitting the creature in its feet and encasing a portion of its lower body in ice. The creature could only stay airborne a by flapping frantically. A blast from Port and Azurus' weapons, hitting the beast in the joints at the base of the wings, brought it down with a reasoning thud. "At this rate," Rowan said as his sai began crackling with electricity, "this will all be over in," he shouted with effort as he lunged into a forward long stance, "a FLASH!" he yelled unleashing a large bolt of white lightning at the Drakul's head and encased its muzzle in ice.
Weiss looked at what the Faunus had done, her eyes widened in amazement, This must be what he referred to in the dream world last night, She looked at his frost-kissed sai as he wiped it off against his pant-leg. She walked up to him and looked at his now flickering eyes, "Rowan, that was incredible," she said pausing as the Faunus tried to catch his breath, "are you alright?"
"Yeah," Rowan panted as he struggled to his feet, "I just overdid it a bit is all." He chuckled as he wiped frost from his eyebrows.
"Heads up!" Ruby shouted as she leapt into the air and plunged Crescent Rose's blade into the Drakul's weak point. The giant Grimm let out a muffled shriek in pain as it let out a death rattle and it's lifeless form going limp as it started dissolving.
"So… looks like… the world… has… one less bat… in its belfry." Rowan chuckled as he slipped into a shortness of breath.
"Rowan," Weiss put her hand on Rowan's shoulder, "don't push yourself too far."
"I'll try not to." The Faunus panted eating medicine pill, "That's why I'm taking this." He took a deep inhale through the nose and exhaled. "That should help." He grinned putting his arm over the heiress' shoulder.
Ruby hopped from the now withering bat-Grimm's corpse and puffed out her cheeks. Weiss raised her eyebrow, "Ruby," the heiress asked, "are you… jealous?"
"What?" Ruby said as her eyes widened, "No, no… yeah, a little." She sighed, "Seeing you with Rowan makes me wish Yang was here. I know, I'm supposed to be stepping up my game as a leader. But, I can't help but miss my big sister at times like this. It's not every day that I kill a rare species of Grimm. Plus I'm getting used to my partner having a boyfriend."
Rowan grinned at the scarlet huntress, "I have another arm, Ru-ru, I'm not your sister, but I'm a big brother." He said as Ruby zipped under his arm.
"Sorry Weiss," Ruby said softly, "please don't be mad, I know you'd be mad at me for being depressed. I just really needed a little 'good work' hug." She giggled.
"Ruby," Weiss said with a dissolving air of sternness in her voice, "as childish as that sounds, I can understand your reasoning."
"Good work in taking that monstrous beast, young'uns," Azurus said walking toward the hunters in training with Port in tow, "and with minimal damage to the town, I must admit I'm glad for that."
"As am I," Port said, "well done. Now I just got a transmission from Professor Ozpin, there's an airship on the way to take us to join up with Team CFVY to the southwest."
"A new mission," Weiss said, "so soon? I'm not certain that's a good idea. Rowan's in bad enough shape as it is. That combination of his dust use by pushing his aura through his sai has exhausted him."
"Well these sai aren't my actual weapon." Rowan said, "You see, during my last mission in Atlas my weapon's frame was damaged by an Ursa Major, the only part that wasn't damaged were the sai that I used to channel my aura. My brother, Sycamore, has been working on it since then, since then I've been practicing with them."
"Wait, so these aren't your weapons?" Ruby asked pointing to the sai holstered on Rowan's belt.
"Not my actual ones," Rowan said, "you see I forged these two out of a special metal that amplifies the aura used in a dust based attack. But there was a huge consequence to using them alone, it saps physical energy from one's body as well."
A/N: First of all, why the strange names for Rowan's sai? Answer, their Irish Gaelic meaning Light Wolf and Shadow Wolf. I figured it to be appropriate for Rowan being a wolf Faunus and with the heavy presence of wolves in Celtic mythology. As for the "crik-cree" from Thomas Blackwing, sort of a speech moniker for a bat Faunus I came up with, like a bat chittering in the dark to see their way during a hunt. Next week will be the next update probably, I want to stay at least two weeks ahead of upcoming chapters so I'm putting at least a week to ten days between chapter releases.
Anyway I'd like to take a moment to recommend a story that I've been reading since about March. For fellow White Rose fans I recommend this, it's a rather long read but worth the time investment. It's a little story by Shadow Nightblade called The Snow Fox's Struggle. It's an interesting spin on the RWBY universe, and for those who are fans of Faunus Weiss, you'll love this.
Well until next time,
~Cluny