Beta: Hirshja
I do not own RWBY
Chapter 27: Return to Vale
The CCT tower was in the distance. All in the bullhead were looking towards the Ruined clock tower. Although the ruined spire had long since stopped smoking, it still captivated the two goddesses in the bullhead enough to hold their gaze. So much so that the wind whipping in their faces from the open door was barely noticed, All their focus was set solely on the challenge ahead.
However, Yang and Weiss were, in reality, looking at something else dragon was still curled around the tower. The same dragon that had caused the battle to fully and permanently shift in favor of the attacking forces. It was the reason the school had remained closed and lay abandoned save for the sea of black, white and red that remained, but most importantly to them, it was the reason that their team had been disbanded. The reason for the ending of their happy dream lay in front of them.
"No, not the reason, the tool." Weiss mentally corrected herself. Weiss was well aware that in reality, there had been a sinister plot that ran quite deep, and she knew that the raven-haired girl from Mistral and her team were somehow responsible. She hadn't been there when Pyrrha died, hadn't watched what happened, but she still felt like she had a reason, a duty, to see this through to the end, if not for herself, than at the very least those who had paid the price for their failure.
Yang was thinking something along the same lines, but a different raven-haired woman danced in her head. "Where are you Blake?" Yang muttered, her voice just barely audible over the roar of the buffeting wind and the bullheads engines if one had been listening closely, though her words were still impossible to discern.
A crackling voice came over the speaker. "We're going to drop you off in the city, you can make your way to the tower from there." The crackling ended without asking if they had any questions, Weiss knew it was a sound plan though. Dropping too close to the tower would not have been a wise move. The dragon seemed to be attracting more Grimm to its position, thus the sea of Grimm was thickest closest to the frozen dragons perch atop Beacon Academy.
Weiss looked at the two goddesses, both of whom remained fixated on the view out the window. Rose was dressed in dark navy blue jeans with combat boots, paired with a black leather jacket with red trim and crimson shirt underneath, a red cloth belt was wrapped around her waist, ammo packages and dust vials hung from attached pouches. Her shoulder length hair was wrapped in a short ponytail. Crescent Rose and her other weapon sat in a white Atlesian military bag. Weiss wouldn't have noticed it was any different from a civilian gym bag if it hadn't been for the faint glow of Dust-enhanced fibers, the Schnee logo on the side, and Atlas' symbol with the words "Atlas Military" emblazoned on both ends.
Weiss found herself absently wondering if her partner now dressed in a similar way, it had been several months, long enough for a change. So much already had after all.
A nudge from Yin broke Weiss out of her musing. "Ready?" She asked gently. Weiss nodded. "Wait until the Bullhead lands, then get out ASAP". Weiss followed the woman leaping out of the bullhead with her eyes. She watched as the burst of blonde hair vanished beneath the edge of the ship, the sounds of gunshots already ringing out.
The clanking of boots on steel behind her alerted her to Yang's presence. "Nothing quite like them huh"? Yang placed her new robotic hand on Weiss's shoulder, a friendly grin appearing on her face.
The question could've been answered in many ways, Weiss choose to do so with a massive understatement. "It is strange." was her calculated response. Yang gave her shoulder a gentle, infinitely comforting squeeze.
"We have to show them what Hunters can do, can't let them get all the action." Yang said in a cheerful voice. Something in it seemed forced, but weiss decided now was not the time to ask about such things.
Instead, Weiss nodded vaguely, but neglected to respond. Choosing to remain silent as she watched the ground grow closer.
"Whelp, time to go." With that Yang released her grip on Weiss's shoulder, cocked Ember Celica and shot out of the bullhead doors. Weiss drew Myrtenaster and took a deep breath. A faint smile played on her lips. The sound of Ember Celica firing buckshot strangely comforting to her ears. It was like returning to a familiar place.
Weiss leapt out of the bullhead, launching off of a glyph and skewering the nearest Ursa in mere seconds. As she fell into the familiar ebbs and flows of combat, she barely noticed as the bullhead lifted back into the sky. When she took a moment to look around her, though, she realized that only a year ago, this had been where a train burst out of the ground, causing the event known as the Breach. She smiled, striking down a charging Beowulf. This was where she belonged. This was her calling, being a huntress. It was what she wanted to do.
"Sis, any ideas"? Yin called out as she ripped the head off of another Ursa major.
"A few, but most of them aren't exactly appealing." Rose yelled back, frowning as she fired at a nearby Grimm. She wasn't really aiming at this point, with the amount of oncoming Grimm; she could have fired a single bullet in any direction and probably hit 3 given how dense the deluge was.
"Any that doesn't involve us dying horrifically?" Yang shouted as she ducked under the claw of an Ursa that had almost snuck up behind her by virtue of another Ursa distracting her at the time.
"Maybe one or two." Rose replied, using her semblance to temporarily increase the distance between herself and the nearby Ursa so she could fire off a few shots at a Nevermore that was smart enough to stay out of range of melee weapons .
"Maybe?" Weiss shouted slightly frantically, finishing off the now downed Nevermore as she did so. She was positive her team leader could have come up with a dozen plans; maybe this Rose wasn't as smart as her partner, or maybe this Rose's plans were less "That idea sounds cool" and more "That idea won't almost certainly get me killed".
Weiss sincerely hoped that the latter was the case. With her earlier assessment, that landing further from the dragon would keep them from being overwhelmed, she had been wrong, so very wrong. Being the owners of the only auras for what had to be hundreds of miles was probably a contributing factor.
The Grimm had come in waves, mostly hordes of Beowolves, but also containing Ursa and the occasional Gryphon or juvenile Nevermore. None of them on their own were exceptionally dangerous, but each wave contained several hundred Grimm, and there wasn't much time in between them either. After the fourth wave they had moved less than three blocks from their landing zone.
Finally, they had pushed up a building instead, believing hopping building to building would be more efficient than killing most of the Grimm on the street, and while that was true, it had the unpleasant side-effect of attracting more aerial Grimm, and a wave of Gryphon's and juvenile Nevermore had taken up precious time. After defeating the somewhat small wave of aerial Grimm, they were able to push forward getting tantalizingly close to the tower, but eventually, the buildings became further apart, and they were forced to return to the ground to continue their journey.
Now, after several hours of fighting, they were in front of the CCT tower, which was good, but were being rushed by yet another, slightly larger wave of Grimm, which anyone with half a brain cell could tell, was… not so good.
Yang and Yin were running low on ammunition, and Rose was reluctant to use her own lest they need it for the return trip. Weiss was in less of a precarious state with the amount of dust she still had, but she was also beginning to run out of both aura and stamina, and it showed. Her sword arm was drooping ever so slightly, wobbling along with her heavy breathing. Weiss inwardly cursed at the physical degradation of her body over the past few months. Her usual fighting style relied on using her glyphs, and while she could fight without them, it was much more difficult. She had intended to resolve that issue after the Vytal festival had made the flaw more apparent than she had expected. But events had made that impossible. Even then, it normally wouldn't have been an issue, but in such a prolonged fight, where her aura was being drained by not only getting hit, but also by the use of said glyphs, the flaw in her style became increasingly concerning.
Rose was well aware of their current situation and finally made a decision. "Yin, pass me the bag!" she shouted. Yin bolted forward, punting away any Grimm near the bag before grabbing it and flinging it toward Rose.
"Rose! What are you doing?" Weiss asked, an uncomfortable warning whirring in her mind.
Rose didn't respond, folding Crescent Rose and dodging an Ursa's strike. Weiss fired a burst of Ice Dust, freezing said Ursa. She watched as Rose grabbed the bag and yanked open the zipper. She grabbed the object inside; of similar shape to the folded form of Crescent Rose, but more circular.
"Weiss, Yang, Cover me!" Rose shouted. Yang appeared behind her, bouncing on her feet like a boxer. Weiss stood at her side, parrying a blow from a Beowulf before removing its head from its shoulders.
"I need a minute!" Rose said.
"A minute? What kind of weapon needs a minute to prepare?" Weiss shrieked.
"The heavy kind!" Yin said from several feet away, pouncing upon a small group of Beowolves that had separated themselves and tearing them apart.
The fight continued as Weiss heard a whirring sound coming from the weapon. She watched as a bar extended from the weapon, the curved sections shaping into a double headed axe. The two axe heads folded into one. Rose held out a hand where a grip rose from the weapon.
"Weiss, give me a 1 foot wide, 5 foot tall earth barrier 30 feet out from us". She said quickly, indicating with her hand that she wanted them to be completely surrounded before grabbing onto the grip of her weapon. Weiss, not understanding the reason for the order, decided it would probably be better to follow it anyway and did so before watching Yin decimate all of the Grimm in the circle.
"That looks incredibly top heavy." Weiss observed quietly, wondering exactly what was going on. Rose had gone to immense trouble to reclaim that weapon. It must have been important.
The weapon now appeared to be somewhat similar to Crescent Rose's sniper form. Albeit with a large axe blade below the gun barrel. Rose grinned. "Hit the deck!" was the only warning given before she fired the weapon a second later.
Weiss waited a few moments before she heard a distant rumble. "Keep you eyes closed! Cover your ears!" She heard Yin shout. She followed Yin's orders, releasing her grip on Myrtenaster, after driving the blade into the ground, to do so.
She heard a sharp whistle fading off into the distance before an eardrum bursting explosion went off. The earth shook below her as the roar was followed by a massive shockwave. She could hear the muffled shattering of glass and the crinkle as it struck the ground. What seemed like minutes, but was probably mere moments later, she felt a tap on her leg from a boot.
She opened her eyes to look at a grinning Rose.
"Rose? What did you do?" Weiss asked warily as she began to stand.
"That." Rose's said calmly, pointing at what seemed to be a barren wasteland.
Weiss looked on with shock, at where a horde of Grimm once stood, there now lay naught but rubble. A mushroom cloud only beginning to dissipate in the distance.
"Damn Rose, you know you probably just caused hundreds of millions of lien in property damage?" Yang asked.
Rose shrugged. Lien didn't really mean all that much to her.
"Was that a dust bomb?" Weiss wondered, debating whether calling Rose a dunce was worth the risk of that.
"Enhanced High impact explosives. I still have the Dust bomb in the bag." She said, nonchalantly.
"You didn't arm that explosive." Weiss observed.
"It was already armed." She replied. Weiss spun around to look at Rose with horror as Yang took a step back.
"What? Best to always be prepared." Yin argued, defending her sister's choice.
"If the dust bomb is armed please disarm it now." Yang pleaded fear in her eyes. Even Yang knew that that enhanced explosive probably would have been designated a WMD, even if one considerably less powerful than a dust bomb.
Rose turned, appearing somewhat offended, Weiss resisted the instinct to jump for cover. "That's not kept armed." Rose said hotly "What do you take me for, an irresponsible weapons nut?"
Blake was sitting on the ground outside her tent, excitedly looking at the Tuna cooking on a stick in front of her. It would be cooked to absolute perfection, Blake made sure of it. She had worked out the equations in her head herself. She turned the stick every 24 seconds, allowing both sides of the fish to cook evenly and not get overcooked.
"Only another minute." She whispered to herself, faintly smiling with anticipation. There were several advantages to chasing after the White Fang alone. She could go at her own pace, use her own methods, and not have to worry about getting her friends killed.
Friends.
"Yang would love this." Blake thought, any excitement for her meal disappeared. She curled up; bringing her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. The Blonde could be loud, noisy and dense, but she also cared deeply about her friends. Blake didn't dare try to imagine Yang's reaction to her leaving. Her partner must have been heartbroken.
"Ex-partner." Blake reminded her. "You left, you abandoned her. It might have been to keep her safe, to keep Adam away from her, but that doesn't change what you did."
It played in Blake's head almost every night while she slept. Watching Adam and Yang fight, although the word fight did not really describe what happened all that well. She watched as Yang charged, enraged at the destruction and suffering Adam had brought with him. Adam, cold and impassive, sliced off Yang's arm. The girl tumbling to the ground, unconscious from the shock.
Blake had left soon after, knowing that doing such would hurt Yang, but the thought of Adam coming to finish the job… Blake couldn't risk it. If Ruby, Weiss and Yang had taught her one thing (and they had taught her a multitude of things) It's to always have hope, and for Blake, she didn't know if she could do that if her teammates, her best friends, her family died in front of her.
The crackling of fire caused Blake to come out of her thoughts before cursing and hastily turning the Tuna over. It was too late though, perfection was now unachievable.
Blake moaned, sinking deeper into depression. "Well, at least I still have food." She mumbled weakly, trying to stay bright.
A flash of light in the distance alerted Blake to something going on, She turned her head in time to see a giant mushroom cloud of smoke rising over Vale. The rumbling of the explosion echoing even at her campsite, several days from the city.
The shockwave came next, hitting Blake with unexpected force. Putting out her fire, blowing her tent down and knocking her off balance. She dug her foot into the ground, using it to stay standing. Raising her arm to shield her head.
Almost as quickly as it came, the shock wave vanished. Blake slowly lowered her arm to see what devastation had happened.
She looked at the dissipating mushroom cloud. "I wonder what happened."
She muttered, glancing around watching the ruins of her campsite. The boxes of supplies were mostly unharmed, but her tent had collapsed and her fire was extinguished.
She shrugged, knowing it wouldn't take long to rebuild the tent.
"At least I still have dinner." She said, raising the stick her meal was on.
There was no fish.
"Oh come on." She said to nobody in particular. Her shoulders slumping as she eyed the ruined remains of her meal, splattered on a nearby tree. She let out a sigh and marched over to her box of supplies.
"Canned food it is. Again." She muttered as she pulled out a can of baked beans. She had never missed Beacon's cooking as much as she did now. And that just made everything worse.
A/N: I feel bad for Blake, at least she got some screen time. Also a huge shout out to Hirshja for getting this betaed so quickly, even as made work for him than usual. Definitely check out the new RWBY episode if you haven't. Awesome fight scene!
B/N: Alright, so we finally got to see what the heck that "little friend" of Rose's does, and let me tell you, I am impressed. I was actually left in the dark on this one too. Not that I asked. I know I literally just said last chapter that I suck at fleshing stuff out that's already written, but that's not completely true. I'm actually quite good at it, it just takes me an obscene amount of time, because everything has to be perfect. I spent quite a bit of time adding lines and fleshing out this chapter, and then rewriting my added lines before deleting them and replacing them all toge- you get the point. Anywho, I'm just happy that I'll have a break from school so that when I'm on break I can spend as much time as needed doing stuff with the early chapters. See y'all next time.
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