Chapter 28
The Emerald Ruins (6)
As expected, the Scholar's actions only drew more suspicion from Team RWBY. Not even Ruby could justify what went through the young man's head when he decided to incinerate the only lead they had. That budding seed was related to the incident in the Ruins in some way, even if no one could tell how, and the fact that Hall destroyed it instantly was worrying But, perhaps more disconcerting, was the fact that Hall apparently carried more of those same seeds around in his bag. The man owed everyone some answers, both for this little incident as well as his earlier outburst.
And Yang Xiao Long wasn't going to let him worm his way out of an explanation. Her hand immediately fell onto Hall's shoulder, gripping him firmly as she held the man in place. A single, sharp breath was all she needed to make her frustration clear, with her eyes flashing red as her expression demanded answers. "Hall. You have ten seconds to explain What. The. Hell. You just did."
It was as simple as that. Neither Blake nor Weiss attempted to intervene. One was wary, while the other had been outright suspicious the entire journey. And given the Hall monitor's secretive nature, this was the best method to get some answers. Even Ruby could do little but look up at the man with sad eyes.
The red reaper wanted to trust Hall, but she just couldn't. The Raydric's words already painted him in a bad light, and there was the whole Heart of Ymir thing that he refused to explain. Next, he apparently wasn't human, which she didn't think was a big deal; However, he was so angry for having to admit it, which sounded like he didn't trust them at all. And now, once they found something obviously related to the odd happenings at the Ruins, Hall just destroys it. After showing them that he's got those things hidden away in his bag.
"Just... Could you tell us what's going on, Hall?" Ruby pleaded to the man, while the rest of her group stared suspiciously at Hall. "Please?"
For the most part, the Scholar was quiet, trying to figure out exactly what he could tell them. He came to the decision on instinct, which bothered him greatly... It was the first time he recognized instinct at all. Yet, he couldn't call it anything else, as it was more than just reflex, the sensation driving him to the conclusion that the best course of action was to remove the problem. Despite that, Hall could find no reason why it was necessary to destroy the seed first, without bothering to tell anyone what it was in the first place.
So, he might as well start from that. Taking in a deep breath, he turned away from the Ruin's center, his expression neutral as he faced the huntresses-in-training, apparently ready to answer.
"That was a Seed of Yggdrasil. I keep them on hand as emergency healing supplies." He could tell by the confused expressions that he needed more exposition than that. "Yggdrasil is the name of the World Tree, the source of all life in Rune Midgard. The seeds that stem from the tree are inert, but still carry a piece of its power; By consuming a seed, one can recover both mind and body at an exceptional rate. As for reason why a seed was here in the first place...
"I first appeared in this world here." He gestured to the center ruins, and the girls realized that he was referring a specific spot, rather than the ruins as a whole. "When I awoke, I was immediately attacked by one of the boar monsters. I took a charge head on, and that probably knocked a seed loose or something." The Scholar did keep a few key items 'on hand', as it were, where they could be easily accessed with minimal difficulty. Hopefully, he didn't drop anything else important...
"That doesn't explain why you burned it, though." Weiss spoke up, drawing attention to the fact that Hall had ignored the entire question thus far.
"... I burned it because it was dangerous." The Scholar's newly discovered instinct told him that leaving the seed alive would've ended... poorly. "I already told you that my items lost their power when I arrived, right? Even the items of Yggdrasil, the seeds and leaves, lost their power. Yet, that discarded seed, which was supposed to be inert, somehow started sprouting. Rather than dying off, it became active after rotting in these stone ruins for a week. And now, after the thing from my world sprouted, monsters from my world suddenly started to appear. What do you think that means?"
This fact held... unfortunate implications.
Thankfully, the teachers were blissfully ignorant of these revelations.
Instead, they had to contend with an angry Ancient Nevermore, as well as the rest of the grimm. Neither the teachers' efforts, nor the repeated volleys the Raydric archers were enough to kill the creature, but it had taken heavy damage all the same. Pain echoed from the Nevermore's beak, yet it made no motion to flee as it dove down to the fields below. Within moments, it descended upon a squad of Raydrics, pecking at the cursed armours as it tried to gorge itself on metal.
The rest of the ruins were littered with dying grimm and fading metal, still struggling from the earlier blizzard. However, in spite of the relentless attack, the larger beasts of grimm stood tall, as solitary Ursai lumbered across the battlefield. There were far fewer armours now, barely enough to oppose the remaining grimm, as they no longer crawled out from... wherever they originated. This fact did not escape the teachers' notice, and they could not understand why. Perhaps the decrease in number was due to the defeat of the Bloody Kn-
Another roar echoed from the battlefield, and an Ursa Major exploded into empty smoke. Standing in its place was the Bloody Knight from before, its armour battered and dented from its fall. More blood seemed to seep out of the metal, and the monster took on a martial stance as it turned its attention to another Ursa. The grimm knew no fear, and though it was dwarfed by the Knight, the monstrous bear charged forward all the same.
Deadly claws lashed out, a violent attempt to rend metal from its target, only for their owner to be stopped by single punch. The Ursa was sent flying backwards, tumbling over smaller grimm, and the Bloody Knight charged forward to pursue its target. It took a few moments for the grimm to steady itself, but they were moments it could not afford, as massive armour refused to let its quarry escape. Two powerful gauntlets gripped each of the Ursa's arms, giving the Bloody Knight all the leverage it needed as it threw the bear in one powerful swing, sending it off in an arc.
Ursa met Nevermore, stunning the ancient bird, as the impact interrupted the avian's rampage for a few scant seconds. A screech of fury sounded out, but the surrounding Raydrics ignored the bird's pain; these seconds were what the surviving Raydrics needed. Each armour threw themselves at the bird, frantically gripping steel feathers, trying to bury their blades into the beast to act as a foothold, as they struggled to crawl up onto the Nevermore. Frantic twists and snaps from the grimm threw some of the living armours off, but a constant barrage of grimm projectiles from an angry Knight kept the ancient monster grounded.
And, throughout this confounding display, the teachers could do little but watch with... curiosity. It was one thing to see cursed armours face off against creatures of pure hatred and destruction. It was another thing entirely to watch a single giant armour use grimm as projectiles to knock down larger grimm.
Still, they were professional Huntsmen, and the teachers sprung into action once more. The dwindling numbers meant Peter could finally approach, and the rambunctious teacher wielded his weapon expert form as he dove into the closest group of grimm. The man's first target, an unfortunate Beowolf Alpha, tried to bring its arms up to protect itself; instead, it lost its entire upper torso, as Professor Port eliminated it in one fell swing.
Bartholomew fought alongside his fellow teacher, diving into the group with him, dodging passed claw and fang as he struck out with his weapon. A flash of fire burst forth from his weaponized torch, as a raging fire purged a group of lesser grimm in one fluid motion. His attention turned away from his immediate surroundings as the archiologist focused on the distant Nevermore. With firm resolve, the man gathered the flame of his torch, charging it with his aura before throwing it towards the beast, sending a massive fireball raging through the air. Almost instantly, the conflagration consumed the bird as well as its unwanted riders, as feather and metal burned away into ashes.
The attack didn't stop there, as two more fireballs shot forth from the teacher. Explosions echoed in the night as they collided against Nevermore, each shock rippling through its massive body, leaving it vulnerable for the next attack. One final streak of fire charged through the air, fueled by Oobleck's weapon as a flaming Port collided with the avian grimm's face axe-first, the explosive force more than enough to cave the Nevermore's skull in.
Just as her two colleagues had dealt with the ancient grimm, Glynda Goodwitch had intended to deal with the final threat. The teacher turned her attention to the Bloody Knight, her eyes narrowing as she prepared for the final confrontation. Her weapon began glowing ominously, her aura reaching the air around her as she began tearing apart the nearby earth. The Nevermore's fallen body twitched, well within the teacher's influence even as it gradually faded into smoke. Slowly, smaller clumps of dirt were forced together with larger chunks of rock, fusing into bricks of weaponized murder as Glynda focused on her target.
Feeling the tension in the air, the Bloody Knight prepared itself, its crimson eyes flaring with anger as it brought its fists together. The metallic clang of its gauntlets echoed through the battlefield, as it finally chose a human target for the first time. As it watched the huntress gather energy, the animate armour raised its hand into the air, gathering it's own Spiritual Power as the air began glowing with a familiar red. Glyphs formed in the sky, each of the magical circles pointed at the female opponent, as meteors descended.
Just as suddenly as they appeared, however, they ceased. A growl of confusion echoed from the depths of the armour's mask, trying to find the source of the interruption. The answer revealed itself moments later as the Bloody Knight looked downwards, as the sight of a familiar blade, wreathed in purple light, buried itself into the armour's chest. A spike of rock followed immediately afterwards, hammering the serrated edge through the Knight's breastplate, striking through the other side, as the sound of tearing metal filled the forest.
The knight fell to the ground, a dull quake vibrating outwards as its collapse shook the very forest. Its red eyes, obscured by its ominous mask, flickered erratically for a moment longer, trying desperately to cling to life. Yet, even that light faded into nothing, and just like the smaller armours before it, Bloody Knight's empty body faded.
With that, the battle finally ceased.
The flight back to beacon was filled with silence.
As soon as the battle was over, Ozpin had ordered the teachers to collect the hall monitor and Team RWBY from the ruins. His orders were strict, and no interrogation was to be held until all parties involved had arrived back at Beacon, ready to talk within his office. As expected, the instructors fulfilled his orders without complaint, leading the students onto the Bullhead without a second thought.
Now, Team RWBY was lost in confusion as they tried to collect their bearings, throwing curious glances between themselves and the Hall monitor. They were first-year huntresses-in-training, and each of them felt out of their depth. After all, they had just started, and none of them expected to have been involved with something this major so early into the school semester. Living armours warring with hordes of grimm? Mysterious magical creation-myth seeds from another world? They just wanted to fight grimm and protect the Kingdoms, for God's sake!
Sure, the Scholar had assured them that the chances of something like this happening again were slim, as he double-checked his item bag. However, given the events of this entire expedition, as well as what started it in the first place, Team RWBY didn't consider the man entirely trustworthy. It also didn't help that the Scholar was currently buried in a book, as though the past few hours hadn't occurred; If he had experienced any sort of stress from the conflict, his face didn't show it.
Finally, the teachers were as quiet as ever, paying no attention to the huntresses-in-training as they looked out into the forest with silence. Glynda busied herself with her Scroll, her attention already on other matters entirely. Port and Oobleck chatted to themselves, mostly trying to puzzle out the origins of the armours as well as the unorthodox combat methods used by the Bloody Knight.
"So... What do we now?" Yang was the first to break the silence in the group. She had spent the past few minutes pacing back and forth, unable to come up with any sort of solution for their situation. "We can't just sit on our hands and hope this never happens again, right?"
"What can we do? This is obviously something far beyond us." The heiress's voice held no energy, letting out a resigned sigh as she sat in one of the seats. Weiss was exhausted, rather than restless. The revelations at the Ruins told them nothing, except that the items the Scholar held were dangerous if left alone. "I'm sure the staff have a plan for him, though. Maybe they'll confiscate his items, have him placed under arrest and under permanent surveillance." She also wasn't convinced that the Scholar wasn't dangerous in his own right.
"No! They can't do that! Hall didn't do anything wrong!" Ruby spoke up in the man's defense. It was no secret that the entire trek had taxed the red leader, from the words of the armours to the unspoken secrets of the Scholar. But, the man had explained a bit of his position, and had promised to tell them more once they returned to Beacon. She didn't think he was lying, and more importantly, Ruby believed that the man was an innocent in all this. After all... "He was dropped into the woods without warning, and then he was attacked by something he had never seen before. He didn't mean to leave that seed of whatever on the ground."
"That doesn't change the fact that it all still happened." Weiss immediately shot back at Ruby's words. However, the heiress had an undercurrent of exhaustion rather than blame, and she brought a hand up to her forehead as she tried to rub her growing headache away. "Whether he meant to or not... it had consequences. What if this had gone unnoticed?"
"Don't forget that he wanted to investigate the ruins on his own in the first place." The last member of Team RWBY spoke up, as the raven-haired girl turned her attention up from her book to face Weiss. "Even if we didn't follow along, he would've noticed the problem and something would've been done about it."
"Unless he was unlucky, and ended up getting killed." The lady in white wasn't convinced. There were far too many ways the night could've gone wrong, and the thought of those armours moving unnoticed was something she didn't want to think about. "Then no one would've known until it was too late."
"At least he tried to do something." Blake stuck to her opinion. Whether it was because of her biases against her teammate, or because she felt the man had earnestly tried to fix the problem, the faunus wasn't swayed by Weiss's arguments.
"He could've tried telling us something instead. He had too many secrets, and refused to answer any of our questi-"
"Ahem."
Before Weiss could continue, she was cut off by a stare from a tired female teacher. Glynda gave each of the huntresses a tired glance, her eyes shifting from person to person until it finally rested on her Scroll.
"... Girls. We understand that this night's events are a matter of grave importance. The Headmaster himself has expressed his concerns, and has requested all of you to be present during Hall's debriefing. As such, I recommend you save your concerns for that meeting. For now, it'd be more beneficial for all of you if you each took the time to rest."
The four young women only nodded at the teacher's suggestion, trying to put their worries on hold. Professor Goodwitch was right. They couldn't really come to a decision on the matter, so they really had no choice but to wait and see what Ozpin planned to do with Hall.
Unable to do anything else, the girls remained silent for the rest of the flight as the Bullhead made its way back to Beacon Academy.
