Back to multiple perspectives per chapter. I'm thinking three.
Sorry, all. I've been involved in a horribly toxic friendship over the past months. It's over now, and by God I should have stopped it sooner. Live and learn, as they say.
Chapter 29: Rock Bottom
Only managing to bang on the door to the cabin once, Melissa fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. Carrying Troy had been tiring on its own, let alone while barely able to breath from the altitude. She just felt lucky that Troy had been able to make it back down the mountain. She had set him down next to her, then knocked on the door as hard as she could. Hopefully, someone was home.
Well, some divine force was feeling charitable today, because only a minute later, while Melissa was catching her breath still, the door was thrown open, and a kindly old woman looked down at them. "Oh, dear… what happened to you two kids?"
Melissa answered between breaths, "Help… him… please."
"Of course, dear. I'm here for travelers like yourselves, after all. Do you need anything?" As she spoke, the old woman helped Melissa get Troy inside, laying him down on the single bed in the corner. Melissa looked around the one roomed cabin, seeing that it was surprisingly crowded.
Herbs of all sorts hung in one corner, over a stove, sink, and a small counter area. Glass bottles filled with multicolored liquids lined the back wall of the counter, and the cabinet next to it held even more, along with several small bowls. In the middle of the room, a couch and a chair with a leg rest sat atop an old, shaggy, green carpet. Several unopened cans of food, along with many fresh-looking fruits and ears of corn, sat in another corner of the room, the furthest from the door, on top of a table. The room itself was somewhat dim, being lit only by the setting sun and candlelight.
"What happened to the poor boy?" the woman asked. Melissa turned to face her, having not heard the question, being too distracted by looking around the room.
"What? Oh, I… I don't know. He tried to teleport us both to the mountain, but something went wrong." Melissa sat next to Troy, studying him, worry written across her face.
"Oh, my… That sounds like he just overexerted himself. That's simple enough to fix, dear." She reached into the cabinet, pulling out a vial of purple. She hobbled over to the bedside, and tilted Troy's head upwards. "It's a good thing he's out… This tastes horrid." She poured it into his mouth, tilting his head back so that it went down. "Now, just a little rest and he should be perfectly fine." She went back over to the cabinet, putting the vial back inside.
"But dear, why are two kids such as yourselves all the way out here in the country?" she asked.
As Melissa answered, the old woman stepped around the chair, sitting down carefully. "We're… we're students. We're on our way to Haven Academy for the start of the school year. I thought we should go a little quicker."
The woman smiled a little, "Oh, you young ones, always in such a rush. I guess your education is important, hm? To be going already, two months before you need to. Such good kids."
"Uh- Yeah, well, you know. We just miss our school."
"That's sweet of you kids. Especially after that disaster with Beacon. What a tragedy that was…" the woman trailed off. Melissa closed her eyes, holding her arms steady.
"Yeah, it…" Melissa didn't finish the thought, a shiver running down her spine. "How long until he's ok?"
"Oh, maybe an hour before it kicks in. He'll be on his feet very soon, dear, don't you worry."
Melissa sighed with relief, slumping in her seat. She'd've tried getting some rest herself, but with only the strange yet helpful woman present, she didn't think it would've been a great idea. She sat by the bed, alert to every noise outside, as well as the old woman bustling about the cabin, sounding like she was making a drink, such as tea.
"Hey, what was it that you gave him, anyway?" Melissa questioned, realizing that the woman hadn't said.
"Oh, it was just some crushed and mixed herbs. They're going to help him."
"Ok… if you say so," Melissa muttered to herself.
Qrow wrenched his blade from yet another Ursa, letting its body drop to the ground and dissolve. As per his instructions, Jaune and Ren continued to walk at the same speed, while Nora made sure no Grimm got too close. Qrow handled everything else. As it was, Nora hadn't had anything at all to do but watch him in awe. The scythe master blitzed from Grimm to Grimm, leaving just dust behind. They were making good time, at least.
Another Grimm fell to Qrow, making his count upwards of fifty, just today. As they ventured through the forest that Qrow directed them through, the Grimm seemed to grow more and more frequent. They had barely been attacked at first, but now it seemed like a whole pack appeared every hour. They hadn't seen any huge Grimm, but the Beowolves and Ursai had been relentless. Luckily, Qrow was merciless.
As the last Ursa fell, Nora spoke up, "Why did we come through here again?"
Qrow sighed, and placed his sword back on his belt. "It's a quicker way to the mountains. We need to get Ruby help as quickly as we can." He set his eyes forward, also scanning their surroundings for any more activity. Even seeing none, he didn't relax.
"Is she really that injured?" Jaune asked, brow furrowed as he looked down at Ruby resting on her makeshift stretcher.
"Yeah, she is," Qrow answered, with a slight edge to it. "That blade severed-" He paused. "Never mind. Just keep going. The Grimm are gonna get worse the longer we stay here." A loud screech very far overhead punctuated the comment, as they saw a large Nevermore flying high, seemingly prowling for food. "Now let's go."
The entourage kept moving as he instructed, and even though the Grimm kept attacking, Qrow kept killing them faster than they could so much as roar. Nora whispered to Ren, "He's kinda scary when he's mad." Ren nodded in agreement, hearing yet another Beowolf have its head cut off.
"I think that's all of 'em." Qrow, once again, set his sword back on his belt, and took a drink from his flask. "Now let's go. We're getting through these woods before the sun goes down." Jaune frowned, since the sky was already painted pink and orange. Surely the sun was already nearly gone, yet the forest didn't seem to end any time soon.
Qrow pressed on, no longer looking for any Grimm, just walking hunched over. Nora, on the other hand, kept nervously glancing into the brush for any movement, hand wrapped around her hammer. "We're almost through." Qrow glanced at Ruby, then muttered to himself, "Just a little longer, kiddo. Just a little."
A minute later, almost without warning, the forest just suddenly ended, the trees breaking to reveal a mountain range, and more importantly, a large and impressive city built into it. Qrow kept walking, while the three students both marveled at the city, and wondered how the woods could have just ended so quickly and suddenly. Jaune took in a breath of air, looking up at the brilliantly blue midday sky. "We made it, Ruby," he sighed.
Qrow called back to them, "Hey, let's go! Now!" The three of them shook themselves out of their heads, following his order to follow him. "First thing you should know about Mistral, is that you should never stay in one single place for too long. People start to notice you hanging around, makes 'em suspicious. Second thing you should know? Don't make people in Mistral suspicious. Especially not when you're closer to the lower levels."
"Why? What's wrong with them?" Jaune asked, looking back over at the city.
Qrow grunted. "Nothing. It's the people you wanna ask about. Down there, there's almost no law kept at all. It's a great place to find work for those of… questionable morals. Or, to get yourself killed. I even met some traffickers once. Point is, you wanna watch out." He glanced back at Ruby. "Right now, though, let's get her some better help. She needs it soon." He wasn't wrong. Over the last hour or so, Ruby had gotten so pale that she could probably have hidden herself in snow. She was still losing blood, just somewhat slower.
"I know a place," Qrow said, gesturing to follow him.
Watts smirked, reading over the list once again. When Salem had sent him to find the boy, his first thought was to check the passengers of different cruise ships and airships that had left Vale after the Fall of Beacon. The airships had been devoid of any leads, but one cruise ship reported a boy with whiskers and a girl with cat ears buying two tickets. It seemed that he found his quarry.
He checked where the cruise liner had been going. It had travelled to a small town near the tip of Sanus, and ended there. It wasn't a mystery to find out what happened from there, so Watts checked which ships had left for the week after the boat had arrived. Only four boats hadn't gone to Vale to help with relief. Two boats had gone to Atlas, one to Anima, and one to Menagerie.
The doctor, just in case, decided to find out who the girl that was with him might have been. It wouldn't take long at all, as she was also a student at Beacon. As he suspected, she took about a minute to find. Blake Belladonna, eh? If she was a Belladonna, then she had family on Menagerie. At least he knew which boat they probably took.
He looked more into that particular cruise liner. The name Naruto Uzumaki was on the list of passengers, as well as Blake Belladonna. But as he read, he frowned. The captain of the boat had apparently led almost all of the four hundred passengers into a small coast town on Anima. He had detailed how a Grimm attack had sunk the boat, and how they had only survived because of a blond Faunus. Given that there was no further mention of this 'blond Faunus', Watts had to assume that the boy had left the group of survivors. At a guess, Watts would say he was headed to Menagerie.
At least Watts had a location to start his search now. Smugly, he boarded a Bullhead, directing the pilot to him to the island of the Faunus. The trip wasn't quick, not in the slightest. Watts spent several hours patiently waiting for the sight of the island in the distance. Part of him was cautious about confronting this boy, given what he had learned. But at the same time, he was looking forward to finally ending this enigma. And besides, the boy was young. He couldn't have that much experience with combat, if any prior to Beacon.
He went over, one more time, all he had learned of the boy's abilities. The thing he was most cautious about was this Sage Mode that he possessed. Beyond that, he didn't seem overly threatening. He was fast, surely, but he probably wouldn't have much power behind his punches. And he would likely tire quickly. All in all, Watts was rather confident in his chances of winning, should it come to a fight. That said, the doctor was no fool, and he would rather have wished to avoid a fight if he could.
All too soon, the Bullhead landed in a desert nearby to the village. Watts stepped off somewhat tentatively, feeling a nervousness overcome him briefly. His instinct told him to leave now. All the same, he waited a moment, and the feeling passed. He set for the town, while the Bullhead took back to the sky, to await his signal.
The town, by now, was dark. Besides the streetlights illuminating the streets, not a single light seemed to be on. No one was wandering the streets either, at this hour. Not that he could see. But as he listened, the deafening silence was broken by soft boot crunching and the sounds of conversation, a street over from him. He listened intently, following as silently as he could. He scaled the building, staying low to the roof as he peered over.
His face split into a smirk when he saw his quarry just beneath him, engaged with conversing with the girl next to him. It was a perfect opportunity to end the confrontation before it even became. He simply needed to overpower the girl, and the boy would be helpless to do anything. And like that, he could avoid the fight. Of course, Watts wasn't sure if the boy would actually care for the girl's safety, so he would need a contingency plan.
He glanced up and down the street, gauging the height of each building and the length of the road. A quick escape would be impossible, knowing the boy's abilities. Instead, Watts would need to distract him. Then again, he didn't even know the boy's exact capabilities, just estimates from Ozpin and other professors who had observed him during his time at Beacon.
Watts wasn't a fan of uncertainty. He hated himself for going against his instincts and his very being, but he decided to take a gamble and use his plan of taking who he assumed was this 'Blake Belladonna' hostage. If it worked, he'd be clear. If not… He couldn't think of failure, not now. It was hard enough to follow them while staying hidden; he wouldn't be able to come up with any plan certain to succeed.
With a deep breath and much hesitation, Watts dropped down, blitzing the raven-haired girl. Before he even reach her, the boy's hand blurred, and Watts found himself, having to duck under a knife of some kind as it streaked past him with an incredible speed. He continued running, but wasn't deaf to the sound of the crack echoing down the alley. The boy stood ready to fight, while the Belladonna was kneeling behind him, pointing her pistol at the newcomer.
Improvising, Watts jumped sideways, trying to aim for the wall to launch himself off of it towards the Belladonna. He hit the wall, but just before he could push himself off, the boy appeared in front of Watts, his fist swinging towards the doctor's abdomen. Watts caught the punch, but the wall beneath him cracked inwards from the force of it. He threw the arm up, aiming his elbow for the boy's nose, mostly to distract him. His elbow was caught by the boy's other hand, and he himself was thrown across the street through a wooden building.
While he had certainly been overestimating the boy, he still needed to be more careful than he was being. He stood, trying to slink back into the shadows, to try again at a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the boy was on him again in a moment, now holding another knife- which seemed to be of Mistrali design- at his throat. "Who are you?" the boy questioned. Watts smirked.
"I am a doctor. And you, dear boy, are very interesting to me. Let's not fight."
The blue eyes glaring at him narrowed, "Then don't attack us."
"I didn't. It was you who threw the knife at me. I simply began to defend myself. As I said, let's all settle down now. We needn't fight."
The knife lowered a fraction of an inch, and the eyes lightened slightly. "Who are you?" the boy repeated. Watts smirked beneath his mustache.
"I'm simply a man who knows someone that would much like to meet you." The knife raised again, but the glare didn't return.
"Who?" he asked. By now, Belladonna had come to the boy's side. She kept her gun trained on Watts, of course, but he wasn't worried about her.
"Why, the Queen. She has much of an interest in you." Even as he said it, Watts felt like it was a mistake to taunt him, even subtly.
He was right, as the glare returned and he found a knife blade pressed against his throat. "Who the hell is 'the Queen'?" the boy asked, an edge entering his tone.
"Relax a little. I'm not here to fight you, boy." Watts calmly raised a finger to push the blade away, but the boy held it where it was.
"Then you can leave. I'm not meeting anyone." He slowly backed away, knife held steady pointed at Watts as he did. Watts stood, cracked his neck, and closed his eyes.
"Oh, you poor boy, you don't decide that." He moved even as he spoke, arm shooting out towards the Belladonna. He grabbed her, and within a moment had a previously hidden blade to her throat. "Now, either you come with me to meet my Queen, or this little kitten has her throat cut open." The boy lowered his knife, a pained expression on his face. "Good boy. Now, come along with me. This could have been easy, you know."
Watts motioned for the boy to walk ahead of him, telling him to head out towards the desert. The doctor made sure to hold the dagger against her throat. He knew now how fast the boy was, so he had to make sure that he had no chance of being bested. "Who's this Queen?" the boy growled.
"Don't worry about that, boy. You'll meet her soon enough." With some difficulty, Watts tapped the device on his wrist, signaling the Bullhead to land. Soon enough, Watts found himself within the small compartment with his hostage still being held at knifepoint and a very angry boy, whose eyes seemed to have slitted pupils.
Well, it already seemed that there would be many more questions, even now that the boy was captured.
Ahem. Well. Here we are. Yeah, it's been a while.
Anyway, unrelated, I'm thinking that I need to rewrite this story entirely.
Until Chapter 30!
