Chapter 18
"How are we doing?" Jaune asked, handing another package to Ren. Ren sighed as he placed it into his backpack with the rest of them.
"Not well. We have enough Dust for a week, maybe two. Depending on how many Grimm we encounter."
Jaune winced. "That low huh? Hopefully the next town has some." Jaune stood up, hefting one of the bags onto his shoulders.
"If they don't we'll be in trouble." Ren followed suit.
It was another day really. Wake up, have breakfast, check supplies, walk most of the day, have dinner and finish it off with training and watch before sleeping.
It was tiring. It made Ren wish for easier days, when all he really had to worry about was Nora doing something crazy. Even schoolwork would be preferable. He'd had his fill of trekking across the world back before Beacon and he certainly hadn't missed it. Of course their mission was important, but he wished they could skip this part.
Not that we have any idea where Cinder is or how to beat her. She came with the Mistral students and mentioned Mistral sure, but she could be anywhere. Ren's hand fell to his side, where he bore the scars of Cinder's assault. She was powerful and he hadn't really done much during the last battle.
Pyrrha may have new powers, but what had changed about him? Or Nora or Jaune or Ruby? Maybe they were stronger but would it be enough? Ren didn't know. All he knew is that it was going to be a tough battle.
Especially if they ran out of Dust here. The next village is three days away. I hope they have some to spare.
"What do you think?" Pyrrha asked with a gulp. "Can we take it?" The heavy thudding of the Goliath kept them from being overheard.
"No." Ruby answered. "Doctor Oobleck said that their hides are too thick for most weapons. Even my sniper couldn't penetrate. A better plan would be to redirect it. Ideas?"
"Grimm act like animals right?" Jaune asked.
"And animals take the path of least resistance." Ren said with a nod.
"So we make a path leads it away from the town." Jaune proposed. Everyone nodded their agreement. "Alright. Ren and Nora, you guys spent a lot of time hunting animals, think you can do it?"
Ren nodded. "We can."
"You do that. We'll slow it down." The pair nodded and snuck off into the brush. Ruby and Pyrrha both drew their weapons, looking to him for guidance. "Alright. Pyrrha, can you go ahead a bit. Use your magic and hit it with whatever you think will slow it down. Fire, ice, whatever."
Pyrrha nodded and snuck off herself. He turned to Ruby. "Can you try and trip it up? I'll take some rope and set a trap just down their way."
"I can do that." Ruby said with a nod and then was off in a burst of petals. He wasn't sure if she'd noticed, but she was more visible these days. A cloud of crimson petals flying through the air, racing towards its target.
Jaune didn't wait to see her attack and instead rushed further along to set up his trap. I hope this works.
Nora cackled as the team reconvened around the top of a cliff, looking down at the fallen Goliath. It had been a true spectacle watching it tumble towards its doom. Well it was still alive, if barely. The screams of the elephant-like Grimm echoed all around them.
It was fun. Like when she'd ridden that Ursa. Or that Beowolf. Oh or that time with the Nevermore! And the others were always so worried! What were they gonna do, eat her? As if!
What were they talking about? Oh right, the Goliath. "Well, I guess it's not going to be a problem now!" Pyrrha said with a forced laugh.
"Yeah…" Jaune responded, sounding unsure.
"We should finish it off. If it survives it might learn to use the cliff against people." Ruby said, loading another clip into her sniper.
They spent the next hour making their way to the bottom of the cliff, where the massive Grimm still lay trying to right itself. It couldn't do much as they climbed onto its belly and began cutting into it, slowly killing it. Nora didn't keep track of the time, she was too busy using Jaune's sword as a nail.
Eventually, it took its last breath and turned to smoke. The others jumped off but Nora rode it all the way until it finally evaporated, dropping her to the floor. She just laughed and took it in stride.
Ren sighed while the others gave her strange looks. She didn't mind. She didn't exactly act normal after all. They didn't need another serious person, they needed someone to take the edge off, to break the tension.
And Nora just had a knack for it. The only other person she could think of that could have done it well would have been Yang. In some way, Nora was keeping her memory going by playing the fool.
At least she liked to think she did.
"Thank you so much! That Grimm would have ruined us!" The young but balding leader of the village exclaimed as he shook each of their hands with fervour. He was easily excitable apparently.
Pyrrha put on her trained polite smile and nodded, accepting the man's thanks. After he had finished shaking their hands several times Ruby spoke up.
"Do you know of any nearby towns that may have a good supply of Dust?"
"I do! The next town to the north mines Dust and metals. They are supported by the SDC as well. We haven't heard from them in a few days though. The caravan that normally comes through has yet to arrive."
The group shared a look. "Well, it looks like we have our next destination. Thank you." Ruby said. The man nodded.
"No no, thank you!"
The team left with a wave, heading northward.
It took them another three days to get to the much larger town of Kiku. With large stone walls and a dedicated militia, it was in a much better place than other towns, though that was likely the influence of the SDC over anything else. Ruby led them through the gates, passing by well-armed guards who waved and seemed jovial.
She wondered if the town had to deal with many Grimm. With large enough walls and strong enough guns, towns like this could remain untouched for decades. Especially with a big backer. But it did raise a few questions.
The walls weren't broken, the people looked healthy enough and nobody was in a panic. It was a little concerning. Ruby walked up to one of the armoured guards, a tall man with short dark hair.
"Excuse me. I had a couple of questions." She asked.
The man smiled down at her. "Of course, how can I help little miss?" Ruby's eyes narrowed at his patronizing tone.
"We were just in the town over and they said you missed a shipment of Dust? We came to find out what happened."
The man laughed. "Now why would a little girl like you be doing that?"
Ruby's eye twitched. "I'm a Huntress. It's a part of the job."
The man scanned her for a few moments before letting out another irritating laugh. "Aren't you a little short to be a Huntress?"
Ruby clenched her fists but a hand on her shoulder kept her from doing anything rash. Ruby looked back at Jaune, who gave her a smile and stepped forward. "Hey man, we just want to find out what's going on. There's no need for this."
"Who's this, your boyfriend?"
Jaune started to splutter and whine, unable to form coherent words of refusal. Ruby facepalmed. The man laughed at them again. "Alright kids, take it easy and enjoy the town!" He said with a wave as he walked away, leaving them annoyed.
"What kind of guard was that!" Ruby fumed.
"It's hard to tell if he just wanted to annoy you or actually meant it." Ren responded.
"We could go break his legs!"
"Nora no."
"Nora yes!" Nora beamed.
"Maybe we should try someone else? Someone not a guard?" Pyrrha offered.
"Probably a better plan than trying to wrangle answers out of that guy." Ruby grumbled and walked further into the town.
"And as I said, I'm a Huntress!" Ruby growled out for what felt like the tenth time. The person in front of her laughed at her and walked away. Ruby just stood in place stewing in her anger.
Everybody they had asked had responded in the exact same way. None believed they were Huntsmen and Huntresses. They were all patronizing and they couldn't find out anything!
Ruby grumbled to herself as she walked back to her friends, who were all looking just as annoyed as she was.
"Nobody wants to talk at all! They laugh and patronize and then try to sell me stuff!" Jaune cried.
"Surprisingly nobody knows who I am either." Pyrrha replied. "It's like the whole town hasn't been paying attention to the news."
"Or they don't get any. But they've been sending caravans out often enough to at least hear the big news and the CCT network only went down a few months ago." Ren tapped his chin in thought.
"Do you think they missed out on Beacon falling?" Jaune asked.
"It's possible."
"Well, it doesn't matter. We still need to figure out what's going on and why they stopped supplying other villages." Ruby folded her arms as she spoke.
"Then who should we talk to? All these people don't believe we're Huntsmen." Jaune asked.
"They have to have some leader, a mayor or something. We go to them."
The team spent a few hours waiting at the town hall after that. Eventually, they were finally let in to speak to the mayor. An older man with large, thick glasses and balding grey hair. He gave them a large, innocent smile. It put Ruby on edge.
They piled into the small office space and stood in front of his desk with Ruby and Jaune at the front. His desk was piled high with papers. She noticed there wasn't a computer terminal in sight.
"Well now, it's not often we get children calling themselves Huntsmen coming in." The man said, his voice soft and smooth, like it could lull you to sleep on a quiet day.
"We trained at Beacon. We aren't just calling ourselves Huntsmen for nothing." Ruby responded, folding her arms.
The man simply smiled at them. "Of course! You do look young, however. I apologize for how you have been treated. We don't get very many Huntsmen here, let alone ones so young."
"Makes sense. You guys do seem pretty well defended." Jaune replied.
"Yes. We haven't needed a Huntsman in about thirty years. That was back before we found the Dust and the SDC came to supply us. But, I doubt you're here for a history lesson."
"No, we aren't. We heard the usual caravans had stopped coming so we came to make sure the town hadn't been destroyed. Now we're wondering what's going on." Ruby said, bringing the man's attention to her.
He gave her another innocent smile. "Well, we do have an issue. If you are truly Huntsmen and Huntresses then it's right up your alley. We were opening a new tunnel for a Dust mine when we stumbled onto a large cavern. Sadly the cavern was filled with Grimm. The miners were slaughtered, very few made it back."
Ruby nodded. "That does sound bad. We'll help. Killing Grimm is our job after all. What kind of Grimm are they?"
"A flying bat-like Grimm. At least, that's what the survivors said, so take it with a grain of salt, my dear." The older man opened a drawer and produced a small paper, writing something on it. He then handed it over. "The mines are in the eastern part of town, this will let you inside. Do be careful."
"Thank you. We'll take care of it ASAP."
They quickly piled out of the room and left the town hall. Despite finally knowing what had happened something felt off. The man had never stopped smiling, even when talking about his own people being slaughtered.
Something is wrong here.
A/N: Sorry for the lateness on this. I had some trouble with getting the starting scenes where I wanted them. But anyway we check in with each of RNNJR, especially those we don't tend to see the perspectives of. And then we get to the start of my own little mini-arc I came up with. Mainly testing how well I can do new stuff, learn a few things before I eventually do some more AU stories.
I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!