Cloaked Tactics
"Princess, get back into the house." Pyrrha turns, forcing Weiss back into the shack to everyone's surprise.
"Pyrrha what is going on?" Weiss demands an answer as Pyrrha slams the door closed as quickly as she can.
"Wh-"
"They are coming this way." Pyrrha breathlessly explains covering the windows with any piece of cloth she can get her hands on. Ren continues to carefully fire the limited usable arrows that miraculously make it into the shack. Yang, Nora and Ruby stare at each other and look over at Weiss.
"We can't just wait for them to attack us, they will capture Weiss and who knows what they will do to us." Ruby declares the throbbing in her leg now feels like the searing knife into her flesh once more.
Pyrrha nods in agreement and takes a peek out to see if the bandits are still closing in on the shack. "We can't walk out of the shack. There are at least five or six bandits coming this way."
"I'm out of arrows…." Ren sighs as he shakes his head. Yang quickly tilts one of the larger wooden shelves to cover the area where Ren was firing from.
The sound of arrows impacting the house stops. Nora looks up at the young girl quivering on the ledge above them. "It will be okay Erin we will protect you, right Ruby?" She turns to Ruby who nods.
"Princess, please listen closely. I have a plan." Ruby confidently says.
"Yes, alright Rubes just tell us what we need to do." Yang exclaims, cracking her knuckles.
"Okay here's what we will do…." Everyone huddles close to Ruby as she explains her plan to them in a hushed voice.
"Oh th-" Weiss starts to roll her eyes.
"That may work." Pyrrha rubs her chin, looking around at everyone else who all seem happy with their roles except.
"This plan….is the worst idea I have ever heard." Weiss scoffs.
"Well if you have a better plan I would love to hear it Princess." Yang crosses her arms waiting to hear this superior plan. Weiss opens her mouth and raises her left hand but nothing.
"Uhhh...we….could…" Weiss begins, Ruby looks into her cerulean eyes and the Princess completely loses her train of thought. "Ms. Rose's plan will suffice, we don't have time to argue." Weiss looks up at Erin who is shivering. "Ruby, a word." She takes Ruby by the arm over by the rear door. "Ruby I don't like this plan but it has to work."
Ruby sees the concern in the Princess' eyes, "It will work, it's like you said someone has to rule Staub and you are the only one who can," Ruby smiles pulling the hood up over Weiss' white hair. " Don't let them know who you are until I give the signal." The Princess tugs the collar of the cloak, to hide her hair better than nods at the leader.
"They're close, get ready." Yang whispers as she releases the thin cloth covering the window. Nora looks over at Ruby who crouches in the corner throwing a tattered blanket over her.
Ren and Nora sink into the dark corners opposite where Ruby is hiding. Yang and Pyrrha position themselves in front of Weiss. "Alright everyone remember the plan." Yang exhales slowly and takes a slow deep breath in.
The bandits approach the back door slowly, the twigs and dried leaves crunch beneath their boots. "Shhhh…." One presses her index finger against her lips, the smaller bandits grits his teeth as he hiss "sorry…"
A distant roar shatters the silence prompting Yang to quickly look out the window.
"GO GO GO !" One of the bandits screams as they race back towards the woods. "FABIAN! URSAI!" Yang eyes narrow, the lilac eyes follow the shadowy figures again disappear into the trees.
"Yang what is going on…" Ruby whispers as she walks beside her sister.
"Looks like the bandits gave up trying to get in here…." Ruby jumps in joy "...the Grimm have arrived." Ruby's face drops at her sister's whispered sentence.
Pyrrha and Weiss look out the other windows, "hmmm" Pyrrha scratches her chin.
"So at least we don't have to deal with the bandits for right now…" Nora smiles, a large shadow slowly saunters around the shack.
"Sort of now we have to deal with these Grim and hope the bandits don't finish us off while we are tired." Ren solemnly adds, everyone looks down.
"We can't stay here..." Pyrrha ushers Erin down from the ledge above.
"If we run we migh-" Nora starts but everyone shakes their heads.
"Ruby can't run, not injured. Even if I carried her, outrunning the Grimm and the bandits would be nearly impossible." Yang sighs, Erin nudges Pyrrha.
"Hmm what is it?" Pyrrha looks down at Erin who kicks a few rocks beside her feet.
"Mother used to tell me stories about an abandoned mine shaft just below our house." Ruby takes watch as Pyrrha and Weiss kneel down to better hear the young girl's soft voice. "And...one day I may have found the entrance … mother doesn't know that I know…" Erin eyes water at the thought of her mother being angry at her.
"Is that possible?" Ruby wonders only catching a few of the young girl's words. Nora and Yang turn away from their widows.
"Is what possible? Do we have a new plan...a way out." Yang notices that Pyrrha and the Princess are staring at each other while Erin dries her tears.
Pyrrha stands up and hands Erin a cloth from her belt, "Listen Erin, we really need to know where the entrance is to the mine shaft." Weiss places her hand on the young girl to reassure her.
"It- it's just under there." The young girl points just under Ren's feet.
"There?!" Yang and Nora begin to remove the makeshift barricade they placed at the front of the house. "Careful." Nora whispers as another large shadow moves slowly around the front. Yang nods and quietly moves the final piece of furniture and begins to swipe away the dirt and hay on the floor revealing a small latch.
Nora swings the hatch door open, revealing a dark descent. "Whoa whoa." Weiss calls as she walks up the hole. "We aren't going in, are we….?"
"We don't have many options, Princess." Pyrrha mentions, as she looks over at Ruby who nods in agreement.
Ruby walks up the entrance looking down, then looking over at her sister "I'll go first and signal to you once I know it is safe."
"Anywhere will be safer than waiting here for either the Grim to break in or get ambushed by those bandits." Ren sighs gathering some tattered rags, wrapping them around some large hunks of wood from the barricade. "Here" Ren lights one of his newly created torches, throwing it down the hole. Ruby and Pyrrha watch as the torch falls for a few moments before it hits the noticeably moistened ground in the tunnel.
Suddenly a roar causes dust to fall from the ceiling, "We have to go NOW!" Ruby hurriedly jumps into the hole, her feet hit the ground with a loud SPLAT. She picks up the torch and disappears from sight as Nora and Ren wait at the ready to descend. Out of sight Ruby grimaces gently placing her hand on her wound.
The sound of quick steps across the wet floor echoes up to the entrance, Pyrrha and Yang keep an eye on the two entrances to the shack.
"Are we really going in there?" Erin asks Weiss who is holding the girl tight in her arms.
Weiss looks around, seeing the tense look on her guards face. "We will be fine, remember how strong everyone is." The Princess breathes out slowly to calm herself, keep your composure. "I won't let anything happen to you." Weiss looks down into Erin's eyes reassuring the small girl.
The dust settles and everything becomes silent. "Where are they…" Yang whispers to herself glancing out the window.
"THE COAST IS CLEAR!" Ruby waves the torch, "Nora, Ren you come down next and help the Princess and Erin in."
Nora pushes Ren in "NORA!" his anger subsides back to his usual neutral face as he watches Nora giggling as she twirls just as she jumps in.
"I couldn't help myself!" Nora shouts as she falls. Pyrrha nods to Yang who moves closer to the entrance to the mine shaft.
"Okay Erin I am going to help you, Nora will catch you okay?" Pyrrha gently picks up the small girl and gives her a quick hug. Erin smiles and nods "Okay." Pyrrha looks down to see Ruby and Ren are next to Nora "Ready Nora?"
"Yeah!" Nora opens her arms up and keeps her eyes on the small girl as Pyrrha holds her over the door and lets her go.
"Oaf." Nora grunts softly catching the young girl in a slightly awkward position. Erin looks up at Nora and smiles. "She is fine!" Ruby hands the torch over to Ren.
Princess Weiss looks down the door, "I don't need you to catch me!" Pyrrha and Yang both shrug.
"Princess we are charged with keeping you safe, and there isn't much time please just jump!" Ruby shouts as she gestures for the Princess to jump down.
The front door begins to violently shake, "Princess please hurry." Yang grunts as she presses her body against the door.
Weiss reluctantly jumps into the dark mining tunnel, mid-fall the young Princess squeezes her eyes shut, This was a bad idea…. "Gotcha." Weiss opens her eyes to see Ruby's face is right beside hers. "WHAT LET GO OF ME!" The Princess flails about as Ruby puts the Princess down.
"That was a longer fall than I thought." Pyrrha mentions to Weiss' surprise, when did she jump down.
"Yang are you okay!" Pyrrha calls waiting for the blonde to come by the door. "Before I jumped down, the door didn't seem like it was going to hold much longer." Pyrrha mentions to the others as Nora holds onto Erin.
Everyone stands as quiet as they can trying for any sounds from above them. "LOOK OUT BELOW!" Yang shouts as she hurdles over the open door, closing it as she descends. In her usual style the blonde twirls and is able to do one front flip before she lands on one knee.
"YANG!" Ruby runs up to her sister and squeezes her tight. Weiss shakes her head and takes Erin's hand.
"Ruby we have to get going…" Pyrrha pats the leader on the shoulder. "We don't have much time." Ren begins to look for a way out, the torch's light begins to dim.
"Right...Yang, you take the lead with Ren." Ruby and Pyrrha both nod as they run their hands on the moist walls.
Yang and Ren keep close to the center of the mineshaft in an attempt to illuminate the entire area. "What is that?" Nora shouts as she dashes in front of Ren and Yang.
"Nora wait!" Pyrrha and Ruby call as the woman disappears.
Nora stops feeling for a handle but finds the door is locked from the inside. "Why is there a door in the middle of a mineshaft?"
"Nora! This is no time to be running off on your OWN!" Ren's voice is much harsher than usual.
"Erin what do you know about this mine?" Pyrrha turns to the Princess with the young girl clung to her.
Weiss leans her head backwards trying to get a better look at the girl, Ruby and Pyrrha begin to examine the door. Ren hands Yang the dying torch, as Nora tries to calm the angered man down.
"Yang can you come here for a moment…." Pyrrha squints her eyes at some carvings, her hand lightly runs over trying to see the image through her finger tips.
"Just that we shouldn't be down here…" Erin pushes her head into Weiss' chest, and doesn't budge. Her body trembles slightly in the darkness.
Ruby rushes over to Pyrrha, "I found these along the way." The leader walks up to Yang and lights another torch.
"How many of those did you find?" Weiss glances over at Ruby who turns with a half smile.
"I only found two usable torches...so we will need to use these carefully." Ruby sighs watching the torch in Yang's hand burn out. "So what do we think about this door?"
Nora and Ren walk back to the group "well Yang and I could smash it open… I mean if we had to."
A distant commotion from the hatch door causes Ruby and Pyrrha to draw their weapons. "Yang! Nora! Open that Door!" The Princess' voice goes shrill as she notices a shadow dart into the darkness.
Yang hastily hands Ren the torch cracking her knuckles, as she looks over to Nora who nods. "Okay you heard the Princess!" Ren chuckles as the two, happily begin their assault on the immovable door.
Even with the raw power of two power houses the door barely moves. Ruby and Pyrrha stand at the edge of the dim light of the torch while Ren and Weiss keep Erin close. The young girl keeps her eyes squeezed shut while she clings to Weiss. "It's going to be fine Erin, we will protect you."
Ruby and Pyrrha keep their eyes locked on the dark mineshaft. Even in the darkness the pair notice that something moves about closer and closer. "Please hurry you two, time is of the essence." Pyrrha mentions in a raised voice.
"This door was built to not be opened!" Nora grunts as she continues to pound her hammer into the door. Yang takes a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow, in that brief pause the warrior noticed that the center of the door holds steady but the edges where the hinges are rattle and give with each swing.
"Nora!" Yang shouts causing the woman to pause. "Mmmmm?" Nora drops her hammer for a moment. Yang motions for Nora to watch the door as she hits it, the energetic woman nods. Without another word they both adjust so that their next strikes will be the last...hopefully. "GAHHHHHH" they shout as they both hit the weak points of the door, but the door remains standing
"Oh man I thought for sure that would work!" Yang groans, throwing her arms up in the air. Nora shakes her head and places her hand on the door which gives way and falls along with her.
"WOOOOAHHH…" Nora cries as she begins to fall but Ren quickly takes her hand and keeps her from hitting the ground. "Oh thanks Ren."
"It worked!" Yang joyously shouts, as everyone else hurries inside. Weiss picks up Erin and dashes into the unknown.
"No time to celebrate, we have to hurry up!" Pyrrha places her hand on Yang's shoulder "but it did work, thank you…"
Ruby is the last one to walk over the threshold, "we need to re secure the door somehow…" The leader mentions as everyone looks around. "What are you...all…." Ruby loses her train of thought as the dim torch light illuminates that the walls are covered in strange images.
"What is all of this…" Ren walks up to one of the walls, everyone gathers around and looks at one dark figure that resembles a person but their arms and legs are much longer and something doesn't feel human….
Ruby and Pyrrha look at each other then turn towards the Princess, "whoever locked that door did it to keep something in…" Weiss says in a hushed voice.
Yang picks up the door, putting it back where it was, "Hey Nora! Mind giving me a hand." Nora goes to help Yang.
Pyrrha and Ruby stay close to the Princess and Erin while Weiss and Ren continue to examine the drawings on the walls, "we have to be careful."
"And we should try to be…." the thunderous sound of Nora's hammer colliding with the door echoes past the group and seems to travel to dozens of shafts. "Quiet…." Weiss finishes her eyes drop as she turns shaking her head at Nora, who is rubbing her neck.
Seconds after the echo dissipates a rumbling begins to shake the mineshaft. "Wha…." Yang begins to mention before the door flies towards them. Suddenly rubble and the wooden beams that once held up the shaft begin to collapse before their eyes.
A sudden burst of air shoots towards the group Ruby instantly wraps her arms over Weiss to cover her and Erin from any falling debris her cloak protects them from dust as Yang and Pyrrha rush to Ren and Nora they all huddle close together.
Just as quickly as the quake came it was over, once the dust settles Pyrrha and Nora examine what was once the doorway that they came through and found that it is now completely caved in.
"There is only one way out now." Ren deadpans in the darkness.
"No one move until we find and light the torch." Pyrrha shouts as she walks slowly with her arms outstretched. Her foot hits a small wooden object, quickly she leans down and picks it up, "Yang… anyway you can light this thing?"
"Princess?" Ruby quietly calls, the sound of her sister's steps carefully making their way to Pyrrha echo in the darkness. "Princess…." Ruby calls again.
Ruby turns and Weiss' face is mere centimeters from her own, light warmly embraces the warriors who huddle quickly to stay in it's safety.
Erin looks up seeing that Ruby and Weiss both blushing, the young girl giggles causing the two to snap out of their dreamlike state.
Pyrrha walks up to the young girl and takes her hand, "Ruby?" The young leader's head snaps towards the redhead.
"Yes!" Ruby's face goes from grinning ear to ear to stone faced. "Right, Yang, Nora take the rear, Pyrrha will take the lead while Ren and I will protect the Princess and Erin."
"Why can't I be in front?" Nora pouts loudly causing rubble to drop onto everyone's head.
"Oh…" Erin giggles lightly causing everyone to smile as she dusts the dust off the top of her head.
The only way is forward. Ruby hands Pyrrha the torch as everyone begins to walk into the unknown.
A/N Hello fellow travelers, Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Life gets in the way of plans all the time, but I am happy to say that I am so excited to get into this Holiday Season with the people I love and grateful for all of you. The support is and always has been so phenomenal and honestly I never imagined I could possibly write a story this long or even keep it going for this long. So thank you to all of the people reading this, you keep me going. I will see you all in the next chapter next year! \\\[^,.,^]/
