Chapter 16: Heart of the Swarm
AN: Doing things a little bit differently and adding a significant segment with a perspective other than the OC's. Don't hesitate to let me know if this is something I should try to include in future chapters. Yang just had to say she wanted to fight something… "Be careful what you wish for" is the correct adage I believe?
(Perspective: K)
"I don't like this. The forest is way too quiet." Team RWKY had been trekking for the past several minutes, and the Emerald Forest had grown deathly silent apart from the four teens. The complete absence of any and all wildlife screamed to her that something was very wrong. Only an entire pack of Grimm could so completely chase out the denizens of the woods. But even the Grimm gave no evidence to their existence. It's like all animals had suddenly died, and the girls were moving through a graveyard.
"Its fine, Kass. Everything being quiet just means there's nothing around, right?" Ruby was optimistic as ever, but with paranoia slipping in, the gunslinger only wondered if that optimism was going to get them killed.
In a rare occurrence, Weiss agreed with the team leader. "She's right. The Grimm don't stalk their prey – they simply try to kill it."
"Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" Did you seriously just say that, Yang?
"Alright, first off, if you ever say that you're basically begging for something horrible to happen. Second off, do not even try to challenge my knowledge on this kind of crap. I've been hunted before; I wouldn't still be alive if I didn't know about this stuff." Hushing her already mute tone to a whisper, Kassidy elaborated, "Any wildlife in an area doesn't decide to pack up and leave en masse because the mood struck them. Something chased them out. A lot of somethings. Mark my words, something very bad is about to happen."
Suddenly, the team heard rustling leaves not a hundred feet away. Her rifle was already up, and apparently some of the paranoia was rubbing off on the heiress since she jumped at the sound. As the gunslinger stared at the source of the sound trying to figure out where would be best to put the bullet, she noticed a bronze gleam. That can't be right. There's no bronze colored Grimm, are there? Focusing again, she could just make out a red ponytail that had just poked out over a bush.
"Pyrrha? Relax guys, its Juniper." Yang had obviously seen the same thing, and the rustling got louder as the team in question hurried out of the brush and met up with the four girls.
"Hello again!" Nikos and Jaune were at the front, with Ren and Nora bringing up the rear. The Mistralian champion visibly relaxed at the sight of her friends. "I trust you four are doing well?"
"Mostly. Kass kinda got manhandled by an alpha Beowolf and now she's being all paranoid about how quiet this place is."
"I did mention that the sudden departure of wildlife was troubling. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with concern." Ren had made his way up to the group. "That would also explain your fresh scratches. Are you sure you're alright?"
The gunslinger deadpanned at the stoic member of JNPR. "You do realize you're talking to the same girl who got her skull caved in and walked it off a couple hours later, right? Do you seriously think I care about a couple scratches?"
"Point taken."
Jaune shifted uncomfortably as everyone was reminded of that particular incident, and decided to change the subject. "Uh guys, maybe it'd be a good idea to let Goodwitch know that we've met up?"
"An excellent idea. Surely your foul companion can handle that, right Kassidy?" Apparently Weiss and Bob still don't get along. Especially since he figured out how to contact each of the girls individually on their scrolls without me knowing, god knows what those two have been up to.
"You heard the lady, Bob. Let's figure out what's going on here."
"Establishing connection with Glynda Goodwitch… error. Processing."
Kass was beside herself. "What do you mean 'error'?"
"Updated parameters identified. Establishing connection with Ozpin." After giving an explanation, the AI wasted no time in getting the headmaster on the line.
"Ah, I'm to assume that you and team JNPR have rendezvoused?"
Ruby spoke for the eight teens present. "Yes, professor. From what we understand, Grimm probably attacked the sensor beacon near here, right?"
"That is correct. Approximately thirteen minutes ago, a rather alarming amount of Grimm converged on the beacon's location, which deactivated shortly afterward. The current assumption is that the sensor was attacked and damaged. This is an integral part of the academy's defenses, so it is paramount that repairs are conducted as quickly as possible. While armed forces will be deployed with the repair crew, you eight are closer than anyone else and can get there the fastest. I want you to head to these coordinates and clear the area of Grimm as best you can so the men we send can work safely."
Pyrrha was the quickest to absorb the information. "Consider it done. We won't let you down, professor."
Meanwhile, gears were turning in the gunslinger's head. "How complex is this beacon? Depending on the damage it's suffered, it might be possible for me to repair it on-site. I could even have Bob dig around for its schematics so I know what I'm dealing with."
"As tempting as the offer is, without specialized equipment and training any attempts at fixing it would be futile."
"Well, at least now we know where the Grimm went." Kass thought for a moment. "Bob, how feasible would it be for you to stream to Ozpin the feed from my iris cam? Or at the minimum keep him in the comms loop?"
"The signal's too patchy for a video stream. Keeping him connected shouldn't be an issue, though."
Jaune stepped up to the plate. "Alright then. We need to go to the sensor and clear the area of Grimm so repairs can be made, and Kass can make sure the headmaster knows what's up."
"Hey, can you have Jarv – I mean Bob bring up a map of where we're supposed to be going?" Ruby took a couple seconds to study the terrain of the area. "Okay, looks like we're going to be in a clearing surrounded by forest. Making sure that the area around the beacon is cleared needs to be the priority. We should split up into pairs so we can cover more ground: north, south, east, and west. Anybody have questions?"
The gunslinger could only think of one problem with the plan. "How's Juniper going to stay in contact? I didn't make earpieces for them, and staring at their scrolls while fighting Grimm isn't exactly ideal."
Nora didn't seem concerned in the slightest. "That shouldn't be too hard! Wait, you can imitate a sloth, right?"
"I'm willing to be she can't." Ren, as always, was there to keep the grenadier in check. "Communicating via scroll shouldn't be too hard, as long as we don't actually try to talk in the middle of combat."
"That settles it then! C'mon K, let's take north." Without even waiting for her partner to answer, Yang eagerly started making her way to the northern end of the clearing they needed to be at. The gunslinger only waited long enough to speak to Ruby and Weiss.
"I'd advise you two not taking south then, that's getting a bit closer to the edge of our earpieces' range than I'm comfortable with."
"We'll keep it in mind. Now, please go after your partner before she riles up the whole forest." With Schnee's scolding out of the way, Kassidy took off after the brawler. Thanks to being incredibly familiar with this kind of travel, she made up the distance in no time and arrived at the perfect moment to see Yang punch a creep to death.
"What took you so long, K? You missed out on all the fun!"
Twigs snapped, bushes rustled, and the two blondes looked around them to see that roughly a dozen creeps had started circling them, obviously looking to avenge their pulped pack member. Well, that solves the issue of not finding any Grimm. "Seriously Yang, we need to do something about your ironic foreshadowing problem."
(Perspective: W)
The pairs hadn't been apart for sixty seconds before the sounds of battle were apparent. Yang assured the two smaller members of the team that it was just a few creeps, nothing they couldn't handle. However, as she and Ruby continued on to the eastern side of the clearing where they were to set up, the heiress couldn't help but feel that leaving that reckless brawler and defenseless gunslinger to their own devices was a terrible, terrible idea.
Sure, Kassidy did seem somewhat capable of holding Yang's most dangerous behavior in check. Assuming she didn't think it was a good idea too. In all honesty… she didn't know what to think of the team's darker blonde. That girl was an enigma, a paradox even.
"Hey, you okay Weiss? You seem a bit concerned."
"I'm fine Ruby, now quit interrupting my train of thought. Just keep your eyes out for Grimm."
She hated to admit it, but Kass' paranoia was rubbing off on her. Despite early evidence to the contrary, the gunslinger was quite brilliant, and she was obviously speaking from experience about their current situation. The heiress found herself gazing nervously at every shadow and blur in her peripheral vision.
Dust damnit, I'm a Schnee. I'm better than this. Straightening her posture and flipping her hair, Weiss put her focus towards something else, like trying to figure out the walking contradiction that was her teammate.
To start with, Kassidy was, under normal circumstances, as hard and dedicated a worker as anyone else. The amount of time she puts into the gym alone is evidence enough of that. If nothing else, we have the mutual respect of getting a job well done. Yet at the same time, the girl had a vicious immaturity undercurrent; she would seem to practically leap at anything entertaining for the briefest of moments before reigning herself back in, almost as if she wants to cut loose but afraid to do so.
Speaking of which, the girl was mostly fearless. Dust, taunting Pyrrha Nikos in the middle of a fight when you don't have aura? That takes some serious guts. Despite not being able to protect herself from her classmates, Kass scoffed and oftentimes literally laughed in the face of horribly dangerous situations, and the threat of death or serious injury didn't seem to faze her in the slightest. But then, since the girl wasn't allowed to be easy to read, she was paranoid to the point of pushing the sanity barrier. Even two weeks in, the slightest scare or out of place detail was enough for her to whip her pistol out, though at least she didn't shoot first before recognizing what was going on anymore. Heck, they had only just a couple nights ago managed to convince her that she didn't need to sleep with her rifle, because nobody was in fact going to break into their room to try and kill her.
The heiress was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the red eyes staring at her from a bush to the side. Which is why she was completely unprepared when the bush exploded and Ruby slammed into her. Picking herself up off the ground, she was fully prepared to give her partner yet another lecture.
"Ruby, what has gotten into…"
The sight that made her stop was an Ursa Major standing over her unconscious partner, who had apparently taken a hit for the heiress. As the Grimm prepared to deal the death blow, Weiss conjured a glyph and sent the beast stumbling backwards. Not waiting for it to regain its bearings, she leapt up and plunged Myrtenaster into the back of its neck. Then, she fired off some of the ice dust in her rapier while it was still embedded, and sharp icicles shot out from the Grimm's skull.
Stepping off the quickly dissolving corpse, Weiss rushed over to Ruby. It appears her aura absorbed all the hit. Looks like we got lucky. A problem quickly presented itself: how was Weiss going to drag around two hundred pounds of team leader and oversized scythe? After quickly musing over how dead the gunslinger would be if she was in Rose's position, Schnee fumbled with her earpiece as she tried to make it work.
"Is anyone there? Someone come in, please."
"A little busy snowflake!" Yang came through strained, and the sounds of intense battle were leaking through. "Hang on K, I'm coming for ya!"
"I'm fine! Is there a problem, Weiss?" Kassidy sounded like she was in the middle of a firefight, though as the heiress well knew, she could fire fast enough to sound like several people shooting at once.
"Ruby just got ran over by an Ursa Major. Her aura took the full hit, so she's uninjured. But she's unconscious and I can't carry her alone; she just weighs too much with her weapon. I need some help getting her to the sensor beacon."
Ren was the first to answer. "Sorry, but we can't get to you. Seriously, where are all these Grimm coming from?"
"We'll try and help Weiss, but Pyrrha and I are getting swamped over here. Ah!" Jaune let out a girlish scream, probably because something got a little too close to hitting him.
"Weiss, keep Ruby safe, I need to grab K and I'll be right over!"
"Forget it, just get to her!" Kass took a break as it sounded like she was fighting something, cursing about how she wasn't food. "I'll find my own way out!"
It took an agonizing twenty seconds for Yang to respond. "Dangit K, if you wind up dead while I'm gone, I am so going to kill you. Alright, hang on princess, I'm on my way."
Menacing snarls coming from around her, the heiress looked up to see a trio of Beowolves approach. Looking down at the unconscious, childish, reckless dolt that was her partner, she sighed and got into a fighting stance. "You better hurry, Yang."
(Perspective: K)
Sliding under a paw and braining its owner, Kassidy leapt up to her feet and gunned down the three creeps blocking her way before continuing to sprint. Her foot was still complaining after her sudden and involuntary fall – after finding the edge of a drop-off too late, she had managed to sprain her ankle yet again – but it was just pain. She could deal with pain.
And running and shooting? Hell, that's what I do best. The shooting's easy, at least until I run out of ammo. Good thing I packed extra in my bag. Running? Pfft, I could do that all day – literally.
These Grimm were practically brain-dead. No survival instincts, not even the barest shred of restraint, they just leapt blindly in for the kill. Sure, the Boarbatusks had thick enough armor that blowing their brains out wasn't an option, and alphas were at least smart enough to not throw themselves in front of her rifle, but they were few and far enough in between that it was simple enough to just shoot out a knee or hip and leave them in the dust.
It wasn't her situation that was bothering the gunslinger, but everyone else's. Ruby was apparently out of commission; even if she did wake up soon, she apparently lost most if not all of her aura, and her peers relied on it so much that they were useless without it. Yang had just caught up with Weiss, and those two plus JNPR were getting swarmed. Yang and Kass put together easily had their kill count past the one hundred mark, and it was probably safe to assume the other three pairs were in the same boat. And still, if anything it seemed the Grimm were arriving in greater numbers than before.
A Beowolf appeared in front of her, which she quickly shot before making a detour to the left, up the hill. Something was very wrong with this picture. Well, very wrong apart from the fact that the teens were outnumbered fifty to one at a minimum, on top of what they've already killed. Kassidy needed to know more about what they were dealing with. Scrambling to the top of the hill, she turned around and emptied her current clip into the horde of Grimm before beginning to climb a particularly tall tree.
The sight that greeted her belonged in 300, if the Spartans were split up and fighting Persians in a deciduous forest. She had been wrong – they weren't dealing with hundreds of Grimm. Even though she could only barely identify large groups of black, which had to be entire packs of Grimm, she could tell they were dealing with thousands. Maybe tens of thousands, it was hard to tell. This is a losing fight. We need to get out of here now, or we're fucked.
"Professor Ozpin, please tell me you can still hear me."
It took a second, but eventually the headmaster's voice rang through. "I can hear you. Apparently your friends have their hands full."
"Understatement of the year. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that you can't see through my camera, but we're looking at thousands of Grimm. There's not a chance in hell those repairs are gonna get done."
She could hear Glynda swear in the background. "Did she just say thousands? How did there even get to be so many in the area?" The two professors continued discussing for a short while.
The gunslinger decided to interrupt their little argument. "Sir, we need to get out of here, and now. Unless you want to be spending the afternoon cleaning up corpses." She paused to let the words settle in. "I can probably slip out on my own, but that doesn't do my teammates or JNPR any good. They need a way out."
After a few seconds of the two saying words she couldn't make out, Ozpin came back through. "Understood, Kassidy. A bullhead will be leaving in ninety seconds, and should be there in ten minutes to pick you up. The clearing where the sensor beacon is will be the only space in the immediate area it can set down, so the eight of you will need to meet there."
Is that guy crazy? In ten minutes we'll all be dead. "That's as good an answer as I'm going to get, isn't it? Alright Bob, get everyone on the horn so we can deliver the news." The AI got their attention, and Kass addressed them, "Guys, good news and bad news. Good news is that the mission got scrubbed, and they're sending a ship to pick us up. Bad news is that it's going to be ten minutes, and we'll have to gather in the clearing."
"Aw, but I was just warming up K!" Yang obviously had no idea as to the big picture.
"You wouldn't be so eager if you could see what I could see. We're looking at thousands of these guys. Everyone meet up at the sensor beacon and WHAT THE FUCK?!"
The tree she was perched on suddenly started falling, and the gunslinger had to perform some very complex acrobatics to reach the ground safely. The source of her troubles? A Deathstalker, and this one was nearly twice as big as the one they fought in initiation.
"What's the problem, Kass?" Ruby had apparently come back around. Everyone else was voicing similar concerns.
Taking off sprinting as fast as her legs could carry, the gunslinger didn't even bother with composure. "Uh, is there such a thing as an alpha Deathstalker? Because if there is, it's currently trying to eat me!"