Chapter 15: Something Wicked Joins the Siege
You're gonna choke on the words that you've said, is all she could think.
But she was getting ahead of herself, Cinder could feel it. Perhaps it was because the earth-splitting roar of the bomb only punctuated their impotence, they still hadn't arrived at the docks. Glynda stood in dire contrast to the sunset and watched the horizon, arms crossed, her face ever so stoic. She hadn't spoken in some time, yet it hardly felt like Salem's deafening silences. It wasn't judgement awaiting her, or an oppressive, invisible force consuming the lesser presence of servants.
It formed a pit in Cinder's stomach, and gave her yet more time to reflect upon herself, a visage she promptly ignored given how being inside her mind wasn't where she'd like to be at that moment. Her task-forging herself a useful weapon- was finished not minutes ago, demanding as it was, and getting used to the weight on her back became easier with time. The new arrows Glynda helped her create for Midnight were too bulky to materialize with the maiden's powers or a simple flask of sand, and almost long enough to be called javelins.
It was something of a surprise how adept the combat instructor was at engineering weapons on the fly, the special arrows and quiver she detailed were marvelous, wonders that wouldn't work if not for Cinder's own precision in using her Semblance. Maybe Glynda understood that when it came to marksmanship, it was better not to mess with the tool itself too much. A good archer could make do with a half-decent weapon, but arm them with a good weapon instead? Indeed, the difference could be felt, the added weight wasn't even a con, it simply marked an increase in her firepower. Even her newly forged Midnight had to be modified, it was necessary. It stood almost as tall as she was to accommodate for the new arrows.
To fight Grimm, she'd be needing that. Far in the distance she could already see a flock of Griffons spreading through the city. They weren't many, but some Griffons were big enough to swallow people whole, so of course Cinder was in dire need of some form of improvement in her firepower, she couldn't rely only on her Semblance.
Glynda on the other hand? As soon as they arrived at the docks, she made one request; a dagger. Cinder obliged, with a semblance like hers, forging an ornate combat dagger was trivial, yet she questioned, "Why a dagger? How are you going to use it?"
"Oh, I hope I don't have to," Glynda answered. She nimbly vaulted out of the boat, then landed on the pier with the expected grace of a Huntress. As soon as Cinder followed, she continued, "There's bound to be some chaos, but I think we might have some of the Atlesians on the way, worst comes to worst they might be able to contain this and Vale will become a ruin zone."
Worst comes to worst. Might be. Ruin zone. No words wasted on pondering about evacuation. Not exactly inspiring.
"I'll need to spread out my Semblance, to assess the damage, and their numbers. It'll take a bit of time and effort so it's best we split up to cover more ground. You move to the blast zone and help as many people as you can."
Carelessness? Or, by chance, the combat instructor was that confident in her own safety. Nevertheless, over-exerting one's Semblance would cause physical stress, which in turn would be healed by and spend aura, a precious resource they shouldn't squander.
Perhaps aware that Cinder was almost a thousand miles away, Glynda called her name again, then continued, as if she was briefing a true student of hers, "Understood?"
It took a moment to truly process the question, "Understood," Cinder answered. A short answer, barely dignified by more than a thought, and yet it somehow felt different, lit something inside her. No, not the Grimm parasite that resided within her left arm, something else.
Glynda moved out, never even looking back, yet Cinder couldn't simply move forward. How could it be such a daunting task? As a spy she wasn't used to putting herself in the middle of a city-wide battle, in a way she'd even gone as far as to make sure she wouldn't even need to fight, Vale's demise was as certain as the ticks of a clock. Back then it would've been a victory of sorts to see them fall, part retribution, part twisted sadism that maintained itself beneath the surface for so long it was allowed to fester and aggravate every ounce of shit she couldn't keep together.
She shouldn't be thinking about that, it only resulted in spoiling her own focus. People needed help, she could help them, and leaping to a rooftop so she could better move across the city was trivial, a good first step. It seemed to be what Glynda did. Well, what most Huntresses did.
How did they do it anyway? She still had no clue, how could they throw themselves at a tireless, unending army and not ever pause, even for a second? Mere Beowolves could tear through Atlesian alloys like they were tin foil, Boarbatusks could match post-war vehicles in speed, and that's not to speak of the more… peculiar, specialized Grimms like those that roamed Salem's Hold.
A pair of problems assaulted her senses in tandem, forcing Cinder to come to a halt and evaluate the situation. To one side and below she could see that a crowd had formed on the roof of a shorter building, not as spectators to any one thing but in an attempt to take shelter from the possible fights down below. It wasn't the worst idea, given how it seemed like most of the breach was still successfully contained. Or rather it wouldn't be if it wasn't for the second problem:
Griffons, not that far away, and about six of them. They were much smaller than average so likely recently spawned, but the species usually loved attacking in flocks and preferred flybys instead of sustained assaults, only to then fly away with their victims. As far as Cinder knew they didn't really care who they grabbed as long as they got someone. Something of a death spiral if other Gimm noticed it.
It should be a simple matter. She jumped to the smaller building in a flash, landing in front of the crowd. Wasting no time she readied Midnight and loaded a special arrow, pulling it back while taking a deep breath, then released it.
What made this arrow special was simple, in midair it split into three lengthwise, effectively broadening its horizontal reach. By the time it hit not one but three targets with a hardy crash, a moment had passed and the flock of Griffons was already halved.
Perhaps realizing there would be no easy pickings there, the remaining spread out in the air and screeched, one nose-diving away from the group in an attempt to take Cinder herself. They were taking evasive maneuvers and pack tactics now.
She'd prepared for this. With a click Midnight split into a pair of swords she stabbed forward, meeting the beast head-on. The clash was harsh enough to drive Cinder back, towards the group of civilians. Clumsily, they attempted to catch her, one planting a hand on her back. It was barely any help at all, most would still fall flat on their backs with only such assistance.
Cinder wasn't most. It helped her find her balance, using the momentum from recovering to swing both swords and cut the Grifon down with a well placed cut across its neck. The two that remained were no longer erratic, instead flying in formation now, an intimidation attempt? Cinder hadn't seen this trick before.
She leaped up, stabbing her swords through a Griffon in midair and provoking a deafening shriek from the creature. She kicked it towards the other, both to release her weapons and to give herself some space, distance she needed in order to ready an arrow as gravity dragged her down to the ground.
This one a piercing arrow. Forged with a reinforced arrowhead it was meant to shoot through enemies, Grimm armor and most kinds of cover or concealment. The pair of Griffons collided in midair, forming a line just as her arrow pierced through both at once. When she landed they were nothing but dust.
Her knees momentarily gave out, she had to take a moment to breathe, even though her aura never broke. Cinder knew she'd have to adapt to the added weight, and so did her best to keep herself calm as the short burst of adrenaline faded and she crashed back down to normal. A couple of breaths and the exhaustion was gone, but it was still a close call, and those were simply young Griffons, not exactly a suicidal venture.
The civilians were still recovering from their shock, it was a good time to guide them.
Cinder waved them away, "Find a way inside and don't let anyone else out. Now!"
The words seemed to break through them, most of the crowd made their way towards the inside with haste. She kept herself on the move, leaving the outskirts of the city and moving deeper, closer to the warehouse and market districts. If memory served Nora and Ren were both assigned to those respectively, logic being that if need be Nora wouldn't need to worry about collateral damage in the warehouse district, and Ren preferred an efficient and stealthy "strike first before anyone knows what happened" kind of approach, one that would keep panic from even rising in the first place. Not to mention the fact that both districts were right next to each other.
She stopped at the edge of a building when a lone Beowolf ran out of an alley, perhaps it had grown over-excited, and separated from the pack in a rush to invade. Before Cinder could reach into her quiver the beast shuddered and shook with a macabre, unnatural rhythm, before violently detonating into a cloud of black dust
Goodwitch. She could do that, and Cinder wasn't even sure how far away she was.
Moving down to the alleyways just to make sure there were no other Grimm lying in wait she came to a sudden stop, an Alpha Beowolf awaited, confused and looking for prey. As it noticed her presence a hand speared from behind it through the center of its chest, revealing none other than Lie Ren, who watched the Grimm fall to the ground and crumble to dust.
He acknowledged Cinder's presence with a nod, "I don't think that was the last one I lured though, one might have escaped."
Cinder thought for a moment, "I think Goodwitch took care of that one."
"She's around here?"
"No, but she told me she'd spread out her semblance."
His eyebrows shot up ever so slightly, "Makes sense. If she joined us, then it's only a matter of time now."
Cinder considered the statement for a moment, "It's why I'm here. I'm moving to the city square so we can put an end to this."
"Then please wait a moment," Ren said as he picked up his scroll, and pressed a single button with someone's picture for an icon. He put it up to his ear as soon as the call connected, "Yeah it's me, how's the situation there? Good. Yeah I was about to do the same, I saw it too Nora, I'm worried too."
He clicked off the call and put his scroll back in his pocket in one swift motion, "Do you mind if I join you? Me and Nora were about to move there as well, to assist."
"Shouldn't we spread out, so we'll cover more ground?"
"We're already spread thin. Team Coffee is busy, Team Ruby is within range. So we'll try our best to keep the Grimm from coming at all."
Cinder shrugged, "So we meet at ground zero and get as many to help from there? Makes sense."
"Good. I'll follow. Don't slow down," Ren said, before vanishing again, deep into the maze-like alleyways.
Boy of a few words, as always. Demeanors aside, the whole thing was somewhat refreshing. When was the last time she could walk into an alleyway and get help, without needing to take it by force? It had been years since she met Emerald. When was the last time she could get help from a Huntsman no less? If she hadn't seen Ren help others with her own two eyes, she'd think the last interaction had been an anomaly, not the norm.
It was… fine.
No, getting help from someone else was better than fine. She leaped to another rooftop in between thoughts. Was that okay to tell herself? She didn't know.
She heard Nora way, way before she could even come close to seeing her. A couple of blocks away, the mighty crash of Dust grenades resonated far enough that it was unmistakable.
"Time to blast off!"
That, and the redhead's voice carried pretty far. An ursa was violently propelled straight into the air, quickly disintegrating from the force of the impact that forced it to take off.
She ran towards the cacophony, another step closer to ground zero.
Ugh, I think I whited out for a moment.
Pyrrha woke only for her head to spin as if inside a washing machine, her thoughts scattered just the same. She looked to her sides, trying to focus again. Thankfully, even as she lost consciousness she hadn't let go of Miló and Akoúo̱. Underneath, she felt cold, hard steel where she expected concrete. As soon as she tried to sit up the pain in her abdomen made itself known once again, the Nevermore feather was no longer embedded in it, now leaving only the open wound.
A temporary setback, no matter. She'd need some time to remember things, or rather time to process what she'd forgotten.
She forced herself to sit up, so she could reconstruct the events that unfolded after her aura broke. Looking around she was now in the mostly broken remains of a subway car underneath the crater. It made sense, a bomb had to be carried there somehow. The pain in her neck and the tiny smudge of fresh blood on the side of the wall told her she'd hit her head on the way down. Again it made sense, if she hadn't Pyrrha would have just got up, and continued to fight. It also told her a few other things; the blood was still somewhat fresh so at best she'd been out for a couple of minutes, although within two minutes so much could change in a fight it was essentially an eternity. It did help her remember another concern.
The Grimm, the dark tide, why hadn't they finished her off?
Although she could remember, she couldn't tell why. Grimm don't have any sense of honor or mercy. When they attack they do so until the prey is dead, and when it dies they double tap it, just to make sure. They ignored her when she fell, and the wave had diminished enough that barely any seemed to be charging down the tunnel now.
As if she'd spoken her very thoughts aloud, a Beowolf noticed her through the car's bent steel walls and broken windows. It didn't charge as she expected, instead preferring to circle around slowly, probably calculating a more advantageous position. Pyrrha wasted no time shifting Miló into a rifle. She dragged herself to keep the Grimm within her sights even as it circled around the car. Strange.
Oh right, it was a Beowolf, so it wasn't just concerned with attacking, it hunted in packs, so either everyone above shooed it away, or it broke from the group.
Pyrrha wasn't willing to find out which, pulling the trigger just as it dashed her way. The recoil hurt her, mostly because of the open wound, but at least the shot stunned the beast and opened it's guard, enough so a salvo of shots could end it.
Now she definitely had to get up. Firing shots on a tunnel like this, it would call unwanted attention. Not only that but without the protection of an aura shield her ears were ringing now.
Come on. One leg at a time.
Success. Pain was a lot more manageable in small bites, and her aura was working overtime to heal her so it eased the ache some, but now what?
She couldn't jump back up yet for multiple reasons. One, she'd be easy pickings in the case that there were still hordes of Grimm up above. Two being that she couldn't if she tried, not without passing out from the horrible agony it would cause. And three, another Beowolf emerged from the dark tunnel, it's gaze fixated on her.
It didn't waste time like the last, this one preferred leaping her way immediately. She slipped underneath its claws by a hair, a good moment to shift Miló back into a sword. She held the sword in a reverse grip, then drove it through the back of the monster's neck, pushing it in with her palm far enough that the tool embedded itself into the wall.
Deep breaths, come on Pyrrha, she thought. Calming herself helped take her mind off the wound.
Nope, it hurt when she breathed in too.
The Valkyrie Girl was rather glum once the fighting was over. Now only her deep breaths populated the street.
It was like night and day as soon as the last Grimm was killed. Even though she was in the presence of her boyfriend-at least that was what Cinder thought they were-Nora didn't seem to be in any mood for conversation, Nora barely even looked at them. A bit out of character as far as she knew, though it wasn't exactly something she should comment on.
Thankfully, Ren broke the silence quickly, "A lot going on?"
Nora shifted her war hammer to the usual grenade launcher but refused to look his way, "A bit too much actually."
"You saw it too, didn't you."
"Yes."
There it is, that silence again. Saw what? Whatever it was, if it could change Nora's attitude like that it had to be concerning, to say the least.
Ren continued, "We'll probably meet Jaune on the way to the city square, we'll have to go through the market."
"Yeah, I'm ready," Nora answered.
Eerie. Cinder was used to Nora being a motormouth, whatever put her in that state must be ghastly. Before she could speak her mind, something stopped them all, demanding their collective attention.
A giant Nevermore rose out of the city square, the dark winged beast nearly eclipsed the sunset, a bad omen incarnate.
Well, this was it. When Cinder dared to consider how she might die, the closest she'd ever come to picture it was at Glynda's hand, the one Huntress that could likely outmatch even experienced Maidens by now.
She didn't think it'd come in the shape of an oversized feathered creature.
Nora grinned, "Well look at the time…"
"No," Ren answered, a warning.
"I think it's…"
"Stop it."
"Kick ass o' clock!"
Ren sighed, "It's just like initiation again."
What? Were the only words she could process after hearing them.
"What?" were the words that escaped Cinder's mouth of their own accord.
Nora giggled, in stark contrast to what her mood was not moments ago, "Yeah, kickass o'clock, didn't you know?"
Ren continued, "The giant Grimm is a pretty big giveaway. But Nora, I think you're forgetting we still need to Join up with Jaune. "
"No! I mean you survived one of those before?"
Nora gleefully answered, "Survive? We helped kill one!"
Ren interjected, "Whoa, come on, that's Team Ruby's kill, we just took out the giant Deathstalker."
"Well yeah but that's not as impressive is it?" Nora retorted.
"I think I need to sit down for a moment," Cinder said, she was indeed feeling a bit light headed.
"Hey that's what professor Peach said back then!" Nora pointed out.
Not as Impressive? Cinder sat down on the curb. Not as impressive. Those were both centuries old Grimm, forged by decades of fighting, survivors of the ever-evolving Grimm horde. They spent their entire time learning, advancing, killing, or doing a mixture of the three. Either of those had likely seen dozens, if not hundreds of Huntsmen in the field and either prevailed or survived to kill another day.
And killing one wasn't as impressive as killing another for them, apparently for reasons completely alien to Cinder herself. As if that wasn't discombobulating enough, it happened during their initiation.
She couldn't even call them suicidal, they clearly lived through it once.
Ren's scroll lit up, it was on silent mode. Why wasn't Cinder surprised?
He looked at the caller, "Ah, it's Jaune." he clicked a button, then continued, "Hey Jaune, you're on speaker, I'm here with Nora and Cinder."
"Oh Cinder's there? Great, that makes things much easier I think you guys saw that giant Nevermore up there didn't you?"
Maybe he was a little more sensible? Cinder was quick to answer, "Kind of hard to miss it…"
"Yes, and you guys know what that means. It's big, scary and a world of hurt..."
Ah, good, so I'm not delirious, she thought.
"So take it down."
Say what now.
"We can't let it keep ruining such a beautiful sunset. Now, here's what you guys can do: It's moving in your direction anyways, if you're going to the square like I am you'll meet it halfway. I think it'll be flying low, maybe lower than some of the buildings. It goes a bit against instinct but maybe they do it because it's easier to aim that way."
"You're not wrong, their eyesight is better than ours so their aim isn't bad, but they can't just keep their distance and shoot feathers forever. They need the plumage to fly, plus the feathers are too big and not exactly aerodynamic," Cinder explained, before realizing the nature of the comment.
When the others gave her strange looks, she lied, "It's advanced Grimm ecology." Cinder almost breathed a sigh of relief when they seemed to accept it. It wasn't the time to be dumping all her lies on them like this.
"That helps a lot actually. Nora, how's your ammo?"
Nora checked the drum of her launcher, revealing only a lone grenade loaded inside.
"...Eh, it's alright."
There was a pause before Jaune continued, "Ren?"
"She's on her last nade."
"I'm calling a reload locker. I don't think I can keep up with the Nevermore so here's the plan…"
This was it, maybe that was Glynda's plan all along. Had she arranged things so that Cinder would follow these maniacs? If so, it was certainly a devious and elaborate way to orchestrate a student's death.
Well, sort-of student.
They awaited each in a different edifice. Cinder on the tallest. Ren on the other side of the street, Nora to her side, atop a shorter one. She didn't seem too preoccupied with stealth, perhaps for the better.
They just got there and had barely enough time to get into position before the Nevermore turned down the street. As expected, it didn't fly much higher than five storeys, and if it kept flying straight the streets would be too narrow for its wingspan. It was somewhat far away, and yet still somehow closer than Cinder would ever want to get to the thing. It was bi enough to cover entire cars in shadow, if dwarf them completely.
She'd thank whoever designed that particular street so as to make it so wide. At the same time, she somewhat foolishly wondered if it was done exactly for eventualities such as the one she found herself in.
As planned, Nora seized the initiative with a rapid-fire salvo of grenades, every single one meeting its mark. Either Nora was surprisingly accurate with Magnhild, or the weapon had better craftsmanship than Cinder previously considered. Either was a scary thought, especially when students were the ones to design weapons.
Ren wasted no time leaping on the monster's back, delivering lightning quick, barehanded strikes before vanishing to another building, too fast for the creature. The nevermore barely had time to shriek before it's back shuddered and several burts set off consecutively.
Aura infused strikes. Dangerous, it cost some of the user's aura, but was poison to the Grimm's very existence. Their body rejected Aura so violently that it could do naught but detonate.
Nora followed through the air like a neon pink lance, hammering it upside the head so violently Cinder herself felt the shock. Sparks flew off her hammer as soon as it made contact with the Nevermore's skull in a dazzling light show.
Just as it was planned, it was more than enough to daze the Grimm. It's eyesight was a weakness in a situation such as this, and disoriented it plummeted to the ground alongside Nora, in front of the building she hid atop.
Now. Cinder thought. she couldn't get a better angle if she tried, it must've been fate. High ground, an incapacitated opponent, and a good enough distance away that she could avoid retaliation, but not far enough that aiming would be difficult.
She loaded and fired an arrow with masterful archery, this one was something of a harpoon. On impact the back unfolded into a four pronged hook, meant to bind its wing.
And bind it did, as it pierced the wing and dug into concrete, but she wouldn't take any chances. She fired three more, a total of two for each wing just to make sure.
Nora took the chance, hammering the Nevermore's head with strikes so fluid and clean, it was almost as if Magnhild weighed nothing. She didn't waste time trying to recover from her swings, instead she followed through and kept up the momentum, spinning her weapon until each strike carried so much force behind it every bash sounded like it should have been the monster's last. Even from afar, her skill was frightening.
The one to end it was an upward swing, it likely carried enough force that it could've pulverized anything it touched, and the Grimm's head was in no way special, was hit with enough strength that it ceased to exist in a black cloud. Cinder couldn't even call it decapitation as it implied cutting, it was closer to erasure.
Headless, pinned to ground and soundly beaten, the Nevermore still tried to get up one last time, maybe to try and take Nora with it from beyond the grave. Unwilling to let it happen, Cinder split Midnight and plummeted below, stabbing it in the back.
This time, it disintegrated into the black miasma they expected.
Ren joined them, and Nora jumped in place and hugged her boyfriend, "YayI we did it! Just wait until I tell Team Ruby about this, guess who's second place now huh?"
Ren smiled, but didn't say anything. Cinded did the same, no words were needed after facing down something like this. Maybe this wasn't as difficult as she thought. Tthey weren't as bad as she thought.
Nora skipped her way just as Cinder sheathed Midnight, "Come on, high five!" she offered, raising both hands.
Reluctantly, Cinder did the same. A moment later Nora slapped both her pauls, then grabbed her hands and spun her in a quick circle dance.
Their elation was somewhat short-lived, however, as both Ren and Nora's scrolls lit up red, Nora's with a rhythmic beep.
They both pulled them out in tandem, and as they were in sync, both let out a worried "Oh no."
"What is it? Another giant Grimm?"
Ren and Nora looked at eachother, then at Cinder after some unspoken agreement. Nora was the one to deliver the news.
"Worse, Pyrrha's out. Her Aura levels are critical."