AN:
Sorry for the longer delay, I realized a huge plot hole in the original plan for this story and needed to figure out where I was going before I continued. Now I have a much better idea of where to take the story. And then immediately after I had jury duty. I still have about a week left (long trial) but with the help of the following beta readers we could get it cleaned up enough. To help make sure you guys know that this story isn't dead. I added a "Next Chapter" section to my profile.
Edited and Beta'd by: Cruzerblade, Cr00cy and KAOS UNLEASHED
On with the show!
Chapter 3- We did it! We fought off the dragon! Yay!
Pyrrha was having the best dream. She had just won the Vytal Festival and she and Jaune had gone out to celebrate, just the two of them. Watching the big fireworks celebration over the water. Explosions and cries of joy echoed out. Gold filled Pyrrha's vision as she leaned against Jaune. His warm hard body...The sound reverberating in steady beats...
Wumph
Wumph
Hmmm… that was odd. The fireworks almost sounded like giant win-
"What exactly are you trying to sa-"
"-doesn't have a good explanation, he's going to be in big troub-"
Oh, and Nora and Ruby were here! Pyrrha giggled weakly, she was very tired from the festival after all. It made sense that she couldn't really talk. And besides, why would she? She was here with Jaune, watching the golden fireworks...
"-iously you just don't keep that fro-"
Oh Nora…. Silly silly sillly bo-billy Nora. Talking with such pretty fireworks. Pyrrha was so happy she was on her team. Nora didn't treat her any differently despite her fame... She was so lucky...
"Behind us!"
Pyrrha winced as Nora suddenly shouted. Turning her head, blinking in confusion as the gold seemed to sway and move with her view. Wait, what was happening? Where was she? What was going on? Where was-
Jaune.
He was staring at her, his blue eyes big and wide as he leaned in. The fireworks exploding behind him. Oh my gosh he was going to kiss her. She wasn't ready for this. But this was kind of a date, wasn't it? And she'd been wanting to kiss him for so long…
As his face leaned in, filling her view, Pyrrha weakly giggled as she puckered her lips, excited for her first kiss. Finally, it was happening. It was about time. And she understood the feeling described in the romance novels. Her entire body seemed to heat up and she felt weightless as she moved to kiss back. Nora and Ruby screamed in delight as their lips touched…
The fireworks exploded behind them.
How nice...
"I nearly had it."
"Yes Peter."
"Honestly, we may have teamed up to take down that Grimm monstrosity but make no mistake, we were ready to turn on each other the second the main threat was dealt with."
"Of course, Peter."
"But it knew that I had the upper hand. Which is why, when I had my attention on the students. it took its chance to escape."
"Peter," sighed Glenda Goodwitch, "Why don't you oversee Oobleck's bullhead? They just arrived with the last of the students from Beacon, I'm sure many of them would benefit to hear of your… triumph."
"Of Course, Glynda! An excellent idea!" The portly man chuckled, turning, and heading towards the landing strip. "And I'll leave you to maintain the west entrance!"
Glynda flicked her wand, sending an avalanche of rubble flying out at a flock of nevermore, sending most of their smoking bodies falling to the ground.
"I think I can handle things here."
The portly professor nodded and headed along the walls down into the sectioned off part of the city. By collapsing some of the bridges and tunnels in the commercial district, they had set apart a section of the city to act as a safe zone for the residents and injured to retreat to during the chaos. As he passed by, several such survivors were huddled alongside scattered fires, talking in low worried voices. Slowly trying to piece together exactly how their lives had fallen apart and just starting to comprehend that their home, one of the central kingdoms of Remnant had fallen. It was a painfully familiar sight to the veteran hunter and even after all his years of experience, it still brought a hollow pain to his chest. But while normally he would have stayed, to try and install some hope, he pushed on. There was work to be done and if the rumors turned out to be true, then their misery might not even be permanent.
Word from some of the survivors near the agricultural district claimed that the main breaks in the city walls were now closed or blocked off. No more Grimm would be able to enter the city. If it was true, then the Grimm were trapped in a closed area, open for Any huntsmen to pick off and clean out. Vale would become the first recorded instance of a recovery following such a large Grimm incursion.
But only if the rumors were true, Professor Port reminded himself as he moved through the makeshift camp and towards a half-destroyed building that used to be a bakery. With part of the roof collapsed, it made a surprisingly good makeshift docking platform and ramp for the evacuation bullheads and its traumatized passengers.
One such bullhead was coming in now, one of last ones of the night before Atlas reinforcements could arrive and get started on the long-term relocation to Patch. Grimm or no Grimm, Vale was still heavily damaged and didn't have any stockpiled resources. Any viable shelter in the city was destroyed and ruined by the chaos. Rampaging Grimm and general destruction caused by the battle, a collapsed Atlas flagship for instance, had damaged and blocked off several key roads of the city and it would take potentially several weeks before the damage could be fully repaired.
The portly man stopped for a second, as a distant rumble echoed through the air. He strained his ears, that had been a huge explosion. Had the Grimm destroyed a dust store? Had another Atlas battleship been destroyed? Or had his rogue mythical steed and potential opponent done something? No further sounds came from the sky and after another moment's pause with just the soft crackle of the many fires the Professor started walking again, filling the explosion away to be investigated later. He straightened up as he approached the landing point, mentally bracing himself.
He kept a tight mental record of which students were still unaccounted for. Some would be on the airship.
Some would not.
Professor Port hoped that all the students were on the bullhead.
Bullhead doors opened and students stumbled out, all sporting varying injuries from their prolonged fights. Some with simple scratches and bruises, others being rushed down on stretchers, their teammates right beside them.
Some walked down the ramp alone. Or with only one person beside them to help them down with their injuries. His heart clenched as he saw Lie Ren and Weiss Schnee support Blake Belladonna as team CRDL ran down the ramp to help carry a stretcher that contained Yang Xiao Long. Behind them Coco supported Velvet, the poor faunus in near hysteria.
"We need to go back for Fox! He's still there! We need to go back!"
Port moved forward, assisting some of the students down the makeshift ramp, murmuring encouragements as he went. Today they had fought bravely to protect their school and their classmates. They had still failed, they had taken losses and been hit harder than they ever had in combat training, but the portly professor was proud of them nonetheless.
"Bart," he called up, stepping up onto the Bullhead, "How was the trip."
The green haired man turned towards him, a tired but welcoming expression on his face as he spotted his colleague. He opened his mouth to respond, "About as fun as the time Glynda tried hosting parent teacher conferences,"
Professor Port winced as he walked up to stand beside Doctor Oobleck as they looked out at the safe zone. Scattered out before them, their students were being called over to campfires and tents, or the makeshift first aid station before the more serious cases were carried off to what remained of Vale's general hospital. It was a tragic sight that squeezed at Oobleck's heart. His students shouldn't have to face something like this. At least not until they could be fully trained and prepared for such a situation.
His vision was suddenly filled with coffee. It was a sad reused water bottle that smelled strongly of stale coffee grounds. Sighing, he reached out his hand to take it. It may have been lukewarm, stale, instant sadness, but it was still coffee.
"Thanks." He said, taking the drink, and downing it in several large gulps, "I left my own stache back in my office." He said, gasping before finished the rest of the bottle.
Professor Port grinned grimly and leaned back against one of the walls of the aircraft. "Might be able to swing by tomorrow if the rumors are true. If Vale's secured then a couple old codgers like us wouldn't be missed."
Professor Oobleck smiled wryly back, as the mustached man leaned in conspiratorially towards him, "Who knows," Port continued, "We may be able to clean Beacon up a bit. Clear out some extra room so to speak. If you are… how do the kids say it? 'picking up what I'm putting down'?"
Oobleck's smile morphed into a full-on grin as he also began to lean in towards the professor, "You want us to clear Beacon of grimm so we can keep our students here instead of moving them to Patch."
Like lightning Port pulled back, his mustache taking on a flustered look as he stared resolutely out at the safe zone. "W-well. Not just for their sake. It'd provide a coordinated area to plan the retaking and rebuilding of Vale, while also giving us a more defendable position. And it'd show those White Fang ruffians why it'd be a poor idea to tangle with Beacon! We'd be able to repair the tower and restore the CCT…"
Oobleck raised an eyebrow, his grin not breaking as he continued to stare at his friend.
"…And I haven't finished telling my classes this year how I fought my way out of the Vacuo situation…" Port added under his breath, his face now fully flushed.
"Is that the one where you used the bow of a bullhead to cut into an Alpha Beringle? The one you tell at the beginning of each year?"
"…. well…"
He flinched slightly as his college slapped his pack and stepped forward to stand beside him,
"Oh, you've never been straight with your feelings old friend," chucked Doctor Oobleck as he looked out at the safe zone with his friend. "While I am more than tempted by your proposal, we'll probably be needed tomorrow to help oversee evacuations and help fight the grimm being drawn to the area. I don't see when we could have the time for our…little trip."
Port didn't answer for a moment, mulling the issue over.
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Probably standing guard with Glynda for a couple hours and trying to get as much sleep as I can befo- Oh. Oh no."
"Oh yes."
"But we've been on our feet nonstop since this crisis began. We need our rest where we can take it! We can't just... just spend the entire night killing grimm!"
"Why not? I was conserving my strength in the fight against that grimm dragon. I thought I would have had to fight that dragon right after. So, I'm still ready to fight. When was the last time we had a guy's night out?"
"…"
"And you just had your cup of coffee. You're not going to sleep anytime soon. Besides you know what you're like in the morning without your cup of 'special' coffee."
"…"
"And it'd allow for other hunters to join us once we have a- "
"Okay."
The mustached professor looked at his friend, a grin coming across his face.
"Let's take back Beacon."
"Stupendous! Then let's be off!"
"Peter?"
"Yes?"
"How do you expect us to get there?"
"… Walking!"
"Walking?"
"It does the body good!"
"Peter… We can't walk to Beacon. We'll need a new plan."
The two of them stood there for a moment in silence, both deep in thought in the doorway of the bullhead.
"…"
"… Peter?"
"Yes Bart?"
"Is this bullhead needed for the rest of the night?"
"No, I don't believe so…"
"…"
Doctor Oobleck took off, running into the depths of the bullhead, "I'm driving!" he yelled over
his shoulder.
Professor Port stared for a moment and then barked out a laugh, hitting the keypad to the doors, grinning as they closed shut. The entire day he had been forced to be on the defensive, protecting his students and ensuring that they had a way out and a safe place to fall back to.
But with that done and the students safe for the night it was the time for the Professors of Beacon to go all out. And Professor Port, Slayer of Dragons and Grimm was on a mission.
As the Bullhead took off, neither Professor took note of the moving shadow making its way over some of the buildings, heading towards the Safe zone, water dripping from its form as it moved silently through the wrecked city.
Glynda stared out at the night sky, her eyes trying to see through the few grimm that still swarmed above the city.
"And you said it was fired from the Beacon tower?" she asked, her eyes not leaving the sky.
Beside her, Ironwood nodded as he fired a shot up into the sky. After a moment, a griffon dropped from the sky slamming onto a rooftop, black smoke trailing from its head.
"Yes, it was most definitely fired from the tower after the dragon took off. The sudden change in light blinded me momentarily and when my eyes adjusted, I couldn't see that beast in the sky anymore. "
"Is there a chance it may have fallen into the waters?"
"It is a possibility. But it was already half way across the waters when it got hit." Ironwood shot off another bullet and began to reload his gun, "It was pretty fast…" He added, turning his eyes back up into the sky.
Glynda Goodwitch just hummed, as she looked out, deep in thought. Ozpin had remained in the tower to protect the Fall Maiden but he had nothing in his arsenal that would have shot from the tower like that. Maybe if he had been able to transfer the power to Miss Nikos…? But then why hadn't Ozpin contacted her? And the dragon hadn't been hostile to the Hunters, Ozpin would have seen it on his cameras. Did he perhaps know something about this mythical beast that had appeared that night? Was it a sign of another threa-?
"Any word from Ozpin?"
Glynda tore her eyes from the sky to look at the General. He was to, be frank, a mess. His carefully combed military haircut had strands of hair stick out at odd angles, a fine layer of dust and debris on his shoulders as he refilled his magazine with dust rounds.
"I told you James," Glynda replied evenly, "Ozpin's first concern is Beacon's basement, until he feels that 'it's' properly secured, then he'll touch base with us. He entrusted us with the security of Vale and the students in his place. Be patient, the day is only just ending."
General Ironwood sighed, "Let me know when you hear from him. We need his input on the creature…" he trailed off, his eyes floating over the city rooftops. "I'm going to grab some men and check the residential district one last time. See if we missed anyone when we went through there the first time." He said, stowing his gun, and talking to some men as he walked away.
Glynda watched him go before turning back, looking at the sky again. Her mind abuzz. It was hard to believe that her initial tasks that morning had been coordinating the move out for the visiting students out of the guest dorms. Now, only hours later, she oversaw all the citizens of Vale and their safety during the grimm invasion. It was intimidating to say the least.
Though if what some people were saying were true…
Glynda cut off that line of thought immediately, scowling as she walked alongside the wall. She couldn't put faith in such outlandish claims. If the citizens were right, the dragon-like beast had helped fight off the grimm and actually plug the holes in Vales defenses. Then it merely raised more questions. Questions that would be harder to answer. Questions about the giant flying reptile, the titan sized creature that stepped over buildings and tore up cement like simple soil to slaughter all the grimm in its sight. Why had it helped them? Was it intelligent? Did it fight the grimm out of some kind of territory dispute? Was it their natural predator? Ironwood had his airships in the sky for weeks in advance. How did it get so close unobserved?
"General Ironwood, Sir!"
Glynda's eyes darted from the sky as she turned to observe the soldier sprinting up to her, taking in his battered form as he looked wildly around for Ironwood.
"He just left for the residential district with some men. You just missed him." Glynda said, facing him fully as she tried to file the questions for later. "What do you need?" she asked.
"T-the Dragon! The Golden Dragon that was in the sky! It's here! On the east side by the evacuation point!" He gasped out pointing a shaky finger in the direction he had come from.
Well speak of the Grimm.
Glynda sighed, flicking her wand to the side as she pulled up wrecked cars and collapsed walls to crush the grimm on the other side of the wall. "I'll handle it. Tell your men to help evacuate the area and to not engage it." She said shortly before taking off at a sprint. Legs skillfully moving over and around the debris. As she ran, she began to hear the panicked cries of the survivors and figures illuminated by firelight, fleeing to the other side of the makeshift encampment. Occasionally she saw others running in the same direction. Students who heard the screams and came to help. Glynda smothered the warmth and affection building up in her to instead yell out directions to them as she ran.
"Do not engage! Assist the evacuation of the civilians and create a perimeter! Do not attack first! I repeat, do not attack first!" Glynda bellowed as she ran. The dragon had not killed or attacked humans to her knowledge. The last thing she needed was some nerve ridden students to open fire the dust round that would change that fact.
She ran faster, she could see the dragon now, a large portion of its back sticking up over the other side of the buildings. It was maybe a block away. But it looked…different as she got closer. The golden scales didn't seem uniform across the broad back. Patches of scales were missing and a silver sheen seemed to coat some of the scales. … blood? The odd coloration soon became self-explanatory as she turned the corner, and the entire dragon came into view.
It was turned away towards them, its massive body facing the makeshift landing platform, set up on the roof top. The area was nearly deserted, the few stragglers supporting the injured as they moved away from the large creature. And across the creature's hide, was silver blood. It split into sheets across the golden scales, small waterfalls leading to a silver pool beneath the beast. And on the top of its back… a wound.
Glynda gasped softly as she took it in, slowing down to a light jog as her eyes traveled over it.
It was a wide ugly thing. Huge amounts of burnt flesh bubbled and pulsed. Silver blood pooling up and trailing over the side. The wounds size was on par with the floor of Ozpin's office. The most sever of the burn in the center, the size of a swimming pool. When it had flown above her head it had looked massive and majestic, a living legend that she'd see in the distance, grimm crumbling beneath its claws and jaws. And now seeing it up close., it looked no less majestic. Or deadly. But it did look injured.
So that's what Ironwood saw in the sky.
Glynda grip tightened on her wand and let out a low breath. She had to be careful with the dragon. They didn't know enough of the beast to know how to treat it. Friend? Foe? All her other questions and musings came back in full force. To assume now could set a dangerous precedent. She needed to be careful.
Glynda slowed to a walk as she moved cautiously along the side of the beast. Passing several other buildings, as she slowly made her way along the tail, passing some crosswalks and even more buildings as she approached the head of the dragon.
Its head was lower, which, wasn't saying much as it still comfortably hovered above the landing platform. Walking up the ramp briskly, she found herself staring at a very big head where the bullhead doors would normally be.
Glynda walked forward, taking a deep breath. This entire day was a mess. Her school was overrun by grimm and White Fang members, some of her students were missing and an entire Kingdom may be overrun by the end of the night and she hadn't heard from Ozpin since before the crisis began. And now a dragon. What was she supposed to do with a dragon?
Despite some students calling her draconic in her punishments, she had little knowledge of dragon's other than that they were fond of princesses.
Glynda Goodwitch was not a princess.
Shaking her head slightly, she looked up and tried to lock eyes with the dragon. While one eye was swollen shut, a milder burn traveling over maw to touch the left side of its large chalkboard sized face. But the other eye was bright and focused as it observed Glynda's form.
Glynda straightened up a little before speaking. "Dragon! …State your... Don't… Why are you here!" she said wincing at her uncertain stuttering.
Smooth Goodwitch.
The head didn't move, the eyes not even blinking as it stood there, it's sapphire eye like a large blue balloon for Glynda to look at. From the corners of her own eyes, Glynda could see other students gathering on rooftops, slowly building a perimeter, ready to react to whatever the move the dragon made.
She locked eyes with the beasts one eye and waited for some kind of response. This hadn't been the first time she'd seen something so large. She had been on plenty of missions into the wilds of Remnant that had brought her face to face with titanic creatures. But it was the first one that seemed to act like a living one. Not a twisted ancient grimm with the shape of a living animal, but a creature in its own right. With intelligence and drive pushing its actions. Hopefully enough intelligence to convey her meaning to the beast. She matched that gaze with an even look, trying to not appear threatening but her muscles tense, ready to react if the dragon decided it didn't need to pay attention to the tiny blond women.
A second passed. As she stared, increasingly more details became apparent to Glynda. The creature had been damaged heavily by the blow to its back judging by its slow labored breaths. And with the left eye shut, it had a massive blind spot. And with the students on the rooftops around her… If she had been assigned to take down such a creature, she couldn't have asked for better circumstances.
Another second passed. And then another. Then…
The dragon moved.
She tightened her grip on her wand as the massive head lowered slowly to rest above of her head. She tried not to wince as its breath from its snout rushed out, hot moist air that smelled faintly of ash. Slowing, still looking at her, it's maw began to open.
"Is it trying to breath fire at me?" She wondered, taking a step back. Was it just a mindless beast? Or maybe… she thought as a wild thought entered her head. Just maybe it was about to talk to her.
Didn't dragons speak riddles in the stories?
Her musings and tension died as its mouth opened all the way and she saw what laid inside.
Spread out on a large fleshy carpet of a tongue, surrounded by large arm length fangs, were Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie all laid out and unconscious in the dragons' cavernous mouth.
With a small gasp, Glynda immediately flicked her wand and the three students levitated out, supported delicately by her telekinesis as she examined her students.
Pyrrha was most definitely the worse off, showing obvious signs of battle fatigue and bruises that wouldn't have been possible if she still had her aura. One of her ankles was a bloody mess and neither of her weapons seemed to be on her. Nora and Ruby looked better by comparison and still had their weapons by their sides, but they still showed signs of mild burns and exposure to intense heat, singed clothes, and the pungent smell of burnt hair beginning to fill the air around them.
But all three were alive and were not in any immediate danger.
Glynda wasn't quite sure what to think so she spoke slowly, working through the few half thoughts that were still in her head. "You saved them. You recognized the safe zone and brought them here… But why this building? You saw it being used as a landing pad and knew we'd have people by it regularly. You are intelligent." Glynda breathed out, looking up into the dragon's eye as its maw closed and head began to slowly slide back. And to Glynda, it almost seemed like the dragon winced. Not just any wince though. A very familiar wince. Where had she seen that wince before? Mulling over the question, Glynda stepped back, her students floating beside her as the dragon began to move. Large silver drops splashed as the creature turned and began to slowly lumber away. The observing students shifting and murmuring as retreated.
However, one student, backed up and took a running start, choosing to ignore the moving mountain of scales and instead to join Glynda on the landing platform.
"Nora! Pyrrha! Ruby! Jaune!"
Sprinting towards her, a fresh bandage wrapped around his head, with desperate look on his face, Lie Ren approached, eyes locked onto his levitating friends.
"They're alive." He gasped out as he stopped by Glynda, his arms reaching out for Nora. Glynda levitated the students lower, allowing their teammate to examine them. The boy seemed to sag and stagger before collapsing onto the ground. "They're alive." The boy repeated quietly, holding onto the fact like a mantra as he tried to sit up from his ungraceful collapse, relief on his face.
"We'll need to get them to the first aid tents, but yes. They're out of immediate danger Mr. Lie."
Glynda smiled grimly down at the injured boy. And he was still a boy despite the battle he had been forced to fight. As he his breath slowly began to calm, his small battered form reminded Glynda of how injured and hurt her students had been by the attack. There were guaranteed casualties. An attack this large, it would have been a miracle to have everyone come out unscathed. For the first years, it was their first experience with losing their partners and teammates. At least this time, she knew of one team that had remained intact after the attack. Team JNPR. Ren, Pyrrha, Nora, and…
She blinked down at the boy in confusion.
"Jaune?"
The boy froze for a second and rather than address her, instead moved to all fours, his head up and out, looking at the dragon. Following her student's gaze, the dragon had been shifting its body again, moving slowly down the street and towards the border of the safe zone.
"Jaune!" Ren called out. Glynda watched with eyebrows raised. It was only for a second, and it could have been the beast stopping before it turned a corner… but to Glynda's eyes, the dragon seemed to freeze. Stilling at the boy's call before continuing forward and turning down a street.
Glynda turned away, her eyes remaining on the long reptilian tail as it moved out of sight, she had to focus on the immediate issue of injured students, a Kingdom in shambles, and finding out what happened to the Headmaster. However, she could maybe help do some… groundwork in observing the creature. If she took the bullhead-
Glynda stopped and surveyed the platform she was on, a frown on her face.
Where was the bullhead?
"Professor… do you think we could hurry to the first aid tents?" Ren asked slowly, standing up to his full height and dusting himself off not meeting her eyes. "Now that I know they're all safe, I wish to make sure they all recover. Especially Pyrrha"
Glynda turned to him and inwardly sighed, it looked like the mystery of the dragon would need to be shelved for a later time. But maybe there was one question she could answer in the meantime to satiate her curiosity….
"Just what did you mean by calling the dragon Jaune, Lie Ren?"
A question that would need an answer.
As Lie Ren eyes widened and he winced, Glynda looked back and tried to spot the gold and silver scaly hide above the rooftops, reflecting on the look she saw on the dragon's face. That dragon had definitively winced. Just like Ren's wince...
And Professor Goodwitch recognized the look students had when she caught them red handed. The widened eyes along with a wince when one of her questions touched on the truth. And with both Ren and the dragon sharing such a look, a picture was beginning to form. One that seemed more incredible than anything she had seen that night.
…. ow…ow. Pain. Hurts… rest...did good.
Safe. good… Everyone knows…
Qrow flew above the ruined streets of Vale, deep in thought as he slowly made his way back to the safe zone. He wasn't far off now. After several hours of rescuing and escorting civis, Goodwitch had finally given him a fun job - to investigate the rumors some of the survivors were reporting about the walls of Beacon. According to surviving Atlas soldiers and people living on the outskirts of Vale, the dragon had plugged the main holes in the walls, and took out the grimm in the area, stopping any more from entering the city. What Qrow had found had made those claims an understatement. The dragon hadn't just plugged the holes.
It'd built the city new defenses.
Taking out most of the behemoths and in some cases, collapsing buildings and dropping vehicles to patch the holes, the dragon had cleared the area with efficiency. With large trenches dug in front of the walls and burning logs and trees harvested from the forest, a flaming barricade was erected between the city and grimm. The entire time, Qrow hadn't seen any grimm in the area larger than an Ursa. It was far from a seal tight block, but it was enough to keep out the larger Grimm and cut down on their numbers. With these makeshift defenses in place, it'd be a piece of cake to reinforce them and clear the city of existing grimm. A simple job that any capable taskforce could do. Huntsmen or otherwise. Vale had survived one of the largest grimm attacks in modern history. A historic event for all of Remnant.
"Kaww…" Qrow swore softly as he flapped his wings to gain more height. If there was any greater proof that the dragon was on their side, it was this. Glynda and Oz would need to know imm-
"Kaww?!"
His flightpath was suddenly blocked, a massive golden wall of yellow scales dripping with silvery liquid in a space that was unoccupied a second before. Qrow folded his wings and dived to the left, bumping against the scaly surface roughly before rapidly descending to the pavement below. This was going to hurt.
Trading scrapped feathers for scraped skin, Qrow sat up from the pavement and glared beadily at what had sent him crashing.
The large injured monster didn't even notice him as it continued along its path, not reacting the destruction it caused as is squeezed down a street that was much too small for the behemoth. Windows shattered and metal and stone was pushed inwards as the dragon moved further down the street before slowing to a stop.
Qrow held his breath, his eyes locked on the large battered form. Whatever the beast did next, he'd need to report it back to Ozpin and Ironwood. Helper or not, it was still a large unknown. Something that blindsided everyone. It was helpful during the crisis, but once the dust settled, people would have questions. Not just Ozpin but people all over Remnant. Schnee and his cronies up in Atlas. Lionheart and the other headmasters. The council of Vale. They'd all want answers. And Oz had to be the one to give those answers.
The dragon stood for a second and then let out a long sigh. It sighed and it sighed and it….no… that wasn't a sigh… just what-?
Qrow's jaw dropped as the dragon appeared to deflate, scales shrinking and merging together, legs being pulled closer together as the dragon's form warped and shifted. It quickly diminished in size, falling from building height to street lamp and even smaller. Scales began to shift color, injured skin taking its place. Silver blood pumped out, slowly shifting to a red maroon color. Claws sunk down and narrowed out, becoming bloodied toes and fingernails. And from the head sprouted a blond mop of hair that was heavily blackened and bloodied. The entire process took maybe five minutes. All of it passed in stunned silence.
Qrow shakily got to his feet and walked forward, passing the large indentations in the ground caused by the dragon's weight and towards the unconscious teenager laid out in the middle of the street.
"Ka- I mean shit…" he whispered as he looked down at the boy. His back was horribly burned, his armor and clothes peppered with rips, tears and holes spread across his body minor burns underneath. And what shocked Qrow the most was that he recognized the kid. He saw him participate in the tournament! He had been on the same team as Nikos… team leader if he recalled correctly. J… Jean? Jan? Jun? Jan something or other.
And he could apparently change into a giant dragon.
Qrow stared for a moment before shrugging and picking the kid up, taking care to not put too much pressure on the boy's injuries. Dragon or not, the kid blocked off the grimm and helped a lot during the crisis. He was all right in Qrow's book. Besides, he could turn into a crow when needed. It wasn't anything odd about another shapeshifter showing up out of the blue.
The boy secured, Qrow set off again, his eyes looking out, trying to look past the destruction caused by the dragon just walking through the street.
"It's fine," he said aloud to the destroyed city, "This won't be complicated or difficult or anything. The boy can be a dragon, nothing weird about that. I turn into a crow. It's a perfectly natural thing to do. It's like killing your first grimm or puberty."
Qrow tried to ignore the fact that his shapeshifting abilities were specific to his tribe of people and were used with a specific purpose in mind.
The boy shifted and moaned in pain, causing Qrow to cast a worried glance at him. The burns were bad. He need to get him some medical attention quick or else it wouldn't matter if he could shapeshift.
Qrow tried to move faster, wincing at the unintentional jostles he was giving Jan.
"Nurse," Glynda called out, walking into the first aid tent with four floating students behind her, "Three new patients and an exhausted concussed returner for you!"
Ren sighed at his description and crossed his arms as he was lowered onto a cot. When Coco had ran in talking about the dragon arriving in the safe zone, he knew he had to be there. If Professor Goodwitch had just given him a minute to rest, he could have walked back on his own. He was okay. It was a just a concussion. He wasn't in danger.
"Ruby!" Weiss called out, moving from her chair by Blake's bed to stand by the side of her partners new bed as the small girl was lowered into it. As the three members of team JNPR were settled down and the nurses began attending to them, Glynda turned to one of the Atlas men standing guard and walked toward him.
"You there, locate and pass a message onto Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck. Tell them that the evacuation bullhead has gone missing. Have them track it down and to use it to survey Beacon. We need to confirm if it's unsalvageable."
The soldier saluted and left the tent. Before Glynda could focus on anything else, she was pushed out of the way by one of the nurses as two others rushed the stretcher carrying Pyrrha Nikos out of the tent.
"Give me a report of her injuries," Glynda instructed the nurse that had pushed her, and was now holding the tent flaps open for the table to be pushed through.
"Aura exhaustion, a nasty puncture wound on her foot, probably some muscle damage there, and major first degree burns with minor second degree burns all over her body and enough bruising and hairline fractures everywhere to make us worry about internal bleeding. We're forwarding her to intensive care inside the main hospital." The nurse listed off, immediately rushing back into the tent to focus on her other patients once the stretcher was fully out.
"And the other two?" Glynda asked, stepping into stride with the nurse and helping her grab some bandages and salve from a supplies table.
"Nora! Pyrrha!" A squeaky voice called out, and Glynda spared a relieved glance as the young leader that had just woken up.
"Much better. Only first and second-degree burns. The girl in the hood was low on aura but they're both fine for the most part. Just tired." The nurse said, rushing forward to push down the small girl that was trying to sit up.
Glynda watched the nurse speak to Ruby softly before her and Weiss began to treat her burns. Walking further into the tent, Glynda turned her attention to her other injured students, checking in on how they were doing.
Ruby needed time before she was questioned as to how and why she and her friends came to be in the dragon's mouth.
Jaune's mouth if Ren's concussed ramblings were to be believed.
Blurry shapes and hushed voices greeted her return to consciousness. Ruby was confused, what had happened? The last thing she had remembered was the dragon's roar of pain, immense heat, and the dragon's head whipping around towards them, it's giant maw open as flames seemed to travel over its head as its scales shimmered in the firelight….
"Nora! Pyrrha!" Ruby coughed out, making to sit up.
"Lay down," A voice commanded as a hand with a tight grip grabbed the girl's shoulder and firmly pushed her back into the bed. "It's been a long day for you and we're not done treating your injuries."
Ruby stared up at two blurry white figures as they slowly consolidated into a grumpy looking middle-aged woman and Weiss. "Bwah?" she asked, still confused.
"You, take this salve and apply it to her burns. Don't rub it in, just place it on the burned skin, the bandages will keep it there," the woman said, passing a small open jar to Weiss. Weiss took the jar and quietly began applying it to Ruby's arm. She winced at the pain.
Slowly, as the two worked, the rest of the world came into focus for Ruby. The green hazy fog revealed itself to be the inside of a tent, the other white shaped with colors on them showed themselves to be people, and Weiss appeared to have tears in her eyes.
Oh.
That was never good.
"I guess 'right back' wasn't fast enough," Ruby said quietly, wincing at how dry her throat felt. She winced again as Weiss pressed a glob of salve hard onto a burn. "You dunce," Weiss hissed as she reached into the jar to pull out more salve. "All I saw was fire up there. And nothing else! You didn't come back down, you didn't answer your scroll and the last Bullheads were leaving! Sun and his team had to help me move Blake and Yang!"
The heiress paused, wiping at her eyes with her arm furiously. "I thought…I t-thought…"
Ruby frowned as the nurse stepped back, satisfied with the amount of medicine goop that was on the girl.
"Sorry"
"Idiot."
The two girls remained silent as the nurse moved to the bed next to Ruby where Nora laid, still unconscious.
"How're Pyrrha and Nora?"
Weiss sighed and looked over at Nora, "Nora's the same as you, for the most part, while they just took Pyrrha to Intensive care. She was injured pretty bad."
Ruby's next question died on her lips as another figure stepped into the tent. "Uncle Qrow!" she gasped, as the rugged man glanced around the tent before heading towards her, his eyes locked on her injuries. "Ruby!" He said, rushing to stand by her bedside, "Are you, all right?" He asked, his gaze trailing over her burns as Weiss continued to apply salve.
"I'm extra crispy, but I'm good," Ruby said, reaching out a hand to grab her uncle's hand, bringing his eyes to her own.
"Right, right," Qrow muttered as he squeezed her hand before stepping away. "This is the first aid tent… you wouldn't be here if it was serious…" he continued, his eyes trailing over the other cots. He straightened up and rested a hand on Ruby's head, "Rest up Squirt, I'll check in with you and sleeping beauty in the morning,"
"Bye Uncle Qrow…" Ruby trailed off, watching as her uncle staggered off, making a beeline to where Professor Goodwitch was speaking softly with another bed ridden student, a thought trailing into her head.
If Uncle Qrow hadn't known that she was here in the first aid tent, then why had he come here?
Her thoughts were interrupted as Weiss slap a glob of slave onto her shoulder before rubbing it in. "So, tell me," the heiress muttered, her focus on Ruby's arm. "What happened up on that tower? And how'd you get off?"
Ruby thought about it. About the woman surrounded by dragon fire and Nora riding on the dragon's back. About the sheer size of the creature and riding it across the water. And the wave of fire that snuck up on them. And how the dragon saved them.
Then she thought about how to tell Weiss how it happened without sounding like a crazy lady.
"Erm…"
Mercury eyed with trepidation the collapsed buildings and large gouges in the pavement, the linger signs of the dragon's victory against the grimm as he and Emerald ran past. If that beast had survived…
No, he told himself, there's no way it had survived. Nothing could survive that power. It was for that very reason that they had gone these lengths to get the Fall Maiden Power.
He shook his head and continued forward, following after Emerald as they climbed the stairs. With the power relays to the tower destroyed, it had left them the tedious task of climbing up, step by step until they could rejoin Cinder.
Mercury was glad that he had metal legs.
"So, do you know what's next?" he called out, taking the stairs two at a time to catch up to Emerald.
The out of breath, red eyed girl glared at him, her chest heaving as she struggled to keep a good pace, "Not immediately. I know Cinder was communicating with someone in Mistral… But that's about it."
He nodded, continuing his pace to quickly pass her, ignoring her muttered curses. Mistral was nice, he had grown up in the area, there was a pretty good restaru-
He reached the top of the stairs, his musings cut off by the sight in front of him.
"Oh…wow…."
Half of the landing had been melted or burned by the heat. Warped metal, liquid glass, scorch marks and ashes littered the floor. And on the edge, laying down on the cooled metal…
"Cinder!" Emerald cried out, rushing past Mercury to their fallen leader. He started his own legs and ran to her side as well. He'd never seen her look this way. She had always been composed from the moment he met her. Composed, prepared, and dangerous. Now it didn't look like she could claim even one of those descriptions. Her clothes were charred and fully burnt, and all her skin was a shiny pink. Her hair was a mess, despite her attempts to push it back as Emerald helped her up. She coughed, a horribly hacking noise and cracked her eyes open, looking up at her subordinates.
"Emerald?" She muttered, her eyes roaming to the rest of the landing. They looked hazily and out of focus before snapping wide open, her body surging forward as she tried to stand up. Managing to just flop ungracefully in Emeralds arms.
Mercury chuckled under his breath.
"The dragon!"
"You got it boss," Mercury said as Emerald helped her to her feet, "Saw it fall into the waters and there's been no sign of it since."
Cinder growled as she staggered, pushing off from Emerald. "Not good enough. I need to see the body."
Straightening up a bit, Cinder looked out across the water from the tower towards Vale. She eyed an evacuation bullhead, making its way shakily towards Beacon. There was hardly any sign of grimm in the sky. For all intents and purpose, the campus was quiet and calm. If you ignored the destroyed classrooms and the occasion Grimm. Below, a large pile of rubble, the only remaining sign of the Grimm dragon. This was not how the night was supposed to go.
"I obtained the Fall Maiden's power and dealt with Ozpin," Cinder said slowly. "How are we on our other goals for the evening?"
Mercury stepped forward, shaking his head. "Vale still stands and we had to cut the broadcast short so that damn dragon didn't start to give people hope. That dragon creature did a real number on us." Mercury tried to keep a level voice as he delivered the bad news, paying close attention to Cinder's face. It was first impressions to the news that would say everything." It killed our grimm spawner, and did something in Vale while killing most of the grimm. It looks like Roman was taken out and no one's heard from Adam. Some of the Fang say the dragon got him."
Cinder didn't respond, her eyes still tracing the skyline of Vale, spying only a couple grimm here or there along the waterside. There were far too few. She had planned for the skies to be filled and the streets to be teaming. This was anything but. She'd need to correct her failure before moving on.
Salem wouldn't let her move on until it was corrected.
"That beast was a complete unknown, "she spoke up suddenly, turning to her two subordinates. "We had nothing prepared for it and we know nothing about why it was here. Finding out about that dragon is our top priority. Nothing else matters until we know where it came from and why it fought the grimm. And finding out if it survived is top priority."
"Erm… not that I'm against this plan, but how? Mercury can't show his face and someone probably recognized your voice from the announcement." Emerald said, stepping forward. "We're outed."
Cinder's eyes flashed, causing the green haired girl to take a nervous step back, only relaxing when she received a smile.
"Which is why he and I will be moving out of Vale. You however Emerald are still an unknown to Ironwood and Ozpin's lackeys. Follow the other students, get us a lay of the land. Act like a scared and confused student. Mercury and I need to leave the kingdom immediately. If that dragon is still alive then we'll need some… reinforcements."
Despite her less than gracious look, she stepped forward, new purpose in her movement as her eyes almost seemed to glow.
"Mercury, give me your scroll. I need to make a call."
AN: It was this chapter that was the first one written with the reader comments in mind. And the first major change is the return of Oobleck and Port, taking on much larger roles that initially planned in the draft. That's probably another advantage of rewriting the main plot. Before they were planned as comic relief for just one chapter. Now they have a semi-important role to play in the overall story! Woo for crazy professor shenanigans! And I've always been of the impression that, to successfully teach a bunch of rampant hormone addled teenagers with superpowers, you need probably some of the strongest, craziest hunters out there to be their instructors. So, having them randomly decide to solo and clear out a Grimm and white fang infested campus seems like a reasonable Friday out night to me.
Also… a lot of people… reacted to the tower scene in last chapter in a lot of different ways. Some calling out the apparent power levels (both calling both Jaune and Cinder) being over and under-powered depending on which comments you read and others calling out Jaune's strategy (or rather lack of one) to be rather stupid. While I explain a lot of it in further chapters (and please trust me, I have given some thought to power levels, strategy, and such details.) one thing that I'll include here because it won't be mentioned in other chapters is that Jaune's main concern at the time was saving Pyrrha and his friends. Not defeating a woman with weird super strong powers. Also, [Explanation redacted for future chapters] played a huge factor. Plus [Redacted] and [Redacted]. So hopefully that helps tide you over until the story actually gets to explaining itself.
Again, I don't know what I'm doing right until you...write me and tell me what you think! So, you guys write reviews and I'll write the next chapter for you all! All right? Right! Man, the puns….