AN:
Started training for my new job for the college year and whoo is it a doozy. Thankfully, while I work, the awesome beta readers are at play, going through this chapter for you all! Make sure to thank them in the comments.
Edited and Beta'd by Cruzerblade, Cr00cy and KAOS UNLEASHED
On with the show!
Chapter 4- So now that the dragon is gone...
"Ha-ha! Come along Mr. Alistair! It's time for us to clear out the west side of campus and reconvene with Doctor Oobleck! If we get there first we can fight the last grimm! And I'll be able to show you how to properly Suplex a King Taijitu!"
Fox Alistair let out a sigh, shifted his weapons back into revolvers and fell in line behind Port. The Professor beamed down at him before turning and strolling down the hallway at a brisk pace with his axe at the ready. As they slowly worked their way through the campus they came across pockets of students. Some were protecting civilians and their injured classmates, others had missed the last bullhead out of Beacon making them stranded on campus and a few students from the other academies simply got lost. Each one of them exhausted and relieved to see the two, cementing in Port's mind that this was a good idea.
The list of uncounted students in the Professor's head was quickly shrinking in size as more students were accounted for.
In fact, Port had come across young Alistair protecting a group of first years in the , a student after his own heart. If Beacon re-opened that year, Fox as well as many other students would receive special commendations in the form of a gold star sticker. Professor Port didn't hand those out to anyone, he only had one pack after all.
With the rescued students safe on the Bullhead and Fox with him to escort any other survivors they came across; Oobleck and Port were free to sweep the remainder of the campus to ensure that it was clear of any grimm or White Fang. They were determined to ensure that Beacon would not fall.
Professor Port's face was marred by a light frown when he rounded corner and ran headfirst into an Ursa. "That's odd, I thought I had already cleared this area". As the bear grimm staggered from the unexpected headbutt, Port raised his axe and bisected the grimm. As he quickly moved past the dissipating corpse he noted that the White Fang had been curiously absent from the campus. Not a single member of the radical organization was found; classrooms, dorms, faculty rooms, everywhere he looked,he saw signs of their presence, dropped masks and used medical supplies, but none of their members to sink his blade into…
"Peter!"
Professor Port turned with a grin as his colleague ran up to him with seven other students in tow. The night had been a success, despite the lack of White number of missing students was in the single digits now and the grounds of Beacon were silent, any remaining grimm vanquished. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he stepped forward to clap Oobleck on the shoulder.
"Well done Oobleck! I take it the west side has already been cleared out? Stupendous!" Port roared out, laughing cheerily as his eyes scanned the battered but safe students. Losing people in battle was expected when working as a huntsman. Even in the huntsmen academies, it wasn't uncommon to have a dozen students not survive to graduation each year. Any and all life rescued was a cause for celebration; to have rescued well over fifty was a cause for special celebration. Professor Port would make sure to tell this story to the next year students when Beacon re-opened.
"I believe that means that Beacon is fully and completely secure-"
"Peter."
The mustached man cut off, his eyes darting to his friend's face, taking note of the pain in the eyes and his tight mouth. He had seen something. Something terrible.
"Erm...Yes. Fox! Take these students to the Bullhead and wait for us to return. We'll do one last sweep of campus before joining you!" Professor Port rushed out, quickly steering himself and the somber doctor further down the hall and around the corner. With the amount of grimm killed already, the students should encounter no resistance back to the Bullhead.
"Now then…" Port started, slowing his walk, and turning to his friend. "What's the matter? What have you found?" In Ports mind, eventualities and horrible scenarios flashed through his head. Gristly fates of the few missing students. Poor young Arc or Nikos found loss of the break room coffee machine. It took a lot to shake Bartholomew. Whatever it was, it was going to b-
"Ozpin." Oobleck said, his eyes distant. "I found him."
Professor Port's brain froze.
Ozpin. Unofficial rally man and leader of huntsmen initiatives. Headmaster of Beacon. One of the most skilled men Peter Port had the privilege of fighting along side. His friend. His brother in arms. No.
"Where?"
Blake grunted as the rubble she was pushing against collapsed inward, letting light spill into the destroyed shop. Ducking down, she squeezed through the opening she made into the room, coughing slightly as her movements kicked up dust.
"And then we were on its back!"
"Yes Ruby."
She surveyed the trashed shop. A Bakery if the stale loaves of bread sprawled across the ground were anything to go by. From the looks of it, no one had been in the building for quite awhile. "Hello?" Blake called out. "Anybody here need saving? Or… grimm that need killing?"
"Flying away from the tower!"
"I know Ruby."
Blake strained her ears to try and listen, to see if her call had stirred any reaction in wreckage. Nothing reached her ears. All was silent. With a sigh, she turned and crawled back through the opening she made, to join her teammates outside.
"And then from behind us came this bright light and- "
"The last thing you saw was the dragon's maw and then you woke up in the first aid tent." Weiss continued, rubbing her forehead with a hand before looking up at her faunus teammate. "Anything?"
Blake ran her hands through her hair, brushing off some broken bits of plaster and dust. "Nothing. Just like the last building… and the last one."
"One building had a Nevermore!" Ruby chimed in, hopping off a destroyed car to walk past two. "So, it's not all nothing!"
"That Nevermore was the size of a dog and was stuck trying to go through a cat flap." Blake replied, falling into step with her diminutive leader. "It was more 'nothing' than 'something'."
"Pshhh! Details!" Ruby said enthusiastically, pulling up a map of Vale on her scroll. "That means we've completed three streets and only have two more before we can report that this entire block is clear! That's three cheers for team RWBY! Hip hip!"
Blake and Weiss exchanged glances before rolling their eyes and raising their hands limply in the air.
"Hooray." Both droned flatly.
Ruby stared at the two, her smile frozen on her face for a second before she turned away and increased her pace, putting distance between herself and her team.
Blake winced as she watched the girl move off, guilt welling up inside her. Ruby was trying her best to stay positive and move the conversation forward. It was forced and awkward, but she tried. It was more than her and Weiss could claim.
Weiss sighed before increasing her pace as well, coming up on Ruby's right side. The two went back and forth for a bit, each increasing their pace only for the other girl to match it, before Ruby, with a burst of her semblance, rocketed forward and around the street corner. Weiss broke out into a sprint, calling after her partner as she too turned the corner.
Blake watched them go before turning her gaze to the destroyed street around her, taking her time to navigate through the mess. It was a the ruined husk of Vale's shopping district and her friends. Although her team had survived and were doing their best to pretend nothing had changed, something had. Ruby had an almost demonic cheerfulness when she wasn't alternating between sitting quietly by Yang and Pyrrha's bedside. Jaune's was out of reach, as they didn't allow any visitors into the main hospital. Only medical personnel allowed into the overcrowded building. Any attempts from Blake or Weiss to talk to her was met with the same result. A rushed excuse and semblance generated rose petals.
Not that they were doing any better. For Weiss, it was probably her first time living in an isolated area where modern comforts were rare and rationed. To her credit, she had accepted the situation with what little grace she could muster and had not openly complained about the decline in her living conditions.
Also to her credit, was a shortened temper and tendency to overreact to each little slight.
And for Blake herself…
A sudden crunch caused her to glance down, brow furrowed. Her eyes widened, pulse quickening as she quickly jumped back, inadvertently activating her semblance, drawing her weapon as she did so, trying to put as much distance between herself and…and…
A cracked White Fang mask stared up at her, its eyes empty as a shadow replica of herself stood over it, her panicked expression frozen on its face as it flickered slightly.
Blake let out a tight breath as she slowly relaxed, putting away Gambol Shroud and closing her eyes briefly. She was fine, she told herself. There was nothing to worry about and no danger. Adam was not there. She was safe.
Inhaling sharply through her nose, she opened her eyes and walked forward firmly. Swinging her fist as she walked past it, her double vanishing into thin air, she made a point of stepping onto the mask as she moved to join her team.
Blake still had some things to sort out.
When Blake arrived on the next street, she paused and took in the damage. There was something… different about this street.
She moved cautiously along the sidewalk, her eyes roaming over the buildings. Oh sure, there were signs of grimm and general destruction, crashed cars and ashes where rampant fires had burned themselves out. But there was something…unusual. Maybe it was in how some of the buildings were damaged…or maybe how-
She let out a small yelp and stiffened in surprise as her foot dropped down, falling into a deep compression that tripped her up. Taking a moment to regain her footing, she looked down into the unexpected pothole and came to a stark realization. The dragon had been here. Her eyes shot up and moved over the street with a new perspective, small details snapping into place.
Those buildings were pushed inward because the dragon squeezed through the street to chase after grimm. The melted scrap metal wasn't from a fire, but rather gigantic fire breath. And the 'pothole' she had just stumbled into was just one of many large tracks left all over the street from where it's immense weight pushed into the earth.
Blake swallowed dryly and hurried across the street and into one of the nearest buildings. Her teammates would be in there. They were normal. They were safe.
When Blake joined her team in the building, they were already deep inside, pushing past fallen rubble and support beams. Unsurprisingly to the cat faunus, they were in the middle of another argument; a very familiar argument at that. Blake paused at the entrance to watch the two, a small smile made its way across her face. Although they had been through so much, they still hadn't abandoned each other. The back and forth bickering washed over Blake and was oddly soothing to her as she stood and listened to them. It brought her back to lazy afternoons spent in their room as she worked her way through one of her books and Weiss tried to help Ruby with her homework.
"But why couldn't the dragon be Jaune?" Ruby asked, shoving aside a collapsed bookcase to get at a door. "I mean it makes some sense."
"It is literally not possible Ruby, there is no physical way that scrawny Arc could somehow turn himself into that massive beast!" Weiss retorted, roughly shoving door open, before closing it when she saw that room was empty. "The laws of physics don't allow it! No dust manipulation or semblance would allow a change of that size!"
Ruby let out a whine of frustration as she checked the doors across from her, "Then where did it come from? The Grimm dragon broke out of a mountain! And Ren said he saw it and that they all saw it!"
"That's…" Weiss trailed off and Ruby wore a satisfied expression. "That's probably stress from the battle. And not everyone could track the dragon. Besides!" exclaimed Weiss as she turned to walk by Ruby, her side of the building cleared. "If Jaune was the dragon, then why would he have breathed fire at me and Velvet?"
Ruby's triumphant expression fell and her eyebrows scrunched together, the girl deep in thought as she followed her partner.
"Maybe- oh thanks Blake!" The girl started, thanking her friend who had moved on to clear an opening to the next building. "Maybe he was attacking something else! Like a Nevermore that was swooping down and was about to grab you!"
Weiss stopped walking and turned to stare at the younger girl. "A Nevermore." She deadpanned. "A Nevermore that required over half a minute of constant fire?"
Ruby chuckled weakly, shrugging and glancing to the side. "I don't know… the dragon did the same to the woman at the top of the tower. She must have gotten a good few minutes …Maybe his flames don't hurt people?"
Weiss continued to stare, before turning to Blake with an exasperated look as Ruby fidgeted with her cape. Blake sighed and closed the door to the room she was looking into.
"Ruby, if his flame wasn't lethal then then why did it breath fire on that woman? Weiss raises a valid point, the beast attacked her. If it really was Jaune, it would have imprisoned her in a tower to sing her a song" She said evenly, closing a door as she turned to talk to her teammates.
Weiss gaged as Ruby wrinkled her nose at the implication. "But that just raises even more questions if it wasn't Jaune! why would it let Nora ride it? Or why did it save us when that fireball hit it? If it wasn't Jaune then why did it care about our safety?" Ruby asked as they moved out of the building, their search turning up empty.
"I don't know." Blake replied turning her gaze to the next building, eyeing the structural damage. "But if Jaune really was the dragon, then there are other questions you should be asking. Like are there more like him? Why did he chose this fight to reveal his secret? Why did he join Beacon? And what else is he hiding?" She broke her gaze from the city to lock eyes with Ruby. "I hid my faunus ears because they were connected to my history as a White Fang member. If that's the kind of secret that comes with being a regular faunus, what secrets does Jaune have?"
Weiss chimed in, taking on a gentler tone that Blake hadn't heard since before the Vytal festival, "And if the dragon isn't Jaune, which it isn't, then your questions are still important. Why would a dragon save three random students? What are its real motivations? Is it our ally? Or do we just share a common enemy?" Weiss shook her head, "Even if it was Jaune, there's no guarantee that he's our friend. "
Ruby remained quiet as they entered the next building and began searching for signs of life. Weiss traded a worried look with Blake who shook her head back. Ruby would need to think through this on her own. With Blake, it was easy for the girl to accept Blake's shady past. And with Weiss chewing her out for not being in touch immediately, Ruby didn't even need to speak up, the Schnee heiress expressing all the worry and anger that they had carried over that weekend. But with Jaune, it was too large a secret to let slide without an explanation. "If it was Jaune", Blake reminded herself. Despite it...explaining some things, there were just too many unknowns to take the crazy claim at face value. No matter how much Ruby wanted to.
Blake thought back to the explosive appearance of the dragon during the fight with Adam. At the time she had been stunned, first at the sudden removal of the Yang, Adam, and most of the ceiling. Then from seeing her grimm studies professor standing between the dead and living dragons; and as she later learned he was apparently the one to deal the killing blow. But thinking back on the sheer size of the creature, Blake couldn't even think of begin to compare it to a human. The apparent size and strength on a completely different level. Much less the lanky, high pitched blond who was perhaps the worst prospective huntsmen in Beacon.
Shaking her head, she stepped forward, breaking the silence, "Come on, the sooner we finish our patrol the sooner the construction workers can move in and begin their repairs." Not turning to look at the others, Blake opted instead to jump up to the second story to climb in through a window.
Questions needed to be answered regardless of the truth. A dragon had flown out of the story books and into the skies of Vale. And that was the least of their worries from Blake's perspective. A rogue terrorist group working with Grimm to apparently topple one of the four kingdoms. Something was happening, and it was probably just the beginning.
"There were several students there Yang. If it wasn't Jaune how else would you explain how he went missing at the exact same time with all those students there?"
"Nora, I don't know, but there has to be a better explanation than a dragon! And Ren's the only one who-"
Pyrrha returned to consciousness slowly. Hearing establishing itself first, followed quickly by touch. A sour sensation that made her curl in on herself in pain. A dull ache pulsed up her leg along with several small bruises making their presence known.
"That doesn't feel good" she thought as she cracked open her eyes. She stared at the faded green ceiling, her eyes not fully focused. What had happened? Why did her body ache so much? She's never felt this bad before… Then it all came rushing back.
The festival. Penny. The attack. The maiden. Ozpin. Cinder. The dragon. Nora. Ruby.
She surged to her feet, or at least tried to before collapsing back onto the mattress, her mind filled with panic and confusion as her body filled with aches and pains.
Where was she? What happened to Cinder? To Beacon? Why was Penny a robot? Nora was riding a-
"Welcome back P-Money!"
"Pyrrha!"
"You're awake!"
Hey view was quickly filled with colored blobs. Bright orange, pink and black met her eyes as she blinked owlishly at the change. What had just…? Slowly, they came into focus, morphing into the faces of her friends. Ren smiling at her from a chair, dressed in a medical gown, Nora, bouncing excitedly as she weaved her way around a bed to get to Pyrrha's side.
Movement from the corner of her eye made her roll her head, Yang waving at her from the bed, a line of cots set out behind her with other figures. She swallowed, wincing at how dry her throat felt.
"Where…?"
"Take it easy, we're at the safe zone in Vale." Ren answered, grabbing a water bottle from beside the bed and opening it.
"You were injured pretty badly, and completely out of aura. It's been about three days since they let you out of intensive care." Nora chimed in, helping her up into a sitting position, Ren brought the bottle close to her lips for her to drink.
"Drink slowly," He said, gently tilting back the bottle. And drink she did, closing her eyes in relief as the little bit of liquid raced down her parch throat. Bliss.
Three days? Intensive care? How bad were her injuries?
Taking a gasp as Ren moved the bottle away, she took a couple steady breaths, looking around the room. It was tent if the walls, roof and cement beneath the beds was anything to go by. While only a few of the beds were filled, the people who were in them were obviously still recovering from injuries. Casts, braces, and other wrappings, littered the bodies of her injured schoolmates.
Most of them sleeping she noted before trailing her eyes over to Yang's bed. She frowned as she stared at the lilac eyed girl. She looked fine by comparison. Swallowing again she spoke, her voice much more solid after the drink.
"Yang…why…?"
The blond-haired girl winced and looked away, "I was…injured while fighting. My aura was wiped out and I took a…beating that gave me some microfractures. They're just keeping me here until my aura heals the bones. I...just woke up this morning." She said, a minor blush on her face. "But they're letting me out tomorrow!" she added hastily.
Nora snorted and giggled, sitting on Pyrrha's bed and leaning against the girl's shoulder. Pyrrha pushed back, welcoming the support. "Please! Combat? Jaune rolled on top of you!"
Pyrrha's brain broke. Jaune? On top of Yang? What? But? A mix of disbelief and jealousy flooded her being. She turned, looking for the boy, to hear his spluttered denials but… Where was he? Her eyes scanned the tent, trying to find that familiar mop of blond hair.
No sign of him.
"For the last time! There's no way it was Jaune! And it wasn't a roll! It was a freaking avalanche of brick and scales! You try having a building collapse on-"
"Where's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked quietly, killing the conversation before it started. Nora stiffened beside her as Yang bit her lip and looked away. Ren sighed and began to inspect the ceiling.
"Guy's, where's Jaune?" asked Pyrrha again, a tight lump in her chest as she tried to meet the eyes of her friends.
"He's okay." Ren said quickly, moving to quell her growing panic. "He's in the hospital still recovering.
It's just…"
"How he got there that's ambiguous." Finished Yang, sending a weird look towards Ren before looking back at Pyrrha. "He was found unconscious in Vale, covered in burns and scrapes his aura completely spent. A huntsman carried him here on the first night."
Pyrrha let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, "W-well that's not too bad… But what's ambiguous about that?" Pyrrha asked, leaning more against Nora as the conversation dragged on taking comfort in her teammates presence.
"Well…" Yang started, throwing another weird glance at Ren. Just what was up between them? Pyrrha wondered. "Jaune was last seen in Beacon. Before…let's call it disappearing. If you believe Ren's brain damaged account… Jaune transformed into that golden dragon that was fighting that night… and must have landed in Vale to transform back."
Pyrrha stared at Yang.
Yang stared back.
Pyrrha turned her head slightly to look at Ren.
Ren looked at the water bottle he was holding.
"Not a Nora Dream?" Pyrrha asked weakly.
"I know it sounds crazy." Ren admitted.
Nora pouted.
"Ren…" Pyrrha started. "Are you sure you didn't just see the dragon right after you lost track of Jaune?"
Yang fell back onto her bed, she let out a chuckle, "That's what I first asked too!" she exclaimed. "There's no way, Vomit Boy of all people, could turn into a dragon. People turning into animals in general just isn't possible! It sounds like human propaganda from the Faunus Rights Revolution!"
"It's the truth," Ren replied tersely. Shifting his gaze to Pyrrha, he shifted his gaze to look her in the eye. "He changed into that dragon to save Velvet and Weiss."
"Ren doesn't lie." Nora chimed in quietly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder in silent support.
Pyrrha searched her friend's eyes and found that he believed what he said. She thought back to her last, hazy memories. Back to a giant golden dragon, bloody wounds along its neck and in between brilliant blues eyes…
"Nora?"
"Ruby?"
Shaking her head slightly and blinking away the memory, she spoke, pausing between each word. "I believe…that you believe what you saw." She said opening her eyes to her friends frowning faces. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you!" she hastily added, raising a hand as a frowning Nora leaned forward. "I'm just saying I'm going to need more proof. It was the middle of battle, Ren might have only seen something out of the corner of his eyes and made assumptions." She finished, rubbing her face with one hand. She had a headache. She didn't know if it was from the combat injuries or the conversation she was having. Probably both.
Ren continued staring at her. He didn't manage to keep a hint of frustration from leaking into his expression", "Fine." He said stiffly, straightening up. "They're saying Jaune's aura has replenished enough to where it can start healing his injuries. Once he's awake he can tell you himself." He set the water bottle down on the small stand next to Pyrrha's bed and began to walk out.
"Our break's nearly over. We'll be searching Vale for grimm and survivors until later tonight. We'll come visit you when we get back. Try to get some more rest." Nora said, apologetically, giving Pyrrha a quick hug as she stood up as well.
"Ren…" Pyrrha trailed off, the boy too far away to hear her weak call.
Nora sighted. "No one's believes him and the others who saw aren't saying anything." She said quietly. She turned and gave Pyrrha a hug, being careful not to squeeze to hard. "He's just frustrated that no one's taking him seriously. Don't worry, I'll talk to him." The orange haired Valkyrie smiled at her bedridden teammate. "It is good to have you back with us." She turned around and followed Ren, jogging to catch up.
Pyrrha stared as the open flap gave a brief glimpse of a crowded Vale park before it fell back into place, cutting her off from the outside. She sighed and fell back onto the bed before she looked over at Yang's.
She was sprawled out on the mattress, a collection of pillows piled up so she was slightly reclined. The brawler halfheartedly raised a hand. "Welcome to team bedridden." She deadpanned. "Where it's crazy theories and overprotective teammates three times a day!"
"Your team's been protective of you?" Pyrrha asked, trying to distract herself from both her headache and the previous conversation.
"Totally," Yang replied, stretching her arms above her head, her eyes distant. "I mean seriously, I just got…knocked unconscious. Blake was stabbed and Ruby had to get you off the tower. You'd think they'd- "
"What?" Gasped Pyrrha, sitting up slightly to look at Yang. Blake stabbed? And Ruby-
Fire swirling around, the color throwing harsh light onto Ruby's cloak as the silver eyed girl looked worriedly down at her. The shadow of the dragon in the background.
More memories began popping up from the night, confusing, terrifying memories.
Ruby with tears in her eyes desperately clinging to her fallen friend's weapon. Ozpin roughly dismissing her and Nora as he engaged Cinder. Pain lancing up her leg as Cinder materialized a bow and arrow to kill her wi-
Shaking off the memories, she sat up further, heart pounding, trying to stay focused on her immediate surroundings. The headache pounding against her skull. How had Ruby gotten her off the tower? It looked like it'd be awhile before she'd get to sleep off the headache. "Yang." Pyrrha started shakily, gathering her thoughts. She had no idea what had happened during that time. From fighting Penny to fighting Cinder. There were so many questions that she needed answer to.
"I need you to tell me everything you know about what happened that night."
"It was definitely the heat in the end."
Doctor Oobleck's voice was cold. Clinical. Wrong.
"It looks like the new Fall Maiden has an affinity for fire. We may be able to use that the help track her down. Look through the old databases maybe."
Then again, everything had gone wrong ever since the final round of the Vytal Festival. They should have listened to Yang. There was no way a well-meaning, if rambunctious girl like her would have lashed out like that.
"So, to recap, Beacon's experienced a miracle and has come out of the invasion with only one death. With over forty percent of our students suffering from severe injuries and aura exhaustion. We won't know how many will fully recover until they can receive full examinations. As for the visiting students… there's no real way to tell without access to Beacon's systems. We'll probably need to do a full headcount sometime lat-"
"Thank you Oobleck…" Glynda finally spoke cutting off his report as she, raised her head from her hands to make eye contact with her colleges across the table, cutting off his report.
They had been unable to debrief until days later after the establishment of the save zone. With the other faculty of Beacon quickly called to help assist in fighting the growing grimm population outside the Kingdom, it was left to Ozpin's inner circle to manage matters inside the Kingdom. Upon their arrival, Professor Port, and Doctor Oobleck had been put to work overseeing the students and the evacuation efforts; while Glynda worked with Ironwood and focused on Vale's security and reconstruction plan for the recovering Kingdom. Every single one of them was overworked, overstressed, and just plain tired. Each with a full plate of issues that required their full and immediate attentions.
Until now.
"I also want to thank the two of you for clearing out Beacon and rescuing the students," Glynda continued, trying to look anywhere but at the slightly burned cane laid out on the table in front of them all. The metal that previously made up the handle, warped and twisted.
This wasn't right. It was Ozpin who led these meetings. It was her job to take notes and look for potential issues in the plans, not to make them herself.
Professor Port smiled back, tears openly falling into his mustache as he poured himself another glass from the now half full bottle of brandy. To Glynda's shame, she had probably drunk more of the liquor than either of the two men in front of her.
Qrow would be proud.
"Of course, Glynda. We couldn't very well call ourselves professors of Beacon if we didn't get classrooms ready for our students." the man chuckled weakly as he rested an arm around his now quiet green haired colleague.
"M-moving on…" Glynda said, dabbing her eyes. "I've worked with Ironwood to get the students to work with the reinforcements to clear what remains of Vale and search for survivors. At the rate, they've been going the past few days, I expect the entire Kingdom to be clear by the end of the week."
Doctor Oobleck nodded weakly, "An excellent use of their desire to help." he said quietly. "With only a few areas in Beacon taking structural damage, we can move the students back into their dorms soon, allowing for the construction teams and reinforcements to set up where our students are now."
Glynda nodded and wrote down the suggestion. They had one bullhead out of Beacon's fleet that was fully operational. It would take several trips but it would be possible.
"The Cafeteria was destroyed by the fight between the giant grimm and the dragon." Port spoke up, taking a gulp of his drink. "We'll need to secure a way to provide food for the students before we move them in."
The three Professors signed, each one lost in their own thoughts as they tried to come up with a solution.
None came to them.
"We messed up." Oobleck said, causing the other two to look at him, "We had a duty as Professors of Beacon to protect our students and the people of Vale and we failed them. Someone not only broke through our defenses, but killed the Fall Maiden and our Headmaster, hacked the Atlas Military Defense Network, and did it all with all of Remnant watching." He summed up, slumping in his chair.
Glynda couldn't think of anything to say to help reassure her friend. They had failed. He hadn't said anything that wasn't true.
"Holy Shit... Keep this sad show going and I'll throw you outside the walls to stop the grimm from invading again."
And if she did have something to say, it most certainly would be anything but that.
Glynda's head shot up as Qrow Branwen stumbled into the tent. His beady eyes staring at the three of them, resting for a moment on the burned walking cane lying on the table. Not breaking stride, he sauntered over and picked up said cane, before giving it a few twirls.
"Hmm. Well balanced. I see why he didn't modify it…" he muttered.
"What are you doing here Qrow?" Slurred Professor Port, staggering to his feet. His face red.
"Easy, easy," Qrow replied, keeping a level voice as he took a seat at the table; Port following a moment later, scowl on his face. "I'm here for the same reason as you. Protecting Vale, fighting the Queen, and following Ozpin's orders."
"Ozpin's dead." Oobleck said bluntly, taking a sip of the brandy, his mug still giving it a light taste of coffee. "Killed by the new Fall Maiden."
"Ozpin's out of action." Qrow said, lifting a finger. "There's a difference between being knocked down and being taken out."
"We saw the body Qrow. Ozpin's gone."
Port and Oobleck stared at Qrow with confusion and annoyance as Qrow fiddled with Ozpin's staff. Glynda looked thoughtfully down into her glass, an old memory coming to the surface. It had been during one of their many conversations about the man's crazy gambits and tendency to leave himself as the only line of defense.
"Oh, come now Glynda, you know me. Do you really think I'd just walk into such a situation without a trick or two up my sleeve?"
"You know something" Glynda said, looking up at Qrow; the statement drew curious looks from her colleagues. "You know one of Ozpin's secrets." A new feeling was welling in her chest. It was pitifully weak but it was still there.
Hope.
The scythe wielding drunkard uncharacteristically smiled at her as he gingerly grabbed the bottle of brandy and moved it off the table. "Not really my secret to spill… I'll let Oz tell you himself when he catches up with us." Qrow said, before taking the half full bottle of branding to his lips and began to chug it.
Stunned silence echoed across the take as Qrow downed the entire bottle, slamming it back onto the table as he gasped for air.
"Woo. Now that's some good stuff. Not very strong. But good!" He said, examine the label on the bottle.
Eventually, Professor Port managed to speak, "S-so you're telling us t-that..."
"Yep" Qrow said, popping the p as he leaned back in the chair. "So, don't get too comfortable Headmistress Goodwitch," he said, shooting an amused look at the woman. "You may be in charge now but Oz will be back after a while to help run the more… interesting side of the job."
"Well thank you for your reassurance." Glynda replied dryly, as an enormous weight seemed to be lifted from her shoulders. Running a school for future Huntsmen she could handle. Fighting a shadow war, hidden from the rest of the world was a bit outside her skill set.
"But until then," Qrow said, sitting up straight, and taking a sip from his flask, "We'll need to act in his place and make sure it's all nice and neat for him to come back to. Which includes hunting down the pieces that staged this little attack."
Glynda scowled at the drunk trying to squash the small part of her that sagged with relief as Qrow took control of the situation. He was annoying, troublesome, and an alcoholic; but he worked with Ozpin far longer than her. He'd have a better idea of how to run things until Ozpin got back.
The small part of Glynda cheered.
"We've identified the voice from the broadcast as Cinder from Haven. A contestant from the festival. Coincidentally her teammate was the boy who had his legs broken. The first incident of the festival." Qrow said, sliding a scroll across the table, a smirking black hair girl staring up at them. Her eyes glowing against the pictures backdrop. Glynda scowled at the photo. So, this was their enemy. She had a few vague memories of passing her in the hallways around Beacon.
"What of the other two teammates?" Professor Port asked, his arms crossed as he tried to regain some dignity and sobriety to focus on the issue at hand. "Any idea where they are?"
Qrow shook his head as he took another sip from his flask. "Gone as far as I can tell. There's no sign of them here in the safe zone. Probably either blended in with the mob of people fleeing to Patch. That, or they had their own method of escape, same as the White Fang. I'd bring you pictures, but the Queen's virus had wrecked most of the data on the stadium servers. Faces, names, bios… all gone. Might be able to set a tech guy on the job, to recover a few details. I got this picture from one of the civilians that was recording during the fight. If was one of those five second videos. This was the only usable thing from it."
"I'll inform Ironwood and begin a search of Patch." Glynda said, her eyes lost in thought. "And if we can recover Ozpin's security system we may be able to find them on those records. Get their faces that way." She leaned in more to study the scroll, committing the name and face to memory. Cinder Fall… they would meet again.
"It would also be good to interview the students and civilians." Doctor Oobleck said, taking off his glasses to clean them, wearily. "They may have seen something and we may be able to track, not only them but also find out where the White Fang were doing during the attack." The man still looked shaken, but there was conviction in his voice as he placed the spectacles back on his face.
"And the Dragon." added Port, craning his neck to try and inspect the picture upside down. "We have a vague idea of what it did that night, but with any luck, we may at least get an idea of where it retreated to."
"Yeah… about that…" Qrow said quietly, turning to Glynda. "Did you tell them about what we recovered?"
Glynda sighed and turned up to look at the man. "Not yet," she said, moving some of her hair out of her face. She really needed to get it washed… "I was waiting until we were back in Beacon, away from prying eyes and ears." she explained, shooting an apologetic look towards her colleges.
Qrow grunted, turning away again. "Good call Goodwitch." He said, his eyes trailing along the sides of the tent, "You never know who might be listening. These tent walls are paper thin…"
Qrow then lept from his seat, drawing his sword and plunging it into the side of the tent, a surprise yelp sounded from the other side.
They were not alone.
AN: Cliffhanger! Splitting this one into two chapters. I had wanted to have chapter 5 get to Jaune's awakening but there was too many important things to cover. One of the tricky things of having a slight AU instead of a full AU is that I have to not only balance my plot points, but also the show's plot points. Which is kinda hard to do when the show is still ongoing. But progress marches forward. I'm currently in job training right now so for the next month or so I'll be adjusting to a new job, and slowly writing out chapter 6. Chapter 5 will be along once that's done.
Until the next time!