RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)
I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.
I am making no money from this.
Chapter 89: Down To The Woods
They had awoken and organised themselves at an ungodly hour of the morning with no opportunity to eat breakfast before departing, the sun still partially below the horizon when they had filed into the Bull-Head that would take them to the Emerald Forest. The transport felt far too small and uncomfortably cramped with the presence of second year Team SNST joining them and bringing their own weapons and gear; the younger students memorable mainly due to their being trained by Carcharodon Gore for a brief period of time seemed somewhat awestruck and utterly unable to hide the fact as they travelled with the now famous Team FADE. Despite these inconveniences Team FADE themselves had managed to make the most of the situation and were managing to wake themselves up with their usual banter and good natured bickering.
"We're getting woken up to mow the lawn….not even getting an allowance for it" Felix grumbled, describing the mission they had been assigned with the disparaging term most students given the task used
"Suck it up" Diamond snorted "Would you rather be in class right now?"
"Classes don't start for hours, I'd rather be in bed right now" Felix countered, the sniper shrugging and silently conceding the point.
"So how're we handling this?" Arctus asked, whilst their mission was simple in essence it was still best to have a solid plan of action beforehand. The teams being sent into the Emerald Forest had each been tasked with with covering a specified amount of ground and eliminating any Grimm they encountered along with replacing the power supplies for the hidden cameras that were used to monitor students during their initiation and observe the forest during the rest of the year, as well as check them for any undue damage; a proposal that had caused Team FADE to share concerned glances as each of them was forcibly reminded of the seemingly intelligent Alpha Beowolf that had spoken and named itself Phobos during their first year.
"Team SNST take the east, we'll head west" Felix answered after a moment "We fan out and cover the ground faster, keep comms open and stay close enough that we can regroup at a moments' notice. Shine, if your team run into trouble contact Eagle first; her Semblance will get her to your location before the rest of us"
"Okay, I can do that" Eagle agreed, contributing something other than a yawn to the conversation for the first time in a while
"You okay?" Felix asked
"Just tired"
"Where did you sleep last night?" the Faunus's question was accompanied with a toothy grin that made it clear he knew exactly what the answer would be
"Bold of you to assume there was any sleeping involved" Diamond snorted, knowing that Eagle had departed to meet Hellion after the team naming ceremony
"Oh my Oum! Shut up you jerks!" Eagle gasped, burying her face in her hands as her freckled cheeks flushed scarlet
"Not to sound too much like Corey…..but I guess you two got it Helli-ON" Felix added, only for his proud expression to falter when his team-mates turned and gave him exasperated sighs in unison
"Dude….no" Diamond shook her head "Just no"
"Whatever man, don't even like the puns anyway" he grumbled; glancing over to the younger students they shared a transport with when a giggle escaped one of Team SNST
"Holy Oum they speak!" hearing this caused the second years to collectively fall silent once again, intimidated by the presence of the older students
"You guys okay?" Diamond enquired, concerned that Team SNST were worried about the mission and that the worry would become a self fulfilling prophecy when it lured Grimm to their location
"We're good" Shine Jua, leader of the team assured her "Didn't wanna admit it y'know, but it's kinda cool to be working with you guys"
"Is it true that the Ruby Rose is your Aunt?" one of Shine's team-mates added
"Yeah it is" Felix grinned "But seriously though, we're just students the same as you are….working with us is nothing special"
"No way, you guys are awesome" another member of Team SNST objected "You kicked ass in the Vytal Tournament….hey is it true that you guys held off the leader of the White Fang on your own?"
"I don't wanna talk about it" Felix stated flatly, expression darkening as he looked away
"Come on bro, it must've-"
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" the Lion Faunus was already unfastening the harness of his seat and making to lunge at Shine when he felt Arctus and Eagle grab him by the shoulders; Felix stilled and forced himself to reign in his temper though the damage had been done, Team SNST sat in petrified silence except for a single stammered apology which went unacknowledged and the atmosphere within the transport grew oppressive and icy as silence reigned until the co-pilot of the transport stepped into the rear compartment
"We're coming up on the drop zone in the western clearing"
"Let's move" Felix snarled, tearing the harness away and leaping to his feet
"Stay safe down there" the co-pilot gently rested a hand on Felix's shoulder, he was about to violently remove the hand when he saw that the middle aged woman's uniform was decorated with a handful of medals; one of which was an award only given to those who had served in the militia that had retaken Vale from the Grimm during the war; seeing the medal Felix merely nodded silently whilst fishing a sizeable Fire Dust crystal from one of his pockets before positioning himself at the hatch beneath the crafts' left wing, Eagle stood beside him whilst Arctus and Diamond took the right side
"Coming up in three! Two! One" the co-pilot announced before the lighting within the rear compartment shifted from red to a vibrant grin and wind howled around them as the hatches slid open
"GO! GO! GO!" Felix leapt and was briefly aware of Eagle taking a position behind him, then he was falling and the treeline rushed up to greet him at tremendous speed. Time seemed to slow as he watched Eagle swoop passed him in her avian form, rotating as he fell he saw Arctus and Diamond sharing a Glyph that the Bear Faunus had summoned; the silver haired sniper having shifted Lex Talionis to its' ranged form and was clearly preparing to leap into the trees. Felix exhaled slowly and crushed the Dust crystal in his hand whilst activating his Semblance, it didn't provide enough energy for him to enter his Balrog state but it did cause his golden Aura to become visible and allow him to plummet through the trees, shattering any trunks or branches he came into contact with before finally rolling to a stop on the ground utterly unharmed.
"There's gotta be an easier way for you to do that" Eagle sighed, announcing her presence as she reverted to her true form in a flash of brilliant white Aura
"Probably, but sometimes I just wanna smash things" Felix grumbled
"And let every Grimm within twenty miles know we're here" Diamond's low voice hissed down to him; alerting him to the fact that the sniper had indeed set up a vantage point in the canopy. Arctus lumbered into view from where he'd landed, using a small Glyph that span like the blade of a buzz-saw to cut away any foliage in his path
"Everyone got spare batteries for the cameras?" Felix asked his assembled team
"And a map showing where the cameras actually are?" Diamond added; both questions received positive answers and the Lion Faunus drew Hack and Slash from the harness on his back and cricked his neck
"Let's fan out and get the job done then….We're hunting Grimm in a forest, this is the easy stuff"
Helios landed in a crouch, the edge of his shield colliding with the spine of a Beowolf; despatching the monster with a sickening sound of shattering bone. He wasted no time in leaping to his feet and joining the fray in earnest only for the nearest creature of Grimm to him, a towering Ursa, to be reduced to nothing but wisps of smoke by Olivine who had taken the opportunity to display just how effective the newly upgraded Buster Bravo was. The golden armoured Huntsman wasted no time finding another target and began his rampage through the tide of Grimm with fresh vigour, acutely aware of Ether and Nyanza working together in tandem, the guitarist using his Semblance to flit around the impromptu battlefield that their landing zone had become and using himself as a distraction which created openings for the bushy tailed Faunus to gun down scores of Grimm, showcasing his impressive marksmanship as he did so. The skirmish was brief and brutal, ending with the small hill surrounded by trees upon which Team NEON had landed being enveloped in a fine mist comprised of deceased Grimm
"Ever wonder if breathing this shit in all the time is bad for us?" Nyanza asked conversationally as he reloaded, his team-mates turning and giving him disbelieving stares
"What?" he demanded in an amused tone with a shrug as he spun the Pharaoh Mafdet in their pistol forms around on his fingers by their triggers, miraculously not firing the weapons by accident
"What the hell happened, I thought you were supposed to be lucky?" Olivine demanded with some irritation she as removed her goggles and wiped sweat from her brow. They had been the second team from their transport to deploy, fourth years Team CAMO having preceded them and landed in the forest proper; the Grimm had seemingly taken notice of the Bull-Head at some point between deployments causing Team NEON to be beset on all sides from the moment their feet touched the ground
"Hardly fair to blame me" Nyanza protested with an annoyed scowl, prompting Helios to cut off the bickering before it could gain any momentum
"Enough….Olivine, reload whilst Ether and I scout ahead, Nyanza contact Team CAMO and make sure they landed without being overrun" the redhead gripped his sword and shield a little tighter as he began down the small hill and towards the trees, many of which had been been broken or uprooted by the Grimm that had swarmed them
"Think that little of the fourth years?" Ether murmured with an amused smirk as he fell into step with his team leader
"The first impression was unimpressive" Helios admitted; the rabbit Faunus named Carat and his team were almost certainly capable fighters but had carried themselves with such a lax and carefree attitude that the redhead had seemingly had to restrain himself from reaching over and shaking sense into them, especially the older teams' self proclaimed heavy hitter, a man named Maroon who seemed eager to point out that his name rhymed with doom.
"So what's the plan?" Ether asked, resting Ghost Reverie over his shoulder in its' axe form "Fan out and cover more ground?"
"Eventually….I don't know this forest, better we stick together until we have a more accurate idea of just how many Grimm are in it and then decide on splitting into pairs"
"Makes sense" Ether nodded in agreement, turning and slowing to a halt as Olivine and Nyanza rejoined them; the feline pausing as something in a bush caught his eye, crouching down he reached into the mass of thorns and leaves and pulled out what was obviously a weapon of some kind
"Huh, guess I am still lucky after all. One of the fresh meat must've dropped it….guess I'll give it back" it was a testament to Nyanza's growth that he hadn't elected to sell the weapon, some kind short sword that doubled as a ranged weapon, back to its' owner
"Good, but focus" Helios reminded his partner
"Team CAMO are fine" Nyanza informed them, getting back on track "They actually saw some Nevermore heading our way and took 'em down for us"
"I'll have to thank them later" the redhead was pleasantly surprised at the admittedly more experienced teams' decision, fully aware that fighting airborne Grimm in addition to the monsters they had already had to combat would have been difficult on the hilltop which afforded no cover.
"Yeah, they said they caught sight of the Bull-head Team FADE were on as well; the one with the old Vale Flag pained on the wing" this caused Helios to visibly stiffen; he had already been well aware that Team FADE had been given an identical mission to his own but suddenly the reality that Felix, about whom he was already growing concerned, was in this very forest filled with Grimm and possibly acting as a lure to the monsters made his blood run cold; the sinking feeling in his stomach must have shown on his face because Nyanza gave him a knowing look before speaking
"If you wanna go look for him then fine….just keep your comms open and don't try any stupid hero shit. We've got your back"
"Pass me your gear" Olivine sighed "We'll handle the mission if this can't wait until we get back"
"I….I don't know if it can" Helios admitted, unable to fully articulate his concerns "Thank you"
"No problem" Ether gently nudged his shoulder, his brow furrowing as a thought occurred to him "How're you gonna find him though? I doubt he's gonna be able to give you any landmarks to reference" Helios merely gave a confident smirk at the question, obviously his team-mate had forgotten just who he was talking to
"I'll find him" he assured Ether "I'm a Nikosi, this is what we do"
"This feels a lot easier than last year" Nero Pyre noted, struggling to be heard as he continued the task of clearing out the Deathstalker nest Team SNST had stumbled upon by aiming his flamethrower into the cave that the Grimm were pouring out of and simply unleashing the weapons destructive capabilities'; whilst beside him his partner, Seashell a tall young woman slender enough to risk being on the wrong side of spindly, decimated any of the arachnid horrors that survived the flames with her own weapon, a Gatling-gun that her team-mates were still occasionally surprised that she could lift. The task of covering the pair from any Grimm that had already escaped the cave or that had been drawn to the violence fell to Shine who wore his heavy goggles over his eyes and flashed between the trees with his weapon in its' ranged form, riddling the carapaces of the Grimm with bullets wherever he appeared and Teal, the final member of the second year Team holding Grimm at bay with a double ended trident.
"Not saying much, last year was a fucking nightmare" Shine noted as he blinked into view in a flash of blinding light which his team-mates were luckily prepared for; landing on the back of a particularly large Deathstalker and shifting his weapon into its' gigantic pincer form and seizing the skull of the Grimm between the claws, sending fractures across the surface of the bony armour before finally twisting and ripping the creatures' head away. Eventually the fighting ended and a volley of Ice Dust rounds from Seashell brought the flames that threatened to spill from the mouth of the cave out into the forest under control, leaving Team SNST to take a few moments to collectively catch their breath before continuing
"Think they're all gonna be like this?" Teal asked with a grimace as he sunk his trident into the ground and leaned against it. Nero snorted from where he was replacing the power supply on the monitoring equipment that they had come to this cave in search of
"I think they're all gonna be exactly like this, that's exactly why they sent so many teams down here"
"He's got a point" Sunset sighed as he ran his hands through his bleached blonde cornrows; not truly relaxing but still giving his team a few moments to recover from the latest of what promised to be many such encounters whilst inwardly beaming with pride at just how far they'd all come in the last year.
"Okay" he eventually breathed out "Come on, let's go" with only a few groans of dissent to be heard Team SNST readied their weapons and began following their leader who had opened his Scroll in the arm unencumbered by his weapon and found the location of the next piece of monitoring equipment; finding themselves coming to another unplanned halt after only a few minutes as Shine raised a hand in warning and gestured for them to be quiet
"You hear that?" his voice was hushed and urgent, the rest of the second years strained their ears and eventually realised what it was that had caused their leader to stop; the unmistakable sound of gunfire and trees being shattered in the distance.
"We helping?" Nero asked gruffly
"Obviously" Shine answered bluntly before taking off in the direction of the fighting, Team SNST following close behind with their weapons at the ready. Eventually the reached a clearing that had obviously been created recently as the splintered forms of broken tree trunks littered the ground, some of which lay dozens of feet away from where their stumps still resided and Team SNST came skidding to a halt as they processed the sight before them; Arctus Slate and Diamond Sustrai-Black facing off against what could only be described as a gigantic sentient ball
"What the hell?" Teal demanded as the thing swerved around a Glyph Arctus had created to block its' path; the ball was roughly twice the height of the average man and seemed to be comprised of several overlapping plates of bone white armour adorned with fist sized studs that ripped into the ground as it moved. Shine realised that he was looking at the armoured exterior of some kind of Grimm that had curled up to defend itself
"It's a Demolisher!" Diamond called down to the second years from her current vantage point "Armadillo Grimm!" seemingly drawn by the sound of her voice the Demolisher turned, sending vast chunks of earth into the air as it continued to spin before racing towards the tree which Diamond was currently shooting at it from
"DON'T THINK SO!" Arctus roared, leaving Team SNST stunned as he performed a feat they had only seen on television and summoned a glowing pearly white Ursa which proceeded to charge the spherical form of the Grimm, robbing it of at least some of its' momentum before being crushed and providing the Bear Faunus with enough time to shift Grimmiger-Henker into its' twin laser cannon mode and open fire, the newly redesigned weapon leaving a pair of burning gouges across the Grimm's armour but failing to pierce through its' reinforced hide
"What do we do?" Seashell demanded, the answer came to Shine seemingly of its' own volition
"Force it to uncurl!"
"On it!" Teal barked rushing towards the Demolisher as it began to pick up speed once again, circling the clearing and crushing anything that fell beneath it; he loaded a compartment within his trident with Gravity Dust and sunk it into the ground at an angle and at that moment Shine realised what his partner was attempting. The Demolisher rolled towards Teal and collided with the trident, only to be sent hurtling into the air by the Dust infused weapon which acted as a ramp. Shine used his Semblance to teleport into the air and seize the Grimm in the mechanical claw of his weapon and send it crashing to the ground on its' side with an earth shaking impact
"Wasn't so-"
"GET CLEAR!" Arctus roared, Shine teleported aside just in time to Teal by sent crashing through several trees as the Demolisher unfurled itself at an impossible speed; its' skull was thin and tapered, adorned with oversized ears and several pairs of beady glowing eyes; its' limbs were weak and atrophied, ending in curled claws hardly suited to walking, the tail that had struck Teal however was a mass of dense and corded muscle ending in a mass of spiked and studded bone resembling a mace or club
"IT'S GONNA RIGHT ITSELF!" Diamond bellowed as the monster scurried and scrabbled on the ground, letting out a stream of ear-splitting shrieks as it did so
"NO IT'S NOT!" Seashell surged forwards as Diamond, Arctus, Shine and Nero opened fire on the Grimm; her Gatling-gun shifting and reshaping itself into a two handed war-hammer with which she struck the Grimm in the side, cracking its' bony armour and sending it skidding across the clearing on its' back
"QUICK!" Shine bellowed as the Demolisher struggled "TAKE IT OUT-"
"CAW!" everything seemed to move in slow motion as Team SNST watched an ivory feathered bird of prey soar into the clearing, tucking its' wings flat against its' body and diving towards the Demolisher before vanishing in a flash of light to be replaced by Eagle Arc who fell towards the Grimm with her dark bladed sword drawn, the blade pierced through the lower jaw of the Grimm and erupted through its' skull as she crashed into its' unprotected underside and as she rose to her feet the Demolisher began to fade away as it died
"Nice save" Diamond congratulated as she hopped down from the trees, quickly turning to Shine "Is your team-mate okay?"
"I'm good!" Teal called out, announcing his return as he limped back into the clearing "I'm still saying we helped, we definitely helped take that thing out"
"Sure you did" Arctus grunted, casually creating a Glyph above the boy to stop a branch that had been about to fall on his head. The euphoria of winning a hard fought battle was short lived as Eagle spoke in an obviously worried tone
"Where's Felix?"
"He should have regrouped when he heard the fighting" Arctus noted
"Unless he's too far away to hear it?" Shine's suggestion caused the third years to turn their attention to him; a sensation that he was not entirely comfortable with, after a moment that seemed to stretch out for far too long Arctus, Diamond and Eagle turned to one another and spoke in unison
"Oum damn it Fluffy!"
Felix hit the ground and came rolling to a stop, a furious snarl escaping him as he did so. He had managed to cover a considerable amount of ground alone, growing up on Patch having made him accustomed to moving through Grimm filled woodland and he had been able to maintain several pieces of monitoring equipment before he had encountered any creatures of Grimm worthy of note; unfortunately however he had obviously strayed too far from his team-mates as evidenced by the fact they were yet to arrive and the Grimm in question happened to be one of the horrific but mercifully rare species known as a 'Vale Devil'
"Not bad, let's see if you can do it again" he growled as he twirled Hack and Slash in his palms whilst sizing up the monster that had beset him by lunging down from where it had been hidden in the treetops. The Vale Devils' body was the same inky black as any other creature Grimm, its' jagged and malformed ribs wrapping around its' narrow chest to give it a sickly an emaciated appearance, its' posture was hunched though the tops of its' haunches still reached above Felix's head and a muscular tail trailed on the ground behind the monster, tipped with a fork of sharpened bone; its' rear limbs ended in cloven hooves whilst the forelimbs were overly long and thin, ending in disproportionately large hands and thin, many jointed fingers. The skull of the Vale Devil was easily larger than its' chest, broad and tapering down to a rounded snout with the overall appearance of a skull belonging to some monstrous deer save for the rows of needle like teeth filling its' maw; the head sported a pair of antlers which each branched off into a twisted mass of half a dozen swept forward bony spears, its' neck sported a row of swept back spines jutting from beneath the Grimm's flesh which led to a pair of bat-like wings which were currently curled around the Vale Devil's hunched form, the membrane of flesh between each digit a deep crimson. Whilst the monster couldn't truly fly it could most certainly glide from tree to tree and was capable of moving at terrifying speed on the ground
"Come on you ugly son of a bitch" Felix spat, knowing that taunting the creature was useless but still hoping that the Grimm would give him an opening to exploit; after regarding him with its' malevolent red eyes for a moment longer it let out a deafening and blood curdling scream, a high pitched wail that sounded like a chorus of agonized screams and echoed throughout the forest unnaturally before the Vale Devil lunged forwards, its' long limbed and loping gait given haste by flaps of its' sinewy wings. Felix rushed forwards, his Semblance absorbing the sparks that his swords spat as their chainsaw blades came screeching into life and as the Grimm leapt in a clear attempt to pounce onto his chest the Faunus dropped to his knees, his momentum carrying him beneath the Vale Devil in a slide as he thrust his blades upwards; quickly scrabbling back to his feet he saw that whilst the Grimm's wings had remained attached the translucent membrane of skin had been utterly ruined, rendering them unusable. The satisfaction Felix felt was fleeting, the Vale Devil proving itself to still be more than capable of retaliation when it simply leapt and clutched at the trunk of the nearest tree, its' spindly fingers sinking into the bark as it scuttled upwards and into the canopy, remaining unseen despite its' considerable size and the incessant rustling of branches.
"Oh for Oum's sake" Felix muttered to himself, making a quick decision he shifted his weapons to their machine-pistols forms and began opening fire with short volleys of rounds with small explosive payloads; not enough to risk causing another forest fire but still enough to allow him to charge his Semblance a little more with each shot. It was for nothing however as Felix's back exploded into pain and he found himself sailing through the air for colliding painfully with a tree and ricocheting off of its' trunk to land face down in a heap, weapons knocked from his grasp by the attack. Felix slowly struggled to his feet, noting that the Vale Devil hit far harder than one would expect as the muscles of his back and shoulders protested against each laboured breath. The Grimm paced, sensing that it had the upper hand but also that its' prey was not wounded enough to simply move in for the kill; with another primal shriek it made to leap into the trees once more, only to be sent tumbling downwards as the trunk its' forelimbs buried themselves in was broken in half in a shower of splinters by a glistening golden shield being hurled through its' surface with incredible force.
"Heely?" Felix mouthed out in stunned confusion as the redhead came barrelling into view, his left shoulder smashing into the snout of the Grimm as he charged it, followed by a backhanded blow and an overhand, downwards stab of his sword which ripped into the creatures' shoulder.
"Stay back, I'll handle this!" Helios called out as he weaved beneath a wild swipe of the Grimm's clawed forelimb and rolled out of the path of its' antlers as it charged; as he rose he buried his sword in its' flank he saw Felix rush forwards and reclaim his weapons from the ground, shifting them back into their sword modes as he leapt into the air, intending to skewer the Vale Devil from behind but instead having to parry its' tail as it whipped around and lashed out at him.
"FELIX, FIRE DUST!" Helios barked, having used the brief opening to retrieve his shield and change Olympus Enforcer into its' ranged form, the flames spewing from each shots' impacted being consumed by Felix's golden Aura. The Vale Devil, deciding Helios was its' greatest threat at that moment rushed towards him, its' slender body slithering low to the ground before surging upwards and smashing its' antlers into his chest, thrashing its' head back and forth to free itself of the redhead, its' antlers having become caught in his golden armour until eventually Helios hit the ground with a thud, making to rise but clearly winded as the Grimm stalked towards him. It never made it, Felix saw Helios flying through the air and in an instant his world seemed to melt away to nothing but himself, his target and the clear straight line between them; the familiar raging heat from within built up and boiled over as Felix entered his Balrog state, body becoming wreathed in golden flames and magma as a monstrous roar left his lips. The Vale Devil hadn't managed to fully turn around before Felix reached it and one of its' already damaged wings was utterly crushed by the impact, this was merely a precursor to the now berserk Faunus grabbing the Grimm's antlers and planting a foot against the back of its' skull, ripping the antlers away and casting them aside before he reigned down earthshaking blows on the skull of the monster until the light flickered from its' eyes and its' body was reduced to an acrid black mist rising from the now cratered and fractured ground. When the Vale Devil finally expired Felix released his Semblance and sank to his hands and knees, head spinning as a coughing fit racked his body and made every gulp of air that stung his lungs a challenge
"Oh my Oum what happened?" Eagle's voice announced her arrival, Felix was vaguely aware of more footsteps and assumed that Arctus and Diamond were with her but everything was too blurry to be certain.
"Grimm" Helios explained as he drew close to the Lion Faunus, gently cradling his head as Felix leaned against him "As you can see we dealt with it"
"I think I dealt with it if anything" Felix coughed out with the cockiest grin he could manage; from what he could see Helios did not look amused
"Get him to safety, he can't fight in this condition"
"Hey I'm fine, gimme a minute to catch my breath"
"You are certainly not fine" Helios breathed out, the concern in his voice tinged with hurt that only served to make Felix's stomach clench as a cold dead weight settled in it
"Come on" Eagle offered softly as she pulled her partner to his feet "We'll get you on a Bull-head out of here and meet back at the Academy" before he could be led away Helios placed a hand on a shoulder that was still sore though Felix refused to show the discomfort
"We'll talk about this tonight" the only thing that eased Felix's nerves was the gentle kiss Helios planted on his forehead before making to contact the rest of Team NEON. As Team FADE retreated back to a clearing from which their leader could be extracted Felix caught a brief movement from between the trees out of the corner of his eye and tensed, bracing himself for an attack that never came. Team FADE chose not to investigate, reasoning that it was merely some woodland animal that had somehow survived in the Grimm filled forest though if they had done they might have noticed the rose petals littering the ground.
"Thanks for coming over" Qrow's voice was as gruff as always, the tiredness that was plainly written on his face only adding to it. Ruby merely gave him a smile and a gesture that conveyed that it was no problem before she emptied the glass of milk currently in her hands. The two of them were situated in the base of operations beneath Qrow's home which Ruby had always managed to find impressive despite the perfectly ordinary house above it giving the place an incongruous air that bordered on ludicrous. Ruby had been enjoying dinner with Penny and the twins after returning from her relatively brief mission of covertly overseeing teams of students operating within the Emerald Forest when Qrow had contacted her requesting that she report in person, she had agreed and made her way to her Uncles' nearby home though was in no way completely happy with the situation
"It's fine" she assured him, her tone promising that their would be an addition "But can we make this as quick as possible? Summer's into baseball now, she's on the school team and TJ wants to play guitar; it feels like the only time I actually see my kids is taking them to school and training them"
"I get it" Qrow sighed, whilst he had never raised his own daughter the knowledge of how much time he had lost with her and the experiences they would never have weighed heavily on him "Speaking of training, when should I send word to Anima about-"
"We'll let you know when we're ready" Ruby sighed "I agreed to this because it's going to be safer to train this Nikosi girl than training the twins would be; it doesn't mean either Penny or I are exactly happy with the idea of having a stranger in our home and around our children. The twins are gonna need some time to adjust to the idea as well….besides we haven't even decorated her room yet"
"It's okay, just the sooner the better" Qrow assured her in an understanding tone "And she might be a teenager but I doubt Syneffo Nikos will give you too much trouble, she'll be acting as a representative of the entire Nikosi Tribe" Ruby allowed herself a few moments to consider this whilst absently playing with the frayed and tattered edges of her cape before finally speaking
"It's okay, we all agree that this is something that needs to happen. So, what did you really call me over for?"
"A quick briefing…..should be right about now" Qrow's final word coincided precisely with a notification appearing on one of the many screens of his vast monitoring system; he ageing Huntsman made himself comfortable in his seat before moving the notification to the central screen before opening it, so that when he did so he and Winter Schnee were speaking to each other face to face through the connection
"Winter; Commander Skye" he gave a curt nod to Matte Skye, Winter's former first mate and the current head of the Atlesian fleet whom was currently stood at the Generals' right hand side, their closeness betraying that their relationship was far more than purely professional despite their mutual agreement to keep it private and away from the public eye.
"Qrow, how's the basement?" Winter gave a slight grin, the light verbal sparring between them irresistible as always; Winter herself was clearly in her office aboard her personal airship
"Comfortable, I can't be court marshalled here" he replied with a grin "But let's talk business, it's a school night"
"Indeed" Winter nodded before indicating to Matte that they should speak
"Atlesian ships have performed reconnaissance over several sites of former battles with exploratory teams being sent below ground as needed; several Grimm spawning pools have been eliminated across the continent….as yet we've had no sightings of any subjects displaying intelligence above that of an Alpha designation"
"My agents have been taking on similar missions" Qrow informed the Atlesian duo "Ruby was in the Emerald Forest today"
"A Vale Devil gave me some suspicions" Ruby admitted "But it was brought down by second year students; honestly I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for….all we have as a reference is second hand accounts of what Team FADE saw in the Breach and Salem herself, are we looking for a Grimm that monologues at us?" this opinion was met with a disgruntled huff from Winter
"What of Team CFVY?"
"They'll report back when they can" Qrow assured her "Scroll signal still isn't great on Menagerie and there's a lot of ground to cover on that island; besides they have other duties to attend to" his words seem to carry an accusation which Winter picked up on and rebutted
"The people and resources I promised them to help build an Academy on Menagerie will be delivered, but it will take time" she sighed before allowing herself a lapse in professionalism by simply reaching back and removing her ivory hair its' customary ponytail and allowing it fall freely down her back "Regardless; the latest iteration of Project Snare is complete and we're confident that it will be able to contain any Grimm smaller than an Ursa Major or Manticore"
"Snare?" Qrow demanded, suddenly incensed "The thing that son of a bitch who sold guns to the White Fang was working on?"
"You haven't found him yet?" Ruby demanded, more shocked than enraged
"I assure you if we had we would have broadcast his trial and subsequent execution to the world" Winter growled "I will not have traitors in my Kingdom"
"Project Snare has been vetted by our best minds" Matte added, seemingly eager to get the conversation away from an unproductive topic that would only sour moods
"Indeed" Winter nodded "There are no backdoors by which Eldritch could remotely access the project, it's a completely isolated system so it won't be able to affect anything else around it and there are no signs of sabotage….it seems that whatever else he wanted, Eldritch at least wanted us to be able to capture and study a sentient Grimm"
"Then we'll let you know when we have something for you to test it on" Qrow murmured, privately trying to decide how concerned he should be at the fact that they seemed to be playing into the hands of a madman whom he suspected was far more of a threat than anyone had realised.
It was late afternoon when Felix found himself laying back as comfortable as possible given the plethora of aches and pains his body was currently suffering with, soaking up the last of the setting sun from atop the roof of Halo Academy. Following his return from the Emerald Forest he had been sent for a medical evaluation, only to be declared to be suffering from nothing more than fatigue and slight Aura strain caused by the use of his Semblance; meaning that he had been free to attend classes during the afternoon and be treated to a taste of just how obscenely gargantuan the workload promised to be. The Lion Faunus idly entertained the idea of making a start on one of his assignments but quickly decided he was in no mood to do so; he was already stressed and nervous due to things outside of his schoolwork and didn't see a reason to add to his problems right away, truth be told he would rather have been in the gym distracting himself but too exhausted for it to be of any benefit to him. After laying with his eyes closed in the warmth for a while longer he sensed someone standing over him, the light that penetrated his eyelids becoming obstructed before a familiar voice spoke, somehow leaving him both butterflies and a cold knot of worry in his stomach at the same time.
"Mind if I join you?" Felix opened his eyes and found Helios's vibrant green boring into him
"Sure" he croaked out, throat suddenly dry as he pulled himself into a hunched sitting position with his arms wrapped around his knees and the stump of his severed tail tucked beneath where it couldn't be seen.
"Felix" the redhead sighed as he took a seat beside the blonde "We need to talk"
"Oh" for a moment that was all Felix could manage as dread robbed him of his ability to articulate his thoughts and a dull buzzing in his mind rendered it blank; finally he managed to speak and force his voice not to waver "Is it gonna be one those 'We need to talk' talks?"
"I'm honestly not sure what you mean by that" Helios replied with a quizzical stare as the cultural reference sailed over his head
"Are you breaking up with me?" Felix demanded, suddenly forceful
"What?" Helios's expression was one of genuine panic and confusion, a look that was both out of place and mercifully rare for him; he quickly followed the question up "No. I'm just worried about you Felix….you were distant yesterday and today you overexerted yourself and left yourself open to attack-"
"So you think I'm a rookie?"
"Not what I said" Helios shot down the objection calmly but firmly "I said I'm worried about you Felix; I love you and something is clearly bothering you….talk to me" Felix seemed to curl up and retreat himself a little tighter; before taking in a slow and shaky mouthful of air and laying his worries bare
"Do you think less of me for what happened in Atlas?" Helios merely stared in open mouthed silence, needing several moments to process what he had just heard before finally whispering
"What on Remnant has made you think that"
"I don't know" Felix huffed burying his face in his hands "It's just, you're Helios Nikos; heir to the Nikosi, raised in a warrior culture and bad-ass supreme….I got cut apart and lost my tail-"
"I'm no longer the heir to the Nikosi, I abdicated my position to my sister" Helios answered, the words escaping him without any thought on his part and leaving Felix blinking in silent shock which granted the redhead a chance to be as open as possible with his own feelings.
"Yes, I was raised in a 'warrior culture' as you said….and I watched you rise to your feet after an assassination attempt and proceed to trap yourself inside a forcefield with the leader of an attacking army so that civilians could escape, a battle that you must have known you were likely to perish in; which you then went on to win" Helios cupped Felix's cheeks and made sure that he had the now utterly stunned Faunus's complete attention "That was without question the single most heroic thing I have ever seen and my only regret is that I couldn't have been inside that arena fighting alongside you….I love you Felix and I am with you for as long as you will have me" that was more than the blondes' fragile mental state could handle and he simply buried his face in the crook of Helios's neck and wrapped himself around his boyfriend as tears trickled from his eyes; after a moment Helios gently raised Felix's head up so that their foreheads were touching before leaning in for a kiss; he was slow and tender and then suddenly he wasn't, fingers curling in blonde hair while he took Felix's lip between his teeth until the Faunus's gave a shuddering groan into his mouth, Helios turned his attention to his boyfriends' neck and collarbone, forceful enough to leave a mark as he pushed him backwards; coming to a halt when Felix let out a hiss of pain the moment his back collided with the academies' roof
"Wait, stop" he sighed with a pained grimace "Back's still all bruised up from that Grimm-"
"I'm sorry I should have-"
"It's fine" Felix sighed, pulling Helios close and nuzzling into his muscular chest "Honestly I don't really want to do this right now anyway….we're on the roof for Oum's sake; wine and dine me first Heely I'm a classy bitch" the blunt delivery left Helios doubled over howling with laughter and as the two of them regained their composure and cuddled as they watched the sunset, he decided to return the favour and leave Felix cackling until he was gasping for breath by commenting
"It would have been an interesting way to deal with my fear of heights"
Arctus, Diamond and Eagle had been present for most of the afternoons' classes; Goodwitch deeming their mission brief enough that they shouldn't require a days' rest following it and as such they had been subjected to a mountain of assignments and required reading identical to the one that their team leader was currently on the roof ignoring. The three of them were having marginally more success in motivating themselves and focusing on the task at hand, having elected to work in their dormitory rather than the library however had resulted in the somewhat predictable situation of them also listening to music whose tempo and latent aggression were perhaps not the most conducive to studying, especially not when played at a volume that caused each bass note to be felt through the floor; a choice made by Diamond who was currently using a pair of pens as impromptu drumsticks to play along, tapping against the pages of the textbook she was allegedly reading whilst Arctus sat beside her obviously fighting the urge to dance and remain focused as he scribbled notes in the margins of the pages. Eagle watched them from Felix's bunk, which she had commandeered until he returned, with a bemused expression on her face; she had paused her own studying due to the growling of her stomach becoming impossible to ignore any longer and was only refraining from heading directly to the canteen in search of a hard earned hot meal because an idea had occurred to her
"Hey guys, can you turn it down for a sec? I wanna call my Mum"
"No Problem" Diamond answered quickly, pausing the current song for the brief time it took her to remove the speaker currently plugged into her Scroll and replace it with earphones which she proceeded to share with Arctus. Eagle silently mouthed out a thank you before searching for her Scroll and opening her mothers' contact details; her own hunger suddenly reminding her that Antonia Arc was most likely working at Poly-Techs' primary facility and was almost certainly neglecting food and sleep as usual, reverting to her old habits of subsisting on a diet of caffeine and pure willpower. After a few rings the call was answered and Eagle's mother came into view as the video call began; the bags around Antonia's eyes and the fact that the sleeves of her lab-coat seemed to be charred immediately lending credence to Eagle's concerns
"Hey Mum"
"Hello Eagle, is there something I can do for you?"
"Go and eat something and take a nap?" she replied faster than she could stop herself, privately amazed at how easily the sarcastic tone seemed to come to her; the Eagle Arc that had arrived at Halo Academy in her first year would never have dreamed of it
"I'm at home, I just called it a day" Antonia gestured to her surroundings, revealing that she was indeed in her apartment within Poly-Tech; Eagle's expression softened and relaxed
"I just wanted to say hi, it was the first day back at Halo-"
"Oh I thought you would've spent it with Hellion" Antonia noted, since Atlas their relationship had improved vastly and Antonia seemed far more accepting of Eagle's girlfriend if sometimes a little overeager to please or occasionally prying a little too much; this comment in particular causing Eagle to flush scarlet at the memory of exactly how she had spent the previous evening
"I've got assignments and they sent my team out for a mission this morning-"
"How did it go, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Mum" Eagle assured her, seeing the concern etching itself into Antonia's expression "Took out a Demolisher-"
"Helped" Arctus interjected "You helped take out a demolisher, we had it under control" Eagle's only response was to throw a pillow at the Bear Faunus before returning her attention to her mother
"I'm planning on spending this weekend with Hellion though, I want her to meet my D….Qrow, I want her to meet Qrow"
"You can call him your father in front of me Eagle, I won't be mad" Antonia assured her, Eagle however needed a moment to process her feelings; while she wasn't averse to calling Qrow her Dad she had only done so a handful of times so far and making it the norm seemed to change their relationship somehow in her mind; she was pulled from her musings by the sight of the image on her Scroll flickering and becoming grainy for a moment, immediately followed by the sound of blaring sirens on the other end of the call
"Is everything okay?" Antonia didn't answer for a moment, obviously distracted; eventually she turned to the screen and stated
"Eagle I'm sorry, I've got to go" with that the call ended, leaving Eagle to consider the suddenly worried edge in her mothers' voice.
On the other end of the call Antonia Arc stalked swiftly across her apartment towards the front door, stopping only to pull a shotgun loaded with Ice Dust rounds from behind a coat rack close to the doorway. She recognised the alarm that had begun screeching immediately, it signalled a containment breach somewhere within the storage facility below the building, known as the Toy-Box; Antonia cocked the shotgun with a scowl, she had been kidnapped by a bandit tribe, targeted by the White Fang and taken advantage of by a man who wished to use her company as a weapon of terror; Antonia Arc had personally vowed that she would never be the victim in her own life story again and if that meant heading into the lowest reaches of this facility and facing this latest thief or attacker herself then that was what she would do.
"I'm an Arc, Arc's defend what's important" with that she prepared to summon the elevator that led to her apartment.
It wouldn't come.
Again and again she pressed the buttons to no avail, her mind needing a few moments in its' adrenaline fuelled state to recognise the obvious answer; an emergency lock-down was in place. Retrieving her Scroll again she promptly tried to contact the head of her secondary security division, the group comprised of Atlesian soldiers, her own security team and veteran Hunters sworn to secrecy who patrolled the seemingly endless corridors of the Toy-Box.
"Sargent Noir! What on Remnant is…." she trailed off, mouth hanging agape at the middle aged, but still powerfully built mans' appearance. Sargent Noirs' face was smeared with blood and sported a pallid complexion and sheen of sweat that made it clear that he had lost far more than was visible; he was also breathing heavily and his eyes had a wild unfocused look for a moment before he managed to compose himself and gasp out something of an explanation
"Ma'am you need to evacuate the facility immediately, it got out!"
"It?" Antonia questioned, needing far more precise information to form a response to this apparent threat
"It opened it's container from the inside, started attacking….it picked off the Hunters first-"
"Noir, what is-" Antonia apparently went unheard as the security guard rambled
"The rest of us split up, the soldiers tried to hold it off….they'll be dead by now. The security team are trying to make sure it can't get out of any of the exits, gonna blow 'em up"
"Noir, what escaped. Which, NOIR BEHIND YOU!" there were perhaps a handful of seconds which seemed to pass in slow motion is which a lone figure strode into view behind the man, the corridors too dimly lit to provide more than a silhouette; then the figure raised an arm and whilst Antonia couldn't see a weapon there was a gathering of light which culminated in a flash and the line going dead and whose impact Antonia could faintly fell as the entire building seemed to shudder; far from enough to risk the structural integrity but enough for it to be very clear that something was attempting to leave.
"Oh my Oum" she whispered to the empty apartment as terror seeped into every fibre of her being, quickly contacting General Schnee; the military needed to know that Project Lineage had gone rogue.
Authors Notes:
So, I paid off a cliffhanger in the Vol.6 finale with another cliffhanger….Oops.
Two boss battles in one chapter though so it's all good.
Next chapter will see the return of a first week at Beacon/Halo tradition; I'm sure my long term readers can figure it out.
Also, I want to say congratulations to everyone at Ao3 for the Hugo Award.
Not a great deal to say here so, let's summarise:
Being up before the sun is and skipping breakfast, Team FADE are getting a taste of my morning routine.
You guys remember Team SNST right? The team that Carcharodon beat the stuffing out of and then trained for a bit.
"Mowing the lawn" keeping Grimm numbers down after a particularly large emotional event that would have drawn more/agitated the Grimm, things like initiation, a festival or major sports event like a Vytal Tournament are the usual reasons.
The teams are being sent to do what was actually Team NEON's second mission of first year, the difference being that no first years are being sent and there are more teams being sent so they can cover more ground quickly.
Damn, you know it's gonna be a long day when even Felix is making puns.
Team SNST were so close to making friends with Team FADE….and then they goofed by trying to talk about Atlas.
Felix's landing strategy is still "Bulldoze anything in the way".
I don't know why but Helios in the thick of all those Grimm made me think of Jon Snow in the Battle of the Bastards, that part where he's trying to find somebody to face off against but they're all getting mowed down by cavalry before he can get close.
Seriously though, someone at a con needs to ask the CRWBY if there are any long term health effects associated with Grimm mist?
Team CAMO, Corvid had a sympathy date with their leader once and their 'Heavy hitter' is an homage to Team Four Stars' parody of the Ginyu Force.
That weapon Nyanza found will probably show up next chapter.
Seriously, was there ever any doubt that Helios could find someone in a forest.
If you want to imagine the cave Team SNST were fighting near as the same one that Jaune and Pyrrha went into during their initiation then go for it….I certainly will be.
Seriously RT, the dragons and griffins and stuff are cool….but give us more animal Grimm, they're a goldmine.
Team SNST did okay, but they're all gonna be gushing over how cool Team FADE are after this though.
Obviously Eagle's new sword was gonna get used.
Yep, it's a Jersey Devil Grimm….I was genuinely debating a giant Sloth Grimm but I just couldn't bring myself to write it.
Helios is bad-ass, but sometimes I have to remind people that he isn't unstoppable.
Felix went ham, but his Balrog State is basically a finishing move and using it too early is gonna cause problems.
Yes Ruby would have stepped in if it looked like things were gonna go south.
I only threw in the little details about the twins to make them seem more like real kids, rather than just being there as adorable plot devices.
Ruby isn't being needlessly cruel, just honest. Training someone with silver eyes to use them is going to involve having them around Grimm; which is less likely to go wrong when the student is a member of a nomadic tribe already used to killing Grimm than a pair of suburban children under the age of ten.
Also yeah, Syneffo will be coming to Vale at some point.
So yeah, Qrow and Winter are still co-ordinating the search for another sentient Grimm; Ruby kept an eye on the Vale Devil because she thought it could potentially be something like Phobos, it wasn't.
In Downward Spiral Menagerie was Salem's base of operations; the reason there's a lot of ground to cover on menagerie isn't because the island is big but because literally any part of it that isn't a settlement, which is still at least two thirds, is effectively Grimm infested.
And Coco, Velvet and Yatsu are still building their own academy.
They're still gonna use Project Snare to capture a sentient Grimm….what could possibly go wrong.
Helios and Syneffo missing idioms and pop culture references has to be a thing that I bring back.
And that's what's been bothering Felix; lack of communication and PTSD have been making him worry about his relationship.
Honestly I was originally going to have a Battle-Cat sex scene in this chapter but decided against it, it didn't quite feel right.
Helios is still not a fan of heights.
It's good to see how far Eagle's come from Vol.1.
Taking out a Demolisher is obviously the kind of job that you don't let somebody else take credit for, it's hard work and you earn your own bragging rights.
Antonia is taking no shit from anyone any more.
Y'all knew Sargent Noir was gonna die the second you saw him right?
Obviously "Project Lineage" is what Ozymandias was looking for and found, from the cliffhanger at the end of Vol.6
I'm pretty sure you can figure out roughly what Project Lineage is and how bad it's going to be.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander, DizzyDwarf, iSassenach, CanadianCavalier and Garthraxxus for their reviews on the last chapter.
Yeah Glynda is as tough as old boots.
Oh the team dynamics are going to be interesting (Cough, next chapter, cough)
Rhodey is from the hood, in a universe populated by people-eating monsters and legit superheroes; he's used to people dying, hell his dad's dead and he's killed a cop before….remember Brindle from First Year.
Moss is going to become relevant quickly and probably become very irrelevant very quickly after that if you get my meaning.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.