Chapter 8
Jaune sat quietly on a log, listening to the fire crackle. Glancing to the side, he chuckled slightly at the admittedly massive pile of wood they had collected. It would do more than last them the night. Still, everyone had pulled their weight, that much was apparent.
Quietly, he unsheathed his sword, looking at it in the moonlight. Everyone had worked fast, but it had still gotten dark early, which was not helped by the fairly dense forest canopy. In the blade, he could see the fractured moon, and leaned back, looking up at the clear sky.
Despite the presence of Beacon and Vale nearby, it seemed that the light wasn't interfering with the stars in any real way, and he could get a clear view of it all, or at least, the section visible through the trees.
In a way, it reminded him of home. On Patch, the lack of huge cities made the sky crystal clear, especially in the summer.
"Enjoying the view?"
Jaune turned in surprise, causing Pyrrha to jump as well. "Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you."
"Startle? Nah, I was just...caught off-guard," Jaune replied, trying his best to smile confidently, but from Pyrrha's chuckle, he could tell it had failed. Sighing, he leaned on his knee, turning to look at her. "What are you doing up?"
"I thought you could use some company. Besides, I am already recovered, in case you were worried," she teased, taking a step closer. "Mind if I join you?"
"Help yourself," he shrugged, gesturing to the seat. In the firelight, Pyrrha's armour somehow turned an even more powerful copper, the hardened edges glinting with a pulsing ebb and flow. Self-consciously, he glanced at his arm, the simple white metal on his shoulder making him feel incompetent by comparison.
"What were you thinking about? You looked...contemplative. Is that the word?" Pyrrha mused.
"Probably," Jaune replied with a small smile. "I was just looking at the stars. Helps me relax."
"Is something bothering you?" Pyrrha inquired, leaning slightly to get a better look at Jaune's face.
"Not really. I just...was thinking about my weapons and armour."
"What about them?"
"Not quite sure how useful they really are," he admitted, lifting the blade for emphasis. "No ranged function, can't use dust. It doesn't even shift forms."
"Are you not happy with how you designed it?"
"I didn't design it. It was my great-great-grandfather's. Kind of just...inherited it."
"Why did you not make your own weapon?"
Jaune tried to hide his frown. That was not a discussion he wanted to have. Instead, he shrugged. "It would be wrong to just give it up."
"Mind if I take a look?" she asked, offering her hands gently.
Jaune shrugged, placing it in her hands. Pyrrha bowed slightly before holding it a little higher, testing the weighting. Her hands slowly became engulfed in a black aura, and he could see his blade shudder slightly. Pyrrha's eyes became almost distant for a moment, and he had just begun to worry when it stopped.
"It is an old blade, I can tell you that much," Pyrrha noted, and Jaune was surprised as she sounded almost...impressed. He was caught further off guard when one of her hands seized his, forcing his hands to cradle the blade. "Feel the balancing!"
"Yeah, it's always been like that," Jaune started, but Pyrrha shook her head. Reaching to her side, she withdrew her own weapon, spinning it into its xiphos form.
"Hold this, and tell me the difference."
Jaune paused for a moment, holding the weapons in different hands. The xiphos was obviously lighter, and the weight was way shorter as a result. The main mass of the xiphos was in the center, where the diamond-like structure was centered, while the longsword was weighted more along the tip.
But as he continued holding them, he could almost begin to feel something, though he couldn't put his finger on it. "There's something...but I couldn't tell you what."
"It's hard to tell unless you can feel the inside, but the metal is not the same all the way through. From the way it felt, I would say the core is probably dust-infused," Pyrrha shared with a smile, nodding her thanks as Jaune offered her weapon back.
"And..?" Jaune felt like he was missing a crucial puzzle piece here. A lot of weapons were dust infused; that was just how they were designed.
"In the old days, they didn't have the ability to refine dust the same way we do now. They had the materials, but they couldn't harness it with the same purity. They knew how to refine metals, and applied that same process to dust infused ores. The weapons would be forged with metals from an ore vein, and manifest their properties when their wielders channeled aura into them," she explained before gesturing to his weapon. "Your weapon seems to have been forged with multiple veins."
Jaune soaked in the information, turning the weapon in his hands. He couldn't see any difference in the metal, but he trusted Pyrrha's analysis. If that was true, how could he use it? "So...I could create elemental effects with this?"
"Sort of. I will admit I am not an expert," Pyrrha apologized. "Most of the ores they worked with when this weapon was likely made were probably simple, so it might just be fire, or lightning. New dust is manufactured, so I doubt you would be able to recreate gravity dust for instance."
"That figures," he replied with a smile, sheathing the weapon. "Still, thanks Pyrrha. Guess that's something to work towards."
"No problem, Jaune. Now, since I taught you something, might you teach me something?"
"Not sure what I can teach someone as skilled as you about, but sure, I guess."
"I noticed you were looking up at the sky. Do you know the stars?"
"Yeah. Everyone knows them though."
Pyrrha shook her head. "Southern Mistral, remember? We have a different set. These ones are new to me."
Jaune facepalmed as he realized his mistake, prompting a light giggle from Pyrrha. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It is alright. You did not offend me. Now, were you looking at any in particular?"
Ruby awoke in a hurry as the sound of gunfire echoed across the treetops. In an instant, she had thrown aside her sleeping bag, and staggered to her feet, her gun twirling to the ready. Spinning, she noted everyone else also rushing to their feet.
But no enemies.
More shots broke out, and Ruby realized that the sounds were coming from further away. In a moment, she was able to pinpoint them, coming from back where they had started.
Shotgun.
Rifle.
Sword.
More than one person in trouble, that much was for certain, and close enough to hear the sound of melee combat. The roars of Grimm were evident. Something stuck in the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out what it was. All she knew was that there were people in danger.
She took a half step forward, ready to leap in, when she suddenly remembered everyone else. She looked back, scanning their faces for any kind of sense. The confusion and energy in the air was making it hard for her to read them. Should she go? Should she wait? Would she get punished? Would-
"We'll catch up!" Jaune urged her, waving for her to go. Ruby glanced at Weiss, who just nodded quickly as she armed herself. With that resolved, she didn't hesitate as she jumped forward, firing a shot in order to gain speed.
Weaving rapidly through the trees, she could hear the wave behind her shredding the bark, and slashing into the trees, but she didn't care right now. Some distance behind her, she could hear the spring patter of Ren's footsteps, and the clinking of Emerald's chains.
Breaking into the open, the first thing that hit her was the smell of fire. Then the sight of a spray of it, surging through the midnight black bodies of Beowolves. The force with which they were being lifted told her that the weapon was spraying fire dust at high power, and only the bodies were preventing it from hitting a stray tree and setting everything on fire.
The ground shook under her mere moments later, and she planted her scythe in an attempt to steady herself as a couple of Beowolves seemed to almost disappear. Where they had stood, a crater had opened in the earth.
There was only one team she knew of that would have such an explosive arsenal, and a flash of yellow amidst the chaos was all the confirmation she needed. "Yang!"
"Ruby?" Her sister's voice rose over the thundering of the conflict. "Where are you?"
A crack sounded out as Yang knocked a Beowolf into the sky, and she could almost imagine Yang fighting her way through the Beowolves. But they needed to stay in formation in order to hold. "Stay there! Hold the line!"
Sighting down her rifle, she briefly wished she had gravity dust before taking a breath. With the barrel steadied by the blade, and the body of the weapon against her own, she was able to cancel out some of the shaking. Still wasn't easy, considering just how volatile the field was.
Rapidly, Ruby began firing shots, aiming for the best targets available. Body shots were easy, but headshots in this level of chaos were nigh impossible. She heard both of the more mobile companions land and add their light guns fire to the mix, rattling off and striking the nearest foes.
As the pack realized their newest threat, some turned to face their flank. Ruby realized the situation was quickly escalating, and they had only part of their team at hand. Three highly agile but ultimately fragile members.
"Scatter!" she shouted, yanking her scythe out of the ground just in time to roll to the side, feeling the swing of the Beowolf go wide. She could hear the bark of another one lunging and kicked up mid-roll, jumping over another claw before landing on her feet. The instant she had grip under her boots, she used her Semblance, leaping out of range.
For a brief moment, she was suspended upside down, half-pirouetting away from the Beowolves. As they rushed forward, she made a quick mental judgement. There were too many for her to use her ammo on; she would have to use her blade.
When the first one reached her, she could see it react with surprise as she suddenly lunged forward to meet it, her reach extending in a flash before a yank back took its head off.
She caught the claw of the next one with the body of her scythe, brushing it to the side while using the force to spin around. Her scythe was in the exact wrong position to impale it, but she brought the backstop down on its head, smashing it into the ground. Another one tried to jump over its fallen brother, but she swung the blade upwards, bisecting it.
However, the next Beowolf passed her guard, knocking her back. Skipping off the ground, she increased the distance, glaring at the Beowolves. She glanced down at her side, relieved to see it hadn't pierced her aura. Still, these ones were more coordinated than usual.
For the moment, they fanned out, slowly pacing around her. If she stayed in one spot and fought them, she would be overwhelmed, but if she kept moving, she would run out of ammo, or aura, depending on how she did it.
While she had a breather, she glanced around, trying to gauge how the others were doing. Emerald was doing a much better job of evading than her, using the trees and her chains to outmaneuver the Beowolves, though Ruby did note that she seemed to be slightly worried, and a few of the swings were a bit close for comfort. Ren, meanwhile, was having less problems than them.
Ren was somehow holding his own. His twin blades whirled about, making even his dodges deadly. His foot arced during one turn and kicked a Beowolf back with enough force to break its arm. If she survived this, Ruby made a mental note to learn how to do that.
A growl made Ruby snap back to the present, noting with surprise one of the Beowolves had crept close on her flank, and she jumped back just in time to avoid its swing. Frowning, she shot it without hesitation. That one was worth a shot.
Still, she had nowhere near enough for all of them, and she could still hear the maelstrom of Yang's group. How was she going to-
A loud metallic clang came from her left, and she watched with wide eyes as Jaune slammed into a Beowolf's side, his white armour standing out against the creature's dark hide. The creature threw its arms wide in order to stabilize, and left itself open to attack. And Jaune did attack, bringing his sword down with both hands.
"Charge!" he roared, causing the Beowolves to turn in surprise. Once more they had been flanked, and this time they didn't have mass on their side. Taking on three more agile targets had spread them out, and even the young Huntsmen could shatter their thin line.
Ruby took advantage of the opening to shred the nearest one, killing it before it had realized it had taken its eyes off her. Ahead of her, Jaune shield-charged another Beowolf, knocking it back. He wasn't able to rush forward fast enough to take advantage of the opening, but Pyrrha was, sliding under his shield. Her spear extended quickly, plunging straight into the beast's chest before she continued the slide under its legs and transitioned into a run.
"Ruby, brace!" Beneath her, Ruby heard an almost gong-like crash, and she saw the glyph moments before it went off, already tensing.
In a moment, she was speeding off, and she adapted quickly. With practiced motions, she became a whirling dervish of death, slicing at any appendage she could reach. Arms, legs, and heads all faced her scythe, and were found wanting.
Touching down on the ground, she raised her scythe to block a counter attack before grunting heavily. Swinging her scythe to the side, she let the Grimm fall to its hands before heaving the weapon back the other way. The blunt end slammed into its chest, throwing it like a golf ball.
Satisfied, Ruby quickly looked to see where she could help. Nora, set in heavier armour, was basically wading through the Beowolves. Ruby was more than impressed when one that attempted an attack got a solid gauntlet to the face that snapped the creature's neck. Seemed Ren wasn't the only proficient unarmed fighter.
Weiss, meanwhile, was doing what she could to assist the others, temporarily stalling sections of the field with frozen feet, or speeding up an ally for a brief moment. No glyph was maintained for any more time than was necessary, and it almost resembled some kind of elegant dance as Weiss spun the chamber on Myrtenaster in time with her motions. On second thought, it reminded Ruby more of a composer.
A deadly one, Ruby amended, as she watched Weiss dodge an attack before countering with a series of quick skewers.
Ruby smiled to herself. She wasn't going to be left out of the fighting.
When the last Beowolf fell, Ruby sighed with exhaustion, her scythe suddenly feeling heavy in her hands. She glanced around quickly just to make sure it was really over.
As she looked, it suddenly dawned on her the scale of the encounter they had just been through. Most of the bodies had already disintegrated, and those that hadn't were doing so, but the ripped earth marked attacks and counter attacks.
A sheet of ice still covered a section of the battlefield, while she could see the criss-crossing slashes of her own handiwork in the ground. She made a mental note to sharpen Crescent Rose later; just thinking about how much rock her blade had carved through made her feel bad for her baby.
But the true mark of it was where Yang and her friends stood. The area was scorched, down to the last blade of grass. A borderline trench surrounded them, charred and uprooted, with huge craters everywhere.
And it wasn't a surprise why.
Between the members of the group, not one of them had anything nearing "subtle." A flamethrower, a thundergun, shotguns, and a mace, to say nothing of their alternate forms.
Nonetheless, her sister stood proudly above the ashes, a brilliant and rather vicious looking expression content to surmise her emotions. Her sister had always been easy to read, compared to everyone else.
And as her eyes settled on Ruby, only one thought filtered through her head. Not again.
She didn't have time to brace for the hug.
