The next day found the first year students, both those attending Beacon and those visiting from other schools for the Vytal festival, in Beacon's amphitheatre, milling around whilst waiting for Ozpin to arrive. As usual, teams RWBY and JNPR stood with one another, Weiss and Pyrrha holding hands and talking quietly to one another. Yang kept her vision locked forward, nodding along as Ruby spoke to her energetically.
Blake frowned with worry as she glanced over at her partner. Ever since Weiss and Pyrrha kissed she'd become more withdrawn and sullen, her normally sunny disposition somewhat dampened. The chatter around the room was silenced as Ozpin finally stepped out onto the stage, approaching the microphone and clearing his throat. "Good morning students," he started.
"Today, the kingdoms of Remnant stand united. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the worst war in Remnant's history came to an end after years of long, bloody conflict. It was a war about more than mere borders or trade routes, it was a war over identity, over individualism, over self-expression in all its forms."
"And thanks to that victory, thanks to the long efforts of everyone who fought back against oppression, today we now celebrate individual expression, and the myriad strengths of diversity." Weiss frowned a little at that, fully aware that Ozpin's sentiment was not shared by everyone. She spared a glance for Blake, who mirrored her expression as she glanced back at her. Both of them had reason to find some fault with his words.
"As I said, today we stand united. But that bond cannot be maintained without effort. Even today, whilst the rest of the world celebrates peace and remembers those who died to achieve it, us hunters work to make sure that peace endures. For you first year students, this will be your first real mission."
"You will be tasked with shadowing a professional hunter for a week. For some of you, this will take you beyond Vale's walls, whilst others may remain in the city for the week. Remember your training, and stay safe." With that, he stepped away from the microphone and left the stage again. The students all began filing out of the amphitheatre, Weiss and Pyrrha lingering at the back of their pack.
"I'm going to miss you," Weiss said morosely, pouting a little. Pyrrha laughed, squeezing her hand.
"Likewise. I know it doesn't seem fair that we're being separated for a week just after this began. But it is only a week," she continued. "And after that it's spring break, so we'll have plenty of time without school getting in the way," she promised. That seemed to cheer Weiss up a bit, smiling down at Pyrrha and nodding.
"I'm looking forward to it," she said. The two teams briefly separated to examine the holographic displays.
"We need something in the south-east," Ruby mused, pouring over the missions on offer.
"Quadrant five," Yang said, pointing at one. "Search-and-destroy to the south-east of Vale."
"Oh, perfect!" Ruby declared, selecting the mission and inputting the team's name. The screen flashed red, text appearing.
Unavailable to first year students.
"Well that's just perfect," Weiss huffed.
"Unfortunately," a voice suddenly said from behind them. Team RWBY turned around to see Ozpin standing behind them, mug in hand as always. "It was determined that the concentration of grimm in that sector was too extreme for first year students." He paused to take a sip, reading their various reactions as he did so. Largely disappointed, some hiding it better than others.
"However," he continued, "I'm sure the rules can be bent slightly for such a promising group of students." He stepped closer to the board, taking his scroll out and overriding the restriction. He stepped away again, revealing that the mission was now assigned to team RWBY.
"Thank you Professor!" Ruby said gratefully. Ozpin shook his head.
"Don't thank me," he said. "You have signed up for a more dangerous mission than any other students in your year. Stay close to your hunter at all times," he warned. "Do exactly as he says. If you don't live up to his standards, he is expected to cancel the mission and return you to Beacon. Am I understood?" he asked. Receiving a chorus of nods, he nodded once before turning and walking away.
"Well that was intense," Yang muttered as the team collected their bags, heading for the airship docks.
"That's one word for it," Weiss said in agreement. "But he's not wrong, we're going to need to be careful on this one." Yang hummed and nodded, still unwilling to look at Weiss. As the four continued walking, Ruby spoke up again.
"So, who do you think we're going to be shadowing?" she asked.
"There are a lot of professional hunters in Vale, it's likely someone we don't know," Weiss pointed out.
"Ah, hello girls!" a familiar voice suddenly called out. All four of them adopted various expressions of surprise or horror, turning to see Doctor Oobleck waving at them. "Who's ready to fight for their lives?" he asked excitedly. His normal outfit had been supplemented with a trench coat and a broad hat. A large pack was on his back, and his ever-present thermos flask hung from his belt.
"Doctor Oobleck?" Weiss asked, blinking away her surprise.
"Yes, yes, hello!" he said, speaking as rapid-fire as ever. "I certainly hope you packed light, because you have opted to shadow a hunter on what is now in effect a reconnaissance mission. We will not be establishing a single base of operations, we will instead be setting up camp in whatever sheltered and defensible positions we come across."
"We will need to cover several miles of hostile territory a day. I have packed our provisions, and have prepared the airship. Let's not tarry!" he said, dashing off into one of the bullheads. Team RWBY stood in silence for a moment, recovering from the verbal onslaught.
"You've got Oobleck for the week?" Nora asked from behind them. The four of them turned to see team JNPR approaching. "Where are you going?"
"We're shadowing him on a search-and-destroy to the south-east," Blake supplied.
"Outside Vale then?" Jaune asked. "Same as us. Ren and Nora wanted to shadow someone in one of the outer villages, but we don't leave until tomorrow."
"The south-east is meant to be quite dangerous," Pyrrha said, concern clear as she stepped closer to Weiss. "Please be careful?" she asked, taking both of Weiss' hands in her own.
"I will be, don't worry," she promised, leaning down to give Pyrrha a chaste kiss on the lips. Ruby gagged at the display of affection, whilst Yang clenched her jaw. Pyrrha smiled up at Weiss and nodded.
"Four minutes behind schedule, ladies!" Oobleck shouted over at them, leaning out the side of the bullhead. Pyrrha chuckled, releasing Weiss' hands.
"Alright. Take care, all of you!" she said, stepping back.
"We will!" Ruby cheered back at her.
"Now then," Oobleck began once the bullhead was in the air and en-route towards their destination. "Our dear headmaster has assigned me to this mission to keep an eye on you four, and for my own expertise in history and archaeology."
"I mean no disrespect, but why is that important to our mission?" Weiss asked.
"The south-east is filled with dense forests and extensive cave systems. However, it is also home to one of Vale's greatest failures. Mountain Glenn. A planned expansion to the city of Vale that was overrun by grimm and abandoned. However, it is also the perfect place to hide large quantities of both people and materiel away from the eyes of the authorities."
"I have studied Mountain Glenn extensively, and of all Beacon's staff am perhaps the best suited to looking for anything unusual in the ruins." A short while later, the trees and mountains gave way to a bleak vista. A ruined, desolate cityscape stretching for miles in every direction.
"Doctor Oobleck," the pilot said over the intercom. "I've spotted an LZ, taking us down now."
"Ah, excellent! Girls, ready yourselves, this may be a combat drop!" He then looked at Weiss. "Miss Schnee, it occurs to me that you seem to have packed rather heavily," he said, looking at her large satchel, festooned with additional pouches.
"Extra dust, as well as tools and spare parts," she said flatly. Oobleck nodded after a moment, collecting his own pack as the bullhead slowed down, circling an open plaza before hovering in place, low enough to the ground for the five of them to hop down. Team RWBY landed in a small circle, weapons drawn and each watching a different direction. Oobleck landed in the middle of them, watching the bullhead pull up and fly back towards Beacon.
"Right then, let's begin!" he declared, sipping from his thermos. "As you have already been informed, this area has become something of a hot-spot for grimm. There are a number of possible explanations for this, not least among them being the possible presence of the suspected hideout."
"Grimm are naturally attracted towards negative emotions, so we are in the rare situation of being able to use grimm to our advantage. If the hideout does indeed exist, we should be able to use the movement of grimm to help locate it. As such, your orders are to withhold from engaging unless already spotted by the grimm. Do you understand?" All four of them nodded. "Excellent! Let's begin."
The next day was spent scouring through the ruins, taking out small packs of grimm when tracking them wasn't an option. Much of the heavy lifting was done by team RWBY, Oobleck instead focussing on the work of scouting. Weiss had noticed him briefly ambushing Yang and Blake, questioning them over their decisions to become hunters, and had spent a little time preparing her own answer.
"So, Miss Schnee," Oobleck started, as Weiss expected. "A girl born into your family certainly doesn't need the extra work. Why choose this life over a safe, comfortable job in Atlas?"
"My family's name has become tainted as of late," she said, wiping grimm blood off of her sword, watching the corpse of a beowolf dissolve. "My grandfather spent his whole life turning the family name into something to be proud of, leading those around him to a better future. Under my father's watch, however, the name 'Schnee' has become associated with bigotry and shady dealings. As the heiress, it is my duty to set things right. Becoming a hunter? That's the first step in righting my father's wrongs."
"Interesting," Oobleck mused, nodding before darting off to investigate some other portion of the ruins. Eventually, the sun began to set, painting the sky in shades of purple and orange. "We're losing the light, ladies! Time to set up camp."
"I spotted a building a block back that way that should work," Blake said, pointing back the way they came. "Mostly intact, tall enough to look over the surrounding buildings." Oobleck nodded in approval.
"Excellent vantage point, sheltered enough, and elevated so easy to defend. Excellent suggestion, Miss Belladonna! Lead the way," he said, gesturing for her to lead off. The building proved every bit as suitable as Blake suggested, leading Weiss to briefly wonder exactly how often she'd done this sort of thing in her past.
For Weiss, it was a far cry from the comforts she was used to. Not that she was about to complain about roughing it. Soon enough they had their camp set up, a fire crackling away beneath a hole in the roof. A couple of pots filled with water were suspended over the flames, ready to heat up some MREs. Weiss made a face as she looked at hers.
"Hey Blake?" she asked, staring with mild horror into the contents of the foil package.
"Yes, Weiss?" Blake asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You like fish, right? Want to trade?" Blake blinked, registering that her tone was about as close to begging as Weiss was ever likely to get.
"Oh absolutely not," she said, shaking her head. "Nope, MRE fish is the worst. I am sticking with my all-day breakfast, thank you." Weiss pouted at her, looking back at her food. She mused for a moment, looking around before spotting the small bottle of hot sauce that came in their ration packs.
"I'm commandeering the hot sauce," she informed the others, grabbing a couple of bottles and emptying them into the foil packet, mixing it in with a fork.
"Uhh?" Ruby looked at Weiss with visible confusion. "Why the hot sauce?"
"A trick Winter taught me. Mask the flavour of a bad MRE with copious amounts of hot sauce," she explained, putting a forkful into her mouth.
"A popular technique amongst hunters as well as soldiers," Oobleck informed them between mouthfuls. "Good food is a luxury not often found in the field. Though I don't do much fieldwork these days, I always used to keep a bottle or two of hot sauce or some other spicy condiment in my provisions."
"Huh," Ruby said, blinking before shrugging, digging into her own food.
"Any volunteers for first watch?" Oobleck asked, looking between them.
"Yo," Ruby answered around a mouthful of food, earning a look from Weiss.
"I'll take third," Blake volunteered.
"I suppose I can take second, I have decent night vision," Weiss said, pointing to her left eye.
"Guess I'm last then," Yang said, shrugging.
"Excellent. Make sure you get plenty of rest, we have a long day ahead of us." He then paused, looking around at the floor before looking at Weiss. "Miss Schnee, where is your bed roll?" he asked.
"I can sleep standing up if I have a neck pillow," she said. "I don't do it often, but if we're attacked in the night it would allow me to react faster." The rest of her team exchanged looks at this. Oobleck just nodded.
"Good thinking! Very well, once we're done eating we'll turn in for the night."
The next day proceeded in much the same way, scouring the ruins and fighting grimm, at least for most of the morning. However, the monotony of their search was broken as the sun climbed higher into the sky. "Aha! Ladies, come look at this," Oobleck called, waving them over. The four of them gathered around him, looking down at something on the ground.
"A cigarette butt," Yang said.
"Indeed, relatively fresh as well," Oobleck said, nodding. "I think we're getting close."
"Doctor Oobleck? I think I found something," Ruby said, peering over some of the wreckage. Oobleck zipped over to her, looking over. She pointed towards a door, the faded sign above it proclaiming it as the entrance to the 'subterranean level'. Rubble covered the ground between them and the entrance, but around the door a suspiciously clear area existed, apparently swept clean by the doors themselves.
"Aha, of course!" he said, nodding energetically. "Mountain Glenn was primarily intended as a residential district for the city of Vale. Though of course it would have had its own workplaces, thousands of people would have still commuted to Vale for work! A subway system was developed to allow for safe travel, and during construction they discovered a large cavern system!"
"The city was expanded underground to take advantage of these caves. However, Mountain Glenn lacked the natural defences of Vale, and grimm attacks increased! The population evacuated into the underground portions of the city. However, an explosion breached into another cavern, allowing the grimm access, finally dooming the people. We're not just looking for an underground criminal organisation! We're looking for an underground criminal organisation!"
"So, what do we do now?" Ruby asked.
"We need to confirm that these are, in fact, the people we're looking for. We should also try and get some idea of their numbers and what sort of equipment they have," Oobleck said. "But we must proceed carefully. If this is one of the exits they are using, then we should try and find another as they are likely watching this one. Let's see if we can find another entrance." The five of them carefully crept back, starting to circle around the block.
Now with some evidence of activity in Mountain Glenn, they moved more quietly and more cautiously, taking it in turns to dash across open ground whilst covered by the others. During one of these moves, Weiss happened to be the last one to cross what had once been a main road. Ruby signalled for her to cross, and she sprinted out across the open, only to fall, twisting her leg awkwardly. Looking back, her foot had gone through the road's surface.
She looked ahead again, locking eyes with Ruby just in time for the ground beneath her to sag. "Oh shi-" was all she got out before the surface gave out completely, dropping her with a scream into the void below, leaving behind a ragged, circular hole in the asphalt.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, making to dash for the hole, only to be stopped by Oobleck's hand on her shoulder. Yang slid to a halt as he held out his other arm to block her, and she let out a growl of frustration.
"Wait!" he hissed out. "The ground around that hole will be unstable. The rest of us got very lucky. Miss Belladonna!" Blake tore her eyes away from the hole, looking at Oobleck with wide eyes. "You seem to have the surest footing of us all," he continued, taking a length of rope from the side of his pack.
"Tie this securely around your waist and always keep a hand on it. Miss Xiao Long, you hold the other end whilst Blake carefully approaches the edge of the hole to take a look." The two nodded, Blake swiftly looping the rope around her and tying a knot before carefully beginning to creep forwards. Yang kept the rope mostly taut, letting it slowly slip through her fingers as Blake inched her way towards the hole. She crawled along on her belly, peering over the edge once she reached it.
"I can't see anything," she quietly called back. "Too bright up here, too dark down there. Wait." Blake froze, tilting her head slightly, and Yang swore she saw her bow twitch slightly. "I can hear fighting? Maybe?"
"Change of plan!" Oobleck declared. "We're going through the entrance we've already discovered, even if we have to fight our way through."
"But what about the hole? Can't we go down there?" Yang asked as Blake made her way back to the team.
"A blind leap into a cave with no idea of its depth or what might be down there? Terrible idea, we could be hurt or worse on the way down. Now come, no time to waste!"
Weiss let out a scream as she fell into the darkness, limbs flailing. Landing strategy. The thought ripped its way through her panicked mind too late. Her scream was cut off into a winded grunt as her back slammed into something, the surface breaking beneath her before her fall was arrested with a second impact.
Dust and small bits of rubble landed around her as she looked up, eyes staring unfocussed at the circle of light above her, the hole she'd fallen through. Her dazed mind recovered enough to realise she'd fallen onto and then into a building, ending up on the top floor.
She grunted, carefully getting her feet back under her and standing. She rolled her shoulders and dusted off her sleeves, looking around. The room she'd fallen into had, at one point, been part of an apartment, but it had been long abandoned. She wasn't given much time to muse as the door to her left was kicked open. A pair of men in White Fang uniforms burst into the room, pointing rifles at her. "Freeze!" one of them shouted.
"Wait, that's a Schnee!" the other cried. Weiss moved quickly, ducking and grabbing a chunk of rubble before flinging it at the one on the right's face. He flinched back, covering his face, allowing Weiss to close with the other one. He only had time for a single burst, his shots going wide before Weiss was on him, slamming a fist into the side of his jaw. He reeled back, dropping his rifle.
Weiss rounded on the other Fang member, kicking him in the gut, making him drop to his knees. With both of them recovering, she drew Lilie swiftly, bringing it down in a powerful slash against the first faunus in the same motion. She then stabbed forwards from a low guard, striking him in the chest with the tip of Lilie. The blow broke his aura, and she stepped in to crack him around the side of the head with Lilie's pommel.
He dropped like a stone, out cold as Weiss rounded on the second faunus. A second burst was fired at her, blocked by a glyph as she closed the distance. A drawing cut to his side shattered this one's aura, and like his comrade he was rendered unconscious, Weiss slamming his head against the wall hard enough to knock him out.
Sudden stillness descended onto the room. Weiss was surprised by how out of breath the short, sudden bout of violence had left her, at least until she remembered her fall. As she filled her lungs with air, she considered the two unconscious White Fang soldiers in the room with her. There was a savage sense of satisfaction that came with finally fighting the people who had plagued her and her family for so long. That feeling scared her. She swallowed, looking at the door the two of them had burst in through, then back at the hole she fell through.
"Can't go back up…" she muttered, looking back at the door. "And they'd be stupid to jump down after me. Only one way forwards, then," she decided, walking to the door and peeking around the corners. Beyond the door was a corridor, the stairs directly opposite her. Satisfied she was alone for the moment, she slipped on her helmet, made sure her bags were secure, and started carefully making her way down the stairs. Each step was taken slowly, straining her ears to listen for any more White Fang members who might be on their way.
Silence greeted her, broken only by her own breathing and the occasional creak of the building. Now away from the small patch of sunlight she'd fallen from, she let her cybernetic eye glow, allowing her to see in the darkness. Her vision like this was somewhat strange, tinted blue and skewing her depth perception slightly. Better than not being able to see at all.
At length, she made her way to the bottom floor, emerging out into the cavern proper. "Woah," she breathed, gazing around at the large chamber. Ruined buildings and abandoned streets greeted her, a match for the city above. As she looked around, she spotted lights in the near-distance and started making her way towards them. She kept to cover as she moved, weaving her way between the buildings instead of following the main road.
All the while she kept her eyes and ears open, watching and listening for any sign of movement near her. As she got closer to the light source she dimmed her left eye, relying on the ambience bleeding out to the surrounding terrain rather than risk the glow of her eye giving her away. She eventually got a good look at the lit-up area, and gasped quietly.
The area appeared to be a trainyard of some description, crates and supplies littered around a cargo train. A pair of Paladins were active and being piloted, used as glorified forklifts to move the larger containers around. White Fang filled the area, moving about on various tasks, standing guard, or taking breaks. Most of the activity seemed to be focussed on the main terminal building, a four-storey building with an attached skywalk going over the tracks, a series of cranes allowing for the movement of train cars.
Gods, it's like a small army, Weiss thought in horror, looking at the number of White Fang soldiers and the amount of equipment at their disposal. Making sure her position was well-concealed, she took out her scroll and took some pictures of the scene as evidence for later. Right, got what we came here for. Now I need to find a way out.
Weiss was left trying to figure out a way back to the surface, scanning the area around her for any signs of a surface access before she heard a very faint, muffled explosion in the distance. She wasn't the only one to hear it, several of the White Fang turning to look in the direction of the detonation. A second one sounded a few seconds later.
"Would someone tell me what is going on out there?!" came an annoyed yell in a familiar voice. Looking back at the terminal building, Weiss spotted a figure in a familiar white coat and black bowler hat striding out into the open. A White Fang member ran up to Rowan, saying something Weiss couldn't hear.
"Well then go find out! Last thing we need is the grimm breaching into this place!" Before the faunus could carry out her instructions there was a third explosion, much closer to the railyard, and Weiss' heart leapt as she saw, in the distance, a flash of golden hair moving between the buildings.
Yang. With the White Fang now thoroughly distracted, Weiss made her move. Breaking cover, she sprinted out and quickly crossed the open ground between herself and the scattered boxes of the trainyard. Waiting for a moment to make sure she hadn't been spotted, she moved again. The repeated cracks of gunfire came from the direction she'd seen Yang, and she altered her path, using the sounds of violence as a beacon.
A few White Fang were in her way, and she was upon them before they even realised she was there. She didn't spare the time to take them down properly, powering through to avoid becoming bogged down in a fight. She left cries of alarm in her wake, one in particular sticking in her head.
"It's a Schnee! Kill her!" Weiss picked up the pace as she heard that, lowering her head as she sprinted. Gunfire came from behind her, rounds impacting around her with a couple bouncing off her aura. Then she was across the next patch of open ground and into the buildings beyond the railyard proper, once again using the familiar sounds of team RWBY's weapons to guide her. Finally, she ran into a plaza just in time to see her team dealing with the last remnants of a White Fang squad.
"Weiss!" Ruby squealed happily, using her semblance to dash over and tackle-hug her. Weiss grunted at the impact, catching Ruby with her right arm, holding Lilie in her left. "We were so worried!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she reassured her, lowering her back to the floor and making eye contact with Yang, then Blake, then Oobleck, whose thermos flask had transformed into some sort of long club.
"Miss Schnee, excellent!" he declared. "Well, I think we've found what we were looking for, wouldn't you agree?" he asked.
"There's a cargo train filled with supplies. Dust, weapons, even some Paladins," Weiss explained. "I have pictures on my scroll."
"Excellent scouting work, Miss Schnee!" Oobleck congratulated her. "Now then, let's make ourselves scarce. The exit is this way, come on now!" he ordered, turning to lead the way back. Team RWBY fell into step behind him, Weiss in the rear with Yang just ahead of her.
"Glad you're okay, Ice Queen," Yang said, grinning back at her, relief evident in her face. Even Blake looked happy to see her, and Weiss returned their smiles.
"Glad to be okay," she replied. The five of them ran through the underground city, taking a path Weiss realised was parallel to the train yard, darting in and out of buildings. Judging by the shouts around them, Weiss reckoned the White Fang were hot on their trail.
"Quickly now, across this road!" Oobleck shouted, pumping his legs faster to get across a broad street leading towards the trainyard. Just as Oobleck reached the other side, Ruby a moment behind him, the air around them exploded with shots from down the road. High-calibre rounds from at least one heavy machine gun ripped up the road surface around the hunters.
Blake made it to the other side safely, whilst Yang took a hit to the arm, swearing in pain, her aura still intact. Weiss, being in the rear, took the worst of it, more than three rounds slamming into her side and back. A final bullet caught her in the leg, causing her to stumble and roll into cover. She hissed in pain, scrambling back to her feet and continuing to run. Her brief tumble had opened some distance between her and the rest of the group, a gap she tried and failed to close as they continued their flight through the city.
"That building there!" Ruby yelled without looking back. The building in question rested against a natural wall within the cavern. When Mountain Glenn was occupied, it had clearly been a public building of some kind, two-stories tall with decrepit benches outside, a wide doorway leading into a foyer area. As they got closer, Weiss spotted an archway inside, a broad staircase beyond it. Oobleck and Ruby made it to the building first, followed by Blake, and then by Yang. Weiss was still a distance behind them, crossing the road as Yang stopped in the doorway.
"Weiss, come on!" she frantically urged her. Weiss ran, both looking down the road, prompted by some instinct. Beneath her helmet her eyes widened as she saw a Paladin slide to a halt in the middle of the next junction, white plumes of smoke from its shoulders betraying the fact it was firing missiles at them. Time seemed to slow down for her. In an instant she knew she'd never make it to safety before those missiles hit. In record time she had summoned two glyphs, one directly in front of her and one in front of Yang.
Both propelled them backwards, Weiss being launched away from the building whilst Yang was launched through the archway. Weiss caught a brief glimpse of Yang's panicked expression before the missiles hit the building. She landed clear of the explosion, rolling back to the feet in time to watch the building collapse, cutting off her escape, but hopefully not crushing her friends.
She wasn't given much time to ponder her situation. More gunfire aimed at her forced Weiss to run for cover, ducking into an alleyway to avoid the Paladin. Sprinting along its length, she came face-to-face with a masked faunus wielding a club. "Hey!" they yelled at her, swinging wildly.
She dodged the clumsy attack, dragging Lilie's blade across his chest with enough force to spin him around and slam him into the opposite wall. She shoulder-barged him against the wall a second time before slamming the crest of her helmet into the back of his head, hearing something crack. She tried to put that sound out of her mind as she continued running.
She broke through a door into a building, running through it and then outside again. She swore loudly, sliding to a halt and ducking back into the building at the sight of a whole crowd of White Fang soldiers, at least fifteen of them looking at her building. Gunshots filled the doorway she'd just vacated, and she took a moment to try and plan her next move.
"Go in and flush her out!" one shouted.
"Go into the building with a hunter with a massive sword?!" another responded incredulously. "Fuck that, I aint stepping foot in that damn place." Weiss dared to peek around her cover, looking through the door to see them aiming weapons, covering the doors and windows.
"Come on, think," she breathed, trying to come up with a way to escape them.
"Why don't I just use this?" one asked, hefting a weapon into view. Weiss' eyes widened as she saw the device. Wide-bored and fed from a huge rotating drum with six chambers, she instantly recognised it as an Atlas-issue grenade launcher.
They're trying to kill me. In retrospect, her little epiphany seemed obvious. She'd been shot at by everything from pistols to an Atlesian Paladin, but it wasn't until she actually heard them discussing how to kill her that it registered emotionally.
So stop going easy on them, something in the back of her head insisted. It was the same savage pride she felt after dispatching the first two soldiers, she realised. Remember what Winter said. Kill or be killed. Weiss swallowed, remembering Winter's words to her. Kill or be killed, she echoed in her mind. She took a deep breath, feeling her heart hammering away in her chest. She set her jaw, releasing the breath slowly.
"Yeah, fucking level the place," the first White Fang soldier said, apparently this group's leader. The one with the grenade launcher nodded, pointing it at Weiss' door and pulling the trigger twice. Two grenades sailed into the doorway, only to be caught by a glyph. Time ground to a halt for a moment before the glyph inverted, flinging the grenades back. Cries of alarm were cut off by the twin explosions, and Weiss chose that moment to run out of the building. The White Fang outside were reeling from the blast.
Five of them were down, three screaming in pain and clutching at wounds whilst two were lying still. Weiss fixed her eyes on the largest of those still standing. Glyphs sprung into existence on the ground between them, accelerating her forwards, Lilie held point-first. The attack splintered his already-weakened aura on contact, and Weiss carried the momentum forwards. A wet, strangled noise escaped him as Weiss ran him through.
She kicked the soon-to-be corpse off the end of her sword and whirled around, pumping aura into the lightning dust chamber and swinging Lilie in a wide sweep. Bolts of electricity leapt from her blade in front of her, and three more White Fang members went down screaming and writhing. Stabbing Lilie into the ground, she held her hand out and summoned a glyph under the grenade launcher, its wielder one of the ones bleeding profusely on the ground. It launched into the air towards her, allowing her to catch it.
She emptied the remaining four chambers into the surviving White Fang, killing or maiming them all. The spent weapon was then dropped, allowing Weiss to recover her sword and continue her mad dash. Mercifully, she didn't run into any more of them, eventually finding her way to a tunnel that would, at least, keep the Paladins off her back.
She slowed her pace a little, walking swiftly rather than running as she moved down the tunnel, her eye glowing again to compensate for the darkness. She paused as a large figure stepped out into the mouth of the tunnel, blocking her exit. They had a different uniform to the rest of the White Fang she'd fought so far, exposed arms covered in both muscles and tattoos.
At a guess, she'd put his height about level with Yatsuhashi, a very close match for her own. The dull throb of a motor accompanied his footsteps as he slowly approached Weiss, a massive chainsaw-like weapon held at his side. A grimm mask, more elaborate than Weiss had seen thus far, covered the whole of his face. A dark chuckle echoed down the corridor towards her as he revved the weapon, tilting it so the spinning blades sparked against the tunnel wall.
"Finally," he said loudly, anticipation dripping from his voice. "I get to kill a Schnee." Weiss raised her weapon, her opponent stopping a few paces away from her and raising his own. The two remained like that for a few moments, each sizing the other up.
He was the first to move, his chainsaw roaring loudly as he charged forwards, swinging diagonally downwards towards her right side with surprising speed. Weiss held Lilie in her left hand, point down and bracing the blade with her right arm. Sparks flew as the chainsaw met the flat of her blade, skating off and into the floor with a squeal.
Weiss punched him in the chest before grabbing Lilie's hilt in both hands again, swinging it over her shoulder and down in her own diagonal cut. The blow struck him across his chest, sending him reeling back. She carried the momentum her swing through, bringing Lilie up again into a sweeping defensive pattern around her head. He snarled and swung at her weapon, batting the blade aside before swinging for Weiss' head.
She ducked under the strike, jabbing at his chest with the tip of Lilie before backflipping away from his follow-up slice. Landing on her feet, she channelled her aura into her hard-light dust. The shield she'd created caught his next attack, chainsaw howling against the pulsating barrier. Weiss leapt upwards, flipping in midair and landing on a glyph on the ceiling, using it to launch herself back down.
Her opponent dodged her attack, and she earnt a blow to her back for her efforts, whirling teeth biting into her aura before she was launched back. She grimaced, managing to land upright, just in time for a viciously-fast flurry of attacks. The bellow of his weapon echoed down the corridor as she dodged and parried his attacks, finally getting an opening when she deflected a strike into the ceiling, the chainsaw chewing into the stone briefly.
She took the opportunity to land a pair of slashes across his chest, knocking him onto the backfoot. Weiss pressed the advantage, grabbing Lilie by the ricasso to jab and slash at his face and shoulders. He growled as he failed to ward off all of her blows, letting out a roar of frustration before willingly taking a strike to step within Weiss' guard.
He struck her in the helmet with the handle of his weapon before kicking her in the chest, sending her staggering backwards before slashing horizontally. Weiss was forced to cross blades with him to defend herself, the screaming teeth halted as their weapons connected edge-to-edge.
The two engaged in a brief contest of strength, gritting their teeth, neither able to find an advantage. So Weiss surrendered the contest, stepping to the side and letting the sudden lack of resistance carry her opponent past her. She slashed across his back before kicking him in the base of his spine. As he staggered away, she once again called upon the lightning dust in Lilie, summoning a spinning clock-face glyph at her feet.
He recovered and turned around in time to see the glyph accelerate, before Weiss became a blur. She darted forwards, flicking her hand out ahead of her to summon a swarm of glyphs all around him. He barely had a moment to register what was happening before she was on him, leaping past him and scouring his side with Lilie. She hit her first glyph, and it fired her back at him again, scoring another hit and landing on the next glyph. This repeated again, and again, and again, moving too fast for him to track, let alone defend himself.
The onslaught finally reached its conclusion as Weiss landed on a larger glyph, firing herself with even greater force into him. Her right hand grabbed him by the collar, arm across his neck whilst her left held Lilie, tip against his chest as her momentum carried the two along the length of the tunnel and out into the open again.
Their brief flight came to a sudden stop as he slammed into a wall, aura shattering on impact. An instant later Weiss' weight crashed against him. Her sword was driven up to the prongs into his torso, severing his spine and piercing the wall behind him. In the same moment, her forearm crushed his throat, silencing any noise he might have made.
He spasmed once, twice before falling still, head lolling to the side at a sickening angle. Weiss panted, wrenching her sword free and stumbling back. "Holy shit." The voice made her spin around suddenly. The move that had killed her opponent had carried her well clear of the tunnel, and into the middle of another group of White Fang, this one larger than the last.
They all had weapons, but the shock of the moment kept them from raising them. Weiss moved to take advantage of their distraction, but as she took her first step her body slowed to a crawl. Her eyes widened and panic set in as her time dilation wore off.
Worse, the sudden move had broken the spell over the White Fang, causing them to raise their weapons. The first few rounds slammed into Weiss, making her stagger back before a rocket exploded beside her, finally breaking her aura and sending her tumbling to the side. She fell to the floor, losing grip of her sword as she crashed onto her side, struggling to rise.
She lifted her head, rattled by the explosion as some of the braver ones stepped closer, intending to finish her off. "Wait!" A voice shouted, barely audible through the ringing in Weiss' ears, causing them to hesitate. "I want her alive." Weiss' vision began to go dark, and the last thing she saw before finally losing consciousness was a pair of black dress trousers stepping into view, with a matching pair of shoes with red soles.