Only a few hours ago, the team arrived at their inn at Marfa.
Overnight, they switched off to keep guard of the small town. Thankfully, no nearby grimm appeared to wreak havoc. The citizens were lucky for now.
Currently, it was the crack of dawn. The sun was beginning to rise, painting the sky a dim orange.
Team RWBY was rummaging around their shared space, finding the supplies they would need to annihilate the targeted den.
"You got the extra ammo?" Yang asked her sister.
"Check."
"Water?" the blonde asked.
"Check."
"All the snacks?"
"All the check."
"My love?"
Before Ruby could process what her sister said, she was crushed in a bear hug. Oxygen fled from her lungs as she was picked off the floor.
"Sh- should've seen that coming..." the leader breathed and coughed.
From the sight, Blake and Weiss only rolled their eyes and continued to pack for the long day ahead.
"Don't look so disappointed," Yang said, egging them on. "There's plenty of me to go around."
"Pass," was all Blake said.
"Hard pass," Weiss scowled.
Yang put her hands on her hips. "Why do you guys always gotta be so negative?"
"I prefer to breathe," Weiss quipped as she shoved one last snack into her bag. "That might be only me, though."
Ruby nodded in agreement. "You do go overboard with your hugs," she admitted, rubbing her sore side.
Yang frowned. "Only sometimes."
"All the time," Ruby retorted.
"Not all the time-"
While the sisters bickered, Blake approached Weiss and whispered.
"You took your pill, right?"
From the question, Weiss almost scoffed. Although she was touched by her concern. "Of course. Can't have my aura running amuck, can we?"
Relieved to hear that, Blake smiled. "Just wanted to make sure."
Casually, Weiss threw her bag onto her back. "I've been taking them my whole life, Blake. You don't need to check-in."
Blake only shrugged. "You did forget them that one time."
"Once," Weiss emphasized, keeping her voice low. "And that was when you found out about my…"
"Yeah," Blake sighed and took one last sip from her water bottle. "That'd throw anyone off."
Gently, Weiss set her hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate your concern."
They shared smiles.
A red blur zipped behind the two.
"Are we ready to go?"
Nods.
Ruby grinned, excited to rid the village of the threat. "Let's get out of here."
With that, the team left the inn and briefly walked through the small town. It was vacant, with a thin layer of snow on the ground. The cold air nipped at them, their breaths visible.
While the team left the town, there was a backup huntsman standing guard. The village leader hired another as reinforcement so team RWBY could all go together to eliminate the beowolf den.
When the team was at the outskirts of town, Weiss strapped her rapier to her hip. "Which way?"
"A few miles east," Ruby instructed and crouched.
After the team braced themselves, Weiss formed four glyphs beneath all of them with a flick of her wrist. The glyphs were almost invisible on top of the pure white snow. In a strong burst, the team leaped forward and left a cloud of powder behind.
Yang wore the brightest smile as she soared with her arms back. "This never gets old."
"Imagine how I feel!" Ruby exclaimed as she twisted into a red whirlwind.
Combined with the propulsion glyph and her own semblance, Ruby was flying faster than the speed of light. She was effectively in the lead and well-ahead of her team.
From the sight, Weiss cupped her hands over her mouth. "Wait up, dolt!"
With renewed force, the three caught up to their leader, thanks to the glyphs. At these speeds, the wind was violent and stung any exposed skin. Which wasn't much since they were decked out in winter gear. The girls were red-faced and couldn't feel their cheeks.
"Agh!" Blake screamed a few times from almost slamming into some trees. "How are you controlling all of us?! I'd barely be able to do this myself!"
"Practice," Weiss replied as she glided alongside her.
About fifteen minutes had passed as they flew in this manner. They were impressed their teammate was able to keep up the glyphs for this long.
Along the way, a few grimm tried to jump the group, but they were simply too fast. For the most part, Ruby killed them execution-style while not even breaking stride. She was a red blur in the dim light.
Ruby was in the front, so when she slowed down, her team followed. Weiss gradually slowed her glyphs and they began walking. She was a little out of breath, but she should be fine with this break.
By now, the sun had risen, giving them some much-needed light.
Yang whipped her head back and forth, only seeing tall trees. "Shouldn't it be right here?"
Carefully, Ruby inspected the map. They were standing exactly where the den should be located.
"Huh, that's weird," the leader mumbled. "Blake, can you-?"
Ruby fell quiet when she noticed Blake's cat ears were flickering wildly. She was trying to pinpoint the den using her enhanced senses.
Subtly, Weiss attempted to do the same but with her vision. She didn't have enhanced hearing like Blake, but she still had better vision than most humans. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything notable.
Blake listened intently. There was the crunch of snow, a single insect chirping, and their rhythmic breathing. It seemed normal. Until she felt a slight tremble beneath her feet.
"Move!"
Quickly, Blake pushed into her partner while Ruby grabbed her own. They tumbled out of the way as a few rocks on the surface vanished below.
Blake crouched, poising her katana. "There's a den below us."
Abruptly, several claws shot up from the ground. This caused the team to jump back in shock.
"Wh-what the hell?!" Yang yelped. "Aren't their dens supposed to be above ground?!"
Ruby smirked and whirled her scythe. "These are the zombie kind of beowolves."
Weiss frowned from the comment. "This isn't one of your stupid zombie movies!"
"It's the closest it can get, let me live my hopes and dreams!" Ruby exclaimed.
Ignoring their banter, Blake stared at the debacle. The grimm were slowly rising as the arms popped up, following the heads and necks.
"They were using a huge boulder," Blake realized as she used her foot to skid across the snow. "They were hiding under the ground and used the rock for cover."
"Woah," Ruby mumbled, shocked by their intelligence. "Careful, team. And watch out for those four alphas. I don't see them anywhere yet."
The alphas had yet to appear, but several beowolves crawled their way onto the surface.
Yang pounded her fists together. "Let's not give 'em a chance to get out!"
Taking that as their cue, Ruby and Weiss pounced on the grimm. While Weiss stabbed one in rapid succession, Ruby executed it from behind by beheading. Any blind spots Weiss may have was covered by Ruby's sharp bullets that knocked down grimm after grimm.
Their goal was to distract and kill the beowolves that had reached the surface while the other half of their team enacted the plan.
Blake created three clones of herself and they all leaped in separate directions. She had them scan the perimeter to see just how huge the boulder was. When she was certain about the size, she yelled.
"Yang!"
While Yang prepared herself, Blake and her clones sliced the rocks below in rapid succession. Her katana wasn't strong enough to break the rock, but it was enough to do some serious damage.
Above Yang, a glyph was drifting in midair. It was directly in the center of the located boulder. A propulsion glyph also helped her reach the surface as she front-flipped and landed perfectly.
"Perfect timing!" Yang praised her teammates.
When she was fired up, Yang jumped off the glyph head-first. With a war cry, she pumped her fist back and rocketed a punch smack-dab into the center. The collision caused a fierce shockwave to knock them back.
Debris skewered the area, pricking the snow and trees. All at once, the ground caved in. A burst of white clouds skewed their vision. Jagged rocks plummeted into the cave below. Countless howls echoed upward, eventually fading into nothingness.
Since Yang almost fell into the new gaping hole, Blake sent a clone to swing in and save her. She grabbed on and landed safely next to her partner with a heavy sigh.
"Holy crap," Ruby couldn't help herself. "I knew Yang was strong but not that strong!"
Weiss stared at the giant hole in astonishment. "She didn't even use her semblance…"
Gradually, the puff of snow dissipated to reveal the sheer destruction left behind.
Yang sauntered over to the edge of the hole, where Blake grabbed her shoulder so she wouldn't go too far.
"And stay dead, ya assholes!"
Her yell reverberated down the den. All they could see was darkness. Even with the animated sunlight.
Eager, Ruby rushed to stand by her. "Did we get them all?"
On cue, several grows erupted behind them. In the distance, stood four beowolves that towered above the team.
"Nope," Yang said, popping the 'p.'
Stay dandy,
~Toto