(AN: My arm is healing nicely, and me and my team were able to get some things done for the story. Chapter progress will still be slow as typing is proving to be rather difficult with only a non dominant hand at use. Also I watched the content for RWBY Volume 9 released just hours before this chapter goes up, and I was glad to see that CRWBY is still keeping the series going strong. I'm excited for RWBY Volume 9's release in early 2023, and I'll be focusing on the story development in order to maintain positivity as the time goes by, especially with how rough life has been. So stay positive and hope for the best.)
At least a day of traveling aboard the airship later, we reached the edge of Solitas, alongside a few destroyed towers on the cold and dark coast. They were likely the long ranged proximity sensors mentioned by Elm in Volume 7, and they looked devastated. Scattered pieces were everywhere, and the snow in the area was still torn up. It had to have been recent, perhaps a few weeks given the light snowfall and the lack of the soft blanket of white covering most of the area.
"What happened there?" Yang mumbled as she looked down at the wrecked sensors far below. We were all outside, on the main deck of the brand new Atlesian carrier. Up ahead was our destination - Atlas, hidden completely by the clouds and the snowfall up ahead. I was wearing a coat from one of the many barracks aboard the ship.
For some reason, Liya hadn't spoken to me the entire time since I'd woken up, and she was looking rather nervous. Walking over to her, I sat next to her on a Manta secured to the deck with the doors open and ramp down. A bag with Wilt and Blush was secured to my back. "Hey, umm..."
I wasn't able to get any more words out thanks to Liya hugging me from the side. I didn't think much of it, only sighing and hugging her back with my good arm. "I missed you," she said, her voice muffled with her face pressed against my side. I didn't question it. I was just glad to be back with everyone else.
"I missed you too," I said back, and Liya smiled. I noticed she didn't wear her mask this time, showing a rather small smile with that scar on her face. I just chuckled and ruffled her hair lightly and affectionately.
I wasn't paying attention then, but Liya's smile had been wiped off her face a split second before she fully turned away from me. Things were quiet for a while as the ship continued to fly ahead, before an alarm began to blare out. Startled, we all turned to see a few spotlights from the ship's bridge tower flickering on before pointing towards the darkened sky.
"Incoming!" a voice on the loudspeaker yelled loudly on the main deck. Pilots and personnel rushed to the airships while the rest of us rushed to get inside as the sounds of battle stations getting ready filled the air. Gunfire tore through my eardrums as gun turrets surrounding the flight deck opened fire into the sky, lines of large tracer rounds ripping into the sky.
I turned to see what appeared to be a massive swarm of Nevermore approaching the ship, the sky briefly being lit by the large rounds. As we got inside, the rest of us looked for places to sit, deciding to wait out the Grimm attack. I turned to a window to see dozens of Mantas lifting off, forming defensive screens around the carrier's blind spots.
The muffled sounds of warfare continued on as the ship and its escorts plowed through the Grimm force surrounding us. Clover wasn't kidding when he said that Atlas was in trouble, there were already so many Grimm near the ship, and we were still far away from Atlas, I could only hope Mantle had been evacuated already.
We made our way to a set of emergency seats that personnel strapped themselves to in order to prepare for a potential crash.
"This is insane, there's…just so many of them…" Weiss muttered, unable to properly take in the sight of so many Grimm, the sky almost blacked out by the sheer number of them.
"Yeah. Never saw this many Grimm around in one spot before now. Hope Atlas is still afloat," Qrow commented.
"This is the power of Salem," Ozpin spoke from within Oscar's body. "While the sight may be daunting, she is still able to be fought, and Atlas has the best of the best. We must simply have faith in him and his forces." It was perfectly clear that not everyone was as confident or certain as Ozpin appeared to be, but there were no protests despite the dark reality of their situation.
*BANG!*
With the deafening sound of the mighty explosion, our world began to shake violently. "What's happening?!" one of the soldiers tried to shout out, if it wasn't for the fact that we were all already strapped into our seats, we would've likely been thrown around the ship. Emerald and Ruby, who were sitting next to each other, held onto Biscuit tightly.
"Sir! The Grimm are ignoring all other airships and coming straight for us! We're taking severe damage to our engines, if this continues they'll bring us down!" Another soldier within earshot nearby relayed to the apparent captain.
"Then we make a beeline for Atlas!" the captain ordered over the speaker of the soldier's comms device. "Helm, full speed to Atlas! I want our guests in a Manta ready to go as soon as possible! All personnel, get to the escape craft at once!"
Alarms began to blare throughout the ship as dozens of soldiers and personnels rushed by them to get to their stations. Our group was following the Ace-Ops to the lower hangar deck where dozens of additional Mantas were kept in reserve, like how an aircraft carrier from my world had elevators that led to a service and maintenance bay for most of their embarked craft.
"It's the lamp!" Oscar shouted out as we were all rushing to the Manta. "Ozpin says they're ignoring the escorts and going straight for us!"
"Shit!" Qrow swore, having forgotten that little aspect about the artifact. "We need to get off this ship fast, or we'll get all these men killed!"
"Can't you take the lamp and fly it to Atlas?" I asked Qrow. "Smaller target and whatnot."
"Sorry kid, but I'm not fast enough in that form, I'd be caught almost immediately, especially with that many Grimm in the air," Qrow responded remorsefully as we finally made it to the elevator. "You think a bird is gonna be able to stand up to a Nevermore or a Lancer?"
"Ozpin couldn't give you some kind of other magic abilities other than the ability to turn into a bird?" Liya asked. Regardless, we all entered the nearest empty Manta, and began strapping in. Those that couldn't find a seat secured themselves as best they could.
"Elm, Marrow, man the guns," Clover said as he and Harriet got to the cockpit and began to start up the Manta. Elm and Marrow took out the rotary cannons and slid them to the Manta's doors while the rest of us who couldn't find seats grabbed onto the ceiling handles as tightly as we could.
The bow hangar doors opened, and the half dozen Mantas ahead of our own were already being loaded up with crew and soldiers, preparing to take off. The other Mantas had their doors open as well, soldiers manning the side rotary guns.
Fortunately, thinking of a solution wasn't too difficult, the gang had already thought it up before. "Ren, Jaune!" I went over to the two, talking before they could respond. "I need both of you to use your semblances, I'll copy Jaune's to boost you even further, Ren."
They just nodded and got right to it, no doubt the situation causing them to hyperfocus on the task, despite how difficult it could be for Ren. Jaune and I got to work, and Ren's aura began to mask the Manta.
"Good work you three. Let's go!" Clover said as another alarm rang throughout the ship, which rumbled violently from another impact. The fleet of Mantas in the airship carrier took off immediately, forming an aerial convoy and rushing for Atlas while the ship and its defenses bought us time.
I prayed to the gods that the crew who stayed behind to cover us would survive. Whether or not they were actually listening, the Grimm did start to disperse as we got further and further from the ship.
"Aren't we lucky to have you three?" Harriet chuckled as the three of us quickly found places right behind the pilots' seats. "Now you just need to keep it up until we make it to Atlas, think you can do it?"
Instead of answering, I grunted in reply for the three of us, completely focused on our tasks. I don't know if the number of Grimm or the lamp's magical presence affected Ren's semblance, but it was holding up well.
The other Mantas fought for their lives, many taking damage and some going down with no hope of recovery. Missiles erupted against Grimm left and right, and rotary machine guns stopped at nothing to wipe out as many Grimm as possible. Despite the endless storm of flying monsters, the soldiers around us continued to fight tirelessly, their resolve not shaken in the slightest.
While there was a stray Grimm here and there, we were ignored for the most part, with the rest of the aerial fleet taking them out when needed. Any Grimm heading right for us was dodged effortlessly by Clover and Harriet in the cockpit.
Nearby, Biscuit and Ruby were cuddled against the rear of the Manta's troop bay. Yang, Weiss, and Pyrrha were hanging on to the ceiling handles near the starboard side of the Manta, with Nora, Blake, and Qrow watching the port side. Maria, Emerald, and Oscar were silent near Ruby and Biscuit, and Liya was holding onto my shoulder right behind me.
I didn't mind - she wasn't hindering me and she was simply watching my back, I know I appreciated her keeping me steady during the bumpy flight. Within the little time I'd processed, we had breached the cloud cover. Despite the chaos, I could see that we had thankfully almost reached Atlas.
But I should've known things wouldn't have been so easy. While not as bad as it was previously, the sky was still swarming with Grimm, from Nevermore, to Griffons, to Teryx, and I'm pretty sure I even spotted a Beringel or two flying somewhere deep in that swarm.
However what caught all our attention was the whale - Monstra, the one Salem had used in her invasion of Atlas in the show. It appeared just as ginormous and as terrifying as it did in the original line of events, and I couldn't help but wonder if Salem completed it just in time or if she had Monstra in waiting for a while now. Given how much time Salem had on her hands and how things seemed to appear now, the latter seemed the more likely option.
As the group of Manta airships were barely a minute from reaching Atlas, the massive Grimm opened its maw as if to spew its Grimm tar, only for massive groups of airborne Grimm to fly out, in our direction on an intercept course.
"We're not going to be able to take them all out before they reach us! Is there a way to get there faster?!" Marrow shouted, as he and a stoic Elm continued to fire upon the approaching swarm.
"Just hold them off for a few more seconds," Clover grimaced as, one by one the Mantas in our convoy of airships were forcefully dragged down to the ground.
Despite Marrow and Elm's best effort's and the use of Ren's semblance, our Manta still had a Grimm or two grabbing onto it, while the rest would hit us in their attempts to do so.
"Markus this isn't working! What do we do?!" Jaune began panicking, even as he still gave Ren his Aura. I could tell he was running out, and I was about to deplete my aura reserves even faster.
"Shit shit shit," I thought, trying to come up with some sort of plan as our situation got worse and worse.
"Would really appreciate a super powerful semblance ass pull right about now, kid!" Qrow asked as he hung on tightly to the Manta.
"Give him a chance to think, old man!" Liya shouted in my defense, still keeping me steady even as things got worse.
"Tell him to think faster!" Harriet yelled from the cockpit. "I can't pull up!"
"Will any of you just be quiet up there?!" Maria cried as Oscar held onto Ruby and Biscuit for dear life.
"Of course I have one of those, why didn't I think of that?!" I could help but rant in my mind, the stress of everything finally getting to me."For all I know your semblance is doing this! If only Good Fortune was as-" I stopped to think, as a plan that might not even work came to mind.
"It's the best shot we got!" I said out loud this time, the ones who heard me giving me some rather questioning looks. Having no time to explain, I stopped boosting Ren and made a beeline straight for Clover, hoping to boost Good Fortune enough to get us out of this mess.
Yet again for a third time now, it was as if fate itself was working against me, despite the gods bringing me here to save Remnant, as the Grimms efforts were finally rewarded and our ship began to fall, sending me crashing just before I could reach Clover, slamming into Elm - who was rooted to the Manta floor by her semblance - and right into Yang, who flew into Marrow and sent all three of us hanging off of the airship, me hanging onto Marrow's leg with one arm, Yang hanging onto my shoulder, and Marrow hanging onto the machine gun. We must've looked like the weirdest human and Faunus ladder flailing out of the airship.
"Yang!" Ruby cried.
I would've laughed if the three of us weren't currently screaming for our lives. And because the rotary gun was on a ceiling rail and a swiveling mount, both the gun and the wind were currently slapping the three of us against the side of the falling Manta as we gained speed towards the ground.
- an unknown amount of time later -
"Urgh... I wish I'd stop getting knocked out and waking up in strange places," I moaned as I came to. The last thing I remembered was being flung from the Manta with Marrow and Yang in tow. My aura was completely spent now, having shattered upon impact.
"But I doubt what I had left after boosting Ren would've shielded me much from the landing. Guess I have Clover to thank for saving my life...again," I thought to myself as I lay there, wiggling my arms and legs-
'Wait, where the hell is my arm?!' I momentarily panicked, thinking I had torn it off in the crash. However I realized that in the rush and panic that it was taken off way before we even left Argus, and that I'd been going one-handed for the entire trip. "Oh...right."
I groaned again at my error, brushing that aside for now. I was decidedly uninjured, besides the usual cuts and bruises. Despite not getting to boost it, it seems that Clover's semblance had saved the day. My body at the very least.
"Or did I unconsciously use it like Mettle, before I landed?" I thought to myself, as I continued to lay on the ground, staring up at the smoke filled underside of Atlas. "Well regardless," I continued as I began to finally get up to my feet. "I need to find Yang and Marrow, then the other's. Hopefully they're all safe."
While Mantle couldn't be described as the prettiest or cleanest place right about now, it certainly looked better in Volume 7 and 8 than it did right now. Cracked and dilapidated buildings, streets torn apart, rubble strewn about, and smoldering fires surrounded us. The place wouldn't look out of place in a post apocalypse.
Fortunately I hadn't spotted any bodies or blood. 'Guess that means everyone got out in time. Yeah…just a bunch of empty houses' I tried to think positively as I turned and spotted my damaged bag, the straps snapped. I grabbed Wilt and Blush from inside and quickly attached it to my belt, which was miraculously undamaged.
In my search to find Marrow and Yang, I scaled one of the buildings to hopefully spot them better or make myself easier to spot. From my vantage point I got a better lay of the land, and boy was it bad. I saw that we'd crashed smack dab in the middle of Mantle, and it was destruction incarnate. Most of the city was devastated, almost as if a world war had been fought here. Buildings were crumbled, streets burned, and smoke blocked out the view of most of Atlas from below. "Guess my block isn't the only place that looks so bad," I thought to myself.
I spied small groups of Grimm patrolling the area, but more importantly, the ones making their way to a large smokestack close by, likely our ship. The roof's of the buildings were close enough that I was able to run and jump across them as fast as possible without too much strain.
"Markus!" I heard a shout and a familiar shotgun blast. I immediately changed course and tried to speed up further, my neural dust creating platforms for me when needed, allowing me to effectively double jump.
"Ruby? Blake?" Yang continued to shout to try and find everyone, even while she had a small pack of Sabyr's bearing down on her.
With no time to think, I made to jump again from a hastily made platform with my neural Dust, attaching some of my dust to myself, pulling it and subsequently me, to help speed up my momentum.
Not knowing if Wilt and Blush would be enough - especially since Blush had no ammunition, I used what dust I had left to make a hammer like Nora's but smaller, and tried to spin like I had seen Ruby do many times before with my only hand.
I was able to stay on course and slammed the hammer into the ground, crushing some Grimm right underneath it and sending the rest flying a few dozen meters away. The hammer quickly broke down after that, and I took a moment to catch my breath, recalling my Dust back to my belt in the meantime. As I stood hunched over, I could hear Yang rushing up to me soon after.
"Markus, are you okay?" Yang asked as she checked me over, while still keeping an eye out for any new arrivals caused by the noise.
"Well…" I huffed, feeling exhausted without my aura to energize or protect me. "I'm dizzy and my shoulders are screaming at me, but I'm alright," I chuckled lightly between my large gasps and pants for air. "Honestly how do Ruby and Nora do that all the time?" I questioned as I tried to get up. We needed to get out of here while we could still move.
"Look, you're one handed. Just focus on staying safe, I can-" Yang tried to say.
A gunshot cracked through the air, and a Beowolf neither of us noticed flopped dead at our feet. The both of us turned to see who it was that had saved us, and we saw someone who I'd never thought I'd see again. Mainly because he was someone who wasn't even around for much of RWBY's story.
"Dove?" I said, thoroughly confused.
Dove Bronzewing had been pointing Hallshott up in the air, barrel smoking. Hallshott no longer had a revolver built into the hilt, pressed against the side of the blade. The blade was now split down the middle, creating a centimeter or two of space for a fully fledged rifle barrel to be installed down the center of the blade. Near the base of the blade was an eight or ten tube revolver mechanism - I was too dizzy to specifically count, which presumably held the sword-rifle's ammunition.
Dove looked different as well. His outfit now looked like a mix of his old armor and Atlesian armor, tan colored with golden outlines. Rather than looking basic, it now had layered plates on the abdomen, waist, and shoulders. His boots looked more military grade - likely steel toed. I noticed that he kept the scarf that was with his original outfit.
"Yeah. What's it to you?" Dove asked as he lowered his sword.
"What're you doing here?" Yang asked as I remembered when she and I beat the living snot out of the entirety of team CRDL.
"Defending the populace," Dove deadpanned. "When it was clear Beacon wouldn't be able to continue teaching everyone, Atlas offered to take in as many of us that were willing to join."
That made a lot of sense actually, since General Ironwood would want to be as prepared as possible for Salem. With the explanation out of the way, we got ready to fight where we were, a pack of snow covered Beowolves coming from the street and different alleys, the one Dove killed likely being a scout for their pack.
"So where's the rest of your team?" Yang questioned as she settled into her boxing stance, unfolding Ember Celica on her left while the shotgun came out of her right. "Or did they chicken out of being huntsmen?"
Right as she asked that, a green and black blur flew over our head and collided with an approaching Ursa Major, and carving right through it once it turned into dust. When I saw the blur slow down into a more discernible figure - a figure with a mohawk.
Russel Thrush immediately began moving again as soon as he landed, playing keep away with many of the Grimm, not unlike what I've seen Emerald do - due to his daggers now possessing retractable chains. He looked different as well, wearing black pants and stronger looking boots with small cleats on the bottom. He wore a green hooded shirt with sleeves and two short coattails and two angular spaulders with a spike on each one.
Russel had very short hair around his much longer mohawk, having no doubt grown out his hair over the many months between Beacon and now. His arms had bracers on them - which upon closer inspection, had divots the size of the handles of Russel's daggers, Shortwings, to fit in seamlessly.
"Get a move on!" The large figure of Cardin Winchester bellowed as he bulldozed past us into the fray. Like Russel, Cardin's flanged mace head now seemed to be attached to a retractable chain to strengthen his already devastating blows.
Despite the Executioner now having a flail mace as its combat option, Cardin looked extremely different as well. His hair was trimmed shorter than before, and he had a nasty scar that went from his cheek to the side of his neck. His sleek and silver armor with golden and bronze outlines looked more like a medieval knight's, with angular plating on the chest, back, sides, and waist, as well as several armored plates protecting the shoulders, biceps, elbows, arms, thighs, knees, legs, and boots. Despite all the extra armor making him look cumbersome, he was no slouch when it came to speed.
Cardin ducked under an Ursa swing before swinging up with the Executioner, sending the Ursa flying before the mace head flew to the side, smashing a Beowolf on Cardin's left with brutal efficiency. Dove rushed in, cutting the legs off an incoming Ursa before backflipping over Cardin, who finished off the Ursa with a single downwards blow.
"Huh" Was all Yang could say, and honestly I couldn't have responded better after seeing Cardin - Cardin of all people - with properly developed teamwork skills, but with that we went back into the fight.
Yang slammed into a Sabyr, sending the Grimm flying into Russel's blades, before he jumped and spun in the air, his daggers on chains cutting apart two Grimm at once. I drew Wilt with my only arm and began cutting down any Grimm that had gotten close to me, backflipping if I needed to dodge - since I couldn't exactly block effectively in my current state.
"Wait, is that Adam's sword?!" Yang yelled from quite a distance when she spotted the familiar crimson colored straight edged blade. "How did you-" She had to pause her question in order to fight off a Centinel tunneling up from below.
"I've had it since Haven!" I answered back as I performed a flip spin over a lunging Sabyr, and swung at another Ursa, which blocked my hit and swung with its own claws. Rolling to the side, I impaled the Ursa between the Grimm plates before jumping back to catch my breath. "It was a gift from Torchwick!"
"So you have a stolen weapon? Really fantastic, Markus!" Yang snarked.
"Oh, please! It ain't like Adam would be using it!" I snapped back, but there was no real hostility as I stabbed towards another Beowolf.
"Until his fanatics start seeing you as his successor or some shit!" Yang bit back as she launched back a pair of Grimm into the waiting Executioner.
"And it'll scare the hell out of the rest. After all who would want to fuck with the guy who killed THE Adam Taurus?"
"That sword cut off my arm!" Yang protested. "Unless you forgot!"
"And you blasted mine off minutes after!" I yelled angrily. That shut her up real quick, and I fell silent as well.
That probably wasn't very good to say, but the fact was it was done. It happened, and I had spent a lot of time training with Wilt and Blush. It would be a waste to get rid of it now. Yang and I had gotten over our injuries - though we definitely haven't gotten over the trauma.
While fighting like this was no means easy, the load was made even lighter thanks to the three members of CRDL. Their form and especially their teamwork was much better, allowing us to work around each other with little issue. Although, I couldn't help but be reminded of our previous bouts, that was probably because we had been learning each other's style's even if we weren't on the same team.
"While this info is very interesting-" Cardin began as he gave me a glance that demanded answers later. "-you two can have your couple's quarrel later."
"Shit. I hope Yang doesn't try to kill him now!" I sweatdropped as I began praying for him, while I stayed close to Yang in case she had a lapse in focus.
Instead her eyes lit up in a familiar red and she began to pummel the Grimm harder. I assisted her by making any I could take out quickly, easy targets for her. Swiftly cutting the joints of Ursa Major, while she proceeded to pop their heads like balloons.
"Megoliath!" Dove yelled, backflipping away as a massive black trunk slammed into the ground where he once was. Yang turned and dashed for the massive elephant Grimm with no hesitation, Dove doing the same the second he landed. As I watched Dove and Yang tag team the large Megoliath, I realized Russel and Cardin were planning something.
"Mohawk Missile!" Cardin shouted, as I once again watched the spectacle of Russel being turned into a discount Sonic the Hedgehog. The Executioner's chain fully extended as Cardin began to spin, with Russel doing the same with the chains of Shortwings, the blades of his weapons getting purposefully caught between the flanges of Cardin's mace.
"They copied Bumblebee," I realized, and I felt myself smiling. As dire as the situation was, with the state of Mantle practically in shambles, the only thing I could think was how CRDL was finally getting some development.
Once enough momentum was generated, Cardin gave one last mighty pull, while Russel disentangled the chains, and was launched right into another group of Grimm. Slashing many on his way past before allowing his speed and spiky armor to take out the group he landed amongst.
Yet, he was still not done. The momentum wasn't gone, and Russel was lunging at the Megoliath from the side at the same speed he'd been launched from. Blades still extended from Shortwings by the chains, Russel leapt high in the air from a piece of conveniently ramp shaped rubble, he spun downwards, building up momentum as he and the blades spun like a falling Ferris Wheel, before both blades reached the Megoliath.
They slammed right down on the back of the Megoliath, which did no damage whatsoever, but it stumbled by the sheer stopping power it'd been forced to endure. Dove and Yang took the opportunity at once - slashing and punching out a leg respectively before Cardin leapt in with a mighty roar, the chained head of the Executioner swinging down.
The mace detonated the Megoliath's head with a mighty explosion, before the remains eventually went away. Cardin sighed as he looked down at the smoking part of his mace, having used its Fire Dust function. "Not bad..." he said.
Minutes later, the last of the Grimm were cleared, with the five of us taking a breather before any more could come our way. "By the way, you're not forgiven," I remarked.
"Huh?" Cardin asked, looking up from his seat on the hood of a broken car.
"For throwing a ton of Rapier Wasps at me back in Beacon. It sucked, big time," I said.
Cardin winced, and I felt a little flattered that he felt guilty. "Yeah, wasn't asking for it," he said, and the two of us fell back into a respective silence.
Or it would have been a proper silence if I didn't jump in panic. "Wait, Marrow! Where is he?" I asked hurriedly.
"Who?" Russel asked.
"The Atlas guy we were with when we crashed! Guy with a wolf tail, he has a rifle," I said, quickly looking around. "Anyone see anyone else when you were coming here?"
Cardin and Russel exchanged confused expressions, but Dove was looking up. "Is that him?" he asked, the swordsman pointing to the sky. At a far distance was a Nevermore falling statically towards the ground, something white grasped in its talons. The Nevermore's feathers weren't even fluttering as it fell, almost as if it were a solid life size replica.
Marrow's semblance.
"Aww shit," I groaned as I heard the Grimm smash into the ground with a meaty thud in the distance. Yang acted before I did, running to the scene as Russel and I moved right after she started.
- elsewhere -
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!"
"Oh hush girl," Maria lightly scolded Ruby, "if these old bones came out of that wreckage without any serious injuries, then your sister is fine. The only thing you'll be attracting is the Grimm."
"I know..." Ruby sighed as she slumped, "I'm just not used to not being able to do anything".
Her heart had almost stopped when Yang and Markus were thrown out of the Manta, only just hanging on to that Ace Op before he went as well. She's the fastest in the group, she should've been able to do something. But she simply hung onto Biscuit...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a small hand resting on her shoulder.
"Ozpin's told me about some of the stuff you guys have been through, like initiation," Oscar said, giving a nervous chuckle. "If Yang can make getting launched from those pads into a joyride she's definitely fine. She's probably tearing through every Grimm here trying to find you!" Oscar enthusiastically stated, Biscuit barking in response as if giving his own encouragement.
"Thanks guys" Ruby gave a small smile, as well as a small hug to Oscar and a head pat to Biscuit, who barked once. She was still worried, but she could trust that everyone knew what they were doing, that they would make it back.
"Now that you're done drawing Grimm to us, we can carry on with your training," Maria stated. At the former Grimm Reaper's words, Ruby's face turned apprehensive while Oscar's slightly red one paled a bit.
"Shouldn't we do this while in a safe environment? I don't want to tire myself out and become a burden," Ruby stated.
"Didn't I tell you back on the train? When it comes to these eyes, it's always a trial by fire," Maria said before beginning to laugh. "And what better trial than a city overridden by Grimm? If you don't want to become a burden then you need to be able to call upon the power whenever you need it, without having to stand around being a target. As long as you can control the activation of your eyes."
Ruby's mind flashes back to what Jinn had shown her, how despite their best efforts they still lost to Salem. Sure she was able to deal with Cinder twice in the vision, but here she hadn't even done that. Cinder was uninjured, the Wyvern was able to attack Haven because she didn't kill it and she didn't kill the Leviathan.
She needed to do this, for everyone. Her mind set, Ruby gave Maria a determined nod. "Then teach me all you can while we're stuck here," she said.
"Then let's begin," Maria said as she came to a stop, as a group of Sabyrs started making their way towards the group. "Lesson one, stop releasing everything in one giant flash, keep them small and constant instead. That way you won't tire yourself out, and you can deal with more Grimm by disorienting them, if not outright killing them."
"What about activation?" Ruby asked.
"Remember what I said on the train? The eyes are powered by the desire to preserve life. To protect those you love," Maria stated. "Think about your family, your friends, and-"
"Um..." Maria turned to Oscar, who was looking between her and the oncoming horde, as Ruby got to work on concentrating.
"What are you standing around for, boy? I need someone to keep any stragglers away from me, and you need to build up some muscle," Maria said in annoyance. "Chop chop, boy!"
"But I...yes, ma'am..." Oscar said as he - with Biscuit in tow - began taking on the approaching Sabyrs. Oscar was sure Ozpin was laughing as he lunged at the first Grimm, the cane extended and ready to bludgeon the creatures to death.