Ugh, I hate being sick. It made this chapter take a few days longer to write, mainly because it was hard to focus on writing in the first place. Now that I'm decently recovered, I'm glad to be back into it!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 35: Mounting Trouble

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.(Chapter start)

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September 14th

Saturday

Stormy

Storm clouds lingered in the air, darkening the sky as Azura and Ruby walked the streets of the northern district, and the twilight sky beyond the clouds struggled to streak through them. It was getting late, but there was at least another hour or two of exploring that could be done, as was their task of the day. With increasing evidence of White Fang presence at Mountain Glenn, their objective had fully shifted towards trying to find the base they had set up.

The six of them were split up into groups of two, all within the right side of the northern district to look around and investigate. Weiss and Oobleck were along the north wall, searching high and low for the currently 'fresh' tracks, as he put it. The most likely place to find someone from the White Fang supposedly. Blake and Yang were the buffer between that group and Azura's group, searching for anything regarding the missing dust crates and where they were possibly going.

As for Azura and Ruby, they were tasked with two things. Grimm watch, which was simply to make sure nothing major made it past them and towards the north wall. And tracking down what Oobleck believed might be the location of their base. Something about them wanting to be closer to the rest of the city, for the dust being moved, while also in a easy to defend location, backed against the northern wall and the jagged cliffside running down the east side.

Azura found it almost ironic that the one part of the northern district he didn't check outside of a brief overview was likely the same area that the White Fang was working out of. Though, for all of the grand theories and possible evidence backing it up, Azura and Ruby had found absolutely nothing that would confirm it. The more they traveled, the more Azura was sure that they were either on a wild goose hunt or somehow never ran into a single Grimm or White Fang member. Looking around at the dull and faded colors all over the ruins of the city again, he almost hoped that he'd see something different, or living. He could go for killing some Grimm right about now, though he wasn't sure if that was because of the itch of his healing wound as his aura worked its magic to heal or because of Summer's simmering anxiety under the surface. He sighed quietly, looking over at Ruby, who was quiet and almost stiff, like she had something to say, but lacked the desire or confidence to speak up.

Summer's mood killed his common desire to speak up and fill the silence with conversation, so he didn't push it. Luna was keeping aerial, acting once more as a bird's eye view, forcing Azura to just watch the streets and keep walking with Ruby as they followed some tracks they had picked up along the way, agreeing with few words that they were definitely the tracks of boots. Though, it was frustrating to have these tracks come up dry as well. As Azura stopped at Ruby's side, hearing her sigh as they came face to face with just empty boxes of dust, he finally spoke.

"This...is going nowhere."

"We've made progress, at least. We've kind of searched the entire city up until this point, outside of the other parts of the northern district of the city." Ruby said, optimism in her voice. "We just have to get back on the right trail."

Azura nodded slowly. "Well, you aren't wrong, I suppose. Do you think the others have found anything?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Probably? Maybe?" She shrugged. "I'm sure Oobleck would group us all up if anything concrete was found."

"That, or to collect us before night falls. Wouldn't want to have one of us out here, knowing him." Azura replied.

Ruby sighed a little heavier than he expected, though he didn't comment. "We'll find out sooner or later, Azura, that's for sure." She lightened up a little, smirking. "Would certainly be a lot faster with scrolls, if we had connection here. Or if Oobleck didn't take my dog for the day…stupid fresh tracks..."

"I do apologize for that, then, Miss Rose. But I'm sure you understand the importance such an animal has in hunting down something with tracks!" Oobleck said from behind them, continuing once the two of them turned. "That is, if we were able to find anything. Which, so far, we haven't. But that isn't why I am here, now is it?"

Ruby turned around, talking as Azura did the same. "Then, what are you here for, sir?"

"Well, to collect you, as you said! I have already set up the other three with the task of a suitable base near us for the night, and thus came to get you two myself." Oobleck explained. "Though, your partner did take young Zwei from me, unfortunately."

Azura frowned. "So, nothing found yet?"

Oobleck shook his head. "That would be the case, yes. But, with enough patience, we will find something! It's the very course of history that backs this idea up."

"Right." Azura said dryly.

"Are we going to meet up with them, then?" Ruby asked.

"In a bit, Miss Rose. The three of us are going to check along the cliffside one last time before heading off. Now, shall we?"

Azura and Ruby nodded, following after the man as he turned around and started down the street. The cliffside was rather closeby, having been the tail-end of Azura's and Ruby's route already, so it did not take long to make it there. Once there, Oobleck kept them more on the street than close to the cliff, starting to talk again.

"Care for a theory on the White Fang here, you two?"

"Go for it." Azura said, while Ruby nodded in affirmation.

"Right. Well, in regards to why they are working out of this part of the city, I've already spoken of. Easy to defend, better to bring dust through, and is farthest from the Grimm it seems. All great things for them." He said, before coughing into his hand. "But, the lack of progress on our part is what draws my interest. It is not like we don't have tracks and even some evidence of people recently being here, but we've been put on a wild goose chase. And why?"

"Uh...cause they don't want to be found?" Ruby said, sounding like she was asking her own question.

"Well, yes. But they are clearly evading us in one manner or another." Oobleck replied. "Yes, we have not explored every nook and cranny of this part of the city, but surely we would have seen more than some dust crates and dry trails at this point, right?"

"Supposedly, yeah." Azura said.

"Which brings me to my main point, then! They are traveling by another means while having some way to cover their tracks after a certain point. My theory suggests that they are actively cutting their tracks off to throw off anything that might be trying to track them. Also, they are likely using the cover of night to make it seem like the tracks are old and eventually go dry."

Ruby crosses her arms over her chest, thinking. "Meaning that the wild goose chase is caused by a time difference? I guess that would make sense."

"Disguising tracks by any means is a classic trick to throw off possible pursuers. Now, I have not decided that this theory is accurate, but it's possible." Oobleck said. "The night tends to have more Grimm out and about, so I won't have us travel at night just yet."

Azura wasn't so sure on that point. His night travels had very few Grimm along it. But, it was also possible that he either got lucky or that the speed of which he traveled happened to help him avoid Grimm even more.

"Does that mean we'll just be going over dry tracks the entire time until then?" He asked, feeling a small bit of frustration lace his words.

This mission was starting to remind Azura of Ozpin's words about the Nightmare. There were only so many tracks they could follow before they either lost track or came upon a dead end.

Oobleck looked at Azura quietly, thinking for a moment. "Come with me, you two."

Oobleck led them along the path further, eventually turning and coming closer to the edge of the cliff between two buildings that were mostly collapsed. They sat there silently for a few moments before Ruby spoke up as massive Elephant Grimm started walking in a group far away from the cliff.

"What are those Grimm?!" She said excitedly. "Wait, wait...it's a Goliath, right?"

"Correct." Oobleck said, leaning against the wall and watching the Goliaths cross through.

They were big, and definitely heavy. The familiar black, red, and white colors of all Grimm made it seem more intimidating to look at, considering its size. Their sides, face, and the front of their legs were covered in the white bones, protecting the main parts of their bodies. The large trunk and ears were left exposed, but Azura was confident that they could easily be used as a weapon if needed. Red lines covered the mask like paint and made their orange eyes seem much brighter than they probably were.

Her hands twitched towards the sheathed Crescent Rose on her back instinctively. "Let's kill them."

Oobleck laughed. "While I do appreciate the enthusiasm, we shall not be killing those Grimm with such simple weaponry. And they will not attack us anyway."

"They won't?" Ruby asked, looking at Azura in confusion. He simply shrugged, waiting for Oobleck to speak again.

"No, they will not. There are Grimm out there who are not mindless. Or rather, they are not mindless anymore." Oobleck explained. "Those Goliaths are likely decades old and possibly older. They know what will happen if they attack or even kill a Huntsman, so they avoid it at all costs."

"Then, what are they doing out there?" Azura asked, finally speaking.

"They are waiting. For something drastic to happen." Oobleck said, a rather serious edge to his voice. "And for now, we'll simply watch until that day." He turned to face them again. "Sometimes, it is better to watch and observe powerful Grimm than to hunt it down without anything else. Wouldn't you agree, Azura?"

Azura tilted his head. "Well, I guess so, yeah. But some Grimm really should just not live longer than can be helped. Better to get rid of a problem than to wait for it to explode in your face."

"You may have a point, but you cannot suggest just going to kill something you likely don't understand at all." Oobleck replied. "Especially Grimm who are very old and cunning. How does that sound?"

Azura frowned. "You're going to ask me the same question, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." He said, nodding. "The headmaster has informed me of what you asked for help with, Mister Heart. Considering the age of this...Nightmare Grimm, he was right to come to the person who studies history like his life depends on it. And, upon asking further on why you were looking for this Grimm, I have to ask. Your reason for becoming a Hunter is to kill this Grimm for some revenge or vengeance?"

Ruby looked between them. "Wait, what? What is that Grimm? And Azura wants to kill it? I don't understand."

Oobleck raised an eyebrow. "I figured you didn't tell anyone, but I'm sure that Miss Rose would be one of the only people you'd trust with such personal info."

"Are you telling me you wouldn't want to kill such a horrible Grimm?" Azura asked back, ignoring his comments and Ruby's presence for now.

The green-haired historian sighed, playing with his hat for a moment. "A fair point, I suppose. Even I would agree that this Grimm should be dealt with if possible. Let me rephrase the question, then. Is that even what you truly want?"

Azura went to answer, hesitating for a moment. "Of course I want that. It killed...it killed her."

"That isn't answering for yourself, Azura. You have answered for Luna. What do you wish to protect as a Hunter? Our job is to save and protect others, not to destroy and kill."

Azura grimaced. It seemed that Oobleck did not care much for his privacy in front of Ruby. He didn't like the fact that he seemed to not care that the man did so anyway, but he was glad that, out of anyone to find out, it was her.

Azura looked over at Ruby as he thought of a proper answer to get Oobleck off of his case, his thoughts straying to her. It was odd, to feel attached to someone he's only known for a few months, though he figured that having been on a few crazy adventures with her and her team was the reason behind it. Still, Oobleck's question simply brought his attention to Ruby, a feeling of protectiveness coming over him as he did so. He shook his head as she looked at him, a confused look in her eye, breaking eye contact. He didn't have much time to continue thinking before Oobleck called his attention again.

"Do not think like Summer Rose, Azura. Think for yourself, why are you training to become a Hunter? What is it you wish to protect instead of destroy? Do not think for one of your living friends or ghostly companions, think for you."

Azura frowned, trying to come up with an answer. A few seconds pass by before he answers quietly. "I want to protect the memories of others that I've seen."

Oobleck was quiet for a few moments, and Azura glanced at Ruby, who was watching him with a warm look compared to her previous confusion. He wasn't sure how that made him feel. His eyes snapped back to Oobleck once the man sighed.

"Perhaps I was wrong to think that you had something going on within you." He commented quietly, almost unable to be heard by Azura and Ruby. He spoke up more clearly after that. "Think on that answer, Azura Heart. What makes you say that with such confidence without having it be your first answer?"

Oobleck turns then, walking off and dropping the topic entirely. "Come along, you two. I'm confident in knowing where your team has set up camp for tonight."

Ruby started to walk off as well, before turning to Azura and smiling for a moment, waiting for him. Azura sighs, then starts walking to catch up with Ruby and they begin walking next to each other. He had a lot of things to think about.

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.(Line Break)

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Azura adjusted his sitting position on the second floor of the building they were camping in, slightly bored with the empty area he was watching. He was within the shadows of the building, unable to really be seen from the moonlit streets, so he wasn't too worried about being spotted. Despite having a lot of thoughts on his mind, he distracted himself by trying to get Summer to talk about her own issues.

"I know you aren't in the best mood, Summer. I can feel it." He said, deciding that honesty would work best. "And I want to help you with what happened last night, but I can't do that if you continue to try and push down your own emotions."

Summer sighed quietly, her presence becoming stronger than she had been all of today. "Don't you have enough to think about before worrying about the dead woman's problems?"

"Maybe, but that doesn't stop me from making sure you are feeling good." Azura replied. "I can't help but worry when I felt the very terror you felt when we saw...whatever that thing was. Summer, whatever happened last night, I don't want you to hide from me."

"No, I should...it's better that way."

"Is it, though?" Azura asked, continuing to talk. "Summer, I just want to help you. I don't care that you're dead, you are still alive to me."

"Sharing your body hardly counts, Azura." Summer said dryly, not seeming too talkative.

Azura quietly sighed aloud. "I'm not going to argue semantics, but you are still here on Remnant with an actual form that I can interact with. That's living in my books, even if it makes no sense."

Summer didn't reply, leaving Azura to speak again.

"Something about that Grimm terrifies you, Summer. I just want to help."

The simmering anxiety that he felt from Summer almost seemed to boil over for a moment before she spoke. "That Grimm is directly connected to what killed me, Azura. Even years later, I cannot stop the fear that such a creature gives me."

Azura frowned at her words. "It...is?" He asked, unsure of how that could be the case.

He could still vividly see the memory of her death like it had happened yesterday, and the only truly terrifying thing he saw was the person who killed Summer. He couldn't really see what connection was there.\

"Yes, it was." Summer said, sadness in her voice. "They might not be the strongest Grimm...I mean, even an inexperienced Huntsman would be able to kill it, but I can tell you that it was there at the time of my..." She trailed off, letting Azura fill in the blanks.

"But, if it isn't so strong, how did it lead to your death? Does it have to do with that woman that was there?" He asked, continuing once he received no response for several seconds. "Summer?"

"Drop it, please." Summer pleaded in a whisper. "I don't want to talk about it."

Azura hung his head, feeling annoyed with himself for being unable to do anything. It was frustrating to Azura to be unable to help someone he considered close to him, and even more frustrating to feel what the person he was trying to help felt in their weakest moments and still be unable to do anything.

He was spared from his thoughts once more by the sound of someone walking up to him, and he turned to see Ruby looking down at him. He turned away then, not saying anything when she sat down next to him, deciding to keep the silence as long as he could. Which wasn't long at all.

"Did you always intend on not saying anything about the fact that you were hurt?" She asked.

Azura sighed, not looking at her in favor of watching the still empty street before him. "I didn't plan on saying anything, no. Aura tends to be a good enough healer in these cases."

"Show me." She said.

Azura blinked a few times as he processed her words, turning to her. "Excuse me?"

Her silver eyes shone with a stubborn determination. "Show me that it's healing properly."

Azura shifted back a bit to create a bit of space. "I'm sure you are well aware of how aura works, Ruby."

"You're right, I do." Ruby said, the stubborn look in her eye becoming more serious. "But I don't care. Show me that you're fine."

Azura stared at her, raising an eyebrow. "I can't fight you on this, can I?"

"Nope." Was all she responded with.

Azura sighs, shrugging his sweatshirt off and rolling his sleeve up, the bandages once more exposed. Dried blood was on it, but it was not enough to make it seem really bad. Ruby inched closer, and brought her hands to the knot keeping the bandages in place.

"Can I?"

Azura nodded. "Go ahead. You wanted to check, no?"

"Shush you." She replied back.

Untying the knot, she quickly unwrapped the bandages and inspected the cut along his left arm, running down his forearm and just past his elbow. She took a few moments to look, the cut seeming to be faded and mostly healed, then leaned back and sighed.

"There, better?" Azura asked jokingly.

"I just wanted to make sure it was fine." She defended.

Azura smiled. "I know, Ruby. I appreciate it." He responded as he brought the sleeve back down and pulled his sweatshirt back on.

"How did it happen?" Ruby asked as she gathered the dirty bandage and stuffed it somewhere in her bag. "You did promise to tell me what you are doing."

"What I was doing. I managed to finish it up last night." Azura corrected.

"Well, what were you even doing? Why? And even then, why keep it secret?"

Azura looked back out onto the street as he answered. "I was searching for something that Ozpin knew was likely here. It was data on someone's experiments and other things, Doctor Merlot's."

"And Ozpin asked you to do it? Why not get a certified Huntsman?" Ruby asked.

Azura shrugged. "Huntsmen are busy people, Ruby. It's likely that no one else could do it, but he saw a chance within me and Summer."

"Then he only did it because…" Ruby said, trailing off as a real hint of anger entered her voice. "He only did this because of your situation, didn't he?"

"We don't know that, Ruby." Azura said, trying to move on from the question. "Anyway, I found the door that led to the lab, but it was locked and unable to be opened. A terminal needed to be powered up and a code to be found, so I ended up searching for those after a while. Once I was inside, which was last night, things just...happened. I got hurt, but I likely found the data. It's a dead scroll, but I have reason to believe that he had his data on it."

Ruby seemingly let her slight anger go, asking another question. "What's so important about this data, though?"

Azura shrugged again. "I don't know. But if someone like Ozpin wanted it, I certainly feel like it's important."

"Not wrong, I guess." Ruby muttered. "How'd you end up getting hurt, then? You make it seem like it just accidentally happened, and your cut has healed enough to make it seem ambiguous."

Azura wondered how much he should be telling her, but decided that telling her about the Grimm wouldn't be a huge problem. Though, the reason for it finding him would be told a little differently.

"I ended up setting an alarm off, I think. I'm not too sure." He began. "But, there was a Beowolf in the lab with me, and it wasn't normal at all. It was much larger than normal, probably a foot or two bigger than an Ursa Major, and most of its body was covered in bone-like spikes as well as having the normal bone armor that all Grimm have. And those spikes are clearly infused with something to make them deadlier, if I have to guess. To top it all off, its forearms had some mechanical thing attached to it, with metal blades extending from its body." He finished, shuddering for a moment. "It was pretty scary, I have to say."

Ruby's eyes were wide from shock, as if not expecting him to give an answer like that. Her shock was quickly replaced with an entirely different emotion, and she moved forward to grip on him as she spoke.

"Is it chasing you? Is it out in the open now?" Ruby asked, her voice fierce and protective. "Answer me!"

Azura shook his head, placing his hands on her forearm. "Shh, calm down." He waited a moment before talking again. "I'm fine, Ruby. It's trapped down there still, and I doubt it's going to get out with the kind of door that the lab had. It might be big and strong, but it's not going to get out anytime soon."

Ruby's moment of emotion wore off, and she looked away in embarrassment. "Sorry, I got a little carried away for a moment. I didn't mean to yell."

Azura shook his head. "It's not a problem, Ruby. I'm aware of your streak for being a bit protective of people at times. I deal with it all the time with Summer, even."

The slightly tense atmosphere subsides after a moment, and when Ruby speaks again, it's quieter. "I know Oobleck never asked me compared to everyone else...but I sometimes wonder if I should follow in my mom's footsteps and become a Huntress. But everytime I think of that, I end up just feeling like it's the right thing for me to do."

"The right thing to do?" Azura asked.

Ruby nods. "I feel like I need to step up and replace her. It's dumb, but I don't know. It feels normal to me."

Azura knew that Ruby's words didn't sit well with Summer, feeling the urge to say something. "Well, you aren't Summer Rose, Ruby. There's only one Ruby I know, and I wouldn't have it any other way." He said with a smile. "I know Yang would say the same thing, Weiss and Blake too."

Ruby smiled back. "It's nice to hear that. Thank you."

"Anything for a friend."

They sat in silence for a while after that, the shattered moon still rising in the sky, bright as ever. About an hour afterwards, Zwei walked in and started to whine in front of Ruby. She rolled her eyes, getting up and talking.

"I'll be right back. Zwei's gotta…"

"Yeah, I know." Azura said, getting up as well. "I'll come with, I suppose. Look around the other side of the street while I'm at it."

Ruby shrugged. "Works with me. Let's go."

They walked through the building and quietly stepped past their sleeping teammates as Zwei followed them, making their way through the door and out into the streets. They observed both ways, not seeing any movement at all, then Ruby officially let Zwei through.

He wandered off to do his business while Azura and Ruby stepped further into the street, hands on their weapons, ready to pull them out if needed. They kept quiet and observant, simply waiting for Zwei to finish. When he was done, however, he kept his head in the air, sniffing. Ruby approached him, speaking quietly.

"Come on, Zwei. Let's get back inside."

But the dog wasn't listening, running off with a short bark and nothing else. Ruby stepped back in surprise, before quickly moving off after him with a quiet shout. "Zwei!"

Azura sighed, running off to follow after them. They went down the street and across through an alleyway, making it out onto another street as Zwei kept running through the street and into another alleyway, Ruby disappearing into the shadows of the alley after him. Azura kept up his pace, running after her. Towards the other end of the alleyway, Ruby had Zwei in her arms, crouched down.

When Azura caught up to her, he took notice of her tense posture and crouched down. He slowly moved around her, hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there, and moved slightly forward to look out onto the street. Two Faunus in White Fang garb were walking down the street, talking to each other.

"Well...that's not good." Azura whispered.

"But it can be." Ruby whispered back. "Follow them?"

Azura shifted back and looked at her. "For now, yes." He smirked slightly, despite the serious situation. "Ready?"

"Always." She responded.

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.(Chapter End)

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This chapter definitely feels shorter compared to last chapter, given the drastic length difference, so I hope you all don't mind that.

Have a nice day/evening!