Chapter 20
Micheal tossed and turned in his sleep, a groan of displeasure emits from him as he experiences a nightmare. In his sleep, a terrible scene was playing out that felt disturbingly real, as if he was there. He found himself in the middle of fighting a group of grimm alone but couldn't figure out where he was at. His surrounding was, for some reason, exceedingly dark to obtain any details. He kept slashing at each Beowolf, Creep, and Ripper that close to him, his sword hacking off limbs or cleaving skulls whenever it landed. But it didn't seem to matter as for each one the wolf faunus felled another took its place as if to make his desperate efforts fruitless. The grimm swarmed him from all sides and in the darkness, all he could see were there bright red eyes of diverse sizes and shapes, eyes filled with a desire to sink their claws and teeth into him and tear him apart. He wondered how he ended up in this extreme situation. What did he do or who did he piss off to be put in such a terrible situation? It was then as he was pulling his heavy blade out of a Beowolf head, leaving a blood-red fissure in its head in its where his sword had been, he noticed a large black object coming at him. He could define the exact shape, but he felt that he couldn't move. The last thing he could remember as the object slammed into him sending him sprawling on the ground broken. In the last moments, he turns to see the grimm descend on him.
Micheal woke up with a start, his breathing labored from terror, his knuckles white as his grip was tight on his blanket, sweat beading on his skin and his clothes sticking to him. The dorm room dark to half the team, but to him, it was black and white as his night vision kicks in to show him what humans couldn't see. The sound of something beating on glass made him jump as he immediately looks at the window to see rain impacting it and he relaxes. 'Just the rain,' he looks around the room to see his teammate still sleeping peacefully. His nightmare lost to them as he closes his eyes and started to take deep breathes to calm himself. He then tries to go back to sleep, but as he tried the scene played out again. His breathing quickly became shaky. A boom of thunder made him jump in surprise. 'I need to relax, it was just a dream, maybe a walk around the building will do some good.' He gets up and walks into the bathroom to clean the sweat off his body. As he walks out of the bathroom, getting ready to walk out of the dorm for a bit, he contemplates for changing but decided it was not worth it. He wasn't leaving the building anyways. He did grab his scroll and checked the time, 2:15 AM. He a sigh escapes his lips as he quietly opens the door and steps into the hallway.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, take your pick, for Micheal, the secretive cat faunus happen to be awake. The resident light sleeper of the team happened to wake up to her friend's groaning. She watched on worried as to why he was acting the way he was. She watched him wake up, enter the restroom and leave the dorm. She remembered him doing that the first day as a team, it meant something was wrong with him. Blake got out of bed, being careful not to step on her fellow faunus below her. She stretched and yawn before getting out of bed. She was still quite tired and a part of her mind told her to head back to sleep. But she couldn't while her teammate was troubled by something. She at least headed into the restroom to at least clean herself up a little bit, just because it was the middle of the night didn't mean she didn't have to walk around with messy hair. Blake also left in her pajamas as she quietly steps out of the dorm. She looks down the hallways building. All she saw was wooden doors evenly spaced along the wall, but she didn't see Micheal. She instead took off her ribbon, so not dull her hearing, to listen. Her ears shift with the relieving freedom the suddenly had. Her ears may not be as sharp as Micheal's, at least when he was paying attention, but they were still quite good. She quietly chuckles a bit as she remembers every time people scared him despite his sharp senses, which happened often. 'I need to teach him to use his senses better,' she muses to herself. She picked up the sounds of footsteps to her right. The cat faunus follows the sounds as quietly, but quickly. She couldn't take a chance for others to notice her ears. She would stop every few steps and check to make sure no one followed her. She eventually reached the end of the hallway and Blake presses herself against the wall. She looks around the corner, only peeking her right eye out. She sees one of the building's rest areas, as the staff called them. It was a place for people who wanted a place to sit that wasn't in their dorms. It contained a couple of green couches that faced each other with a wooden table between them. She saw her friend sitting on a nearby windowsill, relaxing against the small amount wall the window offered with his head against the window glass, his tail wrapped around his waist. She could see him just looking out the window, just staring. Lightning illuminated the room, giving it color for half a second, then followed by a boom of thunder soon after. Blake walks toward the wolf faunus cautiously, not wanting to startle him. As she got within a couple of feet of the grey-haired boy as she softly says "Micheal."
Micheal jumps and rapidly turned around in freight. He spun around to fast in his panic that he forgot the size of the sill he sat on. He fell off the ledge and sprawled on the ground on his back. He looks up at his sudden visitor, to see Blake's amused face with her arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked.
"Not your best moment," Blake says amused.
"Blake?" Micheal questions. He then notices her ribbon in her hand and looks up to see her cat ears in the open. He found himself fascinated by the small ears. They shared the same color has her hair with a tuft of white fur on the inside.
"Who else?" the cat faunus says. She then notices his gaze fixed on her ears. She looks away slightly uneasy and was about to put her ribbon on her ears.
"No, don't hide them, at least when it's just the two of us," Micheal requests as he was about to get up. The raven-haired girl looked a little apprehensive. Blake offers her hand out to help him up, the wolf faunus gladly takes it. Micheal didn't notice it till just now, just how much more callused her hand felt. Her rough fingers softly brushing against his mostly smooth ones, calluses barely starting to form. He didn't know why it just stuck out to him now and how he didn't notice it before. It made him feel more self-conscious of his lack of experience.
"Micheal, What's wrong? I doubt it has to do with my ears," Blake asks getting straight to the point.
"Can't get past you, can I?" the wolf faunus answers with a question.
"No, talk to me," the cat faunus answers softly. She gently leads him to the couch nearby and urges him to sit down. She sits down after him, sinking into the soft cushion a bit.
"I just had a nightmare that's all," Micheal says.
"Tell me about it," Blake says comfortingly.
"I was fighting grimm by myself and they overwhelmed me, no matter how me I slew they just kept coming," Micheal says. He felt Blake's hand on his shoulder giving him a reassuring squeeze.
"Well it's over now, it was just a dream," Blake says.
"It just felt real and the fact it's a real possibility terrifies me," Micheal admits.
"Sometimes dreams are like that and I will not lie, it is a possibility, but I promise we would never to leave you by yourself to face such a scenario," Blake says. The cat faunus then grabs his hand and give it a firm squeeze. Micheal gives her a small smile as his tail wags a bit, well as it could since it was restrained between Micheal and the back of the couch. "Come on, let's get back to the dorm," she says as she ties her ribbon back on. She notes the look on slight displeasure on the wolf faunus' face. "What?"
"Nothing, I just think you look better without the ribbon, not hiding your ears from me," Micheal says.
"Thanks…, but I'm not ready to show my ears to anyone else," Blake says with a slight blush.
"Fine, but if it's just us, will you take it off again?" Micheal asks curiously.
"Maybe," the cat faunus answers honestly. "For now, let us get back to our room, think you can try to sleep again?"
"I'll try," Micheal says.
"Good," Blake says as the duo. As the duo returned to the dorm, they return to their bed. As Blake lies down, she then remembers the question she wanted to ask. She turns toward, the wolf faunus to see him asleep already. The raven-haired girl sighs exasperatedly at the sight. 'How do you fall asleep so fast?' she wonders in her mind as settles down herself. 'I will just ask him later.' She then closes her eyes as she tries to sleep as well.
Later that morning
"Oh Micheal!" a voice cheerily shouts from behind said person. Micheal, Weiss, and Blake turn around to see Noire rapidly heading their way.
"Hey Noire, what's up?" Micheal asks with a smile.
"I wanted to hang out that's all and also I forgot to give you some advice the other day," she says with a smile ever present on her face.
"What advice was that?" Blake asks her voice calm. While she didn't like this girl initially, she had gotten used to her constant presence, at least enough to be able to have a polite conversation with. She still wouldn't call her a friend yet. Weiss shares the same attitude as her teammate and treats the girl with respect.
"I was going to tell him to just stick to using firearms since he's at least competent with them," Noire says.
"Well, we were going to keep him in the back covering us till he got getter with a melee weapon," Weiss explains the group's plan. The heiress had explained to Micheal their plan for him for some time if they did get into an altercation with Grimm in the nearby woods. The wolf faunus didn't reject the plan understanding, but he did voice his complaint about not getting experience. Weiss had told him to keep careful watch to learn from them, but if a Grimm did charge him, then he would have to fight it.
"Well, that's fine, but what I'm getting at is that until then no matter what never use anything other than a gun, even if a Grimm gets in close, the only reason to use a sword is if you lose your gun, even then recover your firearm as soon as possible, fighting any other way will just lower ability to survive, you're better with gun than a blade, use the skills you have and don't do anything stupid," Noire tells her advice with her hands behind her back. Micheal absorbs the advice wholeheartedly. His teammates had different feelings about the advice.
"Well, that advice is okay, but it is going to be extremely hard to never use a sword when a Grimm gets in close, besides using a firearm in close quarters is not exactly straightforward either," Blake criticizes crossing her arms.
"I know, I'm just trying to tell him the best advice to survive in this line of work till he gets better," Noire says with a tilt of her head.
"We can tell, but that advice, well partially anyway, is just not entirely practical," Weiss says, hands on her hips. Noire just shrugs at the criticism.
"So, where you guys going?" the twin-tailed girl says as the group.
"To the training building," Micheal answers.
"You guys don't mind if I come right? I won't fight this time, just offer advice from a different perspective," Noire pleads, clasping her hands.
"You probably come anyways," Weiss says. The green-eyed girl cheers in delight as the heiress just rolls her eyes. The group continues their way towards the training building. Noire asking Weiss what her exact plans were for training. Blake and Micheal just walk slightly behind the duo silently, listening in. The cat faunus remembered that she wanted to ask Micheal about his potential semblance. She was about to ask when her ear twitched at a distant sound getting closer. She stops to listen in, it was sound of a jet engine. Micheal stops as well, noticing the cat faunus' ears move under her ribbon. He decided to listen in as well, it was then he caught it as well. 'Some kind of aircraft?' he questions the potential owner. He and Blake look at each other just shrug it off, not thinking much about it. They didn't think it was important to worry about. The cat faunus was again going to ask her question. It was then another sound pierced the air, a roar as loud as a jet engine reverberates through the air. Everyone at the academy stops their current business at the sound.
Ozpin's office
Ozpin sat at his desk when the roar resonates into his office and eyes widen at the sound. He knew that roar, a roar he desired to never to hear. He immediately presses the intercom, after setting it to be heard from all speakers. "All students, please to proceed to get inside any nearby by facility immediately and for those that cannot please do your best to hide and remain hidden, do not take any meaningless risks!" He yells into the device. Before his finger left the button, he could hear the slightly panicked commotion of populous of Beacon doing as he ordered them. The headmaster then immediately proceeds to open his computer to access the cameras. He proceeds to flip through each camera hoping to get a view of where it's coming from. It was then he saw it and his heart dropped, it was close and approaching fast. He needed to alert and ready the staff and the military.
Courtyard
Micheal and Weiss were trying to follow the crowd as they did as the headmaster instructed. They ended up getting separated from Blake and Noire in the panic. They were unfortunately not making much progress towards the closest building. Weiss' scroll went off as she picked it up.
"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby's worried voice asks from the other side of the line.
"Yes Ruby, I am okay, I'm with Micheal right now, I was with Blake and Noire, but we got separated in the panic," Weiss explains trying to calm her partner. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Yang and Hitomi are with me, were in the cafeteria," the brunette says. Then a small complaint could be heard as the sound of the scroll getting snatch was heard.
"Where are you two?" Yang asks trying to remain calm, but her worry was evident in her voice.
"We are still in the courtyard, we are not making much progress," Weiss says. She heard Yang curse and then a sigh of relief. "What is it?"
"Blake and Noire made it to us, please hurry up you two, if you can't make it here, then any other place will do," Yang says, not hiding her worried tone.
"We will make it," Weiss says sounding confident. She closes the scroll and looks toward her employee next to her. "Come on we need to hurry," Weiss says.
"Right," was Micheal's only response. It was at that moment when another roar rips through the air followed by a high-pitched ear-piercing sound of something flying at unbelievable speed. Then a loud boom, like a jet breaking the sound barrier, and then the crack of stone breaking followed a second later. Everyone stops to look up at the source of the boom. On top of the nearby classroom building stood a large, heavily armored, winged wyvern-like Grimm. The creature stood at least sixteen feet tall at the hips, sixty feet long, and with a pair of large leathery bat-like wings. Its wingspan appeared to be the same length as the body. The body was almost completely covered in tremendously thick bone plates with the only openings being the eyes, mouth, and some of the joints of its limbs. Under the plate, it was obvious to anyone the monster is extremely muscular. Attached to the creature's broad head, behind the eyes, is a large pair of horns, almost as thick as tree trunks at their widest points, that was ten feet long. The horns curved outwards and above its eyes for eight feet and then curve inwards then forward the last couple feet, leaving a clear view to see. The tail was about half its overall length and extremely flexible. The end of the tail has a large, broad axe-like appendage as big as its head. The feet have three talons digging into the stone of the building, cracks formed were the creature had landed. To everyone, the creature was unsettling in both that this creature exists and its general appearance. Micheal noted that the creature radiates an aura of savagery and terror. Its beady blood-red eyes scan the crowds of students as if studying them. It growls, a deep rumble, the sound is akin to a motorcycle idling. It scraped the building it was on, cutting through the stone like a hot knife through butter. Micheal swore he saw sparks fly from the talons. A scream erupts from the crowd as the scatter running to safety and Weiss roughly grips Micheal's hand as they run into the nearby trees, hiding behind them. An alarm blares as soon as the scream was heard. Micheal looks out from behind the tree as the Elder Scourge lands on the ground with a loud thud. The creature swings its horns in an arc in front of it, fortunately, the student in the arc, even in their terror, were still capable of evading the attack. No one was caught in the deadly arc. It snaps at a nearby student, but he dodges it by appearing to teleport. The wyvern growls in frustration as flames emit from the mouth. It then lunges and snaps at a female student, she dodges by rolling out of the way. Except for this time the Scourge turns its head and spits out a fireball at the student. The student again dodges the attack, but the fireball explodes like a bomb, catching the student in the blast. The female went flying and slammed into the ground, face first, twenty feet away from the blast not moving. Her back burned from the explosion. The wolf faunus looks away, not wanting to look. Micheal could hear rustling as looks around to see other students hiding in the trees with Weiss and him. Immense terror is evident on their faces.
The Elder Scourge lifts it's head up looking around, scanning. It seems the crowd disappeared faster than it thought they would. It lowers its head slowly began to walk around the courtyard looking for another prey. It took a quick look at the first victim, making sure she wasn't moving, then returns its attention forward. Its heavy feet making heavy thumps as it moves along. The alarm still blaring, uselessly alerting everyone to the present threat. Everyone at Beacon that could see it, staring at it hoping it would leave soon or something would drive it off. For a minute nothing happened as the creature just wanders the courtyard. Micheal heard hushed shouts over the sound of the alarm and turns to see his fellow students talking to a student. He appears to be preparing to run. Micheal notes the nearest building was at least twenty feet away. The Elder Scourge, right now, is at least more than double that length away from said building.
Then the wolf faunus sees the student bolt towards the building. He then looks toward the wyvern and saw it turn its head to see student running. It turns around then hunches down ready to run and appears to be breathing in air. Micheal returns his gaze to the student to see he had almost made it to the building when a boom erupts nearby. Then in the next instant, the Elder Scourge had its jaws around the student body. Everyone could see the flames coming out of the Grimm's back. Then the wyvern closes its jaws on the student with a sickening crunch. It dug its claws into the ground trying to stop itself and turning around to aid itself in stopping its momentum. It stops a few feet from where it snatched the student, leaving small grooves in the ground. The deceased student's legs hung limply out of its mouth as blood dripped from the creature's jaws. The Grimm tosses its head up and opens its mouth as the legs disappeared into the mouth. It shook its body after eating the corpse. Then it saw another student try an irrational dash to a building across the courtyard. The wyvern hunches over breaths again as plates on its back visibly lift and smoke flows out, like smoke emitting from an exhaust pipe. In the next moment, a boom and then it again had its jaw around the student. It snapped down to but didn't feel anything as it saw the student a few feet away closer to the building. The draconic Grimm spits a fireball, but the student teleports away in a flash of light before it explodes. It growls and inhales deeply as it chases the student down with another boom. It bit down knowing he would teleport. The Elder Scourge looks to see where the student was going to be and sees him starting to materialize. The wyvern begins to turn, swinging its tail. Another boom as flame erupts from the tail this time, the axe-head of the tail slices through the air at an astounding and frightening speed. The student materializes as the axe impacts with him causing an explosion of red as if a watermelon exploded. The student's blood paints the ground red as the wyvern inspected the damage.
Micheal could feel his body shaking uneasily at the sight of the creature. It was so fast for its size, impossibly fast. There was no way to outrun it if it wanted to chase you. 'How did Douglas kill this thing by himself? It is far faster than it should be allowed to, and the damn thing looks like a flying tank with that much plate,' Micheal ponders terrified in his head. While distracted by his thought he didn't realize the Elder Scourge saw him. It saw his head peering out from behind a tree, it could feel the negative emotion seeping off the wolf faunus and not just fear. It noticed the scar on his face and remembered its original target and all the details to look for, the scar, his faunus features, and his eyes. The wolf faunus snaps out of his musing to see the wyvern looking right at him. Micheal felt his heart stop, his ear flat to his head and tail low to the ground, as he looks into the creature's red eyes, the terror of the situation dawning on him. Weiss' heart stops as well as terrified look forms on her face. The wolf faunus had to get away, anywhere was good. "Weiss, where are the launch pads to the Emerald forest again?" He asks getting ready to run. He wasn't sure what he was thinking himself, the idea just came to him. He must get away somehow. Even if it meant leaving Beacon and going into the Emerald Forest, into a more dangerous land.
"To the east, but Micheal…," Weiss says her voice breaking a bit.
"I know," he stops for a second to swallow nervously. "But I have to try," the wolf faunus says, not confident in himself. The Elder Scourge hunches down, breathing, reading itself as well. The plates on its back standing up, a small amount of black smoke billowing out. Micheal began to run as a boom sounded. The wolf faunus dives as he heard the boom immediately followed by crashing, as the Scourge slams into the trees. Screams are heard from both the trees falling and the wyvern being on top of them. He heard a snap as the teeth of the grimm closed above him. Micheal grits his teeth as he gets up and runs toward the cliff by the Emerald Forest. The sound of the earth tearing, roots being torn and uprooted, from behind told Micheal the wyvern was turning around. It hunches down getting ready for another burst of speed when nothing happened. It looks behind it for a second, only to see small embers emitting from its back. It growls in irritation as it realizes it ran out of fuel for its boost, spending most of it flying from southern Vytal. It charges after faunus, more than capable of running him down. Weiss screams in pain as she tries to hopelessly push the fallen tree off trapped her legs. She hardened her aura to prevent her legs from being broken, but that didn't stop the crushing pain. She pulls out her scroll from her untouched pouch and calls her leader.
"Weiss, are you okay? Ruby asks, her voice filled with fear and worry.
"I'm fine," Weiss says strained from the pain. "My legs are trapped under a tree, but I'm okay," she says trying to ease her leader, if only a little bit. "But that monster is after Micheal," the white-haired girl says.
"What!?" Yang's voice shouts. The heiress was going to say something, but the call ends before she could.
'Please, don't do anything stupid, like I think you are thinking of doing,' Weiss pleads in her head as she closes her eyes and scroll in frustration. She grits her teeth in pain. Then she sees and hears the other students that were hiding with her and Micheal gather on each side of the tree. They lower their hand under the fallen trunk.
"Okay, one, two, three!" one voice shouts followed by the groaning of the whole group as they lift the tree. Weiss gets out from under the tree and off the ground. The group let the tree fall with a crash after the heiress is safely out from under the tree. The white-haired girl brushes herself off and turns to the group that helped her. The sound of snarling, accompanied by crashing, could be heard getting farther away.
"Thank you," she says.
"You better hurry up, from what it sounded like from you call and your expression, the rest of your team is going to help the wolf faunus, might as well help your teammate with the rest of your team," one of the students says.
"None of you are going to help us?" Weiss asks. The shook his head waving his arms in front of him.
"No way, I'm sorry, that's one of the few Grimm I will refuse to fight," he says. The heiress just nods in understanding as she runs off. She sees the Elder Scourge swing its horns at Micheal and the wolf faunus ducks under the tip of the horns. The Grimm immediately swings back lowering its horns lower to the ground. This time the sides catching the wolf faunus in its arc, sending him flying. Micheal felt himself leave the ground as extreme pain exploded from the left side of his body. The wolf faunus remembers what Weiss had taught him and concentrates on hardening his aura to prevent any damage as he impacts the ground. He closes his eyes in pain as skid across the ground for a few feet. As soon as he rolls onto his stomach, trying to ignore his pain. Micheal tried to get up but then felt a tremendous weight held him down. He turns his head to see the monster's foot holding him down. The talons close to his face and pushing away dirt as the dug into the ground. The foot shifts a bit backward, the claws no longer in his face. Micheal turns his head as far he could and sees the Elder Scourge rearing its head back, horns pointing down at him. The wolf faunus eyes narrow in terror as he got the idea what it was doing. It was going to impale him. He tries to wriggle his way out of this situation but couldn't move an inch.
"Get the hell off of him!" a familiar voice yell. The Wyvern turns its head to the origin of the voice. Then Yang, Yatsuhashi, Nora, and Violet slammed their weapons into the side of a creature. Yatsuhashi wields a large bronze two-handed sword as large he was. Violet's weapon is a large two-handed club. It was a six-foot-long with a metal head that was two-and-a-half feet long. The head was spiked on three sides of the head. The side without spikes has small holes along that side. Flames burst out of each of the holes akin to a dragster getting ready to race. At the same time, bright flashes of lights emit from Yang and Nora's weapons like small firecrackers. The combined force of all the group's attack knocks the Elder Scourge of its feet onto its side. The Grimm trashes around as it repositions to regain its footing. Yang helps Micheal to his feet. She hugs him immediately in a tight grip. "Are you okay?" She asks distress and worry in her voice.
"I'm…, okay," Micheal says shakily, still in shock at his near-death experience. He then pushes her off, to her confusion. He takes a second regain his composure. "If that thing is after me then…, I need to lead it away," the wolf faunus says nervously. Then Yang painfully grips his arms tightly as he eyes widen in absolute dread. Their friends with them share the same expression as her.
"You can't…, let's get inside…," the blonde pleads shakily. She was going to say more, but a frustrated growl emits from behind. They turn to see the Elder Scourge finally back on its feet. The side that Yang's group struck wasn't even cracked in the slightest. Then she felt the wolf faunus wrench himself from Yang's grip and begins to run again towards the cliff. The blonde was immediately tackled to the ground by Violet as horn flew over their heads. The wyvern roars as it was beginning to charge after Micheal. Then before it could get much speed a large white glyph appears in front of. It slams into it and growls frustrated the swings its head, smashing the glyph. It then continues its charge. Then a whirling could be heard flowed by the bang of gunshots of various calibers coming from its left side. Dust rounds harmlessly slam the armor of its body. Then the rapid sound, like a Gatling gun firing, of large caliber round roar from Coco's gun. The Grimm felt the rounds impact its plate and even heard it beginning to crack every few rounds. The wyvern diverts its course a bit to a large boulder bigger than a delivery truck. The Elder Scourge dugs its horn under the boulder, taking a glance at the firing squad and jerks its head up. It tosses the boulder towards the group aiming for Coco. The young woman lifts her weapon to fire at the boulder, causing to break apart instantly under the immense force of the weapon's rounds. The sounds sound of trees snapping caught her attention as she notices a trio of trees flying right her position as well. This time she is forced to dodge to avoid the attack. Then a red blur passed by and the wyvern felt something tug on its leg as it picked it up. It almost lost its balance for a second but recovers. Ruby and Blake's attempt to trip it fails as they were dragged for a few feet before the ribbon snaps. Then a series of explosions erupt on the Grimm's plate causing it to stumble. Everyone looks to see a small group of teachers lead by Glynda Goodwitch. Then with a wave of her wand, she sends three trees towards the creature. The Elder Scourge stops for a moment and swings its tail at the trees, smashing them to splinters. It snarls in rage at the interlopers. It would attack them on any other day, but it had his prey in sight. It also was not at full strength. He roars and ignores the group attacking him, continuing its hunt.
Micheal burst through the trees finally reaching the cliff with the stone launch pads. He sees the Emerald Forest in front of him. A sea of trees stretching as far as the eye can see. He smiles as he made it to his destination. The sounds of gunfire and explosions behind told him his friends and teacher were attacking the wyvern. He kept running without looking back, it would only slow him down. He looks over the cliff seeing the canyon below. The stone structure that was destroyed by the Nevermore was never repaired. Leaving a gap between the remaining part of the bridge and the clearing leading to the Emerald forest, a gap that was too far for him to jump. Then there was the fact he couldn't just climb down the cliff anyway; he thinks wouldn't even get a quarter of the way down before the Grimm was on him again. The wolf faunus proceeds to stand on the stone pad. 'Now that I think about it, how did these things launch me anyways,' he wonders. A ring from his scroll catches his attention. He looks at it and the name of the contact on the Scroll was "Ozpin." The wolf faunus opens to answer the call.
"Mr. Law, what are you doing there?" Ozpin asks his voice calm despite the panic today.
"Leading it to the Emerald Forest sir, away from Beacon, we both know it's after me and this is the best thing I could think of," Micheal admits.
"This is far from the wisest decision," the headmaster informs. The potential outcomes of leaving Beacon were not lost to him. He would be alone in the Emerald Forest until someone came to get him. Which would be after the draconic Grimm was driven off and who knew when that would be? Then there was still the possibility of running into other Grimm in the woods. A few of them he could believe he could handle with his firearm, but more than that. Well, he decided not to dwell on it.
"I'm aware sir, but…," he stops as a roar rips through the air. The sound of crashing could be heard getting closer. "Ozpin, it's getting closer." No response, he looks and saw the call had ended. Then a few seconds later, he hears the sound mechanical clicks below him. The wolf faunus braces himself as a tremendous voice launches him into the air. Just in time as the Elder Scourge burst through the tree snapping at him, biting only the space he had been. It follows him flapping its wings as it ran off the cliff. Micheal pulls out his firearm and swings himself around. He sees the wyvern flying after him, closing the distance. The wolf faunus fires the gun straight up. The force of the gun starting his descent to the ground early. Micheal struggles to pull a bullet out of the ammo pouch, trying not to spill the contents, he had hidden under his jacket. When he checked out the gun, the school staff gave him the holster and an ammo bag with a few boxes of rounds. He didn't have a proper bandolier for his ammunition, so he just dumped it in the bag. He took a glance at the Grimm as he pops the gun open. The Elder Scourge steadily got further away. His first shot sped him up enough to gain some distance. Micheal now struggles to load the next round. The air wiping around him made his hand unsteady and he almost lost his round, it even almost flew right of out the barrel. He manages to load the round and fires at the Elder Scourge. The monster jerks its head downward, so the round impacts its left horn instead of its face. Micheal turns around to see the forest approaching fast. He closes his eyes in painful acceptance as he concentrates on reinforcing his aura as much as he could. The branches of the trees painfully slap him as flew threw them. He felt his legs slams into the ground with a boom. An immense throb of discomfort shot up his leg, but he couldn't stay where he was. He needs to continue moving, ignoring the pain. He ran deeper into the forest, away from Beacon. The beating wings of the Elder Scourge could still be heard in the air behind him. What didn't the wolf faunus realize was that his legs were still filled with aura as he ran. It made him run faster than he had ever run before, not realizing it or how far he ran into woods. The Elder Scourge lost sight of the faunus as he enters the forest and growl in displeasure. The wyvern slowly swings its head back in forth, scanning for the faunus, as it flew over the forest. Its keen eyes peering through the canopy looking for its prey.
Ozpin's Office
Team RWBY frantically burst into the office as the elevator doors open. Ozpin and the few staff members, which include Glynda and Port, in the room look at them with sympathetic looks.
"Girls, please calm down," Glynda says calmly as the group stops in front of the desk.
"But Micheal is out there!" Yang shouts at the professor. Her eyes filled with fear and distress, her friends' eyes matching hers.
"I know, but shouting and panicking will help no one, we are doing what we can right now, so please calm down," the blonde professor says tenderly putting a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder. She wasn't angry with Yang yelling at her knowing the circumstances. She was as worried as they were, but she needs to make they were calm. It seemed to work as they all calm down, at least a little bit. They turn their heads to look at Ozpin as a large screen appears above his desk. It shows an overhead view of the Emerald Forest, with Vale and Beacon at the bottom edges of the screen. They could see a small black figure moving above the sea of green in a slow arcing movement. Ozpin interlocked his fingers as he studied the image.
"Well, for the time being, the Elder Scourge appears to have lost Mr. Law, I don't agree with his choice of actions, he did goad that monster away from the academy and the city," Professor Port said. He turns toward the headmaster. "So, where is the military at the moment?"
"Leading the civilians to shelters, as soon as they can guarantee their safety then they will send out units," Ozpin answers.
"Where's Micheal?" Ruby asks. He eyes quickly looking across the map in a vain attempt to locate her friend.
"Does Mr. Law have his scroll?" Ozpin asks.
"Yes, I remember him grabbing it before we left the dorm," Blake answers. The headmaster nods as he begins to type on his keyboard when a gasp emanates from the occupants. Ozpin looks up to see the Elder Scourge suddenly quickly flying in a straight line.
"Did it see him?" Glynda asks worriedly. The black figure on the map was shrinking before disappearing into the forest. Ruby pulls out her scroll and shifts through her device's apps to find the aura reader. She opens it and it opens to pictures of her team members with green bars below the pictures representing their aura levels. She notes that everyone was in the green, even after expending some aura earlier. The eyes of everyone in the room glances at Micheal's picture as Ruby zooms in one the picture. After a couple of minutes of waiting, it didn't drop at all. It remains in the green. A sigh of relief comes from everyone.
"So, what did it see?" Weiss asks.
Emerald Forest
A pack of Beowolf scatters yelping as the Elder Scourge burst through the canopy. The wyvern Grimm lands on the Alpha of the pack, pinning the large werewolf Grimm's legs under its foot. The Beowolf thrashes and claws at the larger creature. It did not affect the plate with its claws generating sparks as it slashes across the wyvern's face. The Elder Scourge then opens its mouth and then bites the squirming Grimm. Its mouth closing around the entire upper of the werewolf creature. A crunch reverberates through the immediate area as the Alpha's arms fall to the ground. The wyvern then swallows the contents of its mouth. It shook its body and glances around to see the remaining members of the pack still running. It then hunches down as the plates on its back rise, a large amount of smoke releasing from its back. It inhales and a boom resounds as it charges the Beowolves, eating each one it caught.
Ozpin's office
Ozpin taps on his keyboard when a beep emits from the screen. Everyone looks at the screen to see the Elder Scourge return to view and restarts its sweep pattern from before. Then another beep resounds as five more shapes appear on the screen. These shapes were in the form of aircrafts and they were in a V-shaped formation. They were quickly approaching the Elder Scourge. The Grimm quickly turns around and begins to fly towards the group of aircrafts. Then they saw the Elder Scourge suddenly speed up at frightening speed and slam into one of the airships. The shape fades away, signaling its destruction. The occupants of the room watching as each of the aircrafts were destroyed by the Grimm. Ozpin frowns at the sight as his eyes glance around the room. The teachers' reactions varied between frowns of their owns, closing their eyes, or horrified at how handily it destroyed the airships. He glances at Team RWBY and sees their downtrodden expressions.
"Why didn't they send more!?" Yang yells.
"Would have been the same result, unfortunately," Ozpin informs. The team looks at him. "The one Douglas slew had devastated a group of aircrafts more than twice that size and severely damaged larger aircrafts that tried to kill it during that one's heyday, so the military is spending most of their resources defending the city." The headmaster then returns to taping on his keyboard.
"But Micheal is still out there, how are we going to get him back and where is he?" Ruby asks in a calmer tone, despite feeling panicked as well. Then another beep emits from the screen and everyone looks at it. The screen moves away from Beacon to focus on a small green dot. The dot still appears to be moving further from either the academy or city. The top edges of the screen appear to show the mountain ranges. Hitomi studies the map, noting some landmarks that look familiar.
"There is Mr. Law," Ozpin remarks.
"How did he run that far in such a short amount of time?" Glynda asks astonished.
"He is miles away from Beacon and getting further," Weiss comments. Ozpin then dials on the phone in his office and then sets it to its speaker. Ringing emanates from the phone for a minute before the sound stops. The sound of breathing could be heard from the outside of the line. Soon a deep breath interrupts the breathing.
"Hello," Micheal answers breathlessly and nervously.
"Micheal!" Team RWBY yells happily in unison. A quiet curse comes from the wolf faunus. His voice sounded more distant than it was a second ago. They assume he pulled the phone from his ear as the team yelled. They all apologized to their friend in response.
"Are you okay?" Blake asks.
"I'm okay, just a little tired from running," Micheal responds. He then exhales deeply as he had finally stopped running and relaxes.
"Mr. Law, do you have any idea how far you ran?" Ozpin asks.
"No, I just kind of ran, not paying attention to where or how far I was running, I just wanted to get away," the wolf faunus admits.
"To put it lightly you are miles from Beacon," Hitomi says.
"Miles?" he says confused. After a second the wolf faunus utters an inquisitive "huh."
"Yes, unfortunately, due to the Elder Scourge, we cannot send an aircraft to come get you and due to how far you are from Beacon and Vale, we also cannot guide you to a spot where we can get you personally," Ozpin informs the young faunus. All he heard was a dejected 'oh.'
"So…, I'm out here till the Grimm is gone," Micheal says uneasily as the reality of his situation hits him.
"Yes, and I honestly wish I could tell you how long that will be, but I do not know," the headmaster regretfully informs. They could hear the wolf faunus' breathing begin to quicken slightly. "Mr. Law, I understand your apprehension, but you need to remain calm, you will only attract Grimm to you."
"Right, right," Micheal says slightly distracted.
"Mr. Law think of something that makes you happy or makes you laugh," Professor Port says comfortingly.
"My team," Micheal says immediately.
"What about us makes you laugh?" Weiss asks curiously.
"Earlier this week, when you whacked your head on the top bunk," Micheal answers holding back a chuckle. The heiress furiously blushes as giggles came from her other teammates.
"That was pretty funny," Yang comments earning a death glare from the white-haired girl. That only made her laugh harder.
"Bunks?" Glynda asks curiously with an amused look. Ruby explains their living conditions and why they went with it.
"That was splendid thinking on how to deal with your living situation," Port comments.
"Yes, but I'm going to have to inspect your beds myself," Glynda says.
"You're not going to tell to take them apart, are you?" Ruby asks.
"If they are structurally secure, no, but if they are not then yes, though we can order you proper bunk beds instead, it was an innovative idea," Glynda informs with a smile. That brought a sigh of relief from Team RWBY.
"Hey Weiss, we won't need to worry about the death trap Ruby calls a bed anymore," Micheal comments.
"I am already used to it," the heiress says half-heartedly.
"Now that we had a much-needed distraction," Ozpin cuts in with a smile on his face. His quickly face becoming serious again. "Mr. Law I need you to tell me what you have on you to defend yourself," Ozpin orders.
"Well, I only have a handgun that I checked out from the school armory sir," the wolf faunus says.
"It is a single-shot weapon, the rounds it fires are fairly large for a weapon of its size and Micheal is a fine shot with it, but obviously as a single shot it would be inefficient against a crowd of Grimm," Blake explains.
"He is going to need more than that," Yang says.
"Indeed," Ozpin remarks. "Then there is the issue of getting to him."
"Why not use the lockers?" Micheal asks.
"While that would be a way to do it without risking the lives others, the Elder Scourge would just follow it to your position," Ozpin informs him.
"Then why not send multiple," Ruby puts forward. Everyone looks at the young girl. "Send one towards Micheal and then send the others in different directions." The headmaster intertwines his fingers as he thinks on the idea.
"Yeah," Yang says slowly. "It would confuse it and leave Micheal's position a mystery to it."
"Do you think if…," Weiss starts.
"No," Ozpin stops her, knowing where her thought process was going. "Even if it was to fly further from Beacon and Vale in a way that further from Mr. Law as well, I will not risk any of your lives, it is already bad enough Mr. Law is in the position he is in, I will not escalate it by sending you girls out there." Yang slams her hands on the desk, causing almost everyone to jump a bit.
"We are not leaving him out there like that!" she yells at the headmaster, her eyes turning red.
"Mrs. Xiao Long, you will stand down and calm down this instant!" Glynda orders.
"No, we will not!" Weiss shouts back, surprising the older blonde.
"Even if you were to be by his side, your team would still be without help until the Grimm leaves and then you would be in the forest filled with Grimm returning to the area with nothing but yourselves," Ozpin says sternly.
"No, there is a place where he could hide out until we can get him," Hitomi finally says. Everyone looks at the fox faunus. She points towards the mountains. "There is a place about few hours walk from his current position," she says. Ozpin eyes widen slightly as he knew what she was suggesting.
"Mrs. Hunters are you suggesting," Ozpin inquires. The fox faunus nods slowly as she clenches her fists as she swallows slowly.
"My old home," she confirms.
"Hitomi, no offense, but that feels like that would be a bad idea," Micheal says. "That place should be a magnet for Grimm since it would be a place of negative emotion," Micheal counters remembering the lessons on Grimm from his classes and the book on Grimm he checked out.
"Better than your current position," she counters back.
"How much do you remember?" Blake asks.
"Not much, but I do remember the terrain was not favorable for invaders," the fox faunus answers honestly.
"How do you know where it is?" Weiss asks softly.
"I looked it up quite a few times as I grew up," Hitomi says as she looks down and taking a deep breath. "I had planned on revisiting it at some point in my life, so I familiarized myself with the local geography of the area."
"Mrs. Hunters, I do agree with your partner about this, even with favorable terrain for defense, he would still be in an area that draws Grimm to it and be in place even farther from help," Ozpin says adding on to the issue, earning a sigh from the fox faunus. "But at the same time, we don't have many options and it is sadly better a place to defend than the middle of the Emerald Forest."
"Okay, I will send him instructions on how to get there," Hitomi informs with confidence.
"Good," Ozpin says.
"So, are we going to use our lockers to give him supplies?" Ruby asks.
"No, we have spare lockers we can use for this situation," Glynda informs. She adjusts her for a second and opens her scroll. "We will handle food and medical supplies and you girls decide on what weaponry to give him."
"Okay," Ruby says as she begins to brainstorm ideas.
"You girls are dismissed," Ozpin says.
Locker Room
The members of team RWBY were finishing packing the supplies into the locker they were sending Micheal when team JNPR came in. The group of girls turns towards their friends.
"So, what is the situation on Micheal," Pyrrha asks.
"Unfortunately, he is stuck out there until the Elder Scourge leaves," Blake informs. A look of disapproval forms on all their faces.
"The only thing we can do is send him supplies and directions to a more defensible place," Hitomi adds on.
"Where is that exactly?" Ren asks.
"My old home," the fox faunus answers looking downcast.
"That sounds like a bad idea," Jaune comments.
"Micheal had the same thought," Yang comments herself.
"Professor Ozpin and Hitomi say the place is better to defend because the terrain," Weiss informs.
"So, how is the packing coming along then?" Nora asks staring into the locker, studying the contents.
"Good for the most part, the school provided the food and medical supplies and we provided the weapons," Ruby answers.
"So, what's wrong?" Jaune asks.
"We couldn't decide on a melee weapon for him," Yang answers.
"His weapon is too big to fit in the answer and we cannot tie it to the locker, it will either potentially fall off or give away what we are doing," Blake answers. Before another question was asked about the plan Blake informs. "We are launching out ten lockers, one towards Micheal, the others in different spots to confuse the monster in an attempt to give Micheal supplies without giving him away." Then Jaune held up Crocea Mors to Team RWBY.
"Here," the blond says with a determined air.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha says confused.
"He needs a melee weapon, and this is similar to what he uses," Jaune adds. Then his eyes look away slightly embarrassed. "Except, you know, much smaller," he mumbles quietly.
"But why?" Weiss asks curiously.
"I wasn't much help earlier, I was too scared out of wits and even then, I didn't have a gun to help either, even if just a little, this is my way of helping him," Jaune returns his focus forward.
"Jaune, I am going to be blunt, while this is nice, you know there is the possibility that you will not see your weapon again, getting him supplies is a gamble and even then he has to make the trek to my old village and survive a night on his own," Hitomi says with a hint of sadness and apprehension.
"I believe he will," Jaune says earnestly.
"You are being optimistic," the fox faunus accuses.
"Maybe," the blond admits. "It's still better than sounding like he is going to die out there," the knight says.
"He is right you know," Yang says.
"Perhaps, I am just trying to be realistic here," Hitomi says. She felt a hand land on her shoulder and give her a reassuring squeeze. She turns to see her blonde friend smiling at her.
"We're all worried but as Jaune says we do have to believe in him," Yang says. The fox faunus just nods in response. Ruby take Crocea Mors and puts in the locker.
"Thanks, Jaune," Ruby says. The blond just gives a warm smile.
"Okay, that should be everything, let's head back to Professor Ozpin's office," Yang says. Her sister looks at the locker apprehensively.
"Go ahead, I'm going to check the supplies one more time just in case we missed something," Ruby says with a small smile.
"Okay, just don't take too long, we need to send these out as soon as possible," Weiss says.
"Gotcha, I'll send a message when I'm done," Ruby informs her partner. The heiress nods in response. Her friends and sister leave her behind as she inspects the locker. She goes over everything again and sees everything is in order. Though that still didn't ease the uneasiness she felt. She didn't want to leave Micheal out there by himself. Then a thought occurred to her as her eyes widen a bit. With the aid of her Semblance, she quickly rushes to her locker and gets Crescent Rose and some ammo magazines then quickly stuff them in the locker. Then inspect the remaining space in the locker. 'I should fit,' she muses to herself. She turns around and begins to slowly ease herself into the locker.
"Ruby, what are you doing?" a voice asks confused. The voice makes the brunette jump in surprise and looks toward the source of the voice. She sees Hitomi standing there with a perplexed look on her face.
"I was uh…," Ruby tries to answer.
"Were you going to ride in the locker to Micheal?" the fox faunus asks. She had returned because she wanted to make sure her directions were correct.
"Yes, I'm not leaving him out there by himself, I know I'm putting myself in the same position as him, but the two of us will do better than just him alone," Ruby admits, her face showing she was serious. The fox faunus expression then tightens as she thinks on her junior's decision. She knew Ruby's heart is in the right place and, honestly, Micheal would feel better having her by his side. But then she grimaces at the thought of the two of them out there. She knew Ruby could take of herself and would trust her partner was capable enough to help, but she would still worry about the two of them. If Grimm did attack them, would they survive? And if her direction were correct? These questions were in her mind. She knew the geography and tried to make her directions as precise as possible, but she worries if they would know. She sighs and calms herself.
"Out," she orders sternly as she begins to walk.
"No, I will not," Ruby argues stubbornly. She then sees her teammate walk over and opens her locker. She realizes what was happening as her faunus friend pulls out her nodachi and rifle, with several cartridges for her rifle and a backpack. An excited smile forms on the brunette's face.
"No, get out so I can place my stuff in there," Hitomi orders as she stuffs her spare magazines into her backpack. After a minute of reorganizing, both Ruby and Hitomi were now both in the locker. The fox faunus put Ruby's cartridges her backpack as well while they reorganized the locker. The brunette sends a message to her partner and sister that duo was done. Hitomi then closes the door of the locker, now the duo sat in the dark. Well, Hitomi could see fine. The fox faunus then spreads out her arms and legs to hold the weapons in the locker in place.
"I cannot believe I am doing this," Hitomi says slightly surprised in herself.
"Well, I appreciate you coming along," Ruby says comfortingly. The fox faunus smiles at her leader.
"Yang will be worried and as older sister myself; I would feel the same if you were my sister, besides the more of us there are, the better off we are," Hitomi says. The locker begins to rumble and the duo swallow nervously. Ruby latches onto her friend tightly as the locker launches into the air. If one was close enough and listen carefully, they would hear screams coming from the said locker.
Ozpin's Office
The remaining members of Team RWBY stood in front of the desk watching the screen as shapes representing the lockers appear. Flying towards their assigned destinations.
"Now to see if this works," Glynda comments.
Yang attempts to call her sister to inform her what is happening. She holds her scroll to her ear. Her face becoming curious as she just received ringing. "Come on pick up," she says annoyed.
"She might be watching it on the grounds with Hitomi and her scroll is on silent," Weiss says.
"Maybe," Yang admits. She turns towards Blake. "Can you call Hitomi?" The cat faunus nods as she pulls out her scroll, her eyes never leaving the screen. The Elder Scourge fly towards the locker and then one of shapes fade.
"That was also a possibility," Ozpin comments slightly anxious.
"Hitomi is not pick up either," Blake says as she lowers her scroll. Glynda opens her scroll and begins to flip through the many cameras across Beacon Academy. Her eyes widen as she couldn't find them.
"Ozpin, I cannot find them either," the older blonde says. Then Ozpin types on his computer and two beeps followed by beeps. He looks at the screen and his heart, along with every else's hearts drop as two circles appear on top of one of the lockers. Yang puts her hands on the desk staring at the screen intently, hoping the screen was experiencing and would fix itself. After second and the dots didn't disappear.
"Please…," Yang stops for a second. "Please, tell me that is just their scrolls," she says shakily and hopefully. Her fingers dig into the desk. She bits her lips as fear builds in her. 'Please tell me that isn't you two,' she prays in her head. Unfortunately, for all of them, what they fear is true as the locker that contains Ruby and Hitomi fly towards Micheal position. The Elder Scourge attacking each locker it could catch, having destroyed three of the ten lockers already.
A/N: As always, criticism is good
So, the end of this chapter was going to contain Micheal receiving the supplies, meant to be a humorous scene as well, but I was running out space with my word limit. So, it will be at the beginning of the next chapter. It's a shame too because it was the first thing I wrote for this chapter while I was working on chapter 18 and 19. It's starting to make me wonder if my word limit is hurting me. Forcing me stop early when I still have more to write. I did it to cut down on reading time for you guys, plus I think I did it for myself for some reason I can't remember. So, I'm thinking of either getting rid of it or extending it by a lot, so not to make my chapters to long. I do think I could add more to each chapter while I fix them the best I can. I wouldn't add anything important just some more descriptive stuff for the scenes. If I did add or change important things, I would make sure I informed you, either here in my notes or mentioned in the story. I do need to update some of my older chapters anyway, to keep up with things revealed in volumes, like how Ruby and Yang's house is basically in the middle of a forest and not a neighborhood. Make note I originally started this before Volume 3, and I don't think it was revealed or hinted yet. I just haven't got around to fixing it yet.
So, I finally physically introduced my Elder Scourge. The inspiration is both Varusaburosu, physical shape, and Valstrax, its jet-like ability of flight, from Monster Hunter. I know I've kind of hyped it up, both intentionally and unintentionally. I was never sure how to exactly introduce it. I always meant for it to be an extremely aggressive Grimm, so a head-on assault was always an idea. But since I already did it with Magaru, I eventually wasn't keen on the idea or at least on Beacon. But I settled on it since I had already written the segment. So, it's a Wyvern like the Wyvern from Volume 3, though significantly smaller. I had made the Elder Scourge before the other Grimm was revealed and the only reason I never changed it because I had long settled on it by then. I never wanted it to be that big, though it isn't small. It was just meant to be ferocious, even to its fellow Grimm. Its cannibalistic aspect is one of the main reasons other Grimm leave the area it inhabits, at least when they figure out its there. I will say both its jet-like ability and fireballs run on the same fuel or supernatural energy source, can't decide which one to use.