Saw It Chapter 2 just recently and I have to say, it really surpassed my expectations. Now admittedly, the first chapter I liked a lot but prior to watching the sequel, I worried somewhat over the fact it was set in the 2010s (specifically 2016) since I wasn't sure if today's tech would somehow cause the characters to act differently. But instead, they kept to the book quite a lot, though with the brutality and other things obviously toned down.
And of course, the ending was quite different from the book too, but unlike most cases, I was really pleased with it. Normally, I'm okay with bittersweet endings (well, bittersweet in the sense that it's truly grim but still has some hopefulness to it), but a happier ending like this one was really appreciated since, after all the shit Pennywise put everyone through, they deserved genuine happiness.
So, yeah. If you haven't watched both of the new It movies, would definitely recommend giving them a try. And of course, I would also definitely recommend the book as well, though if you do take me up on this, do be warned – the book is a hell of a lot more messed up than the movies, including the TV series from back in the 90s.
Now, regarding RWBY.
So, apparently, according to its wiki, Hazel and Gretchen were twins! Didn't now that. Supposedly, this fact comes from that Amity Arena game. Have to say, feels sort of weird – the way Hazel talks of her 'being only a child' and the like during volume 5, it felt more as if she was considerably younger than him the whole time.
With this in mind, I will be treating this as such, which is to say that in this fic, Gretchen will still be referred to as Hazel's considerably younger sister and not the canonical twin that she apparently is.
A minor nitpick, I know, but better to explain rather than just leave things be. Hope you guys understand.
Also, with volume 7 coming up next month, some things I had initially planned for this fic may change, though I highly doubt it. I'm not too big a stickler on following canon to the letter, but sometimes new info can inspire new ideas in me that feel better suited for my initial plan. But again, I highly doubt volume 7 is suddenly going to alter my plans for this fic… but again, just wanted to keep you all in the loop.
Now then, onto the chapter!
Chapter 23
In the hours following the successful takedown of the Grimm, the people of Sol had been in one hell of a joyous mood. Not much sleeping had taken place that night, but rather a lot of partying. Their way of releasing what must be an immense amount of stress, Jaune surmised.
Not that he and his team minded one bit. Given the circumstances, it was far better for the townspeople to be genuinely at ease rather than putting up a façade to deal with the negativity. Though he doubted whatever other Grimm out there in the area would hardly be put-off by the considerable dip in negativity, it's still far better to be safe than sorry.
That said… partying wasn't really his thing.
It was with an awkward smile that he and his teammates were pretty much passed around between townspeople as they all danced the night, music blaring from a bunch of radios the people owned and set to one of the few stations they could pick up from this far out of the kingdom.
Nonetheless, it had been a good time for him to at least try and lighten up a bit. After having carefully stripped off his weapons, he'd even gotten the chance to show off his dance skills, which he'd learned back when he was very young, well before the attack on his family and the awakening of his aura and semblance. Even after all this time, it looked like he still had it going on and to his surprise he ended up getting quite a lot of applause and cheers.
His teammates hadn't been far behind though and while none of them had been particularly good dancers (Pyrrha in particular had proven surprisingly inept at dancing), they'd nonetheless done their best to come up with an impromptu dance number that he took part in.
The townspeople ate it all up with glee and a lot of the kids had tried in their own adorable ways to mimic them, much to everyone's amusement.
All in all, it had certainly been a lively night, even enjoyable for him, though not by much. Sadly, even now his mind was preoccupied with what the sudden attack last night could mean and made it impossible for him to fully lose himself in the moment.
Still, the following morning, Jaune found himself feeling oddly light on his feet, as if coming out of a surreal dream… and it wasn't a bad feeling at all.
Alas, it was time to focus on the mission again.
Because they'd all literally been up all night, just about everyone barring him were now dead tired. Many had retired back to their homes to get some sleep, with business simply going to have to start later than usual. The people that tended the fields and farms dutifully got to work, willing to power through their exhaustion with happy smiles on their faces.
As for his team, though…
"Nora, you really shouldn't be sleeping on the table like that," spoke a tired Ren, the boy sporting slight rings under his eyes. He gently shook a semi-sleeping Nora, who was currently lying on top of a table within the diner, limbs sprawled everywhere and her head hanging off the edge. Drool fell comically from her open mouth and onto the floor.
"Guh… just five more hours," Nora mumbled out in a daze before falling back asleep, with Ren futilely trying to get her up.
Nearby, Pyrrha, who was looking rather haggard herself, simply shook her head. "You're better off just letting her rest, I think," she spoke softly. "She did have a fair bit of sugar."
Ren sighed. "I suppose so. Still, we should at least move her back to the room."
Last night, there'd been a lot of food available for everyone to dig into and Marie from the sweets shop had really gone all out, bringing just about every kind of dessert she had on hand. She'd insisted team JNPR indulge to their hearts' desires.
Hell, she'd even force-fed Nora and Ren some cake, the former more so than the latter, not that Nora had really struggled to break free of the elderly woman's surprisingly strong grip. It had really given her a serious sugar rush, but just like any kind of rush, it always has to end.
This was merely the expected end result.
"Yeah, let's do that," Jaune agreed. "Then let's go find Dean – we need to talk to him about setting the traps we mentioned."
Pyrrha and Ren both agreed and together the three of them quickly took Nora up to their rooms to sleep it off. Pyrrha decided to stay behind in order to shower and change as well as to help Nora do the same later on – the auburn-haired girl's clothes were practically covered in food stains, to say nothing of how crinkled they were.
This left the boys free to go meet Dean, which they did.
Finding the mayor of Sol had proven to be a simple and quick task to accomplish – just like a handful of others, he'd been dead asleep within the diner after a hard night of partying. With just a bit of reluctance, they roused him from his sleep and after helping him clean up a bit, they sat down to talk.
"Sorry about last night," Dean started sheepishly. "We're not usually that hyper, but-."
Jaune shook his head and smiled gently. "It's fine, sir. After weeks of being attacked, I bet you all were on the verge of going nuts. Best to just let it all out."
Dean smiled and bowed his head briefly in thanks for the understanding. "Thanks, lad. It really means a lot to just be able to breathe, you know? We're a brave people, but that doesn't mean we're without fear and anxiety. So, the partying really helped us relax. But now we're already digressing, aren't we? What do you need?"
The mayor now had a serious expression. Looks like he too felt that things weren't quite over just yet.
Still, best to just state things so that they're sure they're on the same page. "In all likelihood, things aren't over just yet," Jaune began quietly. "Given how odd the Grimm had behaved, it wouldn't surprise me if perhaps whichever ones are left are now simply regrouping."
"In other words, there may be another attack," Ren chipped in from his spot next to Jaune, gently sipping from the warm tea he'd gotten just a moment ago.
Dean grimaced a little. "As expected – you lot picked up on that, eh? I'm of the same opinion… and I take it you need something from me to prepare for the next one, right? What'll you need?"
"Just prior to the attack, my team and I were planning to set some traps," Jaune began. "Nothing too crazy – Grimm are rarely inconvenienced by traps unless they're really elaborate and extensive. Still, we figure it would help at least impede their way, make it easier to control the directions they come from and give us something of a safety net should worst come to worst. We just need some lumber and to borrow some barn tools as well, whenever said tools are free. And we're willing to pay if need be."
Dean just let out a slight guffaw and waved a hand. "Bah, you can have all the lumber and tools you need for free, my boys! All you have to do is say the word and I can round up plenty of people to help you set things up too!"
Ren looked a little taken aback by the man's immediate response. Jaune himself was a little surprised too but hid it much better. He's encountered all sorts of people out on the frontier, many that were good people but many others that could only be bluntly described as rotten to the core. Nonetheless, no matter what kind of people he dealt with, just about everyone he's ever met had always been so nonchalant when it came to certain things. And it would seem like in the case of Dean here, he was more than casual when it came to lending a helping hand.
By no means was this understanding and generosity rare, but it wasn't that common either most times. It just went to show Jaune how prevalent kindness can be, however, and it was enough to bring a small yet oh so genuine smile to his scarred face.
"…Thank you, that'd be really appreciated," he responded softly. "In that case, I believe we will take you up on that last offer – the extra hands. If we want these traps made within reasonable timeframe, then it's going to take a fair number of people."
Dean nodded and proceeded to down the coffee he had left untouched this whole time. "How many people do you think you'll need? I can go round 'em up within the hour!"
Doing some quick mental calculations, Jaune started to plan things out. Once he had a solid grasp on what exactly wanted, he laid it all out for Ren and Dean to hear.
It took him perhaps only ten minutes to give them the general overview of what he wanted. After finishing, Dean then excused himself to get started on rounding up the desired number of people.
Sure enough, within the hour, he and Ren proceeded to meet the fifteen people Dean had personally gone to contact, with Nora and Pyrrha now joining them too, having changed and freshened up.
Not long after that, the blond teen went over what he wanted in more specific detail and soon enough, they all had eagerly gotten to work.
From afar, a small Beowulf watched as a number of people went about gathering some of their excess lumber and began carrying it to a location near the town's western outskirts. From this current distance, it couldn't see what exactly was going on, but could make out the hammer wielding girl exuberantly carrying a dozen of logs all by herself with complete ease.
And Hazel, observing all this through the Beowulf's eyes, grunted.
He'd sent out this small Bewoulf to do some reconnaissance and just as he'd suspected, the people of this town were now making preparations for the next attack. The trainee team from Beacon was taking lead in this endeavor, of course, with the blond rallying them all from one action to the next. He was even using one of his two swords to swiftly cut the lumber up into much smaller and usable pieces.
It went out saying that they were setting traps. What kind of traps exactly, Hazel didn't know; the Beowulf couldn't get close enough to see what exactly they were building without risking being seen. Nonetheless, Hazel has dealt with more than his fair share of traps to have a good feeling for what kind the trainees and townspeople were now setting up.
No doubt they meant simply to hinder the number of directions the Grimm he commanded could safely attack from, which would then force the Grimm into something of a bottleneck situation, where dealing with them would become much easier than having to fight out in a more open area where the Grimm's numbers could be put to better use.
A simple but effective strategy. Sadly, it was a doomed one. As long as he could have this small Beowulf watch where they're generally setting things up, ordering his Grimm to avoid those spots would be easy to do. Even if some traps proved unavoidable from the ground-based Grimm, it would only slow down a few.
And besides… he's now gone and added a few Nevermores to his little army now, having gone out and hunted them down over the course of the night and early morning. Though he's only found five Nevermores that was by no means the largest ones ever, they were still roughly comparable to himself in terms of size, which was an acceptable trait.
Furthermore, he's also managed to bolster his Beowulf forces again, having also found a pack of seven to add to his reduced forces in addition to ten other Ursas.
All in all, his Grimm forces were sitting at just over fifty members, which was by no means an impressive force in the eyes of more experienced huntsmen, but in the eyes of the townspeople and those trainees – barring the blond one – this number would certainly be an intimidating sight to see charging at them.
So long as he can issue simple but effective commands to them all, there should be no problems in dealing with the town of Sol and those trainees.
That said, as tempted as he was to just march to that town right now and take them by surprise, Hazel opted to hold off for now. As secured as he felt in his current forces, he felt it best to wait for now. After all, with the attack yesterday afternoon, everyone would still be on guard. Not that such a thing would really make that big a difference, but better to have them all die as quickly and painlessly as possible rather than to have them potentially drag things out and only suffer.
Just because he no longer cared for humanity and wouldn't hesitate to use people to test the limits of his control over Grimm didn't mean that he relished in the agony he may cause. No, that type of enjoyment was something he'd rather savor with Ozpin – that parasitic wraith was the only one who was truly deserving of such torture.
But even with all this in mind…
"Remember," he began as he looked over all the Grimm under his command, all of them waiting silently in formation nearby. "Don't go after the blond one… he's mine."
After what he's seen yesterday, he could just tell that no Grimm would be able to actually challenge the boy in combat. Not even the larger and more powerful Grimm like Deathstalkers and possibly even Goliaths would be able to take the boy on, at least not one on one.
No, he was the only one here that would be capable of dealing with him. It would just be a matter of separating him first from everyone else before he could engage him in battle.
However, pragmatism aside… Hazel felt he had to be the one to fight this blond. Even if someone else had accompanied him on this journey of his, be it Tyrian or somehow even Watts, Hazel felt it far more fitting for him to be the one to combat this teen.
After all, the more he thought of him, the more the man felt he was looking into a mirror of sorts… and he wasn't liking the reflection he was seeing. He wouldn't quite say he was feeling anger towards the blond, apparently named Jaune… but it certainly wasn't a good feeling.
It was a feeling he wished to be rid of. And if that meant being rid of the blond, then so be it.
Pyrrha wasn't sure exactly how much time passed since the start of their little project, but it was clearly quite a few hours – it was hard to tell due to the perpetually cloudy sky above, but just judging by the dark clouds slowly lightening up in color, it must have been around noon now.
And wow what a mission this had been so far, she couldn't help but think. She'd never been truly sure on what to expect during a 'typical' mission given to huntsmen and huntresses, but a recon mission that required them to deal with Grimm exhibiting unusual behavior followed by working with the people they were supposed to protect certainly wasn't something she'd have thought of.
But that wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, being able to work together with others in this capacity was a real eye-opener in many ways. It humbled her greatly. And even with how serious the task at hand was, this didn't stop the people helping out from bantering with one another, something that they made sure to include her and her friends in quite naturally.
Before she even knew it, the redhead had a big dumb smile on her face as she heard out the jokes of a few of the women that were setting up a trip wire nearby. The jokes were surprisingly raunchy, which left her with a blush from embarrassment, but she took genuine joy from them at the same time because they were just that funny.
Not too far away was Ren making some small talk with a few other townspeople as they helped finely cut up some small metal items into sharp pieces of shrapnel to be placed within bombs. Though the R of JNPR was hardly one to laugh often, he had an obvious look of contentment on his face, showing that he too was somehow relaxing even as he worked.
There were some girls going around too, offering some refreshments to everyone working… and just a few of them were shyly eyeing Ren, much to the overly dramatic annoyance of Nora, who was carrying the lumber Jaune was cutting up to their designated spots.
Pyrrha probably would've laughed at such a sight if it wasn't for the fact that a number of girls were also looking her partner's way too.
And that's to say nothing too of Erin, who was also assisting in the more strenuous manual labor. The tall and muscular farm girl was panting quite heavily and it was obvious that it wasn't due to the physical exertion, Pyrrha noted with a sense of jealousy. Really now, just how more obvious can the girl get? Even Jaune himself noticed it!
Sheesh, did that mean she too would have to be that obvious with her own feelings just to – no, no, no! Bad Pyrrha! She would never dare to mimic Erin of all people! If she ever went around huffing and puffing like that around Jaune, the second he even looked at her, she'd just die from shame!
"Right, back on task, back on task," she mumbled to herself out of the blue, once again taking solace from the conversations taking place all around her.
Thanks to the supplies provided by the town as well as their assistance, the trap building was going exceedingly well in Pyrrha's opinion.
Initially, the goal had been to just set some trip wire traps or even small pitfalls, the former to alert them all of where the Grimm were coming from and the latter to try impeding their way. But as luck would have it, the town had plenty of leftover supplies from scrapped home projects and the like to build a few traps that were a bit bigger and bolder than most.
Ren, for example, was helping in building some shrapnel bombs that were to be placed as close to the forest as was possible, that way should the traps be triggered but somehow miss the Grimm, it'll only hit the trees and ground nearby and not reach the town.
On Nora's part, she was setting up extra wooden fences with sharpened points that could quickly be kicked down so that they pointed at an angle and serve as particularly dangerous barriers of sorts. However, while they were certainly not lacking when it came to lumber, there was only so much ground that Nora and those helping her can cover. At the rate they were currently going, they may be able to cover some odd number of meters, but that's about it – there would be gaps in between.
And as for Jaune, her partner had just finished cutting up the remaining lumber that had been gathered for them and was now transporting the cut up lumber to the other side of town (Pyrrha tried not to focus on the fact Erin was tagging along with him) where they'd set up a similar fence on the eastern side of town as an extra precaution.
Yes, all in all, things were progressing very smoothly. It was honestly hard to believe that the quaint town of Sol was now being turned into a pseudo-fortress of sorts, though it went without saying that it had a very long way to go before anyone would even think of considering the town a fortress of any kind… that said, Pyrrha imagined that if they got any visitors soon, they'd surely find the new wooden fences rather intimidating.
And so the work continued.
Another hour or two passed before they finally stopped, having finished using up all the supplies gathered. She along with her friends and the townspeople had gathered around to look upon their finished handiwork.
While they wouldn't exactly be winning craftsman awards, the wooden fences looked pretty good. And the traps had all been set up too, so they were also good to go on that front.
Behind her and her friends, the townspeople were loudly whooping and cheering. In their minds, it must seem as if the Grimm threat was now nothing more than a bad joke.
But to Pyrrha herself, even with all these precautions taken, she wasn't so sure. If anything, looking upon the fruits of their labor made her worry.
She supposed it was some kind of reverse psychology thing, just without any words being spoken. Rather than be put at ease by what should be an excellent defense, said new defense only made her ponder over just how dangerous the threat must be to warrant all this in the first place.
Given that the Grimm encountered here were clearly much smarter than most Grimm, she supposed it made sense, but still. Her heart was suddenly feeling heavy with worry.
And one glance to her friends was all it took to see that they were feeling similarly.
"Think this will actually be enough?" Nora asked in a quiet voice so that none of the townspeople nearby would hear – not that they could with how loudly they were talking.
"We can only hope so," Ren replied.
"Well," Pyrrha began, now trying to look on the upside. "While the Grimm yesterday had certainly tried to use some tactics against us, we'd all slain them without much more trouble than usual, so with these traps and walls to slow them down, it shouldn't be too hard to finish off the remainder when they come."
"I sure hope so, Pyr. I really do," Nora mumbled. "But even if we do pull it off, the town can't keep this up forever."
At that, Pyrrha winced as Nora made a surprisingly good point.
Certainly, in the short term, these traps and new fence will help combat Grimm, especially if the townspeople make a serious effort to upkeep it all, but seeing as they're entirely reliant on farming and imports for their own survival out here, to say nothing of them eventually expanding the town, they're going to eventually have to take the fences down when it becomes necessary to expand either their crop fields or the town itself. And that's not even getting into the possibility of them potentially forgetting where the traps are located at and accidentally triggering them.
…Well, the town has pulled through this far without much trouble. They were used to surviving, it's just that these suddenly smart Grimm were an obvious curve ball that life decided to throw at them. With any luck, however, once these particular Grimm were taken care of, the town could go back to its usual routine.
"What do you think, Jaune?" Pyrrha now asked of her partner who was standing just a bit ahead of them all. He hadn't said a single thing since they'd finished their work.
"…" He made a sound that the redhead couldn't identify, but it was enough to worry her a bit.
"Jaune?" She gently spoke his name as she went up and patted him on his right shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
He slowly blinked and finally looked her way, but only for a brief second. "…An attack is going to come later today," he said as he looked out towards the forest.
He spoke those words with a level of certainty that left her fully on edge now. "…You sure?"
"Yeah… yeah, I'm sure," he responded. "Call it intuition or something else, but something is going to go down later. Be ready."
Pyrrha shared a look with Nora and Ren, the two looking just as concerned as she felt. But they all looked back to Jaune with resolve in their eyes.
"Don't worry, we will be. You can always count on us," she spoke on their behalf.
Her words must have put him a bit at ease, for his shoulders slumped just a bit. "I know… thank you," he spoke gratefully. He then turned around and started walking. "Come on, let's have an early dinner." He was trying to smile now but was failing a little. "I bet you're all a little famished by now."
Not really, Pyrrha thought and had wanted to say, but decided not to say so. Neither did Ren or even Nora say otherwise. Jaune was still looking bothered by something, but until he himself seemed relaxed enough to share, there would be no point in pressing the issue. Even after that night of the dance, where the two of them had talk about their pasts for hours on end, Pyrrha knew that she wouldn't be getting anything out of him in his current state.
So, as she and the others dutifully followed their blond leader, the redhead silently prayed that everything would turn out completely fine…
Because if whatever was now going on was bothering Jaune this much, then Pyrrha really didn't want to imagine any alternatives.
Jaune had been in a very good mood during the construction of the traps and the fences. But as was rather common in his life, his good mood was prone to withering away and dying at the drop of a hat.
Like he'd just told his friends, call it intuition or instinct or whatever, but he'd just had a feeling of being watched…
And whoever exactly was watching them was definitely not someone to be messed with normally. The blond would never day claim to be able to sense an enemy's power level or anything like in one of his favorite childhood shows, but he did have a strong enough affinity for just knowing how dangerous someone might be.
And whoever their watcher was… well, if Jaune was being honest with himself, he's never felt this way about anyone else he's ever encountered before.
But more than even that… it'd somehow felt as if he were looking into a mirror of sorts, a dark reflection that just made the ghastliest of chills tear through his body.
It took an effort to keep from drawing both blades and marching off into the forest in search for this person. It really did.
As he and his team now ate alongside a number of happy townspeople, he had to do his very best indeed to keep his now worried mood from becoming too obvious lest he cause the others unneeded stress.
He wasn't sure of what exactly was coming their way, but he was at least certain of one thing:
This mission was clearly shaping up to be quite the memorable one.
…
…
…
Hazel had been resting almost peacefully for the past few hours, ever since the townspeople and that trainee team had finished their preparations for the next attack.
He'd made a few more preparations since, having gone out to add a few more wandering Beowulves to his little army before resting. A bit of a pity that none of the more exotic Grimm occupied these parts of Remnant, but again, it wouldn't make much difference.
In any case… the time has now come.
By now, the townspeople must surely be feeling so much more at ease than they have before during the past several weeks. That would make the storming of their town that much easier to do. He could only imagine too just how shocked they'll be once they see just how pointless their preparations really were.
As for the trainees, well, they would certainly still be on guard against an attack, but much like the townspeople, they've no idea of his existence and therefore were completely unaware that he could render their new defenses completely obsolete with just a few commands to the Grimm.
"Take up your formations," he growled out as he stood to his full height, his large muscles rippling from the anticipation of the coming battle.
The Grimm promptly split up, going from their orderly formation to forming much smaller squads, now spread out throughout the immediate vicinity.
Hazel waited a moment and surveyed the end result, ultimately nodding to himself. Good, looks like his commands were being executed much better now. Even with the ability to see through their eyes and guide them via telepathy, they still largely operated under their own wills, meaning that even at this range, there was a chance they'd have just a bit of trouble perfectly executing his orders.
But this time there was no such problems. To think his ability to command them would improve in so short a time like this… just how did he even gain such an ability, he wondered?
Ah, but again that was something that could wait until much later to be answered. Testing the limits came first. Then, Ozpin's death would eventually come. And only when he's crushed that man over and over again will he finally deem it fit to begin seeking out the answer to this question.
"Now… go!" he yelled and the Grimm immediately dispersed with nary a growl made.
He watched them go quietly before eventually following suit.
He'd already given them their orders concerning the traps and the town itself, having drilled the information directly into their animalistic minds relentlessly until he was certain they'd obey even if his connection with them was somehow severed.
He jogged at a brisk pace, but even then he lagged a fair bit behind even the slowest of the Grimm he'd gathered. Had he wanted to, however, he could easily speed up and pass all of the Grimm and make it to the town well before they did, but instead hung back for now to merely observe until his chance came.
Said chance, of course, being to separate the blond teen from the others. Once he did so, he would then allow the Grimm to go truly wild while he in turn would have all the time in the world to see for himself just what the blond 'hero' was really made out of.
Would the blond try to live up to his foolish ideals and die trying? Or will he perhaps surprise him?
For the first time in a very long time, Hazel was almost eager to find out.
He continued to jog forth in absolute silence, with only his deceptively light steps being the only source of sound to distract him.
But within just twenty minutes at most, he saw through the eyes of the Grimm at the forefront of the wave the town coming into view.
He grunted and telepathically made his intentions known to his army of Grimm –.
-It was time to begin the attack.
It was once again around afternoon that the next attack came, albeit earlier than it had yesterday. To Jaune, who'd been standing guard on the town's west side along with Pyrrha, this had been expected.
What hadn't been expected was the Grimm soundlessly approaching from in between the trees. Aside from the rumbling noise that had naturally come from how many there were trampling the ground, not a single Grimm had even deemed it fit to growl, much less even roar, an oddity if he's ever seen one.
But what had really been expected was when the Beowulves at the forefront of the attack leapt right over the spots they'd set traps at.
He'd kept his surprise to himself. Pyrrha didn't.
"W-What?!" she all but shrieked. Jaune would swear he could literally hear his partner's heart skip a few beats from the sheer surprise.
However, shocked or not, this still didn't stop them from having drawn their weapons. Pyrrha switched hers to its gun form and immediately opened fire.
By the time she'd even fired twice, Jaune had already charged forth with both swords drawn.
"Everyone, get back!" he yelled. The townspeople had gone back to their daily routines following the completion of the traps and while they'd already started coming in for the day out of anticipation of another attack, they hadn't started early enough.
As such, there were a fair few stragglers out there and much like he and Pyrrha, they'd been more than shocked by what had just happened.
Jaune headed for them first because the Grimm were heading for them too. Unlike the Grimm, however, he was faster.
He reached the farmers well before a few Beowulves could and readied himself to attack – only for the wolf-based Grimm to look upon him… and start spreading out.
Now the blond was truly taken aback and as he covered the farmers' retreat, he could only turn and look as all the Grimm that initially been heading this way now started to spread out, giving him an eerily wide berth.
"What is this?" he muttered.
Alas, he didn't have time to ponder this. In any case, he'll take it as a blessing in disguise since it meant helping any townspeople still out and about retreat to their homes would be easier.
Unfortunately, this didn't mean that this attack was going to be easy to repel – already, he could hear the sounds of gunfire from the other end of town, where Nora and Ren were stationed at. That he could hear the roar of gunfire and explosions from over here could only mean that the Grimm had somehow found a way to circle around the area… and if the screams he could hear were anything to go by, it clearly had been unexpected.
And as for this side of town…
Just as the farmers he rescued went inside their home and immediately barricaded it from inside, Jaune turned in Pyrrha's direction to see the redhead still firing at the Grimm from a distance. She didn't dare move much from where she was at, presumably because if she did so, she'd risk Grimm slipping past her and directly into town.
In which case, it was up to him to naturally provide assistance.
He gladly proceeded to do just that.
He blitzed across the field with tremendous speed. And all the while, he could see the Grimm still very much going around all the traps they'd set.
Time to change that.
Heading for the nearest trip wire, he promptly triggered it and retreated, well before the Grimm nearby could immediately respond to his sudden presence.
Pitfalls were triggered and some Grimm – Ursas – that weren't fast enough to respond ended up falling right into them, with other Grimm simply jumping right over them and continuing their mad dash towards town.
Only for Jaune to get up in their faces each and every time. They may be avoiding him for some reason, but that didn't mean he was going to avoid them.
A particularly large Ursa was rampaging directly towards the town via the main path, in doing so triggering a few bombs that the townspeople had helped build. However, thanks to its ridiculously thick body, the resulting explosion of shrapnel did little more than irritate it.
Jaune, however, raised his left sword and swung down hard, slicing the Ursa clean in two during that split second of distraction. He didn't even wait long enough for it to start dissipating before moving back and heading to a small group of Beowulves that had been coming from a direction just a bit towards his right.
"Three of them…" he murmured as he went for them. They heard him coming and started to change direction, but before they could fully do so, he was already upon them. He lightly leapt and spun with both swords drawn, cutting the three Beowulves into multiple pieces in less than a millisecond.
Now the Grimm started to howl like they usually do and with it came the oppressiveness that normally accompanied a Grimm attack of any size.
The sounds of gunfires and explosions from the other side of town somehow grew louder in response to the Grimm now roaring and it was setting the normally usually unflappable blond on edge.
He turned around and looked to Pyrrha, still admirably holding her position while Grimm continued to approach.
Jaune began to dash towards her so that he could help free up her combat options, but as he did so, he once again looked over the situation… and continued to discover some oddities.
Most of the Grimm… they were moving in groups of three. They were continuing to avoid the traps when possible and were also actively trying to avoid Pyrrha's shots, albeit without much success and at the cost of them having to retreat a little lest they die. It was because of this latter fact that his partner's position had yet to be overwhelmed.
His grip on his swords tightened. The desire to channel his aura and unleashed his empowered swings would certainly be a huge boon in slaying most of the Grimm on this side of town, but it came with risks. For one thing, he definitely can't fire from this angle or else he'll hit the town. Even if he fired away from the town, he'd be cutting down both Grimm and a lot of the surrounding forestry, which was a natural defense for Sol itself. With no idea as to how many Grimm were coming their way, cutting down who knows how many trees unintentionally would only end up opening up numerous more paths for them to take directly here.
Once again, going all out wasn't quite an option here. No matter, he will do what he can.
In this case, he reached Pyrrha just as she had no choice but to switch her weapon into its sword form for a brief second to counter a charging Beowulf that had made it towards her.
Just after it was cut down, Pyrrha finally deemed it fit to actually move now that she spotted him close by. The two partners looked at each other and nodded.
Then they promptly got to work.
Just as he kept on running directly ahead, towards the town, Jaune began to target all the Grimm that had started getting especially close to the town, primarily Boewulves that had been circling around the area Pyrrha had been firing at. As for his partner, she leapt into the fray and headed right for the ones that had, upon spotting him, tried going around him. As smart as they'd suddenly become, it was clear that they hadn't quite expected to almost bump directly into Pyrrha as they did so.
Trusting his partner to handle things where she was at, Jaune focused on everything else within his immediate vicinity.
Even now, when he was practically upon them, the Grimm still tried to flee rather than fight him. This wouldn't deter him.
With just a few steps in any one direction, Jaune would twist and spun, ensuring that every time he swung his blades that he'd strike with great force. Each and every hit would slay a Beowulf
Unfortunately, as fast and strong as he is, he can't be everywhere at once – even with all the noise now around him, he could vaguely hear the breaking of trees accompanied by the roars of Ursas. Roars that were all too close to the town and not even seconds afterwards, he could hear people screaming as concrete and wood were smashed apart.
His heart was practically leaping into his chest – somehow, the Ursas had taken advantage of their prodigious size to simply smash open their own paths through the thick forestry that protected Sol from both the north and south!
"No!" he whispered fiercely.
"Jaune!" cried out Nora, the girl suddenly calling his scroll. She must be fighting while calling, for the familiar sound of hammer swings and grenade explosions were still ongoing as she suddenly spoke. "Watch out – some got past us!"
"I see them!" he replied and sure enough, there down the town's main path, he could see some Beowulves running at top speed, slashing at everything in sight. They weren't even aiming at anyone – they really were just lashing out in pure rage and dark glee at whatever they saw, be it windows or the buildings themselves.
Some pounced onto the sides of buildings or even on top of the shorter ones and unlike the ones on the ground, these Grimm knew to smash open the windows.
And when the windows were smashed open and the Grimm began to crawl in… screams could heard.
"…urgh!" Jaune let out a quiet grunt as he concentrated the smallest amount of aura he could possibly manipulate into his right sword and immediately swung at an angle.
His aura swing managed to cut through two Beowulves that had been about to head in through a smashed open window along with a part of the top of the building next to the one they were on. He winced internally at the property damage, but that's infinitely more preferable to people dying.
Unfortunately, the other Grimm that were trying to break in were targets he simply didn't have a good firing angle on, so he had to get close.
Leaping onto the wall of the nearest building, his feet ended up slamming partially through the thick stone and he promptly began to run up the wall at an angle before jumping off and ramming a shoulder into another Beowulf.
The two of them fell from the second floor of a building and right into the side of the other, the impact resulting in the Beowulf letting out a pain howl before Jaune got up and stomped on its back hard enough to literally make a hole in it.
As it died and dissipated, Jaune threw his left at another Beowulf and it ended up getting impaled through the side of its head. And from the instant he threw his sword to the Beowulf dying, he'd ran up on the other two Grimm by its side and cut them diagonally in half with his other blade. All three Grimm had died at the same time.
The thrown sword had ended up impaling the side of a building and ended up getting the attention of whoever was in there – and much to Jaune's surprise, it was Dean.
"J-Jaune!" the Faunus said in surprise as his head popped out of a nearby window. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine," Jaune responded quickly as he pulled the sword out. "Just keep as far back from the windows as you can! Barricade whatever you can then stay down!"
Dean nodded quickly and slammed the window shut and drew the blinds closed – and just in the nick of time as an Ursa came charging down a nearby alleyway, smashing its way through a section of a building as it did so.
It'd come from the south, confirming Jaune's suspicions from just a moment ago. And it wouldn't be the only one coming from this new route.
Realizing that soon enough a veritable bunch of Ursas would be coming into town, Jaune immediately took action.
While Beowulves had more than enough strength to collapse buildings, such a thing took time since their claws weren't exactly suited from optimum demolition. However, Ursas could smash through the foundations of larger buildings with ease thanks to their massive bodies and thick hides, which would ensure they will survive should the building collapse while they were still inside.
In a town like Sol, Ursas were the most dangerous type of Grimm that lived out in these parts. Therefore, he'd have to thin their numbers as much as possible before he can start clearing out the rest of the Beowulves, who were clearly functioning as infantry and hit squads, if their targeting of windows and now doors were anything to go by.
Ursas to bring down buildings and Beowulves to sow chaos and eventually target the townspeople themselves… this was way too organized for Grimm to pull off on their own, even if the more intelligent ones were at the helm of it all.
Something was seriously going on, Jaune thought even as he quickly approached the unsuspecting Ursa and stabbed it through the top of its head.
Its death was quick, but not quick enough sadly; a few more Ursas were approaching from behind it and much like the Beowulves, they took note of him and sought to go around him. In this case, by smashing through the sides of the buildings they were closest to.
Jaune cut through the still dissipating body of the first Ursa and after running a few yards forward, he stabbed out to either side and his blades ended up cutting right into the Ursas before they could get too far away.
He did so in just the nick of time – had they gotten even a little further along, they'd have struck the wooden beams holding these two buildings up. But just the fact they'd made quite the large holes with their abrupt actions now meant the other Grimm had ways into these buildings.
"I have to be quicker," Jaune mumbled to himself. "Have to do more…"
Do more, do more, do more… he had to, or else the people will end up paying for his mistakes.
He had to-!
He had to duck.
His instincts, honed over the years, suddenly interrupted his increasingly desperate thoughts and told him to move, to duck and he immediately obeyed…
…Except this time, he proved to not be quick enough.
-No, that wasn't right, some part of his mind thought as a massive hand grabbed him by the head. It's just that whoever this is was just too fast.
This was the last thought he had before suddenly being picked up and thrown at Mach speeds through multiple buildings, towards the exact center of town.
He hit the ground hard and fast and whatever pieces of wood had ended up embedded in him thanks to what just happened ended up stabbing him that much more deeply as he struck the concrete.
To say he was now in pain would be an understatement, but even then, he got up quickly and without so much as acknowledging the pain.
Even with all the developing chaos around the town, he now suddenly found himself focusing on the individual now approaching him, the one who'd just thrown him.
Jaune's instincts screamed at him as he sized up the individual, a mountain of a man with a beard, who now walked towards him with a calm and steady gait.
This man… he was dangerous, Jaune concluded, more so than anyone else he's ever met.
"…Who are you?" he asked as the man as he raised his blades.
The man didn't answer the question. Instead, he said, "…Let's see now… just what kind of man you are."
And then, the man attacked.
And as some of you no doubt expected, cliffhanger!
Ha ha, but honestly, yeah this was about as obvious as could be. But man oh man, I really can't wait to write the next chapter, mainly because writing it will be really damn fun and partially because I'm already seriously looking forward to seeing what kind of reviews it'll get, heh. But alas, the next chapter to my novel comes first, so it'll be a while.
Now, just to explain Hazel's plan here and how effective it was, it's like this – with his knowledge of the traps planted, he'd naturally commanded the Grimm to avoid them as much as possible. Secondly, while initially sending out the Beowulves and just a few Ursas to grab JNPR's attention, he had the rest of the Ursas circle around the town at full speed so that they may smash through the thick forestry there, resulting in new paths being opened up directly to the town.
Additionally, all the Grimm attacking JNPR are actually given the directive to prioritize the town if possible, hence why some have gone out of their way – with varying levels of success – to actively dodge attacks and break past JNPR so that they could get within the town's limits, whereupon the Beowulves would target doors and windows with the express purpose of getting inside to kill the townspeople while the Ursas simply get to rampage and flatten Sol.
As for Hazel himself, he followed after the Ursas from the north who he intentionally commanded to progress forth at a slower rate than the ones from the south, who ended up getting Jaune's attention. This is why he was able to get the drop on him and since they're in the center of town while the others are on the town's outskirts trying to pick off Grimm reinforcements, it's just Jaune and Hazel all on their own.
Just wanted to explain this on the off chance it didn't make any sense within the chapter itself, hope you guys don't mind.
Now then, if you don't mind, I'm off to play God of War, ha ha. And boy, playing it sure is giving me a few fic ideas for the future too…
Until next time, everyone. Take care!