I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Daughter of the Gods
Chapter Eighteen: Contents
The meeting with Ozpin to debrief last night was about what I expected. I gave him some of the information my team as well as agents had gathered, Ironwood typically thinking with his military rather than the efficiency and speed of a small team. Give me my team any day over a legion of Ironwoods best. While they weren't ready to take on small army's and completely win Weiss, Blake, and Yang could all do some serious damage.
Ironwood and Glynda gave there own details of what they could remember of Cinder, furthering the belief that she was up to something.
"My agents and the rest of RWBY managed to deduce that there was a base somewhere in the southeast, though I doubt they meant Vale." I mused as I thought over the information. My head shot up towards Ozpin.
"Bring up the map of Vale." I said. Ozpin nodded, realizing I was in a zone, and typed away at his keyboard until a map of the kingdom was brought up in a holo-projection. I walked up to it and began studying it. Nothing stood out as a hiding place in the southeast district.
"I thought you said they weren't likely to be in Vale?" Ironwood questioned.
"I did. But I'm ruling out the possibilities." There wasn't anywhere big enough in the southeastern part of Vale that could hide a large-scale operation like I suspected Cinder and the 'fang had. "Can you expand this." I asked as I kept looking, my eyes flying over every possible hiding spot. The map began to expand, and for a brief second, a location was tagged, but since it got smaller as the map got bigger, it disappeared quickly.
"Stop!" I said. immediately the map stopped zooming out. "There, zoom in on that area." I pointed to the rough spot where the name had popped up. The map began zooming in again until the name popped up.
"Mountain Glenn." I murmured. "That's it." I said with confidence. Ironwood and Glynda looked at me like I was crazy.
"Miss Rose. Mountain Glenn has been abandoned for years now. It's overrun by Grimm. Nobody in their right mind would occupy that area." Glynda said.
"That's exactly why it would make an excellent hiding spot." Ozpin spoke up. I nodded and he continued talking. "Mountain Glenn, if it were cleared of Grimm by a force large and competent enough, it could certainly act as a base of operations. Perfectly overlooked."
"I'll have it added to the field trip and team RWBY can take the mission." Ozpin said.
"I don't particularly like that I can't tell them everything that's going on." I muttered as I rolled my eyes. Ozpin looked at me calmly.
"It's for the best that they don't know what's happening in the bigger picture. They are still young. Let them hold onto their innocent beliefs a little longer." He explained. I sighed, this was an argument we have a lot.
"And I've told you. I may be immortal but I'm not like you. I never liked hoarding secrets that could get people hurt. Especially if there's time to prepare…" I took a breath to collect my thoughts. "We're getting off track. RWBY will take the mission, but I won't hesitate to use both of my magic's if things go bad." I said as I began walking towards the elevator. I heard Ozpin chuckle.
"I would expect nothing less." He said. I smirked as the elevator door opened and closed.
Sending off a quick message to my teammates asking if they had packed already, I headed back to the dorm.
Opening the door, the rest of my team looked like they were doing last minute packing, mostly just small toiletries and such.
"So, what happened? What did Ozpin want?" Weiss asked.
"It wasn't much really. Just team leader stuff." I lied quickly. It sucked that they weren't really allowed to know about Cinder. "Stuff I should expect for the field trips. It wasn't anything I hadn't already known, though." I said as I began checking my bag for the third time. One can never be too careful about forgetting things at my age.
Heh. Good one me.
I felt Yang staring at my back with critical eyes. Of course, she knew I was lying, just like how she knew about me drinking last night.
Because Yang Xia-long was not stupid.
"I also told him about stuff you and my agents have found. They know about the southeast and I overheard Ironwood talking about sending troops." I said as I finished my check. Yang put a hand on my shoulder in support. Weiss gave a me a look.
"Is that a good idea? That seems kinda risky." she asked as she crossed her arms.
"No. I think she handled it well." Blake voiced her support.
"Gods I hope so." I said as I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Dad sent us a package. Wanna open it together? Maybe it'll cheer you up." She said with a slight tone, trying to break the slight tension. I nodded and she walked over to wear the cylinder tube was waiting that I had noticed earlier. She shook it and a bunch of fur came out of it…and then it moved.
Popping out of the cylinder shape it was stuck in, the fur turned back into its original shape with legs. A black and white Corgi.
Zwei.
"Damnit Tai." I said with a laugh until he barked. Everyone had mixed reactions. Weiss just looked like she thought he was a mutt ready to attack, Yang and I were super excited.
And then there was Blake.
A dog and a cat faunus.
How could that possibly go wrong.
"He sent a dog!" Blake said
"In the mail?" Weiss finished.
"My dad does stuff like this all the time, he once mailed himself to Vacuo so he could help out a small village." Yang explained.
"I remember that! Your dad is so cheap I swear." I laughed deeply for what felt like the first time in years. Looking up, I saw Blake was staying up on the bed, far away from Zwei.
"Don't worry. I trained him myself. Friendly to all faunus." I explained with a proud smile. I had trained him since I found him as a puppy. He usually traveled between my hut and Tai's house, though he stayed with Tai whenever I was away. "He's even capable of hunting with a team. Trained him to listen for and alert anyone to the presence of Grimm." I said. Weiss looked impressed as she pet him all over and Blake just glared at him.
"Just keep him away from my stuff." She said as she slipped from the bed.
"All first year students, please report to the amphitheater." Glynda said over the intercom.
"We can't leave him here for a week. I may have trained him to fight Grimm-" I was cut off as Yang tipped over the cardboard tube and poured out a few weeks' worth of dog food. Pinching my nose, a can opener fell out last.
"As I was saying, I may have trained him to help fight Grimm, but I didn't train him to use a can opener. How foolish of me." I finished sarcastically. Yang read the letter that Tai had sent, explaining why Zwei was here.
"I completely forgot that he was going on a mission." I groaned as I through my head back. "Alright, whatever. We'll just have to take him with us." I said I grabbed another bag. When tai asked if he could try and train Zwei for whatever reason, I hadn't thought much of it. When Tai pulled my dog out of the smallest box he could find, I was pretty concerned for a moment. Now it's kinda useful.
Zwei jumped into the bag no problem and curled up easily enough. Closing the bag, we all headed towards the amphitheater.
When we finally got to the main gathering hall, team JNPR was already there.
It seemed Jaune was taking his leadership skills more seriously, as well as his training.
We stood in front of them, since it was the only room left.
As I looked at all the students representing their schools, I was reminded of why I was doing everything I was doing. These kids didn't have to worry about war, about never knowing if you were going to starve because the village hunter was incompetent and couldn't do anything. These kids were learning to be better, to do better. They would fight with everything they had because it was what they wanted to do. To give of themselves to something bigger.
It was why I was so proud, and scared, when Yang first expressed her desire to be a huntress…just like her older sister. I ignored Ozpins speech, as inspiring as it was, because I had heard all of what he was talking about before. Hell, I had lived through that history. Instead, I kept looking at the students gathered, idly noting that Cinder and her little followers were nowhere to be seen, reminding me in a different way of why I was fighting.
They threatened the tentative peace that has held since the end of the Faunus revolution.
When Ozpin was done his inspiring speech, he directed us to a selection board for missions. He subtly pointed towards the board that would allow us to volunteer for a search and destroy mission to Mountain Glenn.
Signing up for that with no problem, we headed to the airfield after picking up our bags.
"So who do you think is going to be the hunter for our mission?" Weiss asked. Everyone looked at me.
"Well don't look at me! I don't know everything." I said with higher pitch too my voice. Yang shrugged and chuckled until someone shoved by her.
"Hey look! Team CFVY's back!" the boy said as he ran toward the courtyard.
Blake, Weiss, and Yang went right for Velvet, but I hung back for a bit. Velvet seemed kinda shaken up as she talked about the sheer number of Grimm during their mission. Hearing her talk about the number of Grimm seemed to cause a bit of worry amongst my teammates, so I moved to nip that in the butt.
"You three are young, but you show exceptional skill that many second year students barely come close to achieving. If you keep your wits about you, think carefully before proceeding into a situation, you'll be fine." I said as I began steering us towards the airfield.
"Oh boy." I said once I got sight of Bartholomew Oobleck. "I guarantee he's our hunter."
"Well hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives!" He said excitedly. I facepalmed.
What a great way to introduce three huntresses in training to working outside the kingdom.
Facepalming, I walked up to the bullhead and through my first pack in and gently placed the other pack containing Zwei next to it.
Despite my semblance, I had a hard time keeping up with Doctor Ooblecks fast paced manner of speaking. Hell, the only reason I did so well in his history class was that I had lived it, not anything to do with note taking or listening to his speeches.
After a long-winded speech on the ground rules and a declaration that we were three minutes late, I tried to cheer everyone up.
"Despite how he seems, I've done my research on him. While he was an average hunter during his career before teaching, he was the second in command for his team. He knows what he's doing." I said confidently. Yang smiled and nodded, reassured by my words. Blake and Weiss seemed less so, but I was confident Oobleck would prove them wrong in time.
"Did you think you were gonna leave without saying goodbye!" a high pitched voice came from behind us. It was Nora, team JNPR's heavy support, and one of the few people who can match Yang's strength.
"Wouldn't dream of it." I said calmly. She went on a long rant but I tuned it out, as I mostly did during any conversation. I turned to Jaune when it seemed like Nora had completely lost her original train of thought.
"What will you be doing this week?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Working outside the kingdom walls, Nora and Ren wanted to shadow a sheriff but that's all I really know." He answered.
"You don't know where? I might know the sheriff." I said, a curious tone for everyone to hear. Pyrrha answered.
"Rosedale. It's not too far outside the walls."
Now that name brought back memories. It was a town I had accidentally founded not even a century after I was created. I was protecting a group of nomads from bandits and offhandedly mentioned they should stop being nomads and settle somewhere, build walls and huts to live in. Towns were far safer than nomads were back in those days.
"I know the place. Friend of mine still lives there actually. His name Onyx Night. Say hi to him for me?" I asked. Pyrrha smiled and nodded. "Thanks." Neptune and Sun walked up at that moment.
"You know…where's the rest of your team?" Blake asked.
"Supposedly, Sage and Scarlet are on their way from the coast after a mix up back in Vacuo harbor." Neptune answered with a roll of his eyes. I smirked gave a small chuckle, leave it to one of Sage's grandsons, this one named after her, to inherit her ability to get something mixed up.
Suddenly form behind us, Oobleck called out that we were now four minutes late, and I heard the jet engines from our bullhead begin their takeoff sequences.
"We better get going." I said as I began walking towards the bullhead, a quick goodbye to half of team SSSN and all of JNPR. I heard the rest of my team saying their goodbyes, and we were off to Mountain Glenn.
Mountain Glenn…not a place I thought I'd be returning too.
A job's a job though, so I shoved those memories out of my head and held onto the support as we took off. When we were nearing the wall, I heard my team try and strike up conversation with Oobleck, but I wasn't interested. I knew why he became a huntsman, and why he chose to stop and be a teacher. I knew he thought he could do more by teaching from his own failures as well as histories, all of those things he expressed to Yang, Weiss, and Blake while I watching our destination loom closer.
All too soon we were landing outside the destroyed wall, a hole the size of a fully-grown goliath greeted us. Stepping through slowly, I scouted out the area by jumping up to the destroyed support beams of a defunct building. Pulling out crescent rose, I increased the zoom form four to six and tracked several packs of young beowolves that were running away from us.
Odd.
That number of young grimm should be coming straight for us…but they weren't. Which meant there was an easier meal nearby. Growling to myself, I spotted several more packs heading in the same direction.
Someone else was here, and I only had one guess as to who.
This all but confirmed mine and Ozpins theory.
I helped unload our stuff from the bullhead before it took off and set it in a pile as Oobleck instructed.
"As huntresses, you will often times be without many essentials, this will be a good learning experience." He explained. Oh well, at least the rest of the team would learn something new on this trip, though I would try and learn something as well.
Reaching out with my magic to make sure our landing area was secure in case I missed any Grimm, I could feel a small pack nearby, and while my team knew that I could do incredible things, Oobleck did not. I had to pretend like I was ignorant of the pack as one of them came around the corner, Oobleck giving a lesson on tracking a pack. He was suddenly, and quite funnily interrupted, when the rest of the pack came around the corner just as he was saying that some Grimm could be away from packs for weeks.
The pack spotted us, whether because of me and my constantly shifting mood with enough negativity to feed several goliaths, or Ooblecks rapid and loud speech. Either way, they charged at us, and I was proud when my team tore them apart like it was nothing.
Yang, like I had trained her too, mostly kept close. It used to be a dangerous habit until she finally learned not to get far away during a fight against multiple Grimm.
Not only was charging headfirst into battle, away from your partner, stupid and reckless, if you got separated from each other and one of you needed help, the other could get seriously hurt.
Needless to say, I was proud of them. They didn't panic or do anything reckless, nor did they stray to far or try to play hero.
"Excellent job!" Oobleck praised "But don't get excited or overconfident, for I am certain that this is the first bout of many!" He exclaimed.
What followed was hours of hardwork, a lot of me pretending I was getting tired, and my team destroying a half dozen packs of Beowolves and several Ursai.
I was about to make a snide comment several times when I saw Oobleck carelessly putting himself in combat zones and collecting samples. While I could easily work around him, I saw everyone else struggling as he moved around.
Yang ended up beating me to it, her temper finally strained enough to comment, saying she had looked forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action.
He answered of course, saying that he was in action already by scouring the ruins, and reminding the three young huntresses that not every job is fraught with danger and excitement, rather a heightened form of extermination.
Eventually he started seeking them out individually, and I watched carefully from the shadows as they gave their answers, none of which were unexpected but completely unique to each person.
I expected him to seek me out eventually and smiled slightly as I heard him approach behind me as the girls set up camp. I was watching the goliath herd when he spoke.
"Amazing creatures, are they not?" he asked slowly, which I didn't think he could do.
"Yes. I wonder how old they are?" I said as one looked at me. From what I could tell, about six hundred years old.
"It's hard to say, but they are old, given their reaction, or lack of one, to us." He answered. I looked at him for a brief second.
"Would you still be interested in history if you were as old as they are, if you had seen the things they have likely seen?" I asked quietly. Oobleck seemed to study me for a moment.
"It's hard to say. On the one hand, some things are better left for the history books, others…should be ashes spread to the wind, forgotten by everyone." He answered slowly. I nodded, humming as my only response.
"What made you want to be a huntsman?" I asked out of the blue.
"Look around and tell me what you see." He asked loudly, pointing at the ruins around us.
"Destruction, death, potential and failure." I answered darkly. Oobleck looked at me in surprise, not thinking I'd give an answer like that. He adjusted his glasses.
"I see the lives that could've been saved." He said as he began walking through the derelict street. "It's my job as a hunter to protect the people, and I believe I can do it by teaching the future generations, something I believe is what is the most important." He said as we came up to the small fire of our little camp. I heard the girls talking but couldn't really hear what they said. It sounded like they were talking about the question Oobleck had asked them. It always amazed me how so many people and great ideas were either created or undone by one simple question.
Why?
Why do we do the things we do?
Such a simple question, but the answer is so much more complicated.
"Did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a huntress?" Yang asked as I moved to the fire and he moved off to a quiet spot.
"No, but I can tell you why if you want." I answered. They all seemed down, questioning themselves and their motives. They all nodded eagerly and sat around the fire.
"Well for one, there wasn't much to do back then. It was either be a bandit, slaver, trader, or roamer. A hunter wasn't an official concept at that time…but I became one because it was right. The world needed protection and I could give it, so I did." I answered simply. "It felt selfish of me, an immortal with gifts beyond understanding at the time, to simply do nothing."
The girls nodded at my answer, relaxing.
Hopefully it helped them.
Standing up, I looked at them and spoke.
"Get some sleep. I'll be on watch tonight."
Blake looked like she would object, but Yang stopped her. She nodded slowly and they all got ready before drifting off.
"Tomorrow will hopefully be better." I murmured as I