I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Daughter of the Gods
Chapter Nineteen: Under Pressure
Closing my eyes, I got into a meditative position and stretched out my magic as far as it could go, feeling the Grimm in the area from atop a pillar a goof fifteen feet above where my teammates were supposedly sleeping. It sure as hell beat staring through my scope all night. Thankfully, when my three teammates, who were most definitely not asleep even though they pretended they were, began talking, I was good enough that it didn't disturb me. I was able to listen to them and keep my magic in a wide area around me. They talked about why they became huntresses, explaining their answers to each other.
I smiled at their more honest answers. It was good hearing them admit the truth to each other, it was healthy for a team to be open. It improved communication and trust in even the darkest times.
I smiled proudly when I heard Weiss' declaration of putting everyone and everything else second. Such was the burden of huntresses and hunters everywhere, the exceptional one's anyway.
When Zwei nudged me, breaking me out of my meditation, I knew why.
He hadn't peed in a while.
Standing up, I patted my thigh for him to follow and he did. I nudged my boot into Yang's thigh. She opened her eyes immediately and sat up. I put a hand to my lips for her too keep quiet.
"I'm gonna take Zwei down to pee. Keep watch. There's two Beowolves about a half mile from here but other than that nothing much. I shouldn't be long but if I'm not back in fifteen minutes, assume something has happened." I ordered. She nodded and I went to take Zwei down the old broken steps. Once we were finally on the ground, I cursed internally at a dog's natural tendency to sniff EVERYTHING before peeing.
We walked for a few minutes, further and further away form the group. I checked my scroll, watching as the bars slowly got worse and the connections began getting worse. Sighing, I urged Zwei mentally to hurry up. Even though I was immortal, literally anything could happen.
Like two members of the 'fang just showing up.
Wow that's unfortunate for them.
Bolting to one of the rooftops with Zwei so they didn't see me, I listened as hard as I could. It was useless anyway, since they didn't give up any useful information, but I decided they could be useful in another way.
Leading me to the entrance of their base.
Hopping across old rooftops and crumbling stone towers, I trailed them for a few hundred feet until they slipped into a small maintenance facility.
Bingo.
Unfortunately , them being under the ruined city provided a whole host of new problems.
I looked at my scroll again, but I was far away from the others, and therefore I had two options. Go in alone or go back and get the team.
I made my decision and decided to get the team so we could fight together, if it came to that.
Unfortunately, life had other plans, as the concrete below my feet broke apart. I used my speed semblance and got out of there before Zwei or I could fall in.
Sadly, there was the possibility it had ruined the element of surprise.
"Damnit." I grumbled. Turning to Zwei, I ordered him to go get the girls and Oobleck, knowing full well he would understand. He barked and ran off as fast as his fat little legs could carry him. I snorted at the sight before regaining my composure. Sighing, I slipped on my Demon mask and brought my hood up, slipping off the edge of the hole and into darkness.
As my eyes adjusted, I saw many old buildings surrounded by cave walls. It was a huge cavern, but it was also a tomb, as I saw dozens of decaying bodies huddled together, some torn apart.
"I did the best I could for them. Get it together Ruby." I said to myself quietly as I passed by the bodies. This was one of the few things I didn't blame myself terribly for. There was nothing I could've done to help these people, they were doomed since the Idea of Mountain Glenn became a reality, no matter how much I warned the high council of it's dangers. When I took to warning the civilians, I was still ignored.
I made peace with it a long time ago.
Yang was always confused. Why did events like the battle of Fort castle or the siege of vacuo affect me more than the things I witnessed here at Mountain Glenn.
The truth is…I don't know. Maybe it's because I recognize that there was nothing I could do to save these people, that everything I did do saved hundreds of lives. Maybe it was because on some level, I knew these people were doomed from the start, and that I did everything I could for them.
"I did the best I could." I repeated as I past more bodies, Whether I was trying to convince myself or them, I didn't know. My cloak billowed behind me as I stalked through the shadows like a wraith. I came upon two soldiers and took a deep breath.
They didn't even know what hit them before they dropped to the ground.
Jumping up on an old rooftop, I pushed myself flush against the wall as several small rocks fell over the edge and clattered on the ground. I held my breath as a few grunts came over to inspect it. I moved quickly when they dismissed the noise as nothing more than the wind.
Thank the gods for their lack of investigative skills.
I haven't felt a breeze since I got down here!
Moving along, I stopped as the cavern began shaking, an explosion echoing, and I had to dodge a falling stalactite. Being impaled isn't as fun or cool as the movies make it out to be.
I crouched low and kept quiet, my dagger clutched in my hand once free of its sheath. Ducking under some fallen support beams, I scurried up one onto a perch where I could see better. I saw a cloud of dirt and dust a few dozen yards north of my position. I was about to move when I spotted one very angry human.
Roman Torchwick. He began shouting at his men.
"Are you animals trying to cause a cave in! Are you trying to get our activities noticed! Because if so, that last charge nearly accomplished BOTH!" He ranted as he swung his cane back and forth.
"Asshole." I muttered under my breath as I moved through the rubble that had fallen from the roof of the cave. Finding another observation point, I perched on the corner of yet another old building and watched as the 'fang began placing explosives in a sort of orderly way, before detonating and clearing the rubble, revealing a tunnel with train tracks running down it. There was a train, which I could see had more explosives and several Atlas Paladin's.
Seriously, Ironwood.
What were they doing though?
Another explosion rang out, along with gunfire, and Roman went to see what the problem was. I could see my team and Oobleck running into the cave guns blazing. I had to tell them what was happening.
Hooking around behind Torchwick's group, I sprang up behind him and pulled his cap down on his head before running towards my team. I heard a bullet whiz past my ear as I got closer to Yang.
"Ruby! Are you okay?" I pulled away to give her a look. "Right stupid question." She said as we hugged again.
"Listen. This situation just got a lot more complicated. Torchwick and the 'fang have been stockpiling a lot of weapons and explosives. I'm talking paladins, rocket launchers, guns, ammo, and plenty of explosives. All of it ready to be shipped out on trains." I explained quickly as I opened Crescent rose to shoot back.
"That's preposterous! These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end." Oobleck declared. I froze.
"Where's the end…Oh gods." I looked back at the tracks. I recognized them. I ought to after I ran down the tunnel so fast to get here to help evacuate the civilians.
"Go! Run down the tunnels I'll cover you!" seemed to echo before I shook it free from my memory.
"At the end of that tunnel is a seal that runs right under the walls!" I shouted as I began picking off grunts with less-lethal rounds, shattering their aura's. I heard my team and Oobleck following after me as I ran for the train, the intercom buzzing saying that it was time to go.
"Damnit." I cursed as the train began leaving the station.
"There's no time to call for back up and even if we could the signal wouldn't make it. We have to stop that train ourselves." I ordered as it began picking up speed. We ran for it as hard as we could, making it onto the caboose at the last second before it picked up even more speed.
"Let's get inside, It'll be easier not having to dodge the roof support structure!" I shouted over the wind. I moved to open a hatch and swore viciously.
A bomb was sitting in the car.
"We really gotta stop this train. It's loaded with armed explosives!" I shouted as I moved to another three cars, all loaded with bombs. I finally realized the true plan when the caboose decoupled before anyone could do anything and exploded a hundred feet back.
Grimm poured into the hole made by the explosion.
They were leading the Grimm right to the heart of Vale!
"You three, go down below and try disarm the bombs. Weiss! Try and Freeze it. I couldn't get a good look at the battery, but most lose power in extreme cold!" I shouted she nodded, and my teammates jumped into the cars while Oobleck and I remained on top, thankfully we also had Zwei.
Yang POV
Jumping down below, there was no one I could see, but my instincts were screaming at me that we weren't alone. Ruby always told me to trust my instincts.
"We need to be careful. There's no way it was just Torchwick leading this operation." I spoke. Weiss handed one of her spare speed reloaders to Blake, who loaded it into her empty gun.
"Knowing the 'fang, one of their lieutenants is likely overseeing this as well." She said. We all nodded and crept forward. All of a sudden, the small girl from the overpass appeared out of knowhere. Gods, sometimes I really wish I had been able to learn Ruby's aura sensing technique. So far only Weiss had shown a tiny bit of progress.
"Go. I got this." I said as I loaded Ember Celica. Weiss and Blake charged on ahead.
"You know, I'm genuinely curious how this fight's gonna turn out." I said as Blake and Weiss disappeared around the corner.
The girl simply smirked, resting her umbrella on her shoulder.
I walked straight up to her, sizing her up. She wasn't physically strong looking, so that meant she was likely fast. Her weapon, which upon closer inspection was what Ruby had called a Parasol, was probably sturdy enough for defense and offense. From what I remembered of Ruby's description of her semblance, it was a kind of illusion. Powerful, but left the user weak for a brief second, as using a semblance on someone else's mind was incredibly draining. She had a confidence to her, which spoke of years of training. I made up my mind about how to fight her.
I'd have to fight dirty, going high and low as randomly as I could to throw her off. That, or try to wrestle her weapon away from her.
Throwing a haymaker to gauge her reaction speed, I parried her weapon quickly when she swung down to attack near my stomach. She was surprised I had reacted so fast, and I used it to get in another attack. She was on the defensive, opening her parasol at key times to try and confuse me. It worked every now and again, allowing her to slowly chip away at my aura.
I threw a flurry of punches, which she mostly blocked, which was frustrating, but I refused to let my semblance get the best of me. Right as I went for a punch to her side, she flicked her leg up, intent on slamming her foot into my face. At the last possible second, I managed to get my hand up and squeezing around her ankle. She looked at me in shock.
Sometimes it pays to have a sparring partner whose semblance is speed, primarily using her legs.
Holding on tight, I picked her and threw her into the floor, whipping her around like a doll. The impact bent the metal floor, and she winced in pain. While I was still holding onto her leg, preventing her from moving and keeping me in physical contact with her, which was another counter to an illusionist, I fired Ember over and over again at her middle. She took everything until I had to reload. Right as I was about to fire the first shot from my gauntlets when her parasol opened up right against the barrel, causing the shell to explode in my face.
When I got up, she was looking at her weapon with a very pissed off expression.
The close range shot of the shell and subsequent explosion had caused a tear. A rather large one at that. If this girl was anything like Ruby, I was in for a world of hurt.
She charged at me, faster than she had before, and at the last second whipped out a hidden blade. I felt it catch on my right arm, which my aura healed instantly, but left a faint scar. She had this angry look on her face as she gestured to her weapon.
Not feeling in the mood to talk, I charged at her again, only this time she flipped over me and kicked me in the back. Hard. I was sent flying to the other wall, where I hit face first and bounced off.
She came charging me, so I did the same. At the last second however, she wrapped her small arms around mine, and with incredible flexibility, kicked me in the face. I saw stars for a second. She used that to her advantage and unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches. I tried retaliating, but it seemed like she had sped up.
Suddenly I was flying through the air, until I met the roof of the train car, and suddenly I was falling. I landed square on my head and bounced off. I heard the girl breathing heavily, panting through her nose. I'd like to think it was because I put up a decent fight. I felt her boot in my back, metal scraping on metal which I assumed was her blade on the floor of the train car.
Gods I hope Ruby sensed that my aura was low. I heard a whooshing sound, and a swirling pool of red opened up in the middle of the train car. I squinted at it as someone stepped through, crowned in a white mask not too dissimilar from Ruby's. What really told me who this was, was the sword and clothes.
Mom?
The small girl backed away in fear, and I swear both her eyes went white. My mom unsheathed her absurdly long blade, and the girl disappeared in a flash.
Ruby's POV
"Oh hell no." I muttered as soon as I felt a maiden get near me out of nowhere. I knew exactly who it was the moment I was able to recognize the aura and maiden power.
Spring.
Raven.
"Doctor! My sister's hurt. Are you good!" I shouted over the wind. Oobleck nodded and I zipped into the train car, just in time to see Raven step into the portal. Yang was on the ground, struggling to get up. I helped her up, and she looked at me with eyes that radiated anger. I knew it wasn't for me though, as she continued to stare at the spot where her mother had disappeared from.
"Later. Right now, Weiss and Blake need help." I told her. She snapped out of it at the mention of our teammates and we both rushed through the door.
The fight was over fortunately, and Weiss and Blake weren't seriously hurt.
"This train isn't going to stop." Weiss said as she noticed that the manual brake was broken in half, likely on purpose.
"I know. I don't know what else to do though." I said. Weiss just smirked and jumped up to the roof, the rest of us following her.
"Hold on!" She shouted as the barrier got closer. We were surrounded in ice and several of Weiss gravity glyphs.
"Good thinking!" I shouted just as the train impacted the wall. We were flung through it, along with the train.
Someone needed to make that gods awful ringing stop. It hurt so much that I clapped my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will the alarm that was going off to stop.
I heard someone calling my name, but it felt like through lairs of cotton that had been stuffed in my ears.
The ringing lessened after several seconds, and I opened my eyes.
Oh gods. We were in the middle of downtown Vale, and civilians were everywhere!
A rumbling noise began, slow and steady until it hit a crescendo and a King Taijitu burst out of the ground, followed by hundreds of beowolves, creeps, small nevermores, deathstalkers, and ursai.
Oh gods. So many Grimm, only three huntresses in training, one official hunter, and one immortal. Civilians were already being chased and it was too late. People were getting hurt and a few had already been killed.
Standing up, I began breathing slowly, feeling my power begin to burn in my eyes. A hand on my shoulder broke me out of my concentration though. I opened my eyes angrily, only to see Yang shaking her head.
"If you do this now, you won't be able to hide peacefully for another hundred and fifty years. Ruby Rose will have to die sooner. She will hunt you down ruthlessly all over again. I know how much this is hurting you, but it's not worth the risk right now. Use your maiden powers, but please, hold off on the silver eyes."
I can't do that, was what I was about to say when multiple auras began closing in.
The battle began quickly, Grimm attacking form every angle. I was just about to swipe the black head off the King Taijitu when a hammer wielding huntress beat me too it.
"Nora Smash!" She cried as she slammed her hammer into the giant snakes head, an explosion going off and killing the beast.
I saw Jaune take down an Ursai by himself, so that was cool. When the beast fell, Sun and Neptune were behind it.
"Nobody move, junior det-" I cut Sun off as I zipped behind them.
"Not the time!" I shouted as I ran passed them and slashed two beowolves in half. They jumped in surprise before getting to work. Or they would've until they began gawking at the massive Atleasian warship flying over-head.
Team CFVY joined in, along with Cinders team though I suspected it was just to maintain cover. It was a shame, watching emerald and mercury fight. They held such promise for being good huntsman.
It was pretty hot when Coco whipped out her minigun and just blasted away all the grimm from our area.
Snapping myself out of it, I focused my senses and found more grimm in the area.
"Lock down this area, start creating safe zones for civilians!" I ordered as I sped away, confident my team would fulfill my orders.
I tracked Cinders movements as she walked away from the fight. I knew she sensed the small pack behind her, but I had a plan for that.
Jumping down about fifty feet behind the pack, I angled my scythe and ran hard, decapitating the beowolves before they even knew I was there. I saw Cinder turn around and I stopped just in time, my blade an inch from her neck.
I sped off without another word as I felt her powers flare slightly.
A half hour later saw everyone, including Emerald and Mercury, celebrating a job well done, though I was very on edge with Emerald and Mercury so close acting chummy.
We talked on the roof at Beacon once we returned. After that, it was bedtime…
Almost.
"Get some sleep. Ozpin just texted me." I said as I had my hand on the door.
"You know…I talked to the other leaders. They don't get texts even half as much from Ozpin." Blake said. Always to curious for her own good.
Wasn't there a saying about that?
"Ozpins been helping me with academic stuff." I said. Blake seemed to drop the topic easily enough, which only meant she was gonna dig more, and I left.
When I got into the office I was surprised.
"Hey Ruby!" Saphron shouted as Terra bounced a baby on her hip.
"Oh Gods you're here!" I shouted joyfully as I ran over to them, wrapping them in a hug.