Here's the next chapter of White Sheep
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Kegi Springfield
Chapter 33 – Steel Sheep
Yang wasn't sure what she'd expected when they decided to try and rescue Jaune. Sure, there'd been the expectation of a fight somewhere along the way, and probably an awkward moment where she saved the guy who maybe liked her, well, definitely liked her if the dates were any indication, but whom also liked Ruby, and was now also kind of Weiss' boyfriend. Either way, it was bound to be awkward and weird. And she knew that, accepted it, even.
What she didn't expect was to see a vaguely wounded and furious Hentacle stood opposite a woman who set Yang's heart racing. That old image she'd found among her father's possessions must have been twenty years old at least, but the woman before her seemed to have aged not even a single day.
M-Mother…?
"Yang, Yang, snap out of it!" The world slowly came back into focus, and she noticed the worried looks her teammates were sending her. Blake took a step forward. "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," she lied. "Where's Jaune? I don't see him."
"Not here," Ren said, watching the two combatants with a wary eye. "In this regard, I think no news is good news since we can rule out him being in Hentacle's possession. Still, who is that person he's fighting against?"
Raven Branwen… her biological mother.
"Someone who isn't our problem," Blake pointed out. "We still have Atlas behind us, remember. We need to get out of here before we're caught." She tore off her White Fang mask and threw it aside, the three of them doing the same. "Now's as good an opportunity to escape as ever…"
"First my mech fight, and now an epic showdown," Nora whimpered. "I thought you were my partner, Blake. I thought I could trust you…"
"We'll watch it on the news," Ren promised for the second time.
Nora sighed. "It's just not the same…"
Yang agreed, and wanted nothing more than to rush forward and help the woman against the monster. On the other hand, Blake was right, they did need to get out of here, and there was still Jaune to think of as well. He was more important… more important than even confronting the woman who had abandoned her. She swallowed her frustration and nodded. "Let's try and find the others. We can track Jaune's scroll using their team beacons."
"That sounds like a good idea-" Ren was cut off as Nora tugged on his arm. "Nora, what's wrong? We're not staying to watch this figh…t…"
His words trailed off.
"I think we are…" Nora said.
Grimm.
So many Grimm…
They appeared as if from nothing, though as she looked closer, small puddles of what seemed to be blood proved to be the cause. Ruby had mentioned something similar, how Hentacle had created Grimm by splashing his blood atop the roof of a building. Two Beowolves, if she remembered correctly.
This was far more than that. There were Beowolves among them, but Ursa and Boarbatusks, too – and it was only luck that prevented there being airborne foes to contend with at the same time. In total, there had to be at least forty, and they ranged from small to large, filling the deserted warehouse complex.
Yang took a step back, less afraid, and more shocked – horrified, even.
"Grimm…" Ren whispered. "In the city…"
"They've breached the walls," Blake added. "No, they bypassed them altogether. If someone can summon Grimm within the city, then it could fall in a single night."
"There's not enough of them for that," Nora said. She sounded more serious than ever before. "But there's enough to hurt a lot of people. This area is deserted, but if they move too far outside of it, they'll be in the middle of the shopping districts."
And then it would be a massacre. It was late at night, so the crowds weren't there, and that was maybe the only thing which prevented the Grimm from sensing humans nearby. Still, there would be enough people up late at night to make this a tragedy.
"Change of plans," Ren said. "We can't ignore this now, not with so many lives in the balance. It's our responsibility to contain the Grimm if possible."
"He might summon more," Blake warned.
"Then we'll have to deal with him as well."
If they could… they'd failed to beat him and Torchwick when even Mercury Black was helping them. Then again, this time Hentacle didn't have his ally to hand, and they had Raven. If she was as strong as Dad and Uncle Qrow, the fight might be more in their favour.
"Focus on the Grimm first, and keep an eye out for any who make a break for the city proper," the normally quiet boy ordered. "Stay together and look after one another."
"Aye-aye," Yang cheered.
"KILL HER!" Hentacle roared, one hand pointed out towards the woman.
That was the chance they'd been waiting for. As one, the Grimm surged towards Raven, who watched them with an unconcerned expression. She brought her sword up into a ready position, and Yang felt confident saying she'd deal with them all. That left the four of them with Hentacle, and they rushed towards the figure, intent on putting him down once and for all.
Hentacle turned before they reached him, and seeing the element of surprise lost, Ren and Blake opened fire. Dust rounds pinged off his tentacles.
"How many of you are there?" Hentacle growled. He flung one severed tentacle before him, throwing blood onto the concrete that hissed and bubbled. Yang came to a halt, eyes narrowed and fists ready. If he wanted to summon Grimm in Vale, then she'd have something to say about it, and as the first Beowolf formed, her fist was already flying for its face.
Still… was it just her, or had Hentacle sounded a little different?
/-/
She couldn't believe her bad luck. This was just ridiculous!
Bad enough that they'd been attacked in the warehouse and forced to flee, but she'd soon been challenged by some crazy broad after her big brother, and now she had four other teenagers trying to kill her as well? How did Jaune deal with being in Vale if this kind of stuff kept happening?
"Keep spawning more Grimm," Lavender communicated, falling back. "Make most of them go for that Raven woman. I have to keep her away from Jaune. Just distract these four."
"As you command, my dear," Elena replied.
The parasite within her was as good as her word, and several more Grimm continued to spawn from the blood that lazily oozed from her severed tentacle. That could have been regrown, but Elena had instead reduced the blood flow to allow for more spawning. The wound could be sealed at a later time, and the tentacle regrown. The bigger problem was the amount of Grimm she'd summoned, and what that had taken out of her. She didn't have the vast reserves of stamina her other siblings had, and she was nothing compared to her eldest sister, Sapphire. This alone was enough to drain her, and she wasn't sure it would distract Raven for long.
Her more traditional wounds would take a little more time as well, and Lavender sagged to one side, clutching her bruised ribs. Those bullets had failed to pierce her aura, but the impact hurt, and there'd be some nasty marks come the morning.
Still, that paled in comparison as to what might happen to Jaune. That woman sent him away, but there was no telling where. What if he was gone forever?
"He's not gone, my sweet," Elena whispered. "I can sense my sibling. He is relatively close."
Lavender's crimson eyes widened. "You can sense his parasite?"
"To a degree… it is not something I can use to pinpoint him, but I can feel Remington in the direction of the warehouse." One of her tentacles pointed in the direction, and Lavender followed it with her eyes. "I expect the woman did not want to send him too far away in case your brother wandered away and was lost to her. She likely kept him nearby so that she might collect him later."
Then there was still time to fix this and get him away. Lavender nodded and sprinted in back towards the warehouse. There was no way he'd been put inside, and the tentacle shifted slightly to indicate the direction as Elena came closer and sensed him more effectively. A quick glance back told her the Grimm were still doing their job, though she could feel each one as it died.
I'm sorry for throwing you all away like this, she thought. Please forgive me.
"He is close, my dear…"
Good. She just need to find him, get out, and then transform back into her human state. No one would be able to find them then. She placed one hand against the metal wall and slowly made her way down it, all the while aware of the loud explosions and gunfire taking place on the other side. It sounded like Roman wasn't having quite as easy a time as he'd expected. Cinder had asked her to help him, but hadn't specifically said she should risk her wellbeing to do so.
"I kept up my side of the bargain. She only asked me to be present at his little rally, not to fight against the Atlas military." Roman would be fine, maybe… and if he wasn't, then she wouldn't lose all that much sleep over it.
A shape ahead caught her attention, dazed and slumped by the warehouse side. Her heart beat a little faster in her chest, and as she closed in, she saw him more clearly. He was there… Jaune was alive, in one piece, and still with her.
Thank Salem for that! She increased her pace, tentacles wriggling in joy as she rushed over to him.
"Jaune!" someone screamed. "No!"
He looked up at her. His eyes were dizzy, and he staggered a little as he pushed himself up. "Ugh," he moaned. "I feel… I feel sick. L-Lav, is that you?"
"It's me, big brother," she whispered, reaching out for him with both hand and tentacle at the same time. "I'm here. Let's get out of here before things get rough."
"Y-Yeah, sure…" Jaune nodded and made to move towards her, only to freeze for some reason. It didn't look like he wanted or intended to, more like something was holding him back. He looked down at his chest.
There was a small pair of arms wrapped about it, one under his left arm and the other over his right shoulder. A face materialised there, eyes twin shades of pink and brown, with hair a similar colour that spilled down around him. The girl wore a cocky grin.
"No!" Lavender growled, lunging for him.
Jaune winked out of existence, and Lavender's fingers smarted as they struck the sheet metal wall. They clenched into a fist, which slammed against it a moment later. Again? He'd been taken away again? What the hell was going on here? Why was everything so messed up!? Her teeth started to grind together, and her eyes flashed a dark crimson.
They were taking him from her… she would kill them…
"Ware your emotions, my sweet," Elena whispered. "Or you'll lose control."
R-Right, yes… she couldn't let that happen. Lavender took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. She only let it go once her lungs hurt, and she allowed her rage to flow out with it. "Thank you, Elena. You always look after me."
"Of course I do. I will always be here for- behind you!"
Lavender reacted immediately, spinning on the spot and throwing herself to the side. The attack Elena had seen came in the form of a sheet of ice which splashed against the wall she'd stood in front of. It was followed by a short girl dressed in white.
"Die monster!" she screamed, lunging forward with a rapier aimed for her throat.
Lavender reacted quickly. One tentacle lashed out and wrapped itself around the girl's face, plucking her out of the air and throwing her into the side of the warehouse. There was no time for this, and these idiots wanted to get in her way? She would never allow it. She moved towards the girl, but a flash of red caught her attention a second later.
She swayed past the bronze blade and caught the shield on the back of one arm. Pushing it back, she leaned forward and drew her own sword as fast as she could. The pommel slammed into the girl's midriff, but surprisingly didn't knock her down. Her foe winced and fell back, but kept her guard through the pain.
A dangerous one, then… White Fang or Huntress, it mattered not. Normally, she might have stayed to deal more effectively with the fool, but right now, she was distracted, wounded, and fast running out of time. If that Raven woman found her while she was distracted, it would all be over.
"Elena…"
"I shall summon more, worry not."
Only three or four for this girl due to the limited blood she could afford to spare, but it was enough to make the girl's green eyes widen. They attacked her en masse, and Lavender staggered past towards the struggling girl in white. She'd struck the moment after Jaune vanished, so she surely knew something… Lavender's gaze darkened as she considered the various methods she could use to extract that information.
Her hand reached down to pluck the girl from the floor.
A gunshot echoed through the air.
It struck her hard and propelled her backwards, robbing the air from her lungs. She fell on her back, one hand clasped to her left breast as she struggled to breathe. That… what had been so much more painful than any of the others, some kind of high calibre.
"The crane," Elena hissed. "I see a sniper!"
Lavender saw it, too, now that it was pointed out. There was a figure in red on the neck of the crane, perched between metal struts with a huge rifle in hand. No doubt she was cocking another shot, but Lavender's body was too weak to move.
Elena moved her, instead. The parasite took control of the tentacles and used them to drag and flip her away, even as another shot blasted the concrete where she'd lain, chipping it away with ease. "Lavender, can you move?"
"Right… Right in the boob," she whimpered. "It… it hurts so much…"
"I know it does, but we must leave!"
"But… Jaune…"
"Your brother is alive and nearby, I can still sense Remington. What I cannot sense, however, are the Grimm I summoned to distract that woman. Please, we must escape. Your mother and father would be aghast if you were harmed, and your brother would fare no better. For their sakes, we must flee."
Flee… retreat…
Defeat…
Lavender's eyes burned, but she couldn't argue with it. Mom would never retreat, nor would Dad. Even Sapphire had never been bested so badly, not when it mattered. The thought that she, young and weak, would fail where they had succeeded…? It hurt.
But it would hurt more to imagine them all in grief over her. Lavender staggered up and placed one hand on the brick building Elena had carried her over to. It was far enough away that the others couldn't chase her, but she still had to step aside to dodge another shot from the red-cloaked sniper. Lavender's eyes narrowed on the girl, who she could see scaling down the crane – no doubt coming to chase after her.
"I'll remember you for this," she threatened, hand massaging her bruised bosom.
For now, however, it was time to leave. Lavender ducked behind the building and out of sight, the tentacles that defined her slipping back within her body. Jaune was alive, and that was what mattered. To continue fighting would only risk that changing.
But next time, they wouldn't be so lucky.
/-/
"I'm fine," Weiss groaned, accepting Ruby's hand and help. "He caught me off guard, but I'm unharmed. Good shooting by the way. Is Pyrrha okay?"
"She's finished the Grimm off," Ruby said, one arm beneath Weiss'. "I couldn't do the same for Hentacle, but I hit him in the chest. It hurt him, but it didn't draw any blood or put him down." Ruby tapped her chin in thought. "He was knocked on his back, though. I'm not sure why. He's taken bigger hits than that before and been fine."
"Maybe he was already exhausted," Weiss said. She raised her head as Pyrrha approached. "Did you notice anything unusual there, Pyrrha?"
"Not unusual but… did Hentacle seem a little different to you?"
"No…" Ruby blinked. "Why?"
"It's nothing. I must have imagined it."
Weiss remained silent, but only because she was lost in thought. She'd noticed it too, but wasn't confident enough to express such a thought. There had been something off about the monster, but who was she to judge? It wasn't like she had a lot to go on when it came to comparing Hentacle's biology. He could look and act different depending on what day of the week it was for all she knew. Ruby probably hadn't noticed because of the distance between them. She didn't use a scope when sniping, after all.
"Where's Jaune?" Weiss asked. Her panic mounted as she noticed his absence. "I saw that monster reaching for him, but I didn't see what happened."
"It looked like he vanished…"
"Vanished? Ruby, don't be ridiculous – he can't have just disappeared. We should spread out and-" Something caught her eye, and Weiss waved. "Emerald, have you seen Jaune? He was right here, but someone took him."
The green haired girl waved back and jogged over. She looked a little worse for wear, probably because of the Grimm, but wore a small smile nonetheless. "He's fine… a little shaken up, but okay."
"You have him!?" Weiss' eyes widened, and even Pyrrha and Ruby took a step forward in obvious relief. "But I don't see him anywhere…"
"That's part of what's keeping him safe," Emerald boasted. "Neo, bring him out!"
It was a flicker at first, or maybe more of a ripple in the air. Weiss watched as it formed the shape of a person, or what soon after turned out to be two people. Jaune stood before them, dazed and a little surprised, while a far smaller girl hung off his back, her arms around his neck.
Emerald tapped Jaune's shoulder and smirked. "See, I told you I could get him out of there in one piece. Thanks for the help, Neo."
"Jaune…"
"Huh, Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha…?" He blinked at them and shook his head. "Where's-"
"You're okay!" Ruby wailed. She covered the distance between them in less than a second, and then crashed into his chest. Anyone else would have been flung back, but Jaune took the attack as he normally did and didn't budge an inch. He did look down at Ruby, however, with a vaguely confused expression on his face.
"Well yeah… of course I'm okay."
That proved to be the final straw… that casual dismissal of the danger he'd put himself through. Weiss stormed forwards, lips downturned. "You absolute fool," she hissed. "What were you thinking getting involved in this? If it weren't for Emerald's teammate, you might have been taken by Hentacle!"
"Wait, what? Hentacle…?"
"You dolt! Don't tell me you didn't even notice who was dragging you away? You practically fell into that monster's hands, and there's no telling what he would have done with you!" Weiss pushed away from him with a snarl, and turned to Emerald. Neo had moved beside her teammate, and Weiss nodded to them both. "Thank you for helping our team. I know it must have been difficult, and I really do appreciate it."
"Eh…" Emerald waved a hand. "It's fine."
Neo smiled happily, and Weiss had the strangest feeling the little girl felt almost too satisfied with the state of affairs. Well, it was hardly her place to be suspicious, not after Neo saved her partner's life.
"It seems obvious now that Hentacle is after you," she said. "We suspected it before, but there was always the potential for doubt."
"Oh come on, Weiss," Jaune laughed. "This was probably just a coincidence."
That… that blasted fool. Weiss opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of that, but Pyrrha beat her to it. Quite literally, in fact… she even smacked him across the back of his head. As if to make it even clearer, Ruby punched him in the stomach, too.
"Weiss is right," Pyrrha said. "This is dangerous, Jaune, and we can't afford to risk you if Hentacle has his sights set. You could have died if he took you away. How do you think we'd feel if something like that happened?"
"But I'd be okay…"
Ruby punched him again. Considering his stamina and endurance, Weiss didn't think it would do much good. Maybe she should hand Ruby her rapier and see if that made things a little fairer. She certainly wanted to ram it through his throat herself.
"Your over-confidence knows no bounds," Weiss snarled. "Well, it's not like it matters. You can continue to believe or disbelieve as you wish. The rest of us will just keep an eye on you regardless, since it's clear we're the only ones with functioning brains around here." Weiss shot an apologetic look towards Emerald and Neo. "No offence meant."
"Oh, none taken," Emerald said. She crossed her arms and glared at Jaune as well, which only made the girl seem all the better in Weiss' eyes. "I think I have good reason to have words with him too, since he decided to do something stupid like this when he knows better."
"Heh…" Jaune laughed nervously. "Uh, maybe we can keep this between us and not tell-"
"Not a chance in hell," Emerald interrupted. "Not one chance."
Weiss looked between the two, and her interest was definitely piqued when she saw how ill Jaune looked. Before she could ask for more details, however – and the number of whomever she could threaten him with – a call from further down the road caught their attention.
"Yang!" Ruby cried, releasing Jaune and rushing over to give her sister a hug. "You're okay!"
She was indeed, along with the other members of Team RYBN, who were making their way towards them with weapons drawn and grime smeared across their faces. Weiss and her team approached them, and she took a quick second to catalogue their injuries. Fortunately, they seemed unharmed.
"Grimm," Ren said, in answer to her unspoken question. "Hentacle summoned a large group of them and we had to clear them before they could spread out into the city." He looked at them in turn and nodded. "I see you found Jaune. I'm glad to see you're all well."
Weiss noticed his eyes on Emerald and Neo, and quickly introduced them. Once that was done, she left her partner to be both coddled and rebuked by Yang and Ruby, and instead focused on the matter at hand. "The Grimm have all been defeated, then? Hentacle fled on our end."
"We killed them all," Blake said. "There was someone fighting against him, but she vanished before we could talk to her."
"She left before the Grimm were finished," Ren said. "Rather irresponsible of a huntress, since that could have left Vale in a difficult situation if we weren't there." He looked to Yang and opened his mouth, but quickly shook his head and turned back to Weiss a second later. "That's all we have to report, really. If you managed to frighten Hentacle off, that's a win for us, but I can't help but worry about someone who has the potential to summon so many Grimm."
"I agree. We'll inform Ozpin." It was the best they could do, and Ren nodded, satisfied with the decision. As much as she would have liked to offer more, this was an enemy beyond them, and someone who could be a real danger to the entire city.
They couldn't afford to keep this to themselves…
"Either way, we ought to get out of here while we c-" Ren paused. "Nora, what are you looking at?"
"The mech fight."
"That's still going on?" He shook his head before she could answer. "I said we'll watch it on the news tomorrow. It's on the other side of the warehouse, anyway. It's not like we could see it properly from here."
"Really? I have a good view."
"Nora…"
"Uh, partner…?" It was Yang's voice, and filled with enough panic to catch their attention. "I think we should move to the side a little. Like… now. Right now!"
They looked up in unison, and probably gasped in it too, as the large robotic figure crashed back towards them, falling through the warehouse and tripping over a low wall. Weiss' mind froze, but luckily for her, Jaune's didn't. His shoulder caught her stomach as he dashed away with her in tow. Her head bounced off his back, but she saw the others running as well.
Facing backwards, she was able to see the exact moment Torchwick's Paladin fell onto what she desperately hoped was a disused building. The solid construction proved no protection against the giant machine, and the walls caved inwards, spilling bricks and masonry down below. Eventually, the Paladin's momentum was bled, but at that point it had already carved through a third of the building itself. The debris scattered down onto the ground where they'd just stood, and would have buried them if not for Yang's warning. Weiss let out a breath of relief, but it caught in her throat a second later.
There, in the smoke – was that… no, it couldn't be. She tried to shake the hallucination away, but it remained still. There was a person still there, hunched over and clutching her stomach, all the while unaware of the danger falling down above them. No one else noticed because they were looking ahead, and she was the only one able to see behind them.
"Civilian!" Weiss gasped. "There's someone back there!"
"What?" Yang half-turned, but wasn't in a position to help. "Damn it. Oi," she called. "Get out of there! Run!"
The girl, for Weiss could see her face clearly now, was perhaps a little younger than them, with curly blonde hair and bright eyes. Almost in slow motion, she looked to them, and then upwards to the falling rocks that would surely crush her.
"Damn it," Yang hissed, moving to help.
Ren beat her to it. The quiet teen dashed away from the group and back towards the building, only just reaching the girl in time to push her down and shield her with one arm. Several bricks struck him and kicked up a cloud of smoke that obscured them both from view.
"Renny…?" Nora whispered.
There was no answer.
"REN!"
"I'm – cough – okay." His voice came from the thick smoke, and brought crushing relief down on all of them. Nora, especially, looked like she might collapse. As the smoke cleared, it revealed Ren stood off to one side, the girl held in his arms. She was staring up at him, and there was a light sheen of dust across his head and body. He looked down to the young girl. "Are you hurt?"
"U-Um, no…"
Weiss felt Jaune's grip on her tighten. She winced and struggled to free herself, but he didn't seem to even notice. Idiot partner and his carrying of her! Was he that worried about some random civilian he had to cut off her oxygen supply!?
"You should get out of here," Ren said, lowering the girl back onto her feet. She swayed and fell against him, one hand on his chest. "It's not safe. Move back to the city and leave this to us."
The girl was red in the face, but nodded and stepped away. She spared one final glance before her saviour, before the glanced back at Winter's approaching Paladin and fled. Weiss took the time she had to slam her fist against Jaune's back. "Let me down, you idiot!"
"She's safe…" Jaune whispered.
"Yes, and that's wonderful – but you won't be safe if Winter sees you holding me like this!"
"Oh right… I guess she'd be worried about you and angry at me." Jaune laughed nervously and knelt down, gently placing her heels against the floor. She pushed off his shoulder and stood up. She dusted her dress down.
"No, I meant I'd kill you if Winter saw you carrying me." she corrected. Yang snorted, but Weiss did spare a tiny nod for him. "Thank you for getting me out of there."
"No problem. I couldn't let my partner be hurt, right?"
Quit so, but he still deserved her gratitude nonetheless. She nodded to him and stood patiently next to him as Winter's cockpit opened. There wasn't much point running away now, and it would just look suspicious if they tried.
"What are you all doing here?" Winter demanded. She shook her head before they could answer, and quickly shouted out some orders to the Atlas soldiers on the ground. "Surround and secure the target. I'll have Torchwick behind bars for this."
"Yes ma'am!"
The four or so men rushed by them and started to clamber up the defeated Paladin's body. Much of it was hidden by smoke and rubble, but Weiss didn't have time to think any further on that as Winter leapt from her machine and down to the ground. She stormed towards them, eyes narrowed.
Weiss swallowed and met her half way, "Winter, I can explain-"
"And you shall in a moment," her sister growled. She stepped past Weiss and drew her weapon. "You are under arrest!"
Emerald balked. "Eh!?"
"Do not play innocent, fool. I had my men watch you in Beacon, and it was yourself who led us here. If that isn't an admittance of guilt, I don't know what is."
"W-Wait, you've got it all wrong. I came to help them!" Emerald took a step back, but froze as Winter's sabre tickled the underside of her chin. She looked frightened.
"A likely story, girl… I'd been looking for someone with huntress training and green hair, and those aren't exactly common traits. If you are truly innocent, you will have nothing to fear from a little interrogation, no?"
Weiss' heart leapt into her throat. It only took one look at the terrified girl's face to shock her into action, and she pushed Emerald back, stepping before her sister's sabre. "Emerald is innocent of the crimes you suggest!"
"Weiss, step back. You know not who you stand before!"
"I know I stand before a friend." Weiss held her arms out. "Emerald didn't come here because she knew about anything that was going on. She… she came here because I asked her to."
"You asked her…?"
Weiss nodded. It was a white lie, but not one she regretted. However Emerald had found her way here, it hadn't been because of her – but it had been to help Jaune, not to get involved with any of this White Fang stuff. Besides, there was the favour she owed the girl for getting Jaune out, not to mention the simple fact that Emerald couldn't have been involved with the enemy.
She was the green-haired girl from the White Fang meeting, after all.
"I messaged her and asked her to come," Weiss lied. "Our teams were out in Beacon when we saw the devastation being wrought by Hentacle and wild Grimm summoned into the city. As huntresses and huntsmen, it is our responsibility to react to such danger. Emerald came quickly at my request, as I feared we wouldn't be enough to handle Hentacle."
"That's right," Emerald said, nodding quickly. "W-Weiss asked me to come and I did. We're good friends."
Okay, that was pushing it a little, but Weiss supposed it wasn't a bad thing. Emerald had helped her, not to mention the two had shared their own misery over their mutual hair disasters. Hm, maybe they were friends, if only by association of misery.
"Emerald also could not have been the green-haired individual you were looking for," she said. "I can personally vouch that due to an ill-thought prank, her hair was bleached white up until only a few days ago."
The others nodded when Winter looked their way, and Jaune was quick to add his own thoughts. "You can probably ask the teachers, Miss Schnee. We had lessons, so they would all have seen her with white hair. The headmaster might even have video evidence."
Faced with such facts, there was little Winter could do – not that Weiss felt she would have attacked them anyway. The sabre was sheathed, and although her sister looked frustrated, it was more at her assumption than anything else. "Please accept my apologies then. I acted rashly, but would like to make it clear the mistake was mine and not representative of the Atlas military."
"It's fine?" Emerald didn't sound entirely convinced, but this was probably better than being arrested and interrogated. She slumped behind Weiss and muttered something about miracles under her breath.
"Ma'am," one of the soldiers called. "The cockpit is empty – he's gone!"
"What!" Winter whirled away from them and stalked to the foot of the fallen machine. "How can he have escaped, we have the entire area surrounded!?" She slashed an arm out. "Spread out and find him – have the Bullheads search the nearby streets. Do whatever is necessary to find that man!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"He's escaped, seriously?" Yang scowled and glared at the Paladin. "How the hell did he get away?"
"A question I shall be looking into, have no fear." Winter nodded to the blonde, but didn't know her name and likely didn't care to talk with her any longer. She turned back to Weiss and Jaune instead. "You say the lot of you were in the area? That feels odd. What were you doing here?"
"We were… visiting Vale…" Weiss answered. "We heard the ruckus and decided to investigate, and when we saw Grimm, it wasn't like we could ignore that."
"A commendable decision for sure, but I'm more curious as to why you would be in this area to begin with."
"We were on a date," Jaune said immediately.
Weiss stomped on his foot. He didn't feel it.
"You decided to take my sister on a date and chose the Vale industrial district as the venue?" Winter's voice made it clear she took offence to that, but whether it was over the blatant lie, or the choice of romantic date, Weiss wasn't sure. "I find it hard to believe two people your age would visit such a place."
She wracked her mind for an answer or excuse, anything she could say to get out of the current situation. Winter was right; this was a stupid place for a date – and that made them look rather suspicious.
"And why are there so many of you on this date? I count nine here right now."
Nine-? Weiss glanced back, but Winter was right. Where had Neo gone? Bah, it didn't matter.
"Well, you see…" she began. "It's a little hard to explain…"
Winter crossed her arms and made it clear she was going nowhere. "Go on."
Jaune looked to her for help.
Weiss looked to any gods that were listening.
"They came here to try and lose us," Blake said.
Winter's eyes narrowed. "Explain."
Blake looked a little uncertain, but with Winter staring at her, and everyone else also waiting expectantly, she probably couldn't be blamed for that. She swallowed and looked away. "W-Well, when we heard about the date, we wanted to know how it would go. We decided to follow them and watch."
"You decided to spy on my sister's romantic rendezvous?"
"I-In a manner of speaking… It was your idea, Yang. Why don't you explain?"
Yang's eyes widened as Blake threw the hot potato in her direction, but her anger was instantly frozen solid when Winter's glare turned on her. "H-Ha ha, yeah… my idea… well, that might be giving me too much credit, you know. I mean, Weiss and Jaune are such good friends of ours, and we just wanted to make sure things were going well. I mean, Ruby's the one who likes him-"
"Yang!" Ruby gasped, and then cringed when the attention turned to her. "I-It's not like that. T-They're my teammates, and I only went along because Pyrrha wanted to go."
"I, what!? Ah, I mean yes… but only to ensure no one interrupted their meal. Weiss is quite famous, after all. I really believe that most of the fault lies with-"
"I was only there to keep an eye on my friend," Ren said, pointing to Nora. "I had no stake in this."
Pyrrha balked at having her target taken away like that, and instead vaguely pointed in Nora's direction. The ginger girl blinked at Pyrrha, then blinked at Winter, too, when she glared at her. "Hello Weiss' sister."
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Winter growled.
"I like your robot."
Winter's brow twitched, and her hand fell to her sword once more.
"And that's how we ended up here," Weiss interrupted before blood could be spilt. "Jaune and I noticed them following us and tried to lose them in what we thought would be a relatively busy area. Sadly, it wasn't, and then the Grimm appeared and we reacted to them as we're supposed to."
"I see…" Winter only looked partially convinced. "While I commend that decision, I must also question your decision to try and face off against someone as dangerous as… as…" She sighed. "That Grimm monster."
"Hentacle?" Jaune prodded.
"I would prefer not to use that name…"
"I know, right?" Nora said. "I wanted to call him the Grimminator."
"Regardless of what he is called, that man – if he can even count as such – is dangerous beyond belief. With this ability to summon Grimm in numbers not seen before, I'll need to contact General Ironwood. The Kingdoms need to be made aware of such a threat."
Jaune shifted awkwardly next to her for some reason. Weiss clasped a hand about his wrist to keep him still, and then cringed when Winter noticed and smiled indulgently. It wasn't like she was holding his hand or anything.
"For now, I'll ask you all to remain quiet about this, or to only speak of it to Headmaster Ozpin. I would rather keep this debacle out of the media."
Weiss wondered if she should point out the plume of smoke rising from the demolished warehouse, the huge robot half-embedded in a building, or maybe the military airship floating above the city. In the end, she chose not to. There was no way this wasn't tomorrow's headlines. No way at all.
"We'll do our best," Ren said with an impressive degree of self-control.
"I appreciate that." Winter stepped back and looked to Torchwick's Paladin once more. She frowned and shook her head. "I will handle things here for now. You may all return to Beacon – or perhaps to your date."
"I… uh, think the mood has been a little ruined now," Jaune said.
Weiss nodded, pleased for the excuse. He was playing the role rather well, and she was relieved they hadn't been expected to do anything more, like hold hands or display their affection. In that regard, the Schnee reputation for being controlled and not showing their emotions was working to her advantage. "I appreciate the sentiment, Winter, but as Jaune says, I think we should return to Beacon with our teams."
Winter's face softened. "I'm sorry if my actions here interrupted your date, Weiss…"
"No, no – there's no problem." Weiss wasn't sure whether she should smile or try to look sad to sell the idea. In the end, she shrugged helplessly. "It can't be helped, I guess. It wasn't like it was your fault Hentacle appeared."
"Weiss and I can finish our date another time," Jaune added.
"Exactly, we're fine with this."
"Nevertheless, I will make amends for this," Winter said. "Worry not."
Okay, that wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, and contrary to Winter's words, she was starting to a worry a whole lot more. "There's really no need."
"I shall be the judge of that. I'll have to leave you for now. I need to make sure this and the other stolen Paladins are firmly back under our control." She nodded to each of them in turn. "Thank you all for your services against the Grimm, and rest assured that I will speak to Ozpin and recommend you all for suitable rewards."
Rewards, huh? Weiss wondered what those might entail, but was more worried about her sister's insistence on their ruined date.
That could only spell bad things ahead…
"Well, all's well that ends well," Ruby giggled.
"Ruby, I hope you're joking…"
"Should I be? We got what we came for, and we got out without any problems. Sure, we ended up facing Hentacle again, but none of us were hurt and we even made him retreat." She grinned at them all. "And all of that without getting in trouble. I say that's a win."
"Heh, you might have a point," Yang said. "Then again, I did just get betrayed by my own teammate." She glared at Blake. "Yang knows about stalking Weiss-cream, does she? No, she bloody well doesn't!"
"What did you want me to say? I was out of ideas!"
"Not that! You made me sound like a jealous girlfriend, oh, and to Weiss' sister, no less!"
"Weiss' sister who is also part of the Atlas army," Ren added.
"And is currently piloting a big robot," Nora said.
Blake whirled on them, eyes wide. "Stop trying to make things worse!"
Weiss sighed. Well, Ruby wasn't wrong, she supposed. As crazy as the night had been, as worried as they'd all been when Jaune fell through that roof, they'd still pulled it off in the end. That was something to celebrate.
"If I get bombed into oblivion by Atlas, I am so haunting you!"
/-/
Neo skipped down the sidewalk with a huge grin on her face. She always wore one, of course, but tonight's was especially big – and not just because she'd been able to sneak Roman out while everyone was distracted.
She was smiling and whistling silently to herself because she was the winner – the absolute winner.
Roman was thrilled because she'd saved his bacon, while Emerald owed her a favour for picking Jaune out of the melee. He'd be pleased too, since she'd saved him from that dark-haired maniac, and his teammates were in her pocket – the rich Schnee girl especially. On top of all of that, Cinder would be grateful, which meant more freedom and trust there as well. Oh, and the headmaster and all the teachers would praise her once they found out from the older Schnee woman.
Not bad for a night's work.
Not bad when she'd instigated it all in the first place.
Neo skipped happily down the sidewalk with a huge grin on her face.
And not a single person dared get in her way.
It's always the quiet ones you need to watch out for, especially when they've been silent for a good portion of the story. Just because she's not on-screen doesn't mean she isn't doing her own thing – and what a coup she pulled.
Next Chapter: 7th September
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur