Hello, my dudes and dudettes! I bring you the next installment of The Passing of War! Let us skip all that filler and get right into the chapter!
Disclaimer-I do not own RWBY, which is owned by the late and great Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. Only thing I own is my characters.
8 Sextilis, 3176 PD -C. Astali-
Looking back on it now, today has been rather hectic for me. First, I have to read through and sign several packets of paperwork. Second, I get shot be a .50 caliber weapon by a (possibly) explosive young lady. Third, I had to deal with a man that I could easily mistake for a walrus with a loud voice. And finally, I'm being launched off a cliff by the headmaster of Beacon Academy who may be lying about a lack of Bullheads. Now, I am falling towards a densely packed forest with no plan on how to land. So I am a tad more peeved than usual.
There was one possible way to stop me from losing most of my aura - and a couple of bruises and broken bones - in the landing. Hopefully. I started hastily looking for the magazine for Warmaker I needed. 'If I could just find the damn… there you are!' Ejecting the magazine of regular dust shells, it slowly sailed away from me as I injected the Gravity shells into the shotgun.
Gravity bullets and shells tended to be frowned upon by the military for two reasons. One, due to the unpredictability of gravity manipulating ammunition. One story talked about an Atlesian soldier using one in Target practice and it failing, causing the man or woman to float to the the other side of Atlas. That story wasn't as outlandish as the on about a city flying away due to the nature of the Gravity dust it housed. Two, it was extremely hard to get the dust required for the ammunition, and was seen as a waste of political connections to get a hold of. Mistral valued those floating islands of theirs for some reason, and wouldn't let anyone touch a single dust crystal on them without both approval from the Prime Minister, plus her council, and a military escort. To say it was tedious was putting it lightly. But far from a waste, especially in my current predicament.
The difference in a gravity shell and a gravity round was the spread of the dust. The shell had multiple pellets lined with the gravity dust, which would spread out and cover an area as large as a golf cart when the round landed, depending on the distance you shot it at. The effect lasted for a good 15 seconds before the dust dissipated. That meant I had to time my shot so the shells spread encompassed a large enough area for me to land on the ground safely. To far, the dust wouldn't properly connect. To close, the affected area would be to small to matter. The trees that were getting dangerously close we're going to be a problem to.
I waited to break through the tree canopy, gripping Warmaker in quiet anticipation. 'Please God show me Mercy if I am to die today, and graciously guide me to the peace I do not deserve.' I hoped I didn't die from timing this wrong and Grimm attacking me in my rage filled pain. Dear God, Adolf was right. I have anger issues, don't I?
My less than pleasant thoughts were thankfully interrupted by me breaking the blanket of leaves. The dust round shot out as soon as I saw ground, multiple areas kicking up dirt as the pellets impacted. A purple haze started surrounding the areas of impact before gaining a more thick, smoky appearance. The minute I made contact with the gravity field, I felt myself being pushed and pulled by the force of the fall and the gravity field fighting for control. This went on for a few more seconds before the field slowly dissipated, and I felt actual gravity take hold again. This was the second time in my life that I appreciate the dirt that was in my lenses. I got on my knees and looked around the area, seeing only trees. Standing up, I pushed a button on the side of my helm and my comms came to life, "Oobleck, are you there?"
I waited a minute and tried again, "I repeat, Oobleck are you-"
"YES! Yes I am, I was just distracted by the coffee machine. We've run out of milk for the coffee! HowamIsupposedtoenjoythedelicioustasteofpowercaffeinebringsnow!" I blinked a couple times before shaking my head, both impressed and confused at the speed he spoke just now. Was the caffeine he enjoyed so much laced with the dust used in jets? Because I'm starting to notice the amount of speed the man has with coffee. What if I drank this special brew of his? Shaking my head once more, I expelled the thought from my mind for the time being.
"Oobleck, just tell me where the damned beast is." I was already regretting giving him my comm signal. God help me if he freaks out about coffee for this entire ordeal.
"AH, YES! Head Northwest of your current location. The Wikitikw seems to be preoccupied with a pair of Ursa at the moment, but I fear they will prove substantially weak compared to the Grimm and perish." I heard a sharp intake of breath before a quiet sip followed that, "Oh my."
I began walking Northwest as instructed, "Oobleck, has something happened?" I put my haste in my step, almost at a jog by this point.
"There are several students nearby. Three females, two males," I was at a full on Sprint now, praying to God that I would make it on time to save the children. I can't see another child lose their life. "You must hurry! If they are caught they will likely-"
I heard a crash on the other end of the connection, and a small gasp from Oobleck. "Aha! Free at last to fight you, Barty!" I couldn't help but groan at the sound of the possible walrus faunas' voice, "You thought me trapped behind a simple closet door? I laugh at this insult!"
"Peter! How did you escape?!"
"Have I never told you of my patented Port Family Lockpicking Technique?" I heard a hearty laugh getting ever closer to the source of me and Oobleck's communication.
"Um, I'll contact you again soon, Colonel. I must deal with Peter real fast." I heard a shifting sound and a battle cry before the line cut off.
Is this what life at this school would be like, constant irritations and nonsensical actions? And some people ignore it like it's an everyday occurrence! It's like they live in a cartoon world or something! What the hell is wrong with them?!
No…
The real question I should be asking is what the hell is wrong with the kingdom of Vale...
-?-
Pain.
That's all I felt as the little beings continued attacking me. Their attacks chipped away at my flesh and I couldn't help but scream in anguish and desperation. Desperation for the hunger to stop. For the little ones to die. To kill the man with glass eyes that caused the hunger.
The dark ones were disappearing as I tore away their flesh. Their rancid, bitter flesh. And the little creatures that ran in the forest were to small. I needed something… bigger. Juicer. Tenderer.
I smiled, or tried to as my lipless mouth tore even more from the action. The event seemed to disgust the little ones, the yellow one most of all. Good. They were better prey when they fought back.
"Sooooo gross. I am not touching that thing." The yellow one spoke with disgust, small amounts of fear tinged with the words. It despised me. That mad me angry. How dare they judge me!
I was a survivor! A natural born predator! A killer of these pathetic insects! They were annoyances! Arrogant pests! Food! The black one seemed to notice my rage as the green and yellow one bickered about 'partners'. They were trying to confuse me! Lure me into a trap!
I screamed with pure rage and hunger. Yes. Hunger. These little ones would do nicely as my… appetizer.
-C. Astali-
'Come on, come on! Move faster you damn fool!'
Seems as though time was against me, in a sense, after all. 49 and slowing down already. What a damned old bastard I was, after this fight I may as well us a walker to help me around. Or a cane like Layton. But his case was different rather than my old, worn body. He needed that cane, unlike me at the moment. Is this what a Midlife Crisis is like? Dear God, I never thought I would get this old.
I stopped thinking about my age after a particularly loud screech came from my right. On instinct alone, I brought Warmaker up and began advancing in that direction the sound came from. It didn't sound to far away, either. It was likely engaged in combat with some of the students Oobleck mentioned earlier, if the loud blasts told me anything. That made me advance as fast as I could to the clearing.
When I came through I immediately fired a shell of gravity at the beast, the pellets and dust connecting and pushing the surprised beast away from the children it was battling. The three students looked over at me in astonishment before one with blonde hair gave me a thumbs up. I nodded back before ejecting the gravity mag and put in a incendiary one.
The Wikitikiw was largely known, in Atlas anyway, to have a weakness to fire, it was one of the main reason we had the Fire Brigades. The Wikitikiw problem wasn't going away before them. And it clearly wasn't going away now, unless my eyes were deceiving me.
The Grimm, who was not only missing an eye but was also pissed off, roared at me in a challenge. I responded with a fiery shotgun shell.
The beast screamed in pain as it threw itself on the ground and began thrashing about, trying to put out the fire somehow. I sighed, hoping that would at least buy some time for me and the children to look for and regroup with any other students within the vicinity.
"Students! Retreat into the woods! We must make distance with the beast while-" A sudden, powerful force crashed into my side as I was launched across the clearing. The minute I hit the ground, a clawed hand grabbed me and smashed me into the ground several times before hurling me into a tree.
My vision became slightly spotty on impact, and I could already feel some internal bleeding and a couple of broken ribs. An amateur mistake to let my guard and Aura down, but that wasn't it. This Grimm was different, and stronger than an Chief Wikitikiw. It didn't have smoke coming from it's wounds either. Why was this one so different? That's when it hit me.
Literally.
It's fist smashed into my torso, my aura going up at the last second to absorb most of the hit. Warmaker was lost in the first hit, the strap snapping and sending it God knows where. That only left Peacemonger.
As the monster was about to raise it's fist for another blow, I unsheathed my trusty blade and stabbed it into its wrist. It wailed in pain as it brought its hand back, my hands clutching my weapon as I went up with it. Taking the blade out, I attempted a slash at the creatures eye, as the other one was noticeably damaged. It forcefully pushed me away and put some distance between us. As I landed on my feet, getting into a defending position. As I waited, I observed the creature.
It still had burning patches on its body, and multiple gashes and wounds. Its form was hunched over and was giving me a look of both rage and… fascination? That's when it started shuddering.
The arm and leg skin started splitting as the muscles seemed to expand, and its organs started popping like balloons. The bony arm began to lengthen and get bigger as the far more muscular arm started to have bone spikes shoot out. The head the least amount of change, with its getting longer and more jagged, and the mask starting to crack. The sight was disturbing to watch.
One of the Wikitikiw's arms latched onto a tree, supporting itself as it stood. The beast wobbled for a minute before standing at its full height, easily going past the trees here.
I began to back off, looking behind me to see the three students still there, watching with a mix of horror and concern. "Didn't I tell you three to leave?!" I shouted, letting my irritation show.
The blonde one, Xiao Long if I remembered correctly, answered first, "We thought you had it handled, so we stayed to see what would happen!" That was always a stupid answer to give a trained huntsman, that you wanted to basically see what a professional killer of Grimm was like in action. You can't watch if the chance of you dying is usually a 70% average.
"Does it look like I have this under control?!"
This time the green haired one responded, "Do you?" Was that an actual question, or was he trying to be a pain in the arse?
Before I could respond, a far more fierce, challenging screech came from the beast. I turned and ran the minute I saw the monster using its arms to catapult itself towards me. The started moving my hands and arms about to tell the students to run. I saw Warmonger still intact, minus the broken strap, still in one piece and made a dash towards it.
Sliding to grab it, I narrowly dodged a overhead strike. Turning as I got a hold of the shotgun, I pushed a button near the stock and folded the barrel towards the side of the weapon. A handle shot out of the barreless bottom and the stock shifted into a axehead. "Go! I'll hold the creature back for as long as I can!" The creature backed away as my weapon changed gazing upon me with caution, while I held the axe at my side. My hands squeezed the handle as my helmets amplified hearing heard retreating footsteps, before they disappeared.
No more distractions, it seemed.
I got into position to charge, the beast seeming to do so with a look of pure joy in its face. "No more holding back, Astali. This is probably going to be the one time I'll be able to let loose in the next couple of years." I whispered to myself, the idea of a quiet teaching life sounding oddly pleasant to me. No time to think on that now, though. I have a monster to slay.
No more distractions. No more holding back. Just me, my axe, and a target.
The monster and I yelled as we both charged at each other, the sound emanating throughout the forest. For everyone to hear.
I don't think I did really good with the action sequences near the end of this chapter. Then again, I never really had confidence over the fighting that will likely happen throughout this story. Expect the worst outcome with that.
So, if anyone has any feedback on this chapter, don't be a stranger to dropping a review. It will only help in me becoming a better writer and this becoming a more enjoyable story to read.
And remember, have a wonderful day, everyone!