Hello everyone and welcome back, Im sure many of you are pretty anxious to know what is about to happen so I shall fade away and let you all get to the story. I hope you all enjoy it.
There was a collective gasp of both awe and abject horror as Jaune and his team stepped outside. The sirens were still blaring loudly, warning anyone within a five mile radius of the Grimm incursion. Everything was confusion, the night sky was lit by an ominous orange glow and filled with thick black smoke which billowed from one of the many houses that were ablaze. Jaune's cobalt eyes darted around, analysing as much as he could and trying to draw up a conclusion of what happened and a plan of action though none presented itself. All he knew was that his childhood home was burning.
From across the town came the synchronised howls of Beowolves and the anguished screams of the women. Anger burned in the blonde leader's eyes at the sacrilege and desecration of his home town. It was hard to think that just five minutes before hand he had shared his first ever kiss with Ruby and that now he had scrambled into his combat equipment and was about to face his first real battle, his team at his side.
"Mom! Get Marron! The house isn't safe right now. We will escort you to the town hall, that is the safest place in town at the moment." Jaune spoke with a clear authority to his voice, the likes of which his team had never heard before. Even Mabelle seemed a little taken aback by her son's attitude but she soon recovered. The older woman dashed back into the house and scooped Marron up into her arms and ran back out again, pausing to close and lock the door. Marron clung to her mother, sobbing violently with a look of fear, clear for all to see.
Jaune turned to his team and gave clear and concise instructions to them. Within moments they had formed into a diamond formation around Mabelle and Marron with Jaune and Pyrrha at the fore and back, Weiss and Ruby guarding the flanks. Off to one side Port watched with a raised eyebrow, he remained silent and readied his weapon, deciding to watch how the young Arc would perform in their current situation.
With his team formed up defensively around his Mom and sister, they made their way through the streets and towards the town hall, its strong stone walls offering the best defence for the beasties of the night. The whole while, Jaune could hear his mother comforting Marron though to little effect. It pained him greatly to know that his little sister was so distraught with there being nothing he could do to try and remedy the situation.
They passed through the town with relatively little resistance, aside from a few brief skirmishes with some Beowolves. It didn't seem right, nor did it sit well with Jaune that they were encountering so few Grimm. The devastation around them didn't seem to match the concentration of the beasts within the town walls. Something wasn't right... he could feel it. Despite the obvious lack of monsters, the sounds of battle could be heard on the far side of town, seemingly the guardsmen were engaged with the enemy, holding them at bay.
After half an hour had passed since the sirens had first begun to blare, they all arrived at the town hall. Seemingly Jaune wasn't the only one to have recognised its strong defensive properties when compared to the rest of the town. Numerous other townsfolk were swarming into the safety of its walls, eager to take shelter from the dangers of the creatures Grimm. Team JSPR ushered Mabelle and Marron inside, the little girl still in tears.
They chose a small corner of the marble foyer, set between two pillars. All around them, the townsfolk were claiming their own sections of floorspace, while the town council members were retreating to their offices accompanied by their wives, daughters and sons. People from all walks of life, both rich and poor were all clustered together sharing out various supplies with one another. Jaune had to give it to them, they sure did band together in a crisis and always had, even when the plagues had struck after the great war. The knight had a healthy respect for that.
The blonde was taken out of his musings by a gentle tug on his sleeve. He turned around to find that it was Marron, her big brown eyes were filled with a film of tears still and she sniffed softly. Jaune took her into his arms and held her close as his sister buried her face in his shoulder and cried a little longer. She paused as Jaune pulled away to look her in the eyes.
"Marron, I know you're scared but with Dad being away and me helping fight the monsters I'm gonna need you to be a big girl and take care of Mom okay?" He spoke softly, his eyes warm and comforting. Reaching out to Ruby, the rose handed him a small dagger, which the blonde then passed to his sister.
"Now, I know you want to go to Signal Academy when you're older so I think I can trust you with this. If you're a good girl and keep Mom safe with it, Im sure Ruby won't mind you keeping it." He continued, shooting a brief glance to his Mom for approval. The older brunette gave a subtle nod and looked at her son in awe, amazed by just how much he had grown since leaving for Beacon. He wasn't the scared little boy anymore, he was a man. Jaune ruffled his sister's hair and turned to both his team and the Professor.
"Sir, I think our skills would be best put to use out there in the town. If we can help the guardsmen in any way, I think we had best do it." He said, his team offering nods of support behind him. The wizened old Professor looked at the four of them, a twinkle in his eye before he laughed confidently. It was a deep booming laugh, that raised the spirits of those around him.
"That's the spirit of true huntsmen and huntresses. Its bold! I like it! Very well, we will head out and see if we can assist the guardsmen fighting off these demons! Hunters ho!" He bellowed and raised his Blunderbax over head with a savage war cry inspiring those around him. The four teenagers matched him and together they stepped out into the burning town.
It wasn't much later that they arrived at the main gate that they had been using throughout their mission. They found it bowed in and splintered, hanging uselessly upon its great hinges. The area just inside the gate was a mess. Bodies littered the ground, some complete while others were... less so. Nevermore feathers sprouted randomly from the ground and in some cases the corpses of the less fortunate guardsmen. The air was filled with the stench of death and acrid smoke. It was a horrific sight which struck home with them all. Turning around he found the girls to be staring wide-eyed at the grisly spectacle before them, the four of them were just teenagers and this had been the first that they had ever seen of death itself. Doubling over, Ruby retched and vomited a little, her teammates able to do little more than rub her back in the hopes of comforting her, even a little.
"Look well children, for this is why we fight the Grimm. This is the devastation that they would bring to our homes if it weren't for the brave huntsmen and huntresses. Remember well that each and every one of those poor, unfortunate souls is someone's husband, brother or son. Remember and avenge them. Are you ready?" Port spoke, his voice breaking down the barriers of their horror and hitting them hard. His face was steeled and his eyes burned with anger and a thirst for vengeance.
Weiss was the first to reply, though not with words. Rather it was the clicking of the dust chamber on Myrtenaster and the deep hum of its dust charged blade. The rapier glowed with a fiendish light and thirst for Grimm blood. The heiress was soon joined by Pyrrha, a series of loud clacks as she unloaded and loaded Milo. The two girls were met with the rasping sound of Jaune drawing his sword and finally by the cocking sound of Crescent Rose, Ruby having recovered from the shock of seeing the dead for the first time. Port smirked and gave his Blunderbax a good swing, slashing through the air.
The five of them charged, it didn't take long for them to spot the guardsmen. They were clustered into a tight circle just inside the gate and being swamped on all sides by the monsters as hundreds upon hundreds burst in through the gates and threw themselves at the defenders with a ferocity unlike any other. The monsters were a never ending tide of evil. The ground around them was stained and saturated with black Grimm blood as well as that of their own men. They looked exhausted and on the cusp of total collapse. JSPR and Port smashed into the side of the advancing Grimm, catching them by surprise and driving them back and away from the battered guardsmen. Jaune knew little more than what was beyond the reach of his sword and what he could see of his teammates as they danced into his view.
The progress that team JSPR and Port made was to be short lived however as their advance ground to a halt. Even with their advanced level of training and aura, the Grimm were beginning to make ground and push the five of them back through sheer weight of numbers alone. Jaune made sure to give each step begrudgingly, exacting a toll of five Grimm for ever one he took backwards. It was a feat that would have proven impossibly for him when he first joined Beacon, but after week upon week of intense training with Pyrrha, Jaune was able to hold his own with a similar intensity to the others. While he lacked the stamina, born through the masterful manipulation of aura that they had, he held on.
To his left, Weiss fought. Bursts of flame and ice signalling the end of each of the monsters foolish enough to cross her path. She fought with mechanical precision from years of training with some of the finest fencers in the world. The best that money could buy, after all, what was too expensive for the Schnees?
At her side was Port himself. The Professor was proving himself to be far from the windbag that Jaune had thought him to be. He was swinging his Blunderbax in almighty strokes, it would disappear into the throng only to reappear moments later in a shower of blood and limbs. He was every bit the fierce huntsmen that he had professed to be in his lectures.
To his right were Ruby and Pyrrha, both fighting fiercely and building a respectable pile of their enemies' corpses before them. Pyrrha fought with an unearthly grace, Milo switching fluidly between its forms to whichever was most suited to her current battle. Her rifle spat rounds with deadly accuracy felling Grimm upon Grimm. Yet her gunshots were completely dwarfed by those of Ruby's sniper-scythe. Each round spelled certain doom for not one Grimm but several as her .50 calibre, high impact rounds tore through numerous opponents leaving a black mist behind. Every shot practically blew her first target in half in a gruesome fashion, leaving Beowolves flailing hopelessly on the floor only for them to be ripper apart and eaten by their own kind as they advanced.
Just as the Grimm succeeded in pushing the five of them back through the gateway, the remaining guardsmen rejoined the fight after having caught their breath. They roared their protest and defiance at the creatures and swung away. From behind the front came the sharp cracks of pistol fire as the injured guardsmen took shots at the encroaching hordes with surprising accuracy. Of course they soon ran out of ammunition.
One by one the guards fell back due to injury or extreme fatigue, yet Jaune and his team fought on. The blonde's arms felt like lead and he began to slow up as the night wore on. He accumulated more and more minor cuts, grazes and scratches. But no matter how many of the monsters they cut down, another always sprang forward to take his place. For the blonde knight, it had all become a sequence of action and reaction. Slash, duck, block and thrust. Rinsed and repeated the sequence was, over and over again. But always there were more Grimm.
'It's gonna be a long night...'
Blake sat on watch, peering out into the night suspiciously for any signs of their quarry. It had been a full day in the city now yet they had to find even the slightest clue as to the whereabouts of the White Fang. As time wore on, Blake could feel her hope beginning to fade. She hadn't been entirely sure what to expect, perhaps she thought that the White Fang would have been walking around in broad daylight given the secluded nature of Mountain Glenn. Alas, this had sadly not been the case.
Casting her eyes round she briefly looked over her three teammates. Eyes lingering on the sleeping brawler for a few seconds longer than she had intended. Her partner had proven to be far more supportive than the faunus could ever have expected once her secret had been revealed. The stoic had expected the blonde to become distant and distrusting, yet instead it had been quite the opposite. Yang had grown all the more friendly and supportive, following her orders without question or reservation, kinda like a big, shot-gauntlet wearing puppy. Yet Blake didn't mind, rather she found it oddly endearing in a way that she struggled to rationalise to herself. Much like the butterflies in her stomach whenever Yang insisted on wandering around their dorm in nought but her underwear. Strange indeed...
Before the stoic could fully consider the implications and reasoning of such feelings for the blonde, her ears picked up something out of the ordinary. Straining them to hear it, she could make out what appeared to be a voice, no, two voices... They were some way off and it was faint, yet with her enhanced senses she could just about make out what it was that they were saying over the gusts of wind.
"-Tellin' ya... there are more Grimm here every day...Gonna get us killed I'm tellin' ya."
"I know... Torchwick never told us bout this... Whatever... Let's just finish the patrol... Got a bowl of gruel waitin'... same crap as always..."
Blake leant out of the window ever so slightly and peered into the Gloom in the direction that she believed the voices to have come from. She soon spotted them off in the distance as two indistinct figures dressed in white. Emblazoned across the back of their jerseys was the Whit Fang insignia. They had, purely by chance, stumbled upon their targets. She got to her feet and hurriedly roused the others, explaining the situation to them all, a look of glee and excitement in her eyes.
"Right! No time to lose! We must chase after them!" Oobleck said in a whispered shout, at one million miles a minute before dashing out of their room. The teenagers doused their fire and followed on after him, down the three flights of stairs that led to their floor of the office block. It had been deemed the most appropriate idea to camp high up where their firelight would attract less attention from unfriendly eyes.
They caught up with the professor down on street level where Blake took the lead, her enhanced senses allowing her to effectively and safely lead her team along the best paths through the piles of rubble that had once been streets. Before long, they had caught up with the two patrol members and re-established eye contact. Blake held back, following them at the very edge of her visual range so as to avoid potentially alerting the two of them to the presence of her team. It was painful to have to move so slowly when the thing they were looking for was so very tantalisingly close.
The faunus had no doubts that should they simply catch the patrolmen, she would soon work the location of their base of operations out of them, no doubt using the... 'methods' that her former mentor had passed onto her over the years since the White Fang's reformation into the violent organisation it was today. Yet despite these beliefs, a part of her abhorred the idea, finding it to be both distasteful and against everything that she now stood for, everything that she had reformed herself into.
No, instead she would have to wait patiently. There would undoubtedly be blood spilled before the end, no need to add to that. The five hunters followed their faunus prey for what seemed to be hours, waiting for them to finish their patrol and return to base. Blake watched them with a smile, the two patrol men were completely clueless that they were being stalked and scrutinized. Finally, after what had seemed to be an eternity and as the sky was beginning to grow light once more. The two White Fang members stopped by an old and corroded iron door. They knocked in a peculiar pattern and it was opened for them. Blake's heart soared in her chest, after so much waiting it had all paid off. They had their target, all they had to do now was await the opportune moment to strike. Oobleck tapped her on the shoulder and gestured to an apartment block across the street, leading them into it and up a few floors. They all relaxed a little and allowed themselves a few deep breaths, content that the height would conceal their voices for the most part.
"Very good work Blake. We have discovered the snake's lair as it were. Now we must formulate a plan and act accordingly. If we move quick enough, they wont know what hit them..." Oobleck said with a smile, his eyes lighting up with slight malice.
'So it begins' Blake mused.
The night was beginning to drag on for Jaune and his team. They had begun the fight, full of energy and verve but as it had begun to wind on they had lost their steam. For the knight it all blended into a continual string of attacks, counter-attacks and occasional bursts of pain before his aura kicked in in which he become aware of little more than his own team and the swings of his sword. He had learned quickly not to look around. The horrors he had seen during the times he did simply weren't worth it.
Grown men had broken down into pieces at the violence and seeing their friends fall around them. Jaune had seen packs of Beowolves descend on lone guardsmen and rip them to pieces in mere seconds, their screams lasting for far too long and showing the full extent of their agony. After that the leader had made sure to keep every one of his team as close as was possible, not wanting any of them to fall prey to such an end. Even Port seemed to move closer too them.
The five of them cut swathes through the onslaught of Grimm, from Beowolves to Ursai they fought on but as dawn approached there seemed to be no end to them. It was just as dawn's first light crept over the surrounding forest and sunbeams broke through bathing them in its early morning brilliance, that there came a soft 'thump' sound. It was so loud that it vibrated in their chests and the earth beneath them seemed to shake beneath their feet.
The Grimm infront of them ceased their onslaught nigh on immediately, their heads sweeping around in fear as they skittered and drew back towards the treeline and away from the guardsmen.
'Thump.'
Jaune's heart sank as he began to frantically look around for this new beast. If the other Grimm were afraid then he and his fellow defenders had every right to be too. The guardsmen seemed full of fear, their eyes wide and their hands trembling awfully. An eerie silence settled over the terrified fighters for a long while until at last a voice rang out.
"B-by the gods! I-it's coming back! Cover! Get to cover!" It was Roran, though his voice had lost its usual edge and was filled with terror. There were many things which proved to scare Jaune, though none quite so much as the sound of that voice. To hear his voice, once so full of strength reduced to a quivering shadow of its former self sent waves of fear and terror coursing through him. It was inherently wrong to him.
'Thump'
Yet then he saw it. And he understood exactly why Roran was so scared. Rising over the heads of the trees with the sun at its back was something the likes of which Jaune had never seen before and prayed to never see again. A beast that would haunt his very dreams for the rest of his days. It was a great beast, black as night itself with two voluminous black bat-like wings sprouting from its back. It was huge, fully blocking out the sun behind it with a line or pointed black spikes protruding from its head. It was a monster, jagged and lacking in any form of grace, a creature that seemed to have crawled from the bowels of hell itself, designed and evolved for one purpose alone. To destroy the worlds of men. It reared back its hideous head, opened its maw and a torrent of bright blue flame shot out, instantly igniting a vast swathe of the forest even as it sped onwards towards them. Now Jaune knew, he knew exactly why the Grimm had fled, why the men were terrified and he understood the fear in Roran's voice.
Beside them Port wavered, his usual confident smile having faded entirely. He staggered back away from the haunting visage infront of them. His Blunderbax falling from his hand and landing with one side of the axe's head in the ground. He raised a trembling hand to his face, his eyes growing wide with fear.
"Nocte- indignationem!" he uttered with a gasp, barely loud enough for them to hear.
"Professor? What is it?!" The heiress demanded, fully aware of this new threat speeding towards them with their evisceration as its sole objective.
"Night-fury!" The Professor replied with tears forming in his eyes. "No... not again..." And with that he set off running, leaving his axe behind and diving for cover behind the nearest shattered house
Before they could react, a roar unlike any other tore from the flying monstrosity's mouth as it was upon them. The very air pulsing in time with the beat of its mighty wings. Jaune looked it in the eyes as it flew straight for them and saw nothing but resounding hatred and blood lust. Its colossal maw opened wide, an orange glow forming within. Jaune saw it coming and dragged his teammates together, raising his shield.
"Pyrrha! Shield Weiss!" He shouted, diving in front of Ruby and bringing his shield up. Pyrrha soon mimicked him, just in time too. They felt the searing heat of what could only be described as dragon fire engulfed them in moments as the pillar of fire from the Night fury sailed around them, singeing his clothes. Jaune could feel the metal of his shield heat up and begin to sear his hands, he grit his teeth and gave a pained growl, his aura fought to repair the damage dealt to his hands but could only to so much. Tiny arms wrapped themselves around his waist as Ruby hugged him tightly. He knew then that he couldn't give up no matter how much it hurt, more lives than his own depended on it. The dragon Grimm soared overhead and off towards the horizon where it banked and came around for another pass.
Jaune held on loosely to his shield, the burns on his hands beginning to heal. Haze rose from the shield's face and the ground around them, the corpses of the deceased guardsmen utterly incinerated beyond any recognition, the stench of their burning flesh filling the air. It was horrific, that was truly the only word for it. The blonde leader watched the beast as it circled round and angled back towards them, his heart sinking as he accepted that there were only two ways that this could possibly end. Either they had to kill this Grimm, or they would die. But how? How could they kill such a creature? One that could fly, and breath fire? It seemed hopeless.
"Jaune! That thing is coming back around! We need a plan, and we need it five minutes ago!" Weiss' voice tore him out of his despair, she was right. They couldn't remain in the open, to stay still would be certain death. The blonde steeled himself and set off at a run towards a nearby alley between two houses and ducked into it, his team followed shortly afterwards, barely escaping another tirade of fire. They stood for a few moments catching their breath as Jaune raced to concoct some way to bring down the hell's spawn currently razing half of Jaune's home town. His mind raced, flitting between scheme after scheme. Not one of them was realistically possible nor likely to work. He growled in frustration and swung a fist into the wall, splitting his knuckles as he continued to draw a blank. Quite suddenly a hand grasped his shoulder and span him round.
The first thing he became aware of were the intense green eyes of his partner locked with his. They were inescapable, drawing him back whenever he tried to look away yet something was different about them. They lacked their usual confidence and determination, instead they seemed to be filled with fear and uncertainty.
"P-Pyrr-"
"Jaune..." She interrupted him, her voice little more than a whimper. "We are in trouble... miles above our heads and without our professional huntsman. You are the only chance this town has left, we are all depending on you to get us through this."
"B-but how?! Have you seen that thing?! How are we meant to kill that?" He replied with a stammer.
"Jaune listen to me. Your family are depending on you a-and so am I... I'm scared Jaune and I don't want to die... Please..." She spoked with tears in her eyes that wrenched the blonde's heart in his chest. How was he supposed to react to that? In truth he had no idea how to. The blonde simply nodded and remained looking her in the eyes. Taking a deep breath he sat back against the wooden wall of the alley and concentrated on calming himself and stilling his mind.
'Deep breaths Jauney... in for three... out for five...' He repeated over and over in his head. Once he could think clearly he turned to addressing the heart of their problem. Namely the several tonne, fire breathing dragon flying over and incinerating the whole town. Not ideal.
'The first step is knowing your enemy.' He rationalised 'Let's see... its huge, can fly and breathe fire so that rules out a direct assault. We'd be flambé before we got so much as ten feet, plus those scales look pretty tough... doubt we could even pierce them... that means...'
His eyes shifted around as he began to draw together the vague framework of a plan. Before long they settled on the heiress. She was crouched with her back to them all the large snowflake on her back standing out.
"Weiss! How much dust do you have, and what kinds?" He burst out suddenly, the framework of his plan having been built into a fully fledged plan mansion complete with an interior. All it lacked was a door and he hoped that the heiress would be able to provide it.
"Uh.. I-I d-don't have much, half a bottle of fire and s-some ice... sorry." She replied in an unusually sheepish way, seemingly the fear of their current predicament was beginning to get to her. The blonde leader stepped forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Don't be sorry Weiss, that is exactly what I was hoping you'd say. Now, how much ice dust are we talking here?" He asked in a calm and strangely confident tone. For those around, it seemed hard to believe that this was the same Jaune that they had been assigned onto a team with all that time ago. He wasn't the wet noodle that he had been, instead he exuded an slight air of new found confidence that set their hearts at ease, after all if Jaune had reason to smile then why shouldn't they? Reaching into a bandoleer pouch at her at her belt, Weiss ran a quick count of the bottles held within.
"I have two bottles left. Jaune I-I don't think that'll be enough to bring down a Grimm of that size." She spoke with uncertainty.
"Oh don't you worry about that... it's not how much ya got, it's how you use it." He laughed. And pulled them all into a huddle "Don't you guys worry, I-I think I have an idea... Now, can anyone tell me exactly what happens when ice is superheated?"
Oh Jaune, what plans have you got brewing in that tactical noggin of yours eh? You'll all have to wait until the next exciting episode 'A Rose for the Champion'. Okay, now onto a side note. I have a beta reader now! Sorry to all of you whom volunteered and didnt hear anything back from me. It proved a far more difficult concept to find someone that I felt comfortable sharing my work with but at last I have found them. That's all really, if you liked the chapter, please dont hesitate to leave a review for me and let me know what you think. As always, please do follow and favourite.
Thank you all for reading, I have been theflagshiparkos and I'll see you all in the next chapter.