Coeur Al'Aran was the beta for the original Auburn and helped me immensely during a period when we were both just getting started. Cover Art drawn by confections101 and a link to it is on my profile page. Jefardi is the one who finally kicked my butt into gear to do something about this story I had almost given up on.
Auburn
Dirge
"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed and sprinted after him as hard as she could.
She could only watch helplessly with her arms outstretched as he slipped free from the Cackler's claws and tumbled off the cliff-side. "No, no, no! Jaune!" She didn't stop running anyways until she made it the the ledge he disappeared over.
The only thing she could see beneath her was darkness.
He was gone.
"Jaune…" Pyrrha collapsed to her knees. Why? Why did that just happen? Jaune was... he was the one inspiring the rest of them. When they learned he... when they found out, they would be broken. That would be all it would take for them to give up hope. There had yet to be any news from Sun yet either.
For several full minutes she sat there in stunned silence with Penny. It was almost too impossible for her to believe. That simply could not have just happened. So then, she could only ask herself this again, why? He surely shouldn't have been the one to die. When you died that was it. It was over for you. Why then did he look so satisfied as he tumbled off the cliff? He had smiled as if he was posing for a camera while instead he was falling to his death.
That certainly wasn't normal. If she had to guess she would have said it had been for Penny. Had he and Penny really grown so close over these past couple hours that he would gladly die for her? Then again, he had been ready to sacrifice himself for all of them not too long ago. Was this action simply an extension of that? She had no idea.
She had failed not only to help him, but to even understand him. She came running when she heard his panicked yell over the scroll and still failed. If anything, the result of her actions had been what caused the final blow that knocked him out. It was because of her he had fallen.
As if to mock their despair, Shirou Schnee let out a nasally chuckle. "My, my, my. Did you see that smile he gave you as he fell to his death just now, Miss Polendina?"
Pyrrha whipped her head to see him standing on a pillar that was removed from the rest of the ground they stood on. Only a small pathway connected their two pieces of earth. Penny, who had been sitting in stunned silence, finally moved her head slightly to show she even heard Shirou had said something. Bangs obstructed her eyes and other than the frown on her face, Pyrrha had no idea what to make of what she was possibly feeling.
"Isn't it kind of ironic? The one person his death managed to save and she isn't even a real girl. Yet he still managed to look like he didn't have a single regret. A twisted kid right up until the end." Pyrrha didn't understand any of what Shirou just said but Penny clearly did.
She jumped to her feet and head whipped up, revealing eyes filled with overwhelming sadness and unbridled resentment. "These are also new emotions for me too." Penny's unbroken arm was shaking so violently it looked ready to pop off. "I have never in my life wanted to kill a human-being. Right now I want to kill you so badly it hurts." Every word sounded like she was fighting back the urge to scream and shout.
"You are certainly welcome to try." Shirou must have found her anger funny because his smirk had grown even bigger. "You couldn't do anything against me when you were at full fighting capacity. What do you plan to do like that? Self-destruct?" Penny was clearly in rough shape and Pyrrha knew she didn't stand a chance either. If Jaune and Penny had failed together, what could she do?
She attempted to reach out and destroy the scroll using her Semblance, but the black energy didn't take hold, not able to find any trace of metal on the device on his wrist. There was nothing she could do. They needed to wait for reinforcements. She shakily got to her feet and stumbled numbly over to the other girl.
"Penny." She touched her shoulder gently. "We need to go." She couldn't let the others wait any longer. She would just tell them Jaune stayed behind until they had word of their reinforcements and their morale was back up.
"Hey Jaune!" Sun's voice cut in over their scrolls and Pyrrha flinched. "I've got good news! We've met up with the others and are about to head back as soon as I get them up to speed! I've got this cute girl with me who says she's your partner and everything!" Pyrrha's heart froze.
Blake. She would never forgive them for allowing Jaune to die. Pyrrha had never seen a moment the two of them were separated since they'd been partnered.
"Jaune?" Sun's voice came back in with inquisitive concern. She had to tell them. Blake had the right to know. It would certainly hurt the remaining leaders but they didn't have to hold out for much longer.
She clicked her scroll's mic on and brought it up to her mouth.
"Blake."
Blake and the others were getting sick of standing around. They had finally found someone from the leaders and it was like all progress had stopped after that.
At first, it was because the other teams thought Sun and Nebula were trying to run away by themselves and their teams had naturally jumped to their defense. Sun just barely managed to explain everything that had happened before a civil war was able to break out among the trainees.
Which was a good thing too, because that wouldn't have helped anyone. Sun had then insisted on alerting the others and now they were stuck here waiting for some kind of response. Anything. Why specifically Sun was calling for Jaune, Blake had no idea but apparently the two had become friends. Maybe it was some kind of blond thing?
"Blake." Finally, someone responded. However, it wasn't Jaune but Pyrrha's voice shakily cutting through the scroll and Blake raised her eyebrow at it. He only shrugged and handed it to her.
"Pyrrha. It's me. Where's Jaune?" A bad feeling ensnared her heart but she quickly stomped it out. It was impossible. He was fine.
"J-Jaune…" Pyrrha's voice cut in and then immediately cut back out.
Hey! Hey, hey, hey.
This wasn't funny.
This wasn't funny one bit.
Pyrrha, she was going to cut back in any second and tell her Jaune was fine. She was going to tell her the idiot had gotten tired and decided to take a nap or something ridiculous like that.
"Jaune is…"
That didn't happen.
No, don't you say it Pyrrha. Don't you say it! Blake screamed this inside her head and had to force herself not to scream it into the scroll.
Jaune was fine.
He absolutely had to be fine.
"Jaune is dead."
Sun's scroll slipped from Blake's fingers and clattered to the hard-rock ground. She wasn't even aware of any of that. All sound was muted and her eyes were blind to everything that was happening around her. Pyrrha's words echoed around in her head.
Jaune was... dead?
That wasn't possible.
She wouldn't believe that.
She couldn't believe that.
"Jaune?" Ruby stumbled forward out of the corner of her eye. "Did she just say... Jaune died?" Her voice was as full of the disbelief Blake herself felt.
Sun snarled and picked up his scroll. "Pyrrha! What the Hell are you saying? What happened?"
"H-He came down with Penny to fight Shirou Schnee." Blake's bow twitched at that name. "They were ambushed by Grimm and Penny was injured. Jaune... died protecting her." Pyrrha's voice cracked at the end and it sounded like she bit back a sob. Blake's hands clenched together so tightly she could feel her nails break the skin. That bastard Shirou just watched!?
There was absolutely no way she could believe that this had happened. She needed... she needed to see Jaune for herself. She had to go to him right now. Her brain told herself this but her legs wouldn't move. Her whole body was frozen stiff.
Jaune was her friend! Her very first true friend. Not one she formed while fighting for some cause. Sure, they met fighting, but it was different. He was supposed to mark the start of her new life, one where she wasn't shackled down by the binds of her race. He was supposed to be different from Adam. He was supposed to be there for her.
That wasn't possible if he was dead.
So she refused to believe it, because it just plain wasn't true. Her brain caught itself in a continuous loop and was the cause of her frozen movement.
Weiss' hand rested on her shoulder and she gave a small start. Before she could even turn to look at her, Weiss walked past, each step showing her growing agitation. "Give me that!" She snapped at Sun and snatched his scroll.
"Pyrrha! This is Weiss. You made absolute sure he is dead? You checked his pulse?" Blake could hear the deep frustration and anger in her tone and it honestly surprised her. Weiss was the last person she expected to hear angry over the idea that Jaune was dead. If anything, she thought she would be elated.
There were several moments of silence and the Heiress clicked her teeth angrily. "Pyrrha! I asked you a question!"
"...H-he fell. I had no way to check for his pulse." Pyrrha responded with a stutter.
"So you're not next to his body?" Weiss clarified and turned to give a satisfied smirk to Blake and Ruby. When her eyes met theirs, Blake finally realized what it was she was up to. Jaune... it was actually possible he was alive!
"N-no. But he-"
"But nothing!" Weiss cut her off. "You haven't checked his pulse. His body isn't next to you. How do you know for sure he died? Jaune Arc is many things. Easily killed isn't one of them. Just stay put. We're coming. And we'll get Jaune ourselves." Weiss tossed the scroll back to Sun and he fumbled with it for a second before managing to properly catch it. "Take us to Razor Canyon."
"Uh... what?" Sun still looked confused by the turn of events.
Weiss sighed in exasperation so Blake stepped forward for her and snarled at him. "Take us to where Jaune and the others are."
"R-right!" He suddenly started nodding vigorously and turned to the others. "Let's get moving!" They all nodded and took off running at once.
Weiss was absolutely right. Jaune was alive. He was an idiot with the uncanny ability to get himself into near-death situations at every turn but he was also incredibly adept at escaping with his life by the skin of his teeth. She just had to trust in him... and kick his ass to remind him not to do it again. It had taken Weiss' words to remind her of this. For once she was grateful to the Heiress.
Sun brought his scroll back up to his mouth. "Pyrrha! What's going on over there now? Can you guys make it out of the canyon and help us pincer the Grimm?" That strategy probably made the most sense, Blake reasoned. Once they had dealt enough damage to the Grimm they would be able to simply turn around and fight their way back. With just eight people it would have been impossible. With thirty-two, it shouldn't prove too difficult. They didn't even have to worry about Shirou. There was just the matter of finding Jaune left to figure out.
"Negative Sun!" Pyrrha yelled into her scroll before they heard her give a mighty shout of exertion. Not doubt in battle with Grimm. They heard a myriad of different creatures screaming and crying in the background. "We've one injured over here and we're surrounded! We... we can't hold out for more than another couple minutes!"
"Ah shit!" Sun grumbled before turning his mic back on. "Everyone! Hang on! We'll be there in a couple seconds! Just no one die!" Before he even finished putting his scroll away his pace quickened.
"Hold on, Pyrrha." Yang whispered between breaths and broke into the front of the pack. Blake sympathized with her right now. The only difference was they knew for certain her partner was alive. No! She couldn't think like that. He was alive. He was without a doubt alive!
And the minute she saw him she would break his damn nose.
She used her enhanced vision to focus ahead of them and to take her mind off the thoughts of her partner. Somehow the ground ahead was too dark for even her to see. In fact, it was pitch black. She stared at it more intently and realized the darkness was wriggling.
All at once it clicked. That wasn't the ground in the distance. It was a mass of Grimm so tightly packed together they looked like one entity. That was the location of Razor Canyon.
"That's a lot of Grimm." Ren noticed aloud and murmuring began to spread amongst the rest of their peers. It was unnerving how thickly they had gathered in one spot. Blake was positive she had never seen so many in her whole life.
This simply proved how much negativity a failed expansion was capable of drawing in. They were wonderful when they succeeded, but even more catastrophic when they failed. This was all the evidence needed to prove that.
The Grimm were diving into the canyon only a little at a time. As unintelligent as they were, even those monsters knew not to just go jumping off cliffs but with that many of them in play she would bet the ones at the front were being shoved off by the others behind them.
"Is there even a good strategy for dealing with that many?" Sun chuckled awkwardly as every second brought the group closer and closer to the overwhelming scourge ahead.
"We should just cut a path through the middle!" Weiss immediately took command. "Pyrrha and the others need immediate assistance! We can worry about clearing ourselves a path out once they're all safe!"
"That's an idea I can get behind!" Yang's gauntlets clicked and locked into their active mode.
"I take it we don't have any objections then?" Sun began spinning his nunchaku around in a flashy display as he readied them.
"None here!" Nora pulled out her weapon which unfolded into a giant hammer.
Numerous shouts echoed behind them as everyone psyched themselves up for the oncoming bloodbath they were charging into.
Blake nodded to Ruby and pulled Gambol Shroud out. Ruby unhooked Crescent Rose. Next to them she saw Lie Ren slip Stormflower out from his sleeves. "This is it." She whispered under her breath. She could unleash all of the pent of anger she was feeling right now on the mob in front of her. She was honestly looking forward to a little release.
Silence settled over the group and the only sound that could be heard was their ragged breath and stomping feet as they neared their still unaware enemies.
The Grimm were making all kinds of horrendous sounds that blended together and formed one horrific hive noise. Finally, a couple of them turned around. Their red eyes shone brightly amid the mass of black and Blake raised Gambol Shroud into firing position.
"Fire!" Weiss shouted as Myrtenaster shot a bolt of lightning right from the tip. It burned a hole right through a line of Grimm in front of them and suddenly many more were aware of the new threat.
Before they had so much as a chance to react however, all the students simultaneously let out war cries as they followed Weiss' lead.
Sun's nunchaku fired off like a pistol and whipped backwards from the recoil before he slung the other one forward to shoot that one off too.
Nebula launched a bolt from her crossbow into the thick.
Nora's Magnhild took apart groups at a time while Ren's Stormflower mowed down a row of them with practiced ease.
"Outta my way!" Yang swung her arms viciously, each swing discharging a shell that blew the Grimm into hunks.
Ruby and Blake added their own gunfire to the mix and a plethora of other types of Dust ammunition flew just over the top of their heads as everyone else rained fire down with them. One girl was throwing daggers. Another created a freaking tornado that lifted dozens of Grimm off the ground and sent them flying.
In a matter of seconds they had cleared a massive opening into the wall of Grimm and they charged right into where their opponents were now just a lump of corpses.
Weiss merely created a glyph for herself to jump over them but not everyone else was nearly as lucky. There were so many dead Grimm that running became impossible and they were forced to trip and stumbled over the hunks of limbs and numerous appendages to make their way forward.
Blake leapt around the carnage with ease and did everything in her ability to keep up with Weiss. Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and spun it around in twirling slashes to literally mow her way through the carnage. Some girl on a hover-board merely flew over them all, the front of the board firing off blasts of Dust. Another girl in rollerblades glided through, glowing nunchaku flailing to beat back other Grimm.
Weiss landed in front of a pack of angry Beowulfs and slammed her sword into the ground. Spikes of ice sprouted from the ground in front of her and impaled the Grimm from below. A Boarbatusk charged her from the side. Ruby appeared in a flash next to the boar-like Grimm and sent it flying into the air with a quick underhanded swing. Blake pointed her pistol skywards and pumped a couple bullets into its underbelly.
"You might want to stand back!" Yang caught up with them and charged right at Weiss' ice spikes. She jumped and slammed both fists into them simultaneously, causing them to shatter and shoot shards of ice in multiple directions. The shards buried into the hide of numerous Grimm, injuring most and killing some.
Blake glanced back to see most of the others had switched to physical combat now as well. They had charged into the thick of the Grimm and the pathway behind them had sealed as the creatures had quickly filled in the gap they had caused. They were completely surrounded on all sides.
That was fine with her. She had no desire to go back anyways. Her only goal was to push forward. Gambol Shroud unfolded back into a katana and she strolled purposefully into the closest pack of Grimm that she could. Both blades of her weapon swung and beheaded three different species of Grimm before they could even react.
Ruby landed next to her and brought down several more just by swinging Crescent Rose in a simple arc. They were so tightly packed in by Grimm at this point they could literally swing anywhere and they would strike something.
It should have been a horrifying experience and it wasn't one she would ever want to go through again. But right now, all these Grimm were mere annoyances to her. They were simply something standing between her and Jaune.
The ground began shaking violently and following that quake was a low, loud moaning sound from directly beneath them.
"Oh no…" Blake recognized that noise. Even the Grimm immediately around them began to scramble away in a hurry.
"What!? What is it?" Ruby attempted to maintain her balance after a rather violent quake.
"Dirge Wyrms." Blake quickly turned back to the others and inhaled as deeply as she could. "Everyone scatter!" She shouted at the top of her lungs and heeded her own words, grabbing Ruby's hand to yank her along.
"What's a Dirge Wyrm?" Weiss hadn't yet moved but Yang had the sense to grab the Heiress by the waist and literally rip her off her feet as she retreated. "Hey!"
The violent shaking stopped for a brief moment which let Blake know they were here. Silence had settled over the whole area as even the Grimm appeared too terrified to make a sound.
Then the very earth erupted as hunks of the stone and dirt were ripped wide apart, sending large boulders flying in all directions and causing debris to rain down on students and Grimm alike. Some on both sides had been too close to the epicenter of these explosions and had been sent airborne. Four giant worm-like creatures broke free from the earth and rose high into the air as they reached their maximum exposed height.
Yang grinned at the Heiress. "That answer your question?"
Weiss only nodded numbly at the sarcastic remark. Blake couldn't blame her for being speechless. These Dirge Wyrms were massive. If she had to guess, one of them alone could probably swallow at least ten full-grown adults simultaneously. Add to that and they reached impossibly tall over their heads. Even if everyone present stacked on top of one another and stood straight up they wouldn't reach half the height of the monstrosities before them.
With loud crunches, the Dirge Wyrms chewed apart chunks of rocks, flexing their incredible jaw strength. Those mouths consisted of four flaps, each one lined with more teeth than should have ever been necessary for any creature to have. Their heads finally turned towards everything beneath them. More rocks were sent flying as the one closest to them continued to rip the boulder in its mouth apart and Blake was forced to dodge away with Ruby.
"Shit! We've got injured over here!" Sun called out over the mayhem and Blake turned to see at least four people had either been hit by the debris or had landed roughly after being propelled through the air.
"Weiss!" Blake turned to the Heiress. "We need a plan!"
"R-right!" Weiss quickly snapped out of her stupor and assessed the situation. "We need anyone with explosive power to deal the finishing blow! I need those most proficient in melee combat to gather the injured! Those with basic ranged ability need to distract these Dirge Wyrms and any of the other Grimm!"
"I'll get the injured then!" Yang immediately sprinted away from Weiss and made her way over to Sun and the girl he was helping up. "Nora! Ren! Help Weiss' group take this one down!" She shouted to her other two teammates as she passed them.
"Got it." Ren nodded.
"You can count on us!" Nora saluted and sprinted over to join them.
"We've got Grimm coming from behind us!" Ruby pulled at Blake's arm and she turned around to see a group of Creeps charging right at them.
"Ruby!" Weiss called. "You and Ren hold off the other Grimm! I need Blake and her Semblance to help me distract the Dirge Wyrm so Valkyrie can get in a clear shot!"
Blake nodded and pat Ruby on the shoulder. "Good luck."
"You need it more." The younger girl smirked playfully for just a second before getting serious. Ren ran past and she quickly joined him. Blake watched her back for a moment before the Dirge Wyrm let out another one of its loud, low moans. The other three all let out their own cries in response and for just a brief amount of time they synchronized together and formed an almost depressing melody. A Dirge indeed... Blake grinned dryly as she shook the thought loose. No one was dying here today. There would be no need for that kind of music.
She jogged up to Weiss who was hiding behind one of the fallen boulders and peeking at the Dirge Wyrm from around it. "Howdy there ladies!" Nora joined the two of them as well.
"Miss Valkyrie." Weiss greeted dryly while Blake merely nodded in greeting. Neither of them were particularly good at dealing with bubbly people like her, even in combat situations. "I need you to hang back and try to make your presence as small as possible. Blake and myself will get you a clear shot into its maw. Once you have it, unload as much as you can. We don't know how much is going to be enough to bring one of these things down."
"Okie Dokie!" Nora nodded seriously despite her more lackadaisical words.
"I'll go out first. My Semblance gives me a better chance at dodging." Blake peeked once more around to see the Dirge Wyrm's head had swung towards Ruby and Ren. She needed to distract it now.
"Blake." She turned back to Weiss, wondering what she wanted. They didn't have much time. The Heiress fidget with her skirt and averted both eyes. "Thank you for listening to me. I know we don't get along, but I appreciate the trust you're putting in me."
Blake gave her a coy smile and almost chuckled. "Don't get too used to it. Once we get Jaune, it's back to normal."
Weiss huffed. "That's fine."
"You two really think he's alive?" Nora sounded genuinely curious. She likely had little reason to doubt her leader was wrong. That just proved how little she knew Jaune.
"We do." She and Weiss answered in perfect synchronization.
Blake took off running. She couldn't afford to wait another second. The Dirge Wyrm was rearing its head back as it prepared to attack Ren and Ruby. Once more she transformed Gambol Shroud into a pistol and unloaded a couple bullets right at the head of the massive Grimm.
It gave a small start as the bullets pelted it, probably causing it nothing more than a minor itch at best. Still, she got its attention and it turned, letting out another one of its low moans. It lunged, far more quickly than she had anticipated. Why were the big Grimm never actually slow? It was just plain counter-intuitive.
She left a shadow clone behind and dashed out of the way. It smashed into the ground with its jaw wide up and sent hunks of earth flying in every direction. Blake bent and and dodged out of the way as numerous rocks passed by like bullets. If a single one of those hit wrong it would likely puncture a hole right through her.
A trail of ice traveled up to the Dirge Wyrm while it still had its face buried in the ground and encased it completely in a solid block. Hopefully that bought them some time. No sooner did she think this than the ice cracked and splintered apart as the Grimm reared its head back. It whipped itself around like a snapped cord. The mere size of the Grimm alone caused a strong gale to blow through and Blake was nearly picked up off her feet.
"I don't think trapping it is a good strategy!" Blake called over the torrent.
"You think!?" She barely managed to hear Weiss respond.
The Wyrm shook its head as it righted itself out and glanced between the two. She didn't see any eyes on the Grimm but some way or another it was able to sense them. It opened its mouth wide and roared again.
Before it could finish, five bursts of pink flew right for it. They smashed it around the edges of its maw but none of them did any damage that appeared more than superficial. Instead it appeared to get even more angry as it turned on Nora.
"Oops." She grinned sheepishly as Blake and Weiss both glared at her. They had expected her to shoot deep into its mouth in order to blow it up from the inside. Just hitting it around the head wasn't going to do anything.
"Damn." Blake clicked her teeth and unloaded several Dust shots into the side of the massive Grimm. It completely ignored her now as it put all its focus into Nora. It lunged at her and she unfolded Magnhild into its hammer form. She stepped onto the base of it, using it to launch herself away from from its maw. It slammed into the ground and immediately picked its head back up, crunching on the numerous rocks it had unearthed as it did.
They were in way over their heads against this thing. What choice did they have but to make it work? Every second they wasted trying to devise a way to kill it was a second they allowed those in the canyon to get overrun. Even if Grimm were no longer approaching from this end there was still another edge to the canyon that Grimm were undoubtedly pouring down from. They needed to hurry and end this.
If only there was a way to pin it to the ground so its mouth wasn't buried. Nora could fire right into it with no obstruction like that. If it was Jaune, what would he do? Probably something crazy and borderline suicidal. He didn't have a ranged weapon so something to physically drag it down.
Drag it down... would that work? It was nuts to think that she could but with Weiss' help she might be able to pull it off. At the very least, it was something Jaune might try.
"Weiss! I need you to place an anti-gravity glyph above it!" Blake was already running.
"My glyph won't be strong enough to bring something like that down! It would require too much Dust!" Weiss shot at the Dirge Wyrm with lightning and it finally took its attention off Nora.
"What if you use it on me?" She didn't have long to wait for an answer, already nearly to the base of where the Wyrm was protruding from the ground.
She saw Weiss' eyes light up even from this distance. "Just get yourself up there! I'll handle it!"
Blake smirked. Her Jaune-inspired plan was a go. Now she just had to hope her luck held up as well as his usually did. She reached the Dirge Wyrm and without even missing a beat started running right up the side of it while using her Aura to increase velocity. The Wyrm lunged at Weiss, causing the entire thing to even out so she didn't have to run at such a vertical angle.
Just as the Dirge Wyrm straightened itself back out she reached the top of its head. She created a clone to kick herself into the air above it. She spun around and landed upside-down on Weiss' glyph that had just appeared. An incredible pressure took over her body as her gravity was more than quintupled. The very force of the runes threatened to break her bones.
She fought past the pain and allowed the increased gravity to take effect. The force plummet her back towards the Wyrm, both blades pointed to stab into it. They sunk into flesh without resistance and her body slammed down not a moment later. The Grimm let out a loud, deep cry and she twisted her blades forward in an effort to guide the creature.
Her idea paid off and the Dirge Wyrm lunged forward, slamming against the earth. This time its mouth wasn't pointed directly into the dirt and instead continued to roar as it slid across the open terrain, occasionally swallowing a stray Grimm whole.
"Nora!" Blake yelled.
"Now!" Weiss finished.
"Roger!" Nora crouched down on one knee and unloaded a barrage of grenades right into the Dirge Wyrms opened jaw. Blake heard several booms beneath her as pink explosions went off throughout the Grimm's interior. With a final, struggled roar the Grimm quit moving and died.
Blake sat atop of it for several moments trying to catch her breath. They had done it! She couldn't believe that actually worked! That was insane. So many things could've gone wrong with that strategy the odds of it actually going right were insurmountably against her. She wanted to bust out into laughter.
She held it in as someone climbed up the side of the dead Grimm to join her. "Blake!" It was Weiss. "Are you okay? My glyph didn't increase your gravity too much did it?"
"I'll say it did." The faunus groaned as she stumbled to her feet and pulled Gambol Shroud free. "I thought my ribs were going to pop out. My lungs still hurt." She paused for a second before nodding appreciatively. "Nice work."
Weiss let out a relieved snort. "It looks like the others finished theirs off as well." Blake looked to see what she said was true. The corpses of the other massive Grimm were already smoking, their bodies having begun to disintegrate. "Let's go meet up with Ren and Ruby." She indicated towards the pair. The two of them had almost fought their way to the cliff-side. Just another dozen Grimm stood between them and the leaders.
Yang, Sun, and his team were making their way over with the four that had been wounded. The others were beginning to migrate that way as well, still fighting off any Grimm that strayed too closely.
"What's the plan when we reach the others?" Blake asked as she and Weiss descended off the Dirge Wyrm.
"First I intend to get all the information I can from Pyrrha. We'll discuss our options once I know exactly what my uncle is up to." Weiss answered just as they stopped in front of Nora.
The usually bubbly girl rubbed her head sheepishly. "My bad earlier." She mumbled.
Weiss didn't even stop while responding. "Don't worry about it. You performed admirably in the end." She walked directly past and Blake hesitated for a moment. Should she say something to her? What would she say? What did one normally say to make acquaintances feel better? Especially someone as usually hyper and vibrant as Nora?
"Thanks. You saved me there." She offered awkwardly. It was kind of true, even if it was part of the plan. If Nora hadn't fired when they told her the Dirge Wyrm may have just rolled over and crushed her under it.
Surprisingly, her words seemed to have the desired effect and Nora broke into a huge grin. "Not a problem Blakey! Anything for a friend!" She patted her roughly on the back and the faunus stumbled forward from the force.
A friend? She wouldn't really call them friends... it had just been one battle. Then again, wasn't that all it took for her to befriend Jaune? Why did it have to be so different with Nora? Blake let out a small smile.
Having more friends actually sounded nice.
She just really hoped it hadn't cost her one to finally realize that fact.
Weiss snarled in frustration as she stabbed down a Beowulf that had the audacity to cross her path. Couldn't these creatures understand that they had been beaten? Despite having started with overwhelming numbers they had slaughtered like the dull beings that they were.
She supposed she shouldn't expect more from something that's sole existence was to hunt down and kill humanity. A deafening roar echoed behind her and she whirled around to see another massive wave of Grimm approaching from the distance. Just great.
"I think we need to make a new decision quickly." Blake observed dryly as she and Nora jogged up to her.
"You think?" Weiss internally flinched at the sharpness in her own voice. She didn't mean to come across so frustrated all the time. She was making strides to at least try and be more pleasant to others. Not that their current situation was helping.
She actually didn't even dislike Blake at all. However, their always brooding teammate seemed determined to despise her despite the fact that Weiss had never done anything to her that she was aware of. Regardless of the reasons, she generally tried to be polite but that was incredibly hard for someone as confrontational as herself, especially when the other girl always seemed so determined to pick a fight.
She shook these thoughts off. No time for her own internal brooding. She could worry about her relationship with her teammates after they made sure their knuckleheaded leader was still breathing.
"Ruby!" She called just as the younger girl dispatched the last Grimm between them and the cliff. "Can you see the others?" Ruby did a quick scan of the canyon beneath them before her eyes lit up and she pointed to her left. "They're over there!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Yang jogged over to them. Most of the others had joined them as well. "Let's get them outta there!"
"No!" Weiss earned several confused looks as she approached the side of the cliff and looked down to see the canyon for herself. Huge vines covered the entirety of it and Grimm bodies were littered all over the place, some of them already smoking as they dissipated. Where Ruby had indicated she could see the remaining leaders form a defensive line around what appeared to be the one injured Pyrrha mentioned. They were using the vines above them as shelter but it wouldn't be much longer before they were overrun. "We need to head down there."
"Uh... we have injured with us." Sun indicated to the girl he was holding and the three others behind him that his teammates were helping.
"Bring them with us." Weiss brushed it aside with that and prepared to jump down.
"We should just bring them up here!" Someone else suddenly shouted and Weiss let out another frustrated sigh. "We all know you three just want to stick around so you can look for your dead leader! That doesn't mean you have to get the rest of us killed along the way!" Blake's hair bristled and Weiss saw her reach for Gambol Shroud as she turned to find whoever it was that said that.
Weiss stepped over and caught her by the wrist before she could do something they would all regret. Blake whirled on her and she stepped up close while whispering quietly enough only for her to hear. "I've got this." She then turned back to everyone else.
The boy earlier was right in a way. Weiss' only real interest in staying was to make sure Jaune was alive. She found it difficult to admit but she felt slightly indebted to him. He didn't have to make her the co-leader of the team. He hadn't even had to listen to her when she had tried to rip the title from him. Instead he had done both and had genuinely treated her like an equal when it came to managing the team. He actively sought her opinion and made sure to make her feel included despite how difficult she had initially tried to make his life.
Despite herself, Weiss had grown fond of Jaune. She would never tell this to his face and he still usually irritated her to no end with his antics, but it was at least true that a small part of her felt this way.
"Do you really think we can flee from here while carrying all our injured? What about your leaders? They're all exhausted. How many people are going to have to help them hobble along so we can move at half-speed while the leftovers fight? I sure don't like our odds." Quiet murmurs broke out as everyone began to realize the truth of her words. "What if we get attacked by more of those Dirge Wyrms? We'll be annihilated! Nevermind half of us dying. We'd be lucky if even a fraction of us survived."
"Then what do we do?"
"We can't just stay here!"
"There's gotta be something else."
Shouts of panic assaulted Weiss and she only continued to glare at them all. It was Yang that stepped forward to answer them. "Just quit your bitching! I'm going after Pyrrha! We can figure all that other shit out after!" Without waiting for a response she turned and jumped into the canyon.
"Any objections?" Weiss only waited for a second. "Good." She turned and followed after. All the others quickly decide to follow too. Soon the entire student body had landed on the vines that covered the canyon and were making their way to the leaders.
"Pyrrha!" Yang blasted a couple of the Grimm out of the way. Without even slowing down she ran into her leader and tackled her, knocking them both to the ground. That was all well and nice but they couldn't afford for everyone to have that touching a reunion. They were still right in the middle of this mad game and Grimm were pouring in from every direction.
"Everyone! Create a defensive circle around this point while I get the intel I need!" Weiss shouted her command back and she heard them all reluctantly agree. At least they had some sense left still.
"Come on guys, you heard her!" Sun and his team placed down the injured with the girl Weiss recognized as Penny. His team then quickly rejoined the fray, the sound of battles erupting in full force around them. The three remaining members of Auburn approached the Mistral Champion.
"B-Blake." Pyrrha greeted as she broke away from Yang's tight hug. "I'm sor-"
"Just stop right there." Weiss cut her off. She had no desire to hear an apology from her now. "Where is my Uncle? Knowing him, he's picked an annoyingly strategic position to hide-out in."
"He is standing on a pillar on the canyon floor." Penny answered as she joined their group. Sun walked up with her. "There is only a small pathway connecting it to the rest of the ground. Jaune fell off the ledge trying to protect me." Weiss took note of her arm which appeared to be using Jaune's hoodie as a sling, along with Crocea Mors which now hung off her hip. She also caught Blake staring at it too, several different emotions crossed her face at once as she did.
"About how many people do you think could fight him on that pillar?" Weiss turned to Penny now as she asked her questions.
"Four would be the most efficient." The girl didn't hesitate to answer.
"You can't seriously be planning to go down and fight him?" Pyrrha muttered in what sounded like disbelief.
"Of course we're going to fight him." Weiss looked around to the others to gauge for their reactions. Blake, of course, immediately nodded. Ruby was also nodding vigorously just next to her.
"There's enough of us now, isn't there? Why don't we just all jump him at once?" Sun offered and Weiss sighed in annoyance. He clearly didn't understand anything.
"It will not work." Penny shook her head. "He was holding back against Jaune and myself. If he utilized his full strength he would easily cut down several of us with one swing."
"I know how he fights." Weiss continued as if no one had said anything. "As long as myself and an elite team take him on together we should be able to win. I'm confident of it."
"Who did you have in mind?" Sun cracked his knuckles and smiled eagerly.
"I'm thinking Ruby, Lie Ren, and Miss Valkyrie should assist me." She got nod a from their younger teammate but Blake was glaring daggers at her. It made sense that Jaune's partner more than anyone wanted to defeat her uncle. He had caused this mess that had caught Jaune in the crossfire to begin with. She probably felt entitled to a little payback.
"Calm down, Blake." Weiss spoke evenly as she matched the glare with one of her own. "I need you to go retrieve Jaune from wherever it is he's managed to find himself." Immediately after the words left her mouth the look in Blake's eyes switched from menacing to one of grateful understanding.
"Pyrrha. You should continue to run things up here. You've done an excellent job thus far. I figured your partner would want to stick close by to keep an eye on you too." Weiss sent Yang an even glare to which that blonde only grinned back.
"You're damn right about that! I'm counting on you to knock that bastard down a couple pegs, Ruby." She pointed at her younger sister.
Ruby gripped Crescent Rose a little more tightly and her face settled into a determined scowl. "I'll make him pay for what he's done to Jaune."
"What about me? I want to come with you guys." Sun pleaded and waved his hands animatedly.
Weiss nodded to him. "Pick someone from your team to accompany you. You'll be coming down with us to guard the injured. They'll be safest at the bottom levels of the canyon and away from the combat against the Grimm."
Sun's excitement almost instantly turned to pouting. "That sounds like glorified babysitting to me."
"I think it sounds like an important role." Blake gave Sun a small smile and his tail instantly perked up.
"Neptune and I are your guys!" He jumped up and saluted. Weiss could almost see Blake groan on the inside.
"Everyone clear on their roles?" She looked around once again and they all nodded. "Good. Then let's make this happen." Immediately after saying this, Sun took off to his teammates to once again begin moving the wounded. Pyrrha and Yang meanwhile split off to lead the others, calling Ren and Nora back who had been fighting Grimm.
"I will help guide you down to Mister Schnee." Penny stepped forward and Weiss regarded her for another second.
"Very well. Lead the way then." She indicated off the side of the vine and deeper into the canyon. Penny strolled past them and jumped into the darkness. Blake and Ruby were immediately behind her. Weiss watched the two of them go. Ren and Nora ran past and joined her team while Sun and some blue-haired boy who must have been Neptune helped the other injured begin to move.
She took a hesitant breath now that no one was looking.
She would never admit it aloud but... her uncle frightened her.
The very thought that she was about to go up against him in combat was terrifying. She couldn't back out now either. Who else would defeat him but her? She knew him best.
It was her duty to do this.
Ruby followed just behind Penny as she led them deeper into the darkness. Her mind wandered to thoughts about Jaune as they walked in complete silence. It was kind of unsettling. Just moments ago they had been surrounded by the constant sound of combat and now it echoed just faintly above them. Nora's humming was the only noise emitted from their current group.
She didn't want to think about his death right now. It was better to think about something that made her happy. Like weapons. So she turned to Weiss and tried to put her usual enthusiasm into her voice. "What's your Uncle's weapon like? Does it have a name?" The end result was flat, barely above monotone.
"His katana has a Dust revolver similar to Myrtenaster." Weiss' fingers drummed against her own rapier. "If it has a name, Uncle never told me what it was. The abilities are numerous and it depends on which canisters he brought with him. I'll have to figure out what he intends to do on the fly. Just be prepared for anything."
"Is it true that all Schnee's have the same Semblance?" Penny asked. "I did not see him use any glyphs during our last encounter."
"Uncle was adopted, so no. His Semblance is annoying to deal with all the same. Father always called it Prediction Line. Basically, Uncle sees a projection of what you're going to do several seconds before you're going to even do it." Well that just sounded unfair. Ruby liked to think her Semblance was pretty useful but if this guy could predict her before she was even there then what good was it?
"How does it just know?" Blake asked and Ruby could almost see the gears in her head spinning.
"How do any of our Semblances actually work?" Weiss snapped, for seemingly no reason. "It could be numerous things. Maybe it reads our minds? Maybe it uses the tension in our joints and muscles? Maybe it just actually sees into the future? I don't know."
"I'm just trying to come up with our best strategy!" Blake immediately snapped back. Neither one of them would even look at the other and Ruby finally realized how stressed they were. Despite their firm claims that Jaune was alive, they clearly had doubts. The longer they went with seeing him the worse the tension became. What had started as an uneasy truce between them was crumbling quickly.
"We're here." Penny interrupted as they came to a floor of overlapping roots. A hole big enough for several people was already cut away and Ruby was surprised to see the entire floor beneath them awash in light.
One by one they jumped into the hole and landed on the canyon floor. Ruby immediately took in their surroundings. Strange bulbs hung by the roots above them and provided their light. Just ahead of them was Jaune's chest armor and pauldrons. He must have taken them off to give Penny his hoodie. In the corner she saw the cracked wall where Jaune must have fallen. The floor in front of it was littered with blood. With his blood. She averted her gaze even as Blake continued over to it.
Ruby's eyes settled onto Shirou Schnee. The moment she saw him, anger welled up inside of her gut, burning more hot and intense than any emotion she ever felt prior. Crescent Rose unfolded and she began to stalk over.
"Ruby, wait!" Weiss called and jogged around in front of her.
"Wait for what?" Ruby almost yelled. "We're here to beat him so let's do it!" Weiss couldn't seriously mean to defend this man? Even if it had been her own uncle Qrow, Ruby wouldn't have forgiven him!
"We will. I promise. Just give me a minute with him." She also nodded back towards Ren and Nora and Ruby turned to see they looked just as ready to begin as she was.
"Why don't we just shoot him from here?" Nora asked and readied her grenade launcher.
"Don't!" Weiss warned quickly, holding a hand out. "Look at where he's standing. I guarantee you he won't make a move unless we move onto his territory - in other words that pillar he's standing on. If you attack him from over here, you are 'inviting' him into our territory. That puts all the others at risk as well. He'll attack anyone over here." She nodded to the injured that Sun and Neptune were helping down.
"You know me and my games all too well, dear niece!" Shirou called out tauntingly and she whirled back towards him. The heiress began to walk menacingly forward and Ruby hurried after her.
"You!" Weiss declared and stopped just short of the pathway leading to his pillar. "Is this how you get off now? Picking on the young and attempting to crush them and their dreams?"
Shirou cocked his head questioningly, but his creepy smile didn't falter. That smile of his disgusted Ruby now. How could he look so happy after being so sure he had caused someone to die? "I don't understand your confusion. This is how I've always gotten my kicks. You know as well as I do that this is no more than a game. If you die, I win. If you break my scroll, you win. It's not too hard to understand, is it?"
"Just don't act like a sore loser when we win." Weiss stamped her foot and unhooked Myrtenaster, having apparently said her piece.
Shirou shifted his gaze towards Blake. "And just where do you think you're going, Miss Belladonna?" He asked as their last teammate looked off the edge of the cliff where Jaune had fallen.
"I'm going to bring my partner back." Blake crouched down, body tensing to make the leap. "Don't worry. I'll be back to rip your throat out once I have him." With that, she jumped, vanishing into the darkness.
"He's dead, you know?" Shirou called after her but she had already disappeared. Hearing him say it so casually like that caused the anger boiling within Ruby's belly to ignite and rise anew, this time boiling over. This man was a disgrace to everything she looked up to in a Huntsmen.
"I'm done waiting." She stepped on the back of her blade. Pulling the trigger, a discharged bullet propelled her forward and launched her onto the pillar. Shirou smirked and raised his katana. Her silver eyes met his icy blue.
She was going to avenge Jaune right now.
Chapter End
AN: The Dirge Wyrms were based on the Were Wyrms from The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies movie.
One additional thing I need to talk about and that is Shirou's Semblance. When I created him, I didn't know all Schnee's inherit the same Semblance and while Weiss doesn't know it, he is actually a Schnee by birth. Just figured I should mention that.
Next time, Jaune's fate is revealed.