Chapter 3: A Good Fight
The warriors set up camp far away from the campus, though students on the upper floors of the dorms could see the camp fire. The nomads all set up their small tents and brought out their weapon maintenance gear. As everyone else began to work on their equipment, Rook took off his tunic and stretched, making the myriad of scars that crisscrossed his body stand out.
"Ahhhh! Much better," sighed Rook. "I hated wearing that all day." He sat down next to Nemein and began to inspect his gear.
Nemein ejected the twin, dual round, cylinders that flanked the hilt of his sword and was meticulously cleaning them and the matching barrels and firing mechanisms.
Yule, having already sharpened and oiled his spear, was working on the hidden compartments that paralleled the flats of the spear and opened just under the spear socket. He had the opening mechanism, located towards the middle of the haft, locked open and was carefully pouring lightning dust into the twin compartments. Once they were filled, he poured a very small amount of dust on to his hand and wiped his hand over either side of the spear, making small bolts dance across it. Yule grinned, this so-called priming technique he had discovered made the dust activate quicker and the bolts a little more predictable. He planted the spear, spear point up, into the ground and then turned his attention to his chainmail.
Vasara was carefully inspecting all the runes that were etched and infused into the head of her maul. Her armor was set on a makeshift armor rack, a spare tent pole with a crossbeam for the shoulders to rest on, and the maintenance equipment hung underneath.
A few hours passed and the team ate a portion of the food they had brought. Rook had just reassembled the newly cleaned and oiled firing mechanism and shell exchange system for the internal shotgun in his axe. He was cycling shells through it when Vasara looked up from her armor.
"So what do you think about this job?" she asked. "I know we are taking time to think about it, but I know you must have some idea."
Rook looked up from his weapon, catching a shell he had just ejected, and looked at the young warrior. Vasara held his gaze, unsure of whether he was trying to search her thoughts or look for the best way to express his.
"I am not sure which possibility frightens me more," he said almost slower than usual. "Ozpin lying to us, or being entirely truthful."
"But even if he is telling the truth, that doesn't mean he's right," posited Nemein.
"True," responded Yule. "But from our experience with Ozpin, he doesn't seem to put forth information unless he is sure it is true, even if he doesn't say as much. I'm not saying he can't be wrong, but I wouldn't count on it."
The camp fell into silence, then Rook spoke. "Don't worry about this matter now. We are tired and our judgement will be skewed. Let's get some rest, tomorrow we fight!" Rook grinned and his team followed suit.
They set no watch. No grimm or criminal would dare go into the flat open grounds of Beacon, even at night. So the entire team slept without worry.
Rook awoke first, made sure the fire was out, then double checked the the internal magazine in his axe. He fastened his belt and looked at the shadows on the ground, guessing that it was about 8 am.
"Alright, alright," he rumbled. "Get up and get ready. It's time to go teach some grimm to fear the Hänsmen!"
In a few minutes, the team was ready to go. They left all their non-combat gear and supplies by the ashes of the fire and set off into the forest.
They hiked for hours silently, Nemein's boots silenced by the soft ground.
Something caught Nemein's eye: odd, well hidden, scratch marks around a slightly raised bunch of leaves. He stooped and carefully brushed the leaves away, revealing a single fine thread.
Nemein grinned. "Look at this."
Yule came up next to Nemein and examined the find. "A sentinel thread," he said. "the perimeter watch system of a nest of Shelob."
"We found our fight!" said a smiling Rook. "Can you tell which way it leads?"
Nemein search the ground a while longer. "Yes, I think I can see their network of threads. It is new, and their attempt to hide it hasn't had time to settle yet. Subtle, but not subtle enough."
"Good," said Yule. "Sever the cord and let's go."
"Why?" asked Vasara.
"These chords tell the Shelob the size and location of creatures around the land they claim. That's why the thread is laid on the ground," explained Nemein. "But if the cord does slack..." He drew his sword and severed the thread. "...then they will get suspicious, and will be drawn out to face us in combat."
Vasara grinned, pleased with this plan.
The team marched forward, occasionally severing a thread as they went. They came into a clearing and paused.
A grin passed over Nemein's face. "I think our hosts have come out to greet their guests."
A low hiss and the sound of rustling was heard. Out from the trees in front of the warriors descended many enormous black spiders with white fangs, claws and stingers. Elaborate red markings completed the standard grimm look. On the other side of the clearing more of the spider grimm scurried up and surrounded the warriors. The beasts had noticed the cut threads and had flanked and surrounded their prey.
Yule and Vasara readied their weapons, Nemein drew his sword, and Rook's shield made its distinct "ping" as it suddenly took its full shape.
His axe was already in his hand.
Several of the Shelob charged from all sides. The lead Shelob lept at Nemein. Even though the beasts were very fast, Nemein's blade was faster, keener, and Nemein was well versed in the combat styles of grimm. His blade cleaved the beasts head deeply, killing it.
The beast behind Nemein's slain foe had chosen to stay on its eight legs and had closed on Nemein. It lunged, fangs first, forcing Nemein to leap out of the way, straight up. The fangs struck empty space where Nemein once was. Nemein landed on the head of his new foe, steel plated boots driving it into the ground. A sword stroke finished the beast.
To Nemein's left, Vasara was creating a field of devastation. She had planted her maul in the center of her foe, the runes in the maul glowing. The next Shelob got its head caved in in midair during a jump attack. Vasara's foes expected that any warrior wielding such an enormous weapon would be slowed by its bulk. But she swung the weapon as if it was hardly heavier than a sword.. The Shelob were not expecting the speed of Vasara, so their attempt to overwhelm her ended in piles of dissolving bodies.
Behind her Yule was teaching the Shelob to fear lightning. As they charged him, Yule made arching horizontal swings, opening the dust hatch as he did so. The dust leapt forth as lightning and ran cross the steel spear tip towards oncoming spiders. Bolts entered the beasts through joints and eyes, and they were fried from within. The slain beasts just slumped to the ground. The next wave of grimm were too close for Yule to use his dust on, so he dispatched them at spear point. But any time there was distance between himself and a foe, lightning lept forth to close that gap.
To the right of Yule fought the shirtless Rook. He fought in much the same way he spoke, slowly and with great purpose. His first opponent fell when he pointed his axe at it and depressed the trigger on axe haft. The end of the haft roared to life sending forth a slug that eviscerated its target. Before that grimm had even hit the ground another was assailing Rook. It had timed and aimed its jump perfectly to land right on top of Rook. Rook, in response, lifted his shield and activated his semblance.
His leathery scarred skin turn the color of stone. The Shelob that collided with the raised shield felt like it had landed on a great pillar of stone, much to its shock. It fell back and Rook, even slower now than he normally was, brought his axe down on the creature with such force that even the haft of the axe smashed into his foe.
Another assault started from the left. Long legs reached around Rook's shield and tried to lacerate his back with their sharp claws, but this proved ineffective against Rook's stone skin. Rook severed a leg and, when the Shelob recoiled in pain, he drove his shield through his wounded foe's head.
The battle wore on, and if grimm did not dissolve so quickly, the bodies would have made the field of battle difficult to traverse.
As the last beast was slain the sound of falling trees was heard.
"Well. We're going to get an audience with the queen." Nemein joked flatly.
At that moment the queen Shelob burst into the clearing. Her children were horse sized, enormous in their own right, but she made them look tiny. The size of a full grown Nevermore, she was fell sight to behold.
"Vasara! Step back and show her your wrath!" commanded Rook. Then, to Nemein and Yule, he said "Flank it. Keep its attention on us until Vas smites it, and if it still stands. Finish it."
Rook stood in front of the giant grimm as his team took their positions.
The attack was ferocious. Blows stumbled Rook and were difficult for Nemein and Yule to evade. They harried the beast constantly, shotgun blast here, vengeful lightning there, and Nemein emptied all four of his rounds into the creature's legs.
Vasara, in the mean time, stood ten yards behind her comrades; eyes closed, the end of maul haft touching the the ground as she rotated the weapon in her hands. The runes were growing to a blinding bright light and dark clouds began to form. Her eyes snapped open, and they too were glowing.
She stopped spinning the maul and thrust it forward. There was a clap of thunder and a giant arrow shaped bolt of lightning shot from the weapon and crashed into the Shelob queen.
It shrieked as its eyes all burst and fluid burst from all its joints, and it slumped down.
Yule and Nemein charged.
Yule lept into the air and drove his spear downward through one of the now empty eye sockets. Nemein slid under the Shelob and buried his blade up to the hilt in its unprotected underbelly.
The queen and her entire nest were destroyed. The tired warriors began their journey back to Beacon and their campsite in the high spirits only glory in battle can provide.
A.N.
My first attempt at combat writing and I am very fond of how that worked out! So this is the last chapter I have that is ready to post, but I have up to chapter 6 written. 4 is typed up and is being edited (though my primary editing help is caught up with UCLA midterms so idk when I'll be comfortable posting chapter 4) and chapters 5 and 6 are written on a notepad and are ready to be typed up. I hope you liked the start to this story. I would love to receive any feedback you have to give, and thanks again for reading!