Chapter 8- Majesty of Forever Fall
Midnight came over Beacon Academy quickly, almost as if the darkness has swallowed up all traces of light. The students were all cooped up in their dorms, either sleeping or chatting amongst themselves. But, not everyone's asleep. Outside the school, Qrow, Ozpin and Glynda were already packing up the necessary items to go hunt Horned Overlord in Forever Fall forest. Stopping the three Ancient Grimms is a very big priority right now with the teachers, especially since the lives of the students could be at stake. Qrow loaded up the last item on the Bullhead and then joined Ozpin and Glynda on their seats.
"All set?" Ozpin asked.
"Yeah," Qrow answered, "I had my scythe sharpened for this occasion."
Ozpin nodded and signalled the pilot to begin their flight. The pilot cautiously lifted up the Bullhead and took off; trying to make sure none of the students would notice them.
...
The Bullhead arrived at Forever Fall after a few minutes of flying, surprisingly quick compared to the occasional field trips the students have here. The three teachers stepped out of the Bullhead and told the pilot to come back as soon as they contact him. The pilot nodded and took off once more and went straight back to Beacon. Ozpin took a look around the forest. It was still the same since the last time they visited this place and the only noticeable thing here was the debris of trees in front of them. Qrow approached the debris and examined it. No other kind of large Grimm did this, not even a Death Stalker was capable of this kind of damage. The only suspect could be Horned Overlord and it's obvious that he is in the forest, no less.
"Yo, guys!" Qrow called out to his companions. Glynda and Ozpin approached him and looked at the debris. "By the looks of it, Horned Overlord is leaving nothing but destruction in his wake." Qrow said, "It'll be a lot easier to find out where this bitch went if we follow the debris, right?"
"Yes," Ozpin answered, "Remember you two, finding those three Ancient Grimms are a very high priority. We cannot afford to fail finding them. Got it?"
Qrow and Glynda nodded, confirming the words of the headmaster.
"Then let's move out you two." Ozpin said.
The three teachers then began to follow the trail of sharp wood and fallen leaves, hoping to find out where the three horned Ancient Grimm went and in the hopes of killing this Grimm successfully.
In the darkness, a red-eyed fiend watches them. It knows what those three are looking for but it will ignore it for now. Food like that hasn't arrived in Forever Fall in a long time and its pack is on the brink of starvation. They have stayed in the shadows of this damn forest for too long and they were only frequently spotted by other creatures of their species. Now was the time for it to come out of hiding. With a single cry, its pack came rushing to him, all eager to hear what it has to say. After a trade of cries and roars, the pack departs from their cave and follows the trail of the Ancient Grimm.
...
Yang rubbed the towel on her and sighed. She still felt sorry for Weiss. She suspected as much that the White Fang had set that trap, but they were nothing but assumptions and they weren't proven until Weiss made the call. Yang couldn't help but feel guilty about this. Her warning should've helped but, Weiss got caught by surprise and was nearly killed in the encounter. But, she had to put that behind her. Weiss survived and she was grateful for that. Now, all she had in her mind was he team and nothing else.
She stepped out of the bathroom, all dressed in her pajamas and hopped onto her bunk. She looked around and saw Ruby still wasn't back from babysitting Weiss. Yang peeped her head down and saw Blake, reading a book as usual. Blake's eyes drifted away from her book and stared at Yang with the same emotionless expression she has been using on her since they met.
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"Nothing," Yang said, "I just needed someone to talk to."
"But I'm reading," Blake said, "And we both know what happens to me when you interrupt my reading."
Yang knew all too well what happens to the cat Faunus when she's disturbed while reading. It happened only once, that was when Yang was annoying Blake about something she did during school and Blake punched her square on the face in anger. That was something Yang did not want to go into again and it actually hurt when Blake punched her.
"Well, can I ask you something?" Yang said cautiously.
"What is it?" Blake asked.
"What is with you and Weiss and Ruby?" Yang asked, "I mean, you always observe those two and if they make some sort of romantic gesture, you always seem so giddy about it. Care to tell me why?"
Blake put her book down and looked at Yang. She was caught off-guard by the question and she had no idea how to respond to it. She knew Yang was observing her and when she did that, she would just sit there awkwardly and answer awkwardly as well. Yang tightened her look on the Faunus and sighed.
"Well? Are you going to tell me?" Yang asked again.
"Well, I... ummm... You see..." Blake replied awkwardly.
Before Yang could ask again, the door opened and Ruby stepped in. Yang leaped off her bed and wrapped Ruby in a hug.
"Sis! You're back!" Yang said happily.
"I know!" Ruby choked out, "Yang...you're killing me!"
"Oh, sorry," Yang said, letting go of her little sister. Ruby then jumped onto her bed and groaned a little bit.
"How was babysitting the heiress?" Blake asked.
"It was fine." Ruby answered, "She can put a lot of pressure on you though when you're tending to her."
"What did she do?" Yang asked, concern slightly evident on her voice.
"She yelled at me when I accidentally brought her the wrong medicine," Ruby answered, "She also got mad at me when I accidentally toppled over her IV stand and she got furious when I accidentally spilled some of her medicine at her. You should know all of those were accidents."
"Seriously?" Yang said, "I had no idea that Weiss own health was such big deal to her."
"It is," Ruby said, "She says that she's the heiress and she must be in perfect or in near perfect condition while she's alive."
"That's harsh." Blake brought up.
Ruby nodded approvingly and continued lying down on her bed. As soon as she did, someone began knocking on the door of their dorm. Yang felt that it was strange that someone wants to talk to them at this hour. Yang walked up to the door and opened it. Yang didn't seem surprised by whom it was but Blake on the other hand was.
"Stephen?" Yang and Blake asked simultaneously.
"Yeah," Stephen said, "What're you guys doing?"
"Nothing at the moment." Yang answered.
"Good," Stephen said, stepping into the dorm, "because I need to talk to you guys."
"Hey! You just can't go in here like that!" Yang yelled.
"I don't mind." Blake said, "Ruby, how about you?"
"Of course he can come in. He's our friend anyway Yang." Ruby said.
Yang groaned and closed the door. Stephen took his seat at the girl's couch, pulled out Crusher and rested it next to him.
"You brought Crusher with you?" Yang asked.
"Hey, I can't leave good old Crusher in my dorm with those two twerps." Stephen replied, "They end up launching the spikes and piercing everything inside."
"Okay..." Ruby said, "So, what do you wanna talk about?"
"Just one question, one answer," Stephen said, his voice dropping into seriousness, "Have you guys seen Ozpin?"
The three girls exchanged glances at each other then faced Stephen, shaking their head in unison.
"Oh, you guys too?" Stephen asked again.
"I thought you just said one question?" Ruby asked.
"That doesn't matter anymore!" Stephen said, "It's just odd for Ozpin not to be here. I mean the man never leaves his office!"
Ruby and Yang pondered over it for a moment. This was truly odd for Ozpin not to be here in Beacon, especially since midnight was close. Ozpin said he has retired from hunting Grimm since he became the headmaster and that he'll never activate his weapon again in battle. He even told them that he's too old to do so (He just looks young, but he's technically in his 50's). Ruby and Yang were really stumped about all this, but Blake seemed to still be in her thinking state.
"Damn, this is really messing up my head." Ruby groaned.
"I know how you feel Ruby..." Yang said, placing her palm on her forehead.
"Well you two are useless." Stephen said, getting up. Ruby shot a look at him while Yang raised her fist and shook it at Stephen, but he just shrugged.
"Did ever ask the other teachers, Stephen?" Blake suddenly asked.
"I did." Stephen answered, "But Goodwitch was not around either and Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port had no idea either."
This is starting to get me nowhere, Blake thought. Where would Ozpin go at a time like this anyway?
"Well," Stephen said disappointingly, "thanks for the help anyway girls. I'll try to figure this out in the morning. Good night."
Then Stephen left the room leaving the three girls with their own devices. Blake felt a little worried on not being able to help out her boyfriend nut she still pondered over the question of what happened to Ozpin. Did he go out to hunt down the other Ancient Grimms? Very unlikely. If he did want to find the other three ancient Grimms, he should've asked the students to do it instead. For Blake, this was something that is putting her thoughts out of place.
...
"Get down! Nevermore!" Qrow yelled quietly.
The three teachers ran towards a nearby tree as the Nevermore flew overhead. It has been only an hour since they got to Forever Fall forest and they have already been attacked by several types of Grimm so far, most of which were Shadow Stalkers and Beowolves. Ozpin was already running out of hope on finding Horned Overlord in this forest and the path made out of destroyed trees is not helping them at all.
"Is it gone?" Glynda asked.
Qrow took a look and that the Nevermore has completely left the place. "Yeah, Glynda." He responded. He then signalled them to leave the hiding spot.
"Well," Ozpin said, "this debris of trees just led us to the river here in Forever Fall. Then the path ends on the other side of the river."
"Not to mention that the river has an incredibly strong current, something which we're not capable of crossing." Glynda added.
"Hold on you two." Qrow stepped in, "Let me take care of this."
He brought out his scythe, Cutting Rose, and approached one of the nearby trees that overlooked the river. On his scythe were two handles, one of which allowed him to use his weapon's function. Positioning his scythe near the tree, he pulled the handle down and the blades of scythe extended. In a swift move, he slashed the tree and it came crashing down at the river quickly. He did the same to two other trees and he quickly formed a bridge across the river.
"I don't call her Cutting Rose for nothing, you know." Qrow told his companions.
Moving across the bridge, they continued, trying to find the path of destruction that Horned Overlord left during its rampage. It was starting to become increasingly difficult for the three to find the beast, especially since their only evidence of its location just disappeared right in front of them. With that, the three teachers decided to head back to Beacon. They knew that if they continued to trek this long, the students will continued to question their disappearance up to the point that they'll start to look for them and if the students run into Horned Overlord during their search, they knew they'll get the blame for the many deaths that will pile up once that happens.
Glynda and Qrow crossed their makeshift bridge, hoping to get back to Beacon by dawn while Ozpin, on the other hand, stayed by the edge of the forest. To him, the disappearance of their trail just did not fit in. He had to think of other possibilities on why the path ended just like that; he can't just go quit at the middle of the search. Suddenly, a thought bubbled up in his head, realization swirling around his mind like a fly. He made his way across the bridge and looked around the other side of the river. If the path ended just like this, then the Grimm would've just taken a sip of water before heading back into the forest. Ozpin knew that the Ancient Grimm weren't stupid, suggesting Horned Overlord wouldn't take the other side of the river, more or less cross it.
"Qrow! Glynda!" Ozpin called out. The two of them looked back and went over to the headmaster.
"What is it?" Glynda asked.
"I know where the path continues." Ozpin said. He pointed his head towards the river bank. On the end of the river bank, the debris of trees reappeared before them, much to Glynda and Qrow's satisfaction. Continuing on the path, they managed to get themselves back on track on finding the Ancient Grimm, who is hiding somewhere deep within the forest.
...
The pack stopped in their tracks, managing to hide themselves from their prey completely. Their prey is smart, but their smarter. They knew that their best chance was to stalk them from a shortcut leading to the other side of the forest, where the path of the Ancient Grimm continued. It didn't want to give up, rage fuelled its hunger and the smell of their prey honed its hunting skills. It may have stood no chance against its prey's weapons but that won't stop it and its pack. Silently, they made their way towards their prey, hoping to get their hands on the delicious food lurking around the forest.
End of Chapter 8
a/n: Sorry for the hiatus guys, but I'm already through with this chapter and I will post a new one soon. Also, disregard what I said on the previous chapter since I decided not to drift there anymore with this story. In the meantime, thanks for getting me up to 10 followers already, a huge stepping stone for me as writer in this site especially since I was on hiatus at that time. As always, any comments, questions, reviews, favs and follows are really appreciated.