Epilogue:
It was a week or so before they could return, but Ozpin didn't care. He was grateful for the safe return of his students. Not only that, but he was also proud of what they had accomplished. No doubt Teams RWBY and JNPR were a shining example for all Hunters and Huntresses in-training. He was even more proud of a girl two years younger than the average Beacon student.
Many were hesitant about actually taking to the seas again, but with time, eventually people had come to accept that the open waters were once again safe. It took a lot of coordinating, but eventually time ran its course, and everything went back to what is used to.
Still, Ozpin's eyes also reflected a grim aura. He turned to Glynda and Professor Port. "Our students?"
"Doing fine sir." Professor Port nodded. "Some of them have minor injuries whilst others merely suffer from extremely low levels of Aura. But all in all, I can say we are extremely lucky to have emerged with such little losses."
"Not counting the assets provided by Schnee Dust of course." Ozpin nodded. "Have we any news from Mr. Schnee yet?"
"He has expressed his displeasure at the loss of, as he says, Lien we could only acquire in our wildest imaginations." Glynda replied. "However, judging that his contributions has improved shipping lane safety, I suppose he will let it slide with due time. A little credit goes to Ms. Schnee for smoothening the whole process."
"And, added to the fact that his daughter is about to receive an award for special services along with the other students and Mr. Jonas, I suppose he'll mellow out, eventually." Professor Port finished. "Though I must say, Ms. Rose proved herself an exceptionable leader in the face of battle. Why, I must say that I am truly impressed with her skills! No doubt she will be a great Huntress in future!"
Ozpin nodded, his eyes still dark. "I'm sure. Now, Peter, what about the tests on our samples. Have we found anything?"
Professor Port lowered his eyes just a fraction. "I'm afraid not sir. There wasn't much living tissue leftover from what had happened, so our investigations are limited. However, I did discern some disturbing traits."
"Such as?" Ozpin turned while taking a sip from his coffee mug.
Professor Port cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, the creature has an incredibly dense muscular structure. Our largest sample, weighing about forty kilograms, already consisted of more than ninety percent of protein. And mind you, this was from a burned sample."
"Incredible strength." Glynda nodded. "Suited for doing what it does."
"Correct." Professor Port nodded. "This creature could be physically the most powerful Grimm to exist. But there is another trait I found far more insidious."
"Go on..." Ozpin said as took another sip.
"I looked at the flesh of the creature and found that its tissues, though damaged, show little signs of age. Which could point only to one thing, the creature itself has a very potent and remarkable ability to restore its own body cells."
Ozpin turned to face the window again. "Regeneration..."
"Correct. Which also makes discerning it's age impossible. For all we know, it has been around since before mankind." He said, a deep frown cutting through his brow.
"A very ancient threat." Ozpin frowned as well, pondering his next move. "Anything else?"
"I'm afraid that's all I've been able to find sir." The professor shrugged. "I'm ashamed to say I do not know exactly what we are truly dealing with."
"None of us do." Ozpin replied, putting the mug down. "Try your best Peter. This is going to change everything we know about our world."
"I will do just that sir." Professor Port nodded. "As a Hunter and as a teacher." Turning around, he left the office.
"This certainly complicates things..." Ozpin sighed. "But still, the world owes its thanks to a small bunch of very brave souls."
"Do you truly believe it was a victory sir?" Glynda frowned, pushing up her glasses. "I can't quite possible believe that it is. If there are Grimm we know nothing of, then how will we be certain we are protecting our world? What more dark things could lurk beyond our imaginations?"
Ozpin blinked as he regarded his deputy headmistress. "Perhaps we may have more challenges in the near future. But Glynda, always remember that victory is not always in knowledge or strength. Sometimes, it just takes, a little of something small..."
Weiss closed the book, sighing once more. It was a fruitless task of trying to find out more of the strange creature they had fought with over a week ago. If Professor Port knew nothing of it, who is to say anyone did?
Picking up the books, she placed them back onto the librarian's tray and walked back to where the rest were seated. Yang had finally decided it was nap time and had fallen asleep on the table. Nora was trying to flip the pages with just the exhale of her breath while Jaune had decided to take a break, choosing instead to stare glumly at his feet. Blake, Pyrrha and Ren were trying, but Weiss could tell it wasn't helping.
"Nothing?" Blake asked as she neared.
"Nothing." Weiss slumped into a chair, defeated. "I can't believe I am saying this, but now would be a good time to actually take a nap. Or maybe take a stroll in Vale and see what we can splurge on in the shops."
"The great Weiss Schnee, surrendering to books. I guess the world is ending." Jaune sighed. This earned him a glare from the Schnee heiress.
"Don't get down in the dumps yet!" Ruby said as she placed a very thick and heavy book on the table, startling everyone, including Yang who now jumped up and unfurled her gauntlets.
"Who is it?" She bellowed. "Who's ass am I kicking today?"
"Yang, relax." Blake said. "We are in the library."
Yang blinked, taking in her surroundings. "Oh. Right."
Weiss disregarded the clamor and the stares of at least thirty pairs of eyes, turning instead to face her partner. "So Ruby, what is this?"
"Something I wanted to borrow for light reading." Ruby said as she opened the cover of the book titled: Mysterious Tides.
"This is light?" Jaune remarked. "What sort of book is this anyway?"
"Well, at first all I saw were just some dumb biology on marine animals." Ruby said as she blew a small lock of hair out of her face, flipping through the pages. "But as I was reading, I found this..."
Everyone came in close to see Ruby's discovery. Upon page three-hundred and five, Ruby stroked her finger along the edges. Seven pairs of eyes widened as the page split along the edge, revealing a small flap.
A hidden page that was joined by the outermost edge and the spine. No one could've noticed it.
"We have to tell the librarian!" Pyrrha gasped.
"Already did." Ruby nodded. "She managed to cut apart the section where it was joined to the page spine. Guess what I found." With a flip, she opened out the flap and everyone gasped at what they saw.
On the left page was a strange description in cursive handwriting. One the opposite page was the detailed picture of a huge octopus creature sinking a whole ship. The picture was drawn to give the impression of the creature's size, its entire main body was plastered onto the side while its tentacles wrapped around every inch of the vessel. Its body had been painted black save for the undersides and a strange thick carapace on its head, which was white.
Weiss gasped. "Isn't that-?"
"The Devil?" Yang finished for her. Everyone was too stunned to say anything.
"Listen to this." Ruby said before proceeding to read the words. By now, everyone had come over to take a look at Ruby's latest find. Velvet Scarlatina's ears shot up at the mere sight of the drawing. Sky Lark was standing on a chair to get a better view. Even the librarian had come to note the interesting subject. Ruby cleared her throat to begin.
"Out of the all great marine animals that exist in Remnant, none are more insidious or fearsome than the Kraken. Also known by many to be the 'Devil-fish', this creature of Grimm is rumored to be powerful enough to drag whole ships underwater. It is also capable of living for thousands of years. Highly nomadic, this creature is known to live in a body of water for as long as it must until its food source starts to dwindle. It is to my greatest regret that I have very little information to give on this subject, for in all truths, there are few who survive and encounter with the Kraken and live to tell the tale. I enclose this page so that maybe one day, it may be of use to the reader of this book, however slight. Yours faithfully, Anonymus."
Ruby placed the book down, nothing but deafening silence as everyone took in every bit of information. Ruby had now found herself a chair and sat down in it.
"I don't believe it..." Pyrrha remarked. "An oceanic Grimm."
"One big enough to sink ships..." Blake added. "And to think it was hidden in this library all these years."
"And that's not the worst part." Ruby said. "I showed this to Professor Port earlier. As I did, he told me this creature has incredible regeneration capabilities. That's how it is able to constantly attack without fear of any retaliation."
"Wait, what does that mean?" Weiss asked nervously. "Does that mean its..."
"It's still out there." Ruby said with the same dread. "It's wounded definitely, but it will heal in time. And it will be back..."
Nothing else was said. Everyone was too stunned to even ponder what could be done. Ruby fidgeted uncomfortably at the murmurs that now rumbled through the air. She could hear panic, nervousness, dread. Everything that she had seen or felt in the past few days. And it still wasn't over.
"Whatever..." Ruby said as she got up. "I'm going to get some ice-cream."
"Wha-?" Weiss blinked. "Ruby?"
"We not going to get anything done worrying about it." Ruby said as she walked out. "It just means we have to train a lot harder than before."
Everyone watched as she stepped out, her red cloak billowing behind. "She's right." Yang grinned. "We can't do anything except prepare. And when ugly shows its face again, we'll be ready."
Weiss stared at the picture before looking at her partner leave. "Yeah. You're right. Because that's what Hunters and Huntresses do."
Blake merely nodded. "So, ice cream?"
"You bet!" Yang chuckled.
"Just don't hog all the mango Yang." Weiss said.
As if on cue, every other student nodded and decided it was a good idea getting some ice cream too. One by one, they filed out of the library, leaving the book open with the picture of the Kraken for the world to see as a reminder of who they were and what they would eventually become.
Author's Note: Well, that certainly took longer than expected. Still, I did have a good time writing this and I hope you all have fun reading it. Just a few things I'd like to share:
1) Of course, I was thinking, Why aren't there any water Grimm around as of yet? Thus, the idea for this story came to mind. And yes, I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean as I thought this. I'm still amazed that VCD works. Yes, I know it sounds really cliched, but honestly I couldn't think of a better idea
2) If it seems the fighting sections of the story seemed a little over-detailed or a little rushed, it's because I feel it would be for the best that you read the story and then use your own imagination to make up the scene yourself. After all, every story opens your mind to a whole new world right?
3) Okay, I know I may be pushing the boundaries of fate here, but I might just make a sequel for this. Of course, for anything to be even remotely possible, we'll just have to wait for Volume 2 to come out. Hopefully we'll get more insight into the RWBY world and I get more things to use there.
Stay tuned for more! Currently my brain is panned out of ideas for RWBY.