Chapter 3: Drag You Down
Sun Wu Kong sat peacefully in the forest. He lived wherever he wanted to live, which was usually somewhere outdoors. That's just the way he liked it, and today he fancied a nap in the forest. He took in a deep breath to enjoy the spring air, but paused. He sniffed again. That's an odd smell. It couldn't be what he thought it was, could it? He quieted his own breathing so he could focus his faunus hearing on his surroundings. Snap. Shuffle. Snarl. He smiled.
"Yup," he said out loud. "That's a Grimm." He hadn't had a good fight since that Roman Torchwick guy showed up at the shipyard. The man may be lower than scum, but Sun had to admit that he sure as hell could fight. He stood and drew his weapon and turned to face the source of the sound; a pair of Beowolves.
He smiled before whistling to get their attention. "C'mon, puppies. Let's go for a walk!" The Boewolves turned to face him and bared their fangs at him before they charged him at full speed. With very little effort, he swung his staff around and quickly dispatched both of them. "Come on, guys! You should have known better. Sometimes, the trick is to know when to just walk away." He heard the sound of another Beowolf. He looked up and saw...dare he count that many? The pack was large; larger than anything he had ever seen. The two he killed must have been scouts. "Eheheh. Know when to walk away," he repeated. "And know when to run!" He ran as fast as he could to the city, hoping to outrun the horde of Beowolves behind him.
The room was fascinating. Ruby and Jaune hadn't seen anything like it outside of war movies. It was a large conference room with a round table in the middle, and escalating rows of seats on each of the far walls. The only people present were team leaders, professors, and Roman. Ozpin and the professors sat at the table, while the students sat in the seats on the walls; Roman stood near the doorway by himself. "Thank you all for coming to this meeting. I apologize for the suddenness of which I called you all in here. Today is turning out to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say? You woke up this morning as normal students, and after lunch was over you were all graduated."
He sighed before taking a sip from his mug. "It's going to be a long day still yet, I'm afraid. Welcome to the Beacon War Room...this room hasn't been used in many years. Not even for staff meetings." He looked around the room, allowing a sense of nostalgia wash over him.
Glynda cleared her throat. "While I'm sure the students...the hunters would enjoy a history lesson, perhaps we should focus on the subject at hand, Professor?"
"Hm? Oh, yes. My apologies. Team leaders; you have been gathered here at this moment to discuss tactics to be used in the coming days. We don't know exactly when the Grimm will begin their attack, but we know it will happen, and it will happen soon. As much as I wish I could make all of the decisions myself, I'm afraid that is too much for me to handle. I will open the floor to any who wish to speak."
"Um, sir?" a young man asked as he stood. "How do we know that the comet and the Grimm are connected?"
"Good question. Miss Rose, would you care to answer?"
Ruby nodded, and a sudden wave of nervousness came over her. She stood up and tried to keep composed while she recounted the events of her dream.
Melanie and Militia were doing what two sisters with nothing to do usually do; hanging out. They didn't work for Junior until late in the evening, but they didn't want to be bored while they waited to go to work. They lived in a relatively nice house together on the edge of Vale. Working for Junior paid well, so it allowed them to afford to live in comfort. In spite of the loud, public location where they worked, they actually preferred to be away from others in their spare time. It's not like they work for Junior because they like the loud music or the wild dancing; although, it was fun from time to time.
Like a few months back. Anyone else would have been absolutely livid about being beaten in a fight, but that brawler blonde that beat them was actually a lot of fun. They didn't tell Junior, but they secretly wished that she would come back. After all, most of the time they just throw out the drunken morons who can't keep their eyes above the sisters' chests.
Today, however, to pass the time, the sisters decided that they would go for a walk; maybe do a little shopping. As twins, they did everything together. They locked up the house and began walking in silence as they took in their surroundings.
"Melanie," Militia began. "Why is it so dark?"
Melanie shrugged. "I dunno. Might have something to do with that," she said, pointing at the black comet.
"Well that's interesting," Militia commented. "You'd think they'd announce on the news when something like that would happen. I left the camera in the house."
Melanie stopped. "Did you hear that, Militia?"
"Hear what?"
"Shh," she said. "Listen." The two stopped walking and focused on listening. "I thought I heard footsteps."
A few seconds later, Militia heard them too. "Sounds like someone's running." She turned around and poked her sister's shoulder to get her to look too. They saw a blonde haired boy...scratch that, a blonde haired faunus boy running in their direction.
"You think he's gonna try to rob us?" Melanie asked.
Militia smiled. "I'd like to see him try," she said as she donned her claws.
As the pair readied to fight, they noticed that he showed no signs of slowing down. Before they knew it, he was running past them, yelling, "I'd run if I were you!" as he went.
The sisters looked at each other in confusion before the sound of Beowolves howling reached their ears. In the direction where the faunus came from was the edge of the Emerald Forest, and the two girls could see dozens of red eyes coming into view from beyond the trees; they were getting closer. They looked at each other and nodded, before following the faunus as fast as they could. Anyone who sees that many Beowolves has an excuse to book it.
At the same moment, as he acknowledged that the sisters had taken his hint and followed after him, Sun decided that he could use some help to get rid of the Beowolves. Beacon is just at the top of this hill, after all.
Ruby finished explaining what she saw in her dreams, leaving the whole room mortified. The silence frightened Ruby; she was afraid that they would all think that she's crazy.
Of all the people to break the silence, it was Cardin. "I'm sorry, but shouldn't that be impossible? Seeing the future in a dream seems a bit farfetched to me."
"It's true," Ozpin agreed. "It shouldn't be possible. But if her dream is in fact just a dream, then there is one major coincidence flying across the sky right now."
"It's not neccesarilly impossible," said Jaune. "She could have been shown a vision of the future somehow, but then you have the possibility that the future she described actually happened, and the instant she died she was sent into a cycle where she repeats the timeframe in question with the chance to change it. Then you've got the possibility that Future Ruby somehow sent the information to Past Ruby in an attempt to alter history for the better. Really, the list of possibilities goes on." Everyone stared at him, genuinely impressed. He cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Sorry, I, uh, read a lot of comic books."
"It doesn't matter how she was given this knowledge, so long as we assume that its true and we act accordingly," Ozpin commented.
"Was this meeting a part of your dream?" asked another team leader.
"Not this one, no. If I remember correctly, the first meeting of team leaders wouldn't have occurred until a few days after the comet appeared. Most likely when the Grimm attacked," she replied.
"Meaning that our knowledge of what is to come has already given us several days' head start. What should we do with the time we've been given?"
Velvet raised her hand. "Sir, I think it would be a good idea to place watchers around the campus. As close as we are to the Emerald Forest, it seems likely that Grimm could start pouring out at any moment. Specifically, I think that the night watch should consist of as many faunus hunters and huntresses as possible."
"That's a good idea," another girl, a ferret faunus, agreed. "Faunus have night vision and superior hearing. We would be better suited to watch at night."
"Very well. We'll organize for certain teams to watch during the day, and at night we'll build a set of unique faunus teams. Velvet, Alegra, you two will be in charge of recruiting as many faunus volunteers as you can to watch at night. Keep in mind, though, that the teams that they come from can't watch in the day. We can't have the night watchers falling asleep on us."
"Yes, sir," the two girls said.
"What about supplies?" Jaune asked. "I'd wager that Beacon only has a limited supply of ammo, dust, spare parts, and food."
Torchwick sighed. "I think I can get that covered. Cinder won't be too pleased, but I have loads of dust and ammo, and plenty of Bullheads to haul all of it."
"You mean the stuff you stole?" Cardin mouthed off.
"Man's gotta make a living."
"I heard that you got your ass kicked by Ruby Rose. How's it feel to be beaten by a girl who's not even old enough to drive?"
Torchwick smiled. "You got a bit of a mouth, don't you punk? I'll remember that when you need one of my Bullheads to save your ass!"
"Enough!" Ozpin yelled, which surprised everyone in the room except for Glynda. "We'll take your offer, Mr. Torchwick. Thank you."
"Here to help," he answered sarcastically.
Ozpin nodded. "Oobleck, I want you to run reconnaissance in the Emerald Forest as soon as this meeting is over."
"Right," the green haired professor answered, sipping from his coffee.
"Port, help organize the day watchers. Make sure none of the faunus are mixed in with them. We need them for the night watch. Also, help them set a perimeter of traps."
"It shall be done," Port said through his mustache.
"Any other suggestions?" the room was silent. "Then you are dismissed. Report back to your teams. Those of you who are going to sign your teams up for day watch come back here in thirty minutes. Stay safe." Before anyone could blink, Oobleck became a green blur as he ran out of the door.
The team leaders left the room, chatting quietly amongst themselves as they made their way back to their respective teams. Ruby had no specific orders, and she knew that Blake would most likely volunteer for the night watch teams which meant that team RWBY wouldn't take day watch. She returned to the shared dorm of team RWBY and explained what was currently decided upon. She told Blake about the night watch and told her that if she wanted to volunteer that she should see Velvet or Alegra. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang decided to help fortify the campus while Blake reported to Velvet.
"Yang?" Ruby asked, gaining her elder sister's attention.
"What is it, sis?" she asked, carrying some lumber.
"My dream...do you think that I can change our fate because I know what's supposes to happen?"
Yang had been hammering away on the fortification she was building, but stopped and donned a serious expression; she was in 'big sister' mode. "Ruby, you saw what could happen, not what's supposed to happen. Nothing is ever written in stone until it's already been done. There is nothing to change, because we're forging our own fate. You're knowledge of the 'what ifs' gives a better advantage than before, but it doesn't change anything; we're going to beat this."
"So...so I won't lose you this time, will I?" Ruby began to cry. "I'll get to keep you in my life?"
Yang felt her own hot tears; she never did like to see Ruby become emotional. "Oh, Ruby," she began as she marched over to her sister and embraced her in a gentle and loving hug. "I'll never leave you."
"I don't want to be alone," she answered.
"You won't be. You've got me, Weiss, and Blake. You've got team JNPR, and you've got Ozpin. Hell, it looks like you even have Roman. I'm sure he's awful company, but he needs all of us as well to survive."
Ruby giggled. "Yeah, he is terrible company."
"Right?"Yang asked in a teasing tone. "He just seems so...so snarky."
Ruby snorted as she tried to fight back laughter. "Snarky?"
"It's a word. Look it up." Yang flashed a smile. "Don't you worry about a thing, sis. We'll be fine!"
"Ms. Rose!" came the voice of Professor Ozpin. The two sisters, and Weiss who was off to the side, turned to greet him. "I believe a friend of yours has shown up. He says that he ran away from a large group of Beowolves that were at the edge of the city."
"Are they attacking?" Yang asked.
"No. I've already looked into the matter. They haven't left the Emerald Forest yet. It appears they aren't brave enough to attack the city just yet."
"Give them time," Ruby said darkly. "They'll leave it eventually."
"What 'friend' was it this time?" Weiss asked.
A blonde faunus with two black haired beauties behind him approached. "Yo!" greeted Sun. "It's been a while!"
Yang saw the two girls and immediately deployed Ember Celica. "You!" she cried.
"Oh look, Militia; it's that blonde girl," Melanie pointed out.
"So it is, sis. A shame we can't spare the time to fight her. She was so much fun," Militia added.
"Uh...fun?" Yang asked, confused. "Aren't you guys pissed that I beat you to a pulp last time we met?"
"Not at all," the sisters said in sync. Melanie smiled as she added. "You actually made working for Junior interesting for once. For that we should thank you."
"Oh. Um, okay. You're welcome, I guess."
"If greetings are out of the way, then I suggest that we return to our business," Ozpin interupted. They all agreed and returned to work. Sun and the Malachite twins were allowed to rest up a bit, but before long they too had volunteered to help fortify and watch for Grimm.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
[Song: Drag You Down-Finger Eleven]
So, this one was a bitch to write. I've had trouble writing before, but this was just annoying.
Hell, I almost hated it. Well, not erally. I can never "hate" writing, unless I'm writing something I don't want to write. I did want this.
Eh, it's mostly filler though. I hate filler.
But what are you gonna do? It's gotta be done. Filler is a neccesary evil sometimes.
Under normal circumstances I'd have taken ages to finish. This is because I know where I'm going to take the story.
Really, though, I just really wanted to get this out there. I know where I want to go, but first I got to get us there.
Now that it's out, I can begin the next chapter! FINALLY!
Seriously, please don't lynch me yet. We're getting darker.
! TILL NEXT TIME !