Holy shit! It feels so good to be back! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but finals and other shit hit me like a male strum and just screwed my writing. I also didnt get the volume 5 soundtrack in may which is usually what helps me keep writing through those months. Srry about the small chapter, but i just needed to move on otherwise we were gonna be stuck on that damn thing forever. I hope you guys aren't too pissed, and I promise a much better longer chapter in the next 2-3 days.
Things were tense. Weiss sat next to Blake, grateful that the faunus was just sleeping, and that her life wasn't in any danger. Across the room, Athena sat, staring suspiciously at the masked girl, who had led them into the small underground home where they were currently.
"While I will thank you for rescuing us, and caring for the faunus, who are you?" Athena asked, careful not to divulge any personal information. The woman who had rescued them, nodded, understanding her caution.
"My name is Aname, and I am the only resident who wasn't cowardly enough to abandon my village at the first sign of strife." She answered, setting her mask down on the table beside her. Athena eyed the woman up and down, glancing over her green eyes, black hair, and fair complexion. There were few other options, and none more appealing, than trusting Aname, so Athena shrugged and relaxed.
"What happened here?" She asked.
"It's a long story." Aname answered, biting the tip of her tongue, as though the memory pained her. Athena took a quick, melancholy glance at two girls behind her.
"I've got the time." She responded, leaning in. Aname leaned back, feeling intimidated by the queen before her.
"Well, you see." she stuttered. Athena did not let up one bit.
"Eight days, that sound about right, The village was full of people who were happy, hardworking folk, and the nicest people too. That day, a man came to our village for the first time. We immediately knew he was a traveller because of the great long cloak he wore over his entire body. He was shown nothing, but the traditional hospitality. He was an angry man though, and very quiet. He treated the townspeople rudely. Naturally, some of the townsfolk tried to throw him out of the village. As they grabbed him, he threw a number of weapons of the ground before him. It was horrible! The blades rose into the air, and were surrounded by a dark mist. It congealed into the monstrosity that roams the streets tonight. It slaughtered people throughout the whole night. The next day, we mourned the dead, thinking our strife was over. The monster attacked the funeral, adding to the dead we had already buried. I know the people understood that these attacks would continue happening, which is why they left. I can't! My brother was killed on the first day, and this is the place where my whole life is. I won't see it ruined, if I can't help it. I just can't seem to do anything though."
"It's alright," Athena rubbed the sobbing girl's back, as Aname leaned against her chest.
Weiss smiled, warmed by Athena's compassion. Blake awoke with a groan, lazily reaching up and holding Weiss's hand.
"Sleeping beauty awakens does she?" Weiss asked. She hoped to alleviate the apparent sadness in her friends eyes.
"Was Darron here?" Blake asked, probably sounding more hopeful than she had intended. She looked down, flattening her cat ears, as Weiss shook her head.
"Oh." she laid back down. It hurt Weiss to see her friend so depressed. Despite how much she wanted to, no words of comfort could come to her. So, she just gave Blake the hardest hug she could, letting her friend know just how much she cared. Blake laughed.
"Shut up I'm trying!" Weiss protested, hugging even harder, this time to cover her own face.
"It's so cute though!"
"Whatever!"
"Girls!" Athena called from the other room, seeing that Blake was awake. The two girls kept their eyes on Aname.
"Is she the one who saved us?" Blake asked.
"Yes." Aname answered.
"Thank you." Aname sighed, glad these girls didn't see her as a threat. She looked towards Weiss, wondering if she would say something. The white haired huntress said nothing, letting the situation grow a little awkward.
"So…" Aname trailed off.
"Oscar is definitely here, and defeating that monstrosity is how we're going to draw him out." Athena said, breaking the tension. Blake gave her a less than confident look.
"It's so powerful though."
"Who gives a shit. I've never heard that stopping you before."
"I guess that's true."
"A little self confidence could help." Athena huffed, raising an eyebrow at Blake. Aname just watched the exchange quietly.
"Aname, Right? I heard Athena mention your name from the other room. What was the weapon you had that seemed to hurt the monster temporarily?" Weiss asked, pulling Aname away from the silent confrontation of the other girls.
"It's nothing crazy, just a magnesium shell with a fast heating red dust charge inside, superheating it to produce the light you saw." Aname answered. She leaned towards Weiss, suddenly engaged.
"Sounds like Ruby." Weiss muttered to herself. "How many do you have left?"
"About… 9 I think. I usually use them to scare it away when I'm either gathering resources, or trying to learn more about it." Weiss nodded, a great Idea popping into her head.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, demanding Athena and Blake's attention, which they happily gave. Aname giggled a little.
"I have a plan, but it's gonna be dangerous." Weiss said.
"Is that all?" Athena asked.
"Huh?"
"Right, cause we don't ever deal in danger."
"This is like serious danger."
"I know what I said, Blake back me up."
"We are pretty good at running at danger."
"She gets it, we can handle it."
"If you're going to be so cocky about it."
"Damn right."
Weiss facepalmed, focusing on Aname would be a lot simpler.
"Can I help?" Aname asked, almost comically on cue.
"Yes! I have a couple jobs for you actually. We're going to need more of those grenade things." Weiss said.
"Well that's great, but I need someone to go up above and find some more magnesium."
"Hence the danger squad." Weiss stated, pointing to Athena.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Blake asked, giving Weiss a look.
"No. you stay here and rest while keeping Aname company. It's daytime, so we shouldn't have too much trouble with the monster if it shows up." Weiss responded. Blake shook her head, silently cursing herself for getting hurt.
"Fine." she seethed, crossing her arms. She was unhappy about being left behind, but still wished for her team to be safe all the same.
"This is harder than I thought." Weiss griped. Stepping over the debris in a old house with a caved in roof. After glancing over her shoulder, she reached down and pulled a large piece of roofing out of the way.
" Aname says if you can find some aluminum that'll work too." Athena said. She leaned forward, propping herself up with her lance, scanning over the village from a nearby hill, vigilant for any enemies.
"Why?" Weiss asked, perplexed.
"She says, that Aluminum is commonly made into an alloy with magnesium, and she can separate them." Athena responded, paraphrasing the text she had gotten from Aname.
"Whatever. I guess she knows." Weiss admitted, collecting whatever looked like aluminum. Weiss wrapped up her search of the house, and moved to climb through the crumbled wall, when Athena whispered through her scroll.
"Get down." Startled, Weiss hid behind part of a wall, and peeked out lightly.
"What?" she asked, unable to see whatever she was told to hide from.
"I see the monster. It's about 20ft from you." Athena said, walking along the edge of her cliff, watching the large, black beast stalk the area where Weiss was hiding.
"What should I do?" Weiss whispered. Fighting this monster alone was suicide, and she needed a way out now.
"Hold on. I have an idea." Athena smiled, raising a large rock over her head. She leaned back, and watched the monsters movements. Weiss bit her cheek, hearing the heavy steps of the monster grow closer.
"Do something." She demanded, shivering at the monster placed its bladed hand atop the crumbled wall.
"I'm on it." Athena reassured. Athena grit her teeth and heaved the bolder down into the town. With a massive crash. Perfectly on cue, the monster turned around, and stalked away. Weiss took a deep breath.
"Thanks." Weiss said.
"Welcome. Now get to it." Athena answered.
"Yeah yeah." Weiss grumbled, stepping out of the torn building, and searching for a new pile of rubble to sort through.
` "So…" Aname said, sitting awkwardly next to Blake. The two of them were still in her underground bunker, waiting to hear from the team on the surface.
"Yes?" Blake asked, leaning back against her chair. She eyed Aname, quietly impressed that she had managed to survive, despite seeming to have no training.
"You guys are huntresses? You're not much older than I am." Aname asked, wanting more than anything to end the awkward silence.
"We're still in training, this is part of a mission for school." Blake answered, relaxing a little.
"That's so cool. Where do you guys go?" Aname added.
"Beacon." Blake answered, cooly.
"NO! That's awesome. Do you guys get to meet like super famous huntsman and stuff?" Aname said, seeming much more excited.
"Not always, but we do get to see some powerful professors." Blake said, a little embarrassed at how Aname gushed over her school. Static filled the room, emanating from Blake's scroll, and cutting of Aname's next question.
"Holy… god!... AHHHH!" Weiss's voice screamed, shifting from panic, to fear, and to pain. With little concern for her own well being, Blake literally(yes, literally) threw herself across the room, grabbing her scroll of the table as she landed on the floor.
"Weiss… Weiss!" Blake all but screamed back into the scroll. Aname has risen to her feet and was watching the faunus with concern.
"No, Left!" Athena cautioned, he voice as distant and inconsistent as Weiss's. Blake strained both her faunus and human ears, trying to piece together an image in her mind of the battle going on outside.
"We should go help them!" Aname said, fear wavering her resolve, as she nervously glanced at her makeshift grenades.
"No, we need to know exactly what is happening down their first. "Blake cautioned, understanding that giving away the location of the hideout carelessly would bring nothing but more trouble even if they managed to escape. Regardless, she inched closer to Gambol Shroud, in the event that they did need to make a quick exit.
"Weiss, hit it from the left!" the last transmission cracked through the scroll as the line went dead. Seconds passed audibly, as both Blake and Aname waited for any news. Blake felt her heartstrings tighten, her worry growing exponentially.
"A-are they ok?" Aname asked, worried.
"I… hope so." Blake said, barely masking her own unease.
Moments continued to pass, quiet enough for one to hear their own heart beating. Finally, a little burst of static breathed life into the scroll, as the voices of her two companions sent a tidal wave of relief over Blake.
"Where the hell did it go?!" Weiss demanded, seeming angry and confused.
"I don't know. I can't see it from up here." Athena responded, her voice just as wracked with confusion.
"Uh...that's good right? They're not in danger anymore." Aname said, trying to play the optimist. Blake shook her head.
"Unfortunately, that just means that something even worse is about to start." Blake answered, as a thunderous clang rang out from the door to the shelter. "Like that."