Chapter Ten: Dear Hunter.
The truck rocked again as it hit another rut in the dirt road causing Team RWBY to each shift their positions trying to find a more comfortable spot again. Their first mission had taken them out into frontier of Vale's territory with two goals, the first was to escort supplies to a village just beyond an outpost the second was to clear a small Grimm nest near the village. It was a relatively straightforward mission but for the young team each was excited at the fact that they had been selected for a mission outside of the Kingdom's defense line.
After a noisy four hour bullhead flight with limited space to move due to the large supply crates landing at the outpost was a blessing allowing them to finally stretch their legs. Now they had loaded into a caravan of trucks that was currently bouncing on the hard dirt road on the last leg of their journey to the village.
"How close are we?" Yang asked again for the eighth time. The long flight and ride had taken the largest toll on the rambunctious blonde.
"When you last asked we were an hour out," Blake responded not looking up from her book. "That was close to a half hour ago, so how much time does that mean we have left?" Yang stuck her tongue out at her partner causing her to sigh, "If we hit bump again you're going to bite it." Instead of heeding her words Yang just leaned in closer putting her tongue next to Blake's face, "Yang, get away."
"Mopte." The brawler grinned around her tongue at the girl.
"I'm serious Yang." Blake's voice dipped as she took her eyes off her book turning to face her partner. The moment she fully faced the blonde the truck hit another bump causing the two to rock towards each other. Yang's tongue slid up the side of the black hair girl's face electing a shriek from her. "OH MY GOD YANG!" Blake jerked away wiping her face from where the blonde had licked her. "That's disgusting."
Ignoring her partner Yang cringed as she sucked on her tongue tasting blood, "I bit my tongue." Blake glared at the blonde as she pouted.
Weiss coughed to hide her chuckle as she watched the black and yellow duo extremely thankful Ruby was to engrossed in the map to cause trouble. Glancing at her partner from the corner of her eye the Heiress felt a small smile pull at her lips. The crimson wolf had barely moved since they got into the truck pouring over a local terrain map marking down routes they could use and possible camping spots.
She watched as her ears twitched causing a small fluttering in her chest, which gave the white haired girl pause. These feelings that she had been having when she watched her leader had only increased with the more time they spent together. The slightest thing the crimson girl did Weiss would feel her heart sputter or her stomach clench causing her to question why she was feeling these things.
Continuing to watch her leader Weiss thought back to the night in the lounge with Ruby. She had held the girl until her silent sobs had subsided unsure what else to do from lack of experience in this situations. When Ruby had pulled away Weiss could see the redness in her silver eyes and tear tracks on her cheeks. While she knew the girl was crying because she was happy the Heiress still felt something hurt in her chest as she looked at the smaller girl and she didn't know why.
Weiss didn't like not knowing, it was like playing half a game of chess and not being able to see your opponents moves and only being able to react not form a strategy to counter it. It was maddening. Nearly everything the crimson wolf did now elected a response from her, the small twitched of her ears to the swishes of her tail would send the Heiress' heart stuttering. When her bright silver eyes would flash at her she could feel a blush working lightly on her cheeks. As if she sensed she was being watched the wolf's ears perked up and she turned to face the white haired girl.
Silver eyes beamed brightly as she smiled at her partner, "Something up Weiss?"
"No, it's nothing." Weiss replied quickly averting her eyes as she felt the heat slowly working into her face.
With a nod Ruby returned to her map. The Grimm nest was roughly ten miles from the village with reports of about twenty of the beasts residing there. For her team this was going to be an easy first mission. It had come as a slight surprise that they were being set so far, most of the other teams were closer to the defense line. The only other Team that was out nearly as far was JNPR but they were still a good distance away. Ruby was every excited to be this far out in the frontier, the last time she had been this far out had been when she had experienced the Calling.
She couldn't wait to prove that her team was one of the best that would graduate from Beacon. They would be better than her parent's team making their mark on Remnant as well. Now they would have actually field combat instead of the endless hours in a sparring arena. Now she could show Weiss just how good she was, just as she had during the initiation. It was a peculiar thought the more she thought about it.
Every time she thought about her frosty partner Ruby felt a happiness bubble from with in her chest. Before she had revealed her Faunus nature to the Heiress she had enjoyed being around her but now that she had shown her ears and tail to Weiss the warmth she felt towards her partner had increased. But the white haired girl seemed to ignore her most of the time so she wanted to do something to grab her attention, this mission was the chance to do that, she wanted Weiss to notice her.
The stopping of the trucks pulled the wolf from her line of thought. "Hey we're here." A gruff voice called out from the front. With a happy bounce Ruby got to her feet and pulled open tarp that covered the back. Light poured in reveling the frontier town.
Unlike the outpost, the town's buildings were made of various materials and rose up on either side of the street; some were made of stone and brick while others of wood. The street was paved in cobblestone. The trees of the forest were close enough to the village that they left no room for transport bullheads to land. The main square where they had parked had a large tree planted in the center that towered above all of the buildings. People were slowly trickling out towards the caravan to help unload them.
"Alright Team RWBY let's go talk to the mayor. Banzai!" Ruby chimed as she jumped to the street. Weiss sighed as she exited with more grace than Ruby with Blake and Yang closely on her heels. Several people looked over at the four Huntresses in slight curiosity as to what was causing so much noise.
"Ruby now is the time to act professional." Weiss sighed as she reached her bouncing partner. The wolf's ears dipped slightly as she grinned up at her partner sheepishly.
"Oops sorry." Ruby grinned back making the Heiress roll her eyes, always the hyper ball of energy. "Yang did you grab the packs?" She asked looking around her partner at the blonde who was stretching out her muscles.
"Yep." Yang nodded popping her 'p' pointing over to the four packs that were resting together; each held the girl's ammo, ration packs, medical equipment and camping supplies. "And double checked them too, everything's good."
"Umm excuse me." A voice drifted over their conversation, a woman stood a few feet away holding small create from a truck, "Are you the Huntresses the mayor asked for?"
Bouncing happily up to the woman Ruby grinned up at her, "Yep. We're Team RWBY from Beacon Academy, I'm Ruby Rose." The woman looked the wolf up and down stopping at her ears and tail for a brief second. The rest of her team watched on hesitantly ready to step in if they were needed.
But it was unneeded; after the woman had looked over the crimson Faunus she smiled back down at her. "Well it's nice to meet you Ruby, my name is Diana Locke. The mayor will want to know you've arrived with the shipments we really appreciate you girls escorting them out here. Grimm sometimes attack the trucks and then we're stuck without the supplies for another month. Come on I'll take you to him."
"No problem, you coming Weiss?" Ruby looked over her shoulder at her partner as she started to follow the woman. With a nod the Heiress followed the wolf. "So what's name of this village?" Ruby questioned as they made their way away from the trucks.
"It's had a few names," Diana answered looking at the two girls. "Silvis and Natus were pretty common in the beginning days of it. Though most recently it's gone by Victus."
"So Deep Wood, Lost and now Conquered." Weiss translated all the Valiction names.
"Yeah we're simple folks." Laughed Diana as they neared a taller building made of stone, "Not like you Atlasian with your fancy names."
Weiss blinked in confusion at the woman as they entered the town hall, "How did you know I'm from Atlas?"
Diana rolled her eyes, "I took a guess. I traveled to Mantel when I was younger and you give off the same snooty air as they did up there." Ruby snorted beside Weiss electing a glare from the Heiress. "Anyways it's not important here, we'll take any help we can get to keep our village safe." She stopped in front of a door giving a few knocks, "Cade, the Huntresses from Beacon are here. You'd better not be sleeping again."
A loud crash came from inside the room followed by a sharp curse and more crashing. "Da mihi sis secundus. Mihi opus fuit, non dormiunt*."
Diana gave a sigh, "That man is such a pain but he's a good mayor so no one round here minds. And speak Basic you idiot only one of them knows Valiction." Weiss glanced down at her partner who was looking sheepishly at the ground kicking her boot at the floor.
Finally the door was pulled quickly open revealing a man just who looked to be in his mid thirties. Dark brown hair was disheveled on one side from where he was obviously had been resting on it. His green eyes looking slightly dazed having woken up abruptly taking in the two girls before him, "Utrumque est noscere. Meum nomen est Cade." "After a blink he laughed, "Sorry, I meant it's nice to me both of you, my name is Cade. Welcome to Victus."
Unfazed by the man's demeanor Ruby smiled bright up at him, "Hi nice to meet you I'm Ruby and this is my partner Weiss."
"Wonderful." Cade beamed back gesturing for them to enter his office, "Thank you Diana I'll take it from here." The lady nodded and retreated further into the building still toting the small create in her hands.
"You behave Cade, don't want to have to get Abbey down here." Diana called over her shoulder making the man pale slightly.
With a shudder the man closed the door and returned to the chair behind his desk. Weiss had gotten a good look around the office and was not extremely impressed. Pieces of paper and files were scattered about, half open draws had hastily stuffed papers sticking out of the sides and the scattering of empty coffee cups were close to the waste can. "Sorry about that girls, I uhh, I lost track of time and didn't realize the convoy had arrived. Anyways with you watching trucks we knew they'd get through without any trouble and with last month's supplies going missing we were in sore need of these getting through. Now I know Ozpin's told you that you'll have to clear out a nest as well so if there's anything you need please ask."
"Thanks but we brought all the supplies we'll need." Ruby smiled at the man, getting a nod.
"As expected by Huntresses even in training you're always prepared." Cade grinned. "Unfortunately I can't let you girl's leave until morning however."
"What?" Ruby cocked her head to the side at his words.
"Dusk is approaching soon and we don't let people venture past the walls after that, even Hunters." Cade leaned back in his chair, "We've got a room prepared for your team at the inn and you can stay in till morning. Just tell Vitaliya when you reach the Inn who you are and she'll take care of your needs." With a nod all three stood up and Cade offered out his hand. "Well girl's I'll try to see you off tomorrow but if I don't make it good luck and happy hunting."
"Thank you sir." Ruby grinned shaking his hand, "We'll make sure we clear out that nest so it won't bother you anymore." As the two Huntresses exited the building Ruby was once again bouncing on her heels. "Can you believe it Weiss? We're finally on a mission! We're actually doing what we're training to do and we're going to be helping people."
With a weary smile Weiss watched her partner's smile grow larger as the redhead spun about and waved at the people who past them, most waving back while a few had their hands too full to wave but they would incline their head back at the pair. "Yes Ruby but remember we are also doing this for a grade. We need to do it right."
"I know that." Ruby continued to grin, her silver eyes flashed with happiness causing a throb in the Heiress chest, she always enjoyed it when Ruby's eyes looked that happy. "But I'm just so excited." With a sigh Weiss shook her head and looked over to where Yang and Blake still stood beside the trucks.
A crowd of children had settled around them and watched with wide eyes as the blonde lifted a particularly large create with one hand hosting it above her head without any visible effort. 'Ooo's and 'Aww's came from the children as Yang smiled down at them. Blake rolled her eyes but both Ruby and Weiss could see a small smile on her lips as she watched her partner. "And for my next trick I'll be lifting my partner." Yang grinned out looking over at Blake.
"Not on your life." Blake glared back at the blonde. Not being bother by the glare Yang continued to approach the black haired girl with a wide smile.
"What's the matter Blakey?" She cooed sweetly still approaching. "I only want to show the kids how easy it is."
"Let me put it this way." Blake started still glaring at the brawler, "If you touch me I'll cut your hair." That made her partner stop. While Yang was mostly positive she wouldn't actually cut her hair, three was no reason to actually provoke the girl into doing it.
"Alright fine. Sorry kiddo's looks like Blakey's being a stick in the mud." Spotting the approaching red and white duo Yang waved to them. "Yo Rubes I've got something to tell you."
"What's up?" The wolf asked her sister as she reached them.
Yang waved the kids off before turning back to her sister, her face adopting a more serious expression, "Heard from one of the locals that a group went out the other day looking for the Grimm nest instead of having us take care of it."
"What?" Weiss asked in shock, "Were any of them Hunters?"
"Nope." Yang shook her head. That was worrying; with conventional weapons it took a considerable amount of time to bring down Grimm. Time most people would be killed during. "Apparently they figured they were strong enough take care of it themselves and just left. No one's heard from them since."
Ruby lowered her head at that, she knew that could mean one of two things. One, they had succeeded and were just taking their time getting back or two, and the more likely scenario, they had been slaughtered and eaten by the Grimm. It was the reality of those that hunted the beasts, one day they'd fail and be killed by their prey leaving their families behind. It was something the wolf was too familiar with. The crimson girl looked back up at her sister seeing her own thoughts echoed in the lilac eyes.
"Idiots." Weiss muttered, "They should have known better."
"Weiss they probably thought it was their best options," Blake shook her head pushing off the truck she was leaning on. "They most likely heard that we are only Huntresses in training and not full fledged Huntresses and decided they could do the job themselves. And with how far out this village is I don't think they get many Hunter's out here, so if they could do it themselves and save the lien then to them it was the best idea."
"But they could be dead for nothing." Weiss looked back into amber eyes.
"So could we." Blake shrugged, "It's what we signed up for." The two glared at each other for a few minutes before Ruby sighed and stepped in between them.
"Look we have a long day a head of us tomorrow. We should head to the inn and get out rest." The wolf said sullenly, the moment Weiss heard the hurt in her partner's voice she looked down at her partner. With a nod the Heiress pick up her pack and headed towards the inn.
"Dolt, hurry up we should get some supper before going to sleep." She called over her shoulder. At the name the wolf's tail twitched as she picked up her pack and followed after her partner.
Blake and Yang exchanged a quick glance, "Do you think…" Yang started looked between the two girls.
"I have no idea." Blake shrugged picking up her pack, "Come on Blondie, let's go."
With a smirk the brawler picked up her bag, "Right behind you Kitten."
After they had set out the following morning Weiss was impressed with the way Ruby navigated them through the forest. The wolf had marked down the easiest path that led to a nice camping spot near a small stream. "Alright team, we'll set up camp here then go scouting for the nest. Yang, can you and Blake go looking for some firewood? Me and Weiss will take care of the tents."
"Weiss and I." The Heiress corrected as she sat down her pack.
"Sure thing pup." Yang grinned, "Come on Blakey let's go get some wood." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows making Blake shake her head.
As the pair made their way off into the woods the Heiress watched as the crimson girl started in on the first tent, the small two person tent had just enough room for two sleeping bags and a bit of room move about in it. Shaking her head she started in on her tent as well. Suddenly Ruby paused and looked about searching for something her hand reaching for Crescent Rose slowly.
"Ru-" Weiss began only to be cut off by a raised hand form the younger girl. Ruby's body was stiff and on high alert as her ears swiveled and scanned, obviously something was close and the wolf didn't like it. Slowly drawing Myrtenaster the Heiress made her way to she side of her partner standing with their backs facing each other. "What do you hear?" Weiss whispered extremely grateful for the wolf's extended hearing, if they had both been human an ambush could have happened before either of them could react.
"Grimm." Came Ruby's low reply still scanning for the beasts. From the sounds of it there were only four, two headed towards herself and Weiss and two towards black and yellow duo.
"Can you hear Yang and Blake?" Weiss whispered they needed to form back up with the other half of their team if there were more Grimm around them.
Ruby's ear's continued to twitch as she drew her weapon, the sounds of expanding components clicking together filled the silence. "They're not far off about seven hundred yards to the south west."
"Do you have any idea what type of Grimm we're dealing with?" Weiss asked scanning through the trees for any signs of the beasts. It was eerie how quite the forest was; all of the birds had fallen silent, even the wind had died down leaving a dome of silence around the two Huntresses'. Normally Grimm would roar or howl out before the attacked but there was nothing, no howl of a Beowolf, no roar of an Ursa, not even a squeal of a boarbatusk. Then there was a small clicking that filled the trees around them causing both girls to freeze.
"I don't think you're going to like the answer." Ruby replied as she looked up. Two jet black monsters with long white masks made of bone stared down at the two of them with blood red eyes. "Reavers." She hissed whipping Crescent Rose towards the Grimm and firing. The Reavers jumped away in a blur of motion as the round impacted where they had been a second earlier, each landing on a different branch.
Reavers were a smaller type Grimm, the biggest only reaching about five feet tall. With long black feathers coating them they looked almost like Nevermores only they were flightless relying on their speed and agility to move from tree to tree with the faintest of whispers. Underneath those feathers were two long arms tipped with five razor sharp claws that would puncture skin without hesitation. Their feet had three talons that would allow them to grasp on the side of a tree for hours. Long white masks that extended out into a protruded beak clicked as they observed the two girls.
Not waiting for the Grimm to come to them the Heiress and the wolf attached as one. Crescent Rose swinging in a large upward arc towards the one on the right while four projectiles of ice racing towards the second on the left. Again the beasts jumped causing the attacks to go wide. "They're fast." Weiss hissed as she spun to the yellow dust chamber.
"Let's see just how fast thought." Ruby grinned as she leveled her scythe behind her. Running forward leaving rose petals in her wake the crimson girl fired propelling herself even faster swinging the large weapon with incredible speed. The Grimm she had targeted didn't have time run forcing it to raise its long claws catching the blade, twisting the shaft of the weapon Ruby threw the Reaver into a tree with a loud crash removing the offending appendage in the same motion.
Weiss followed right behind her partner using glyphs to stay in the wake of the rose petals. A sharp piercing rang out though the air as she lunged towards the second Reaver with a lightning enhanced strike. The strike in the Grimm just off center cause a scowl to cross the Heiress face. She had planed to end the beast with just one strike but it had moved at the second causing her attack to miss the vital point. Five sharp claws lashed out at her making her dodge back, five gashes at the hem of her skirt made her scowl.
With a clicking the Grimm Ruby was facing lunged back at her it's long claws extended outwards. The wolf spun on her heels brining Crescent Rose back around slicing the Grimm cleanly two down its length.
Seeing its companion fall the second Reaver glared at the two huntress' hate burning in its' eyes. Steading her breathing Weiss spun her cylinders to the red dust, summoning another glyph below her feet. Pushing off of it the white haired girl shot past the Grimm in a white streak only to stop suddenly with the help of one she had placed behind it. Lunging upward she plunged Myrtenaster into the body of the Grimm as she ignited her blade, the beast ignited like a piece of dry wood. The acidic smell of burning feathers and flesh filled the air.
"Seems like you had the same run in as we did." Yang called as she and Blake reentered the campsite, heat shimmered off of the blonde her eyes still a bright red. Blake had two light gashes on her left arm that was already closing, Gambol Shroud still in her had.
"Yeah." Ruby nodded walking over to her partner looking up in to blue eyes, "You okay Weiss?" She had seen the slash of her Reaver but didn't see if it had contacted or not.
"I'm fine." Weiss smiled down at the wolf doing a quick over of the crimson girl seeing no wounds on the girl the Heiress felt a soft warmth in her chest that she was unharmed.
With a quick nod the wolf looked about her ears still scanning the area. "I'm not hearing any other Grimm around so we must still be a ways off from the nest." Pulling out the map from her pack Ruby quickly located where they were camped scanning for where the nest could be located. The Reavers had come from the north east of their position and with her hearing she had heard them when were within three miles of herself and the Heiress. The wolf was annoyed at the fact that Reavers were so quiet when they moved. The best possibility was a group of caves located ten miles from their current position in that direction. With a nod she folded her map back up and looked at her team.
Yang was wiping at Blake's wounds with a disinfectant swab, the panther doing her best to not twitch at the slight sting with each dap amber eyes on a constant scan. Weiss was at her pack pulling out vials of dust refilling what she used then storing the sturdy metal vials in the pouch on her hip. "We need to hit the nest before more Grimm come. There's a cave system ten miles to the north east, we should start there then radiate outwards." With the three girls giving her a nod of understand they made in the direction indicted by the wolf.
Moving in silence each of Huntress' kept their eye's wide open for any sign of more Grimm. Ruby had taken point pushing her hearing to it's limits searching for any threats, behind her Yang kept an eye on the her teammates, without the Faunus sense of hearing she had taken a support role if one of the other girls came under attack she would be the first to back them up. Weiss was in the rear her abilities for all three ranges of fighting she would be able to hold her own until one of her teammates arrived or be able to provide support regardless of range. Blake was watching the flanks of their march switching sides when ever Weiss passed her scanning for any threats that may try to hit them from the sides with Ruby's and her hearing they could pinpoint any threat should one arise.
A putrid odor began to creep into the air. It was a sharp metallic smell with mixes of rotten meat. Picking up their pace the four young Huntress walked out of the tree line and into a small clearing just outside the cave. The sight before them caused their stomachs to clench and revolt against them.
Parts of bodies were scattered about the ground in different size chunks. Arms and legs had been cut from their original bodies then tosses aside in different directions. Several torsos had long lacerations allowing the internals organs to spill out in piles of grey and red. Crimson blood stained the ground throughout the clearing. A few heads stared up into the sky with clouded gazes, their expression frozen in silent screams.
The humming of flies around the carnage was the only sound as Team RWBY took in the massacre. Yang swallowed hard as she pulled her stomach contents back down her throat, she had traveled a lot in her life but this was one of the most gruesome scene she had ever seen. Weiss pulled her hand to her mouth in shock while she had been expecting to find a scene of a fight she had not been expecting this much carnage. Ruby shook at the sight, they had been to late to help. Blake took a few steading breaths trying not to return to thoughts of her time with him.
"FUCK!" Yang roared out suddenly causing all three girls to jump, with a wild punch the brawler knocked a tree to the ground. Blake saw the heat emitting from her partner and made her way over to her. The heat coming from the blonde was intense causing the panther to recoil slightly.
"Yang." Blake whispered just loudly enough for the blonde to hear. The heat dipped enough that the black haired girl was able to rest a calming hand on the brawlers shoulder.
Ruby continued to shake in hate, she hated Grimm. She hated how easily they took people from their families, she hated how all they could do now was destroy the nest then tell the families what they had found sparing them the details. She knew that they would come anyways hoping to retrieve a body. She hated how she hadn't been able to prevent this if they had just gotten here sooner or been able to leave the previous night then maybe she could have stopped this. She hated Grimm.
Shaking her head the wolf stalk into the bloody field as a leader it was her job to confirm that all of the missing civilians were accounted for. Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat she looked down at the closest torso. The long clean gash crossed from right shoulder to where its hips would begin.
Wait, the wolf paused, a long clean gash. That was wrong, Grimm didn't cause long clean gashes. The wounds they caused were always ragged and showed signs of tearing. These gashes were sharp and clean like blades would cause. Actually now that Ruby was looking about it wasn't the only thing wrong with the corpses, there were no bite marks or signs of feeding, Grimm always fed on their kills. A soft shift of the grass beside the redhead made her look up at her partner.
Weiss had been in a small state of shock since the field had come in to view. Her training had acclimated her to the sight and smells of blood and death but this was on a scale she hadn't witnessed. She could feel the smaller girl beside her shake but couldn't look at her, her eyes slowly taking in everything. When Ruby had moved it had snapped the Heiress out of her stupor. She watched as the crimson girl moved into the field then pause at a cut up torso, something seemed to confuse the redhead.
"What's wrong?" Weiss inquired as silver eyes looked up at her.
"The cuts are to clean." Ruby explained as she scanned about, "And there are no signs of feeding, the bodies are to intact." Coming to a conclusion the wolf reached for her weapon, "Grimm didn't do this."
"Then were are the…" Weiss' question drifted off as she spotted a young beowolf staggered out of the cave. It's long black limbs moved in uncoordinated ways almost as if it had been drugged. Red eyes drifted over them taking in the four huntress. The girls watched as it threw back it's head letting loose a loud cry causing all hell to break lose around them.
Grimm of all ages and size poured from the cave, ignoring all the dismembered body parts, they wanted fresh meat. Sounds of explosions filled the air as the Huntress' attacked the horde as it rushed them.
With Weiss and Ruby being forward of Yang and Blake they were in danger of being surrounded on all sides cutting them off from their teammates, if that happened they'd be in a lot more trouble.
"Fall back." Ruby commanded as she swung Crescent Rose about her, the massive blade hewing through the beasts allowing giving them room to maneuver. Nodding Weiss began to work her way back towards the yellow and black duo using dust enhanced strikes to keep Grimm moving away from her partner. The sound of shotgun blasts guiding.
Blake and Yang had tried to join Ruby and Weiss but they had been to far forward for them to react in time. Now they were holding the back hoping their teammates would join them shortly. Yang stood strong in the forward position firing Ember Celica into the Grimm, fists smashing through bones as heat rolled off her. Blake watched the brawler's back using the duel blades of Gambol Shroud to slice through flesh using clones to confuse her opponents.
Once the wolf and the Heiress rejoined their team the four girls spread out holding a box formation. Attacks came from all sides as the Huntress held against the tide. The original estimation of the size of the nest had been much smaller than what they were facing now, Beowolfs and Ursas were the majority of the horde but the occasional Reaver would appear.
Huntress who had years of training knew to keep their guard up and stay in formation until the last Grimm had fallen, even then they would still remain alert until they had done a thorough sweep of the area making sure that none had remained back. But it took years of being in the field to ingrain that into them. Year's Team RWBY didn't have.
As the tide slowed Yang took a few steps away from the box creating a large hole where neither Ruby nor Blake could cover. A black blur was all the warning the wolf had as a Reaver darted through the gap towards the unprotected back of her partner. Fear shot through her as she activated her semblance lunging towards Weiss pushing her partner out of the way of the five long claws. Pain pierced through her stomach.
The Heiress pulled her rapier from her last opponent when the red blur smashed into her, the scent of roses filling her nose. The world fell in slow motion as Weiss spun to see what had hit her. Ruby had managed to get to her and push her out of the way of the Grimm, ice blue eyes filled with shock as she saw five long crimson stained claws protruding from the wolf's middle, silver eyes full of pain as she crumbled to the ground. "RUBY!"
Roman Torchwick hated his job, actually he didn't hate the job so much as he hated his client. Leaning on his cane the criminal fiddled with his lighter as he watched the White Fang members load creates of Dust into the back of the bullhead below him. He had been hired to help secure Dust shipments with in the Kingdom's while keeping a low profile. The problem was these Faunus were about as subtle as a marching band. The thought 'bull in a china shop' crossed his mind causing him to chuckle but if his client heard him his head might wind up on a spike.
A loud crash of a create made him groan and glance back down, "Do you not grasp the concept of silent as the dead?" He hissed at the offending Faunus with antlers.
"S-s-sorry." He stuttered out quickly picking the create back up off the ground.
Taping his cane on the ground Roman contemplated shooting the Faunus just for sheer annoyance but that would cause a bigger scene and they had already been there for far longer than he liked. Shaking his head he turned back to the two enforces that were watching the rest load, one was a tall man with thick arms while the other was a slightly smaller woman with a lions tail flicking back and forth.
"My, my what do we have here?" A calm voice drifted from the shadows causing both enforces to whip their rifles up in that direction. Slowly a man in a white lab coat drifted out from the darkness. Large round glasses covered his bright green eyes, his smile looked unconcerned even as the rifles were clicked off safe everything from his carefree expression to his soundless movements made the criminal uneasy, but the most unsettling feature was the stitch work that covered his face and neck, almost as if he had been chopped up then patched back together. "Someone's let the animals off their leash."
The lager Faunus took a step towards the man, "You're going to regret that fucker." Swinging the rifle the Faunus hit the man across the face with the butt of it.
The blow didn't even turn the man's head as he calmly turned to face the Faunus, his green eyes flaring. "Homo-Gorilla gorilla." He said in a calm voice causing the Faunus to back away. "Fascinating species really, to bad I've done enough research on your kind already, you looked like a outstanding specimen." As the Faunus backed away the man gave a lazy wave of his hand. The Faunus fell apart.
That was the only way Roman could describe it. With the man's wave it was if he unraveled invisible strings that held the Faunus together at his major joints. Ankles separating from the lower legs, legs coming apart at the knees, hips separating from the femurs, arms at the shoulder, elbow and wrists the head slipping off the torso at the neck. As the body crumpled blood sprayed into the air covering the remaining enforce and Roman, not a single drop landing on the man in the white coat.
Before the woman could scream the man was beside her with a large smile, "Hmm, Homo-Panthera leo. You're a species I've had trouble finding." With a quick motion he jabbed a needled into her neck dropping her to the ground. "You'll make a fine subject."
Roman had remain silent from the moment the man had walked out of the shadow, his mind racing as he watched the two Faunus go down before he could even blink. Slowly he started to edge his way backwards, it didn't matter how good the money was nothing was worth his life. "Please stay Mr. Torchwick." The man smiled at him with a calm look, "I'd like to negotiate a deal."
"If this is your way of negotiating I think I'll pass." Roman shook his head, "Besides I already have a deal with one homicidal manic I think I'll live longer if I don't strike up a deal with another one."
"You misunderstand Mr. Torchwick." The man shook his head, "I'm only representing an concerned third party who is very interested in what you've been doing. They'd very much like to work with you seeing as your goal can be guaranteed if you work with them."
"And what would he know about my goal?" Roman narrowed his eyes at the man.
"Survival is one of the most basic natures." The man explained, "And since that is what you want we'd like to extend your goal to survive in comfort."
Surviving in comfort did have a nice sound to it, having enough cash to slip away and not be bother by cops or Hunters, never dealing with a psychotic sword wielding Faunus with an unhealthy obsession sounded even better. "So say I take this offer, what else does it entail?"
"Continuing your work with the White Fang but passing us information as to what they're doing, my sponsor will deal with them eventually." The man continued to smile. "Oh and one more thing, they want you to gather information on this person." Pulling a folder from his coat the man handed it to Roman, the picture inside made the criminal raise his eyebrow.
"What does-" He started.
"That is of no concern of yours, just know it is the utmost of importance that you do your reconnaissance in the most discreet way possible." The man cut over him. With a nod Roman closed the folder. "Excellent. We'll be in touch at a later time to further discuss your contract. Until then, happy hunting." With that the man snapped his fingers causing smoke to rise up around him and the woman on the ground, with a gust of wind they were gone.
Letting out a deep breath Roman pulled a cigar and lit it taking a long full drag, he hated his job.
A/N: And we're ten chapter's in YAY! So this is the official end to the 'Annoying set up arc' and now we can move on. So looking forward we'll be seeing more into Weiss' thought process on Ruby, all the blooming romances (yay), and more plot (I promise it's there just slow for a bit longer). Yes, I know I've diverted from cannon timeline but I have my reasons and they mostly fall in with 'because I can'. With the semester finally coming to a close I'll get more time to write and hopefully start another idea (or two) that has been bouncing in my mind.
With that: I cannot thank everyone enough, leave your thoughts I enjoy reading them, and keep being a wonderful you.