Chapter 54
The lights turned red and screams filled the air as a pack of Sabyr's ran through the streets, hunting for human flesh. Half a dozen of the Grimm had broken through the wall's defences and now ran wild. The two at the front lept towards a young couple who were too slow.
A beam of green light came down from the sky and cut the Grimm in twain.
Red petals filled the street and from within them came a cloaked girl, scythe twirling. Ruby took a deep breath and spun, cutting apart three of the Sabyr's. The last one roared and charged, only for a trio of blades to spear into its head, finishing it.
The lights returned to normal and the crowd cheered. Penny flew down to land next to Ruby and waved at the crowd. She was getting really popular now as the Defender of Mantle. Although it wasn't just her either. Ruby was becoming known too.
"It's the Defender of Mantle!"
"And her new partner! Damn, that was so fast! So awesome!"
The excited conversations of those she saved did put Ruby off a little. She'd been working alongside Penny for a week and the crowds always seemed to like the pair. Ironwood might have given Penny the title of Defender, but the people of Mantle were coming up with their own name for Ruby.
"They say she can appear out of nowhere!"
"I heard she can appear anywhere there's a rose petal!"
"That's so cool! The Red Reaper is so badass!"
Really? Red Reaper? Couldn't have been any more creative, could it? Ruby let out a quiet, exasperated sigh. Penny just smiled at her. She doesn't seem to mind, though she was given a fine name. Oh well. I shouldn't complain. These people must like me quite a lot if they're giving me a nickname. It did remind her of comics and fairy tales. Being given a name or title was pretty much a badge of honour.
Even if the name was kinda meh.
Elsewhere another siren sounded. The pair shared a quick glance and a nod before launching off. Penny could fly with ease whilst Ruby had to use her Semblance. It was pretty taxing because she hadn't really used it to like this much before now so she was inexperienced. The last time was... back at Kiku. She had used it to sneak into some houses during her investigation.
This time she had to be fast however so she shifted into a small ball of petals and flew off after Penny. She'd already been Penny's partner for a week, so she knew what she needed to do.
They flew into a different sector, found the pack of Sabyr's that had broken through and slaughtered them to the cheers of the public. Penny waved with a cheerful smile but Ruby kept her hood up. Having a crowd cheer for them so easily and quickly was… a lot.
And sadly she didn't really have the energy or Aura reserves to go all day without rest like Penny could so she would always make a stop at lunchtime. After two more rounds with Penny, she parted and flew off to Pietro's clinic. Waiting outside was Jaune and Pyrrha.
"How's it going?" Jaune asked, a smile on his face.
"Pretty well. No casualties yet."
"That's good." Jaune walked over and held out his hand which glowed a bright white. Ruby felt her Aura begin to regenerate at a much faster rate than it naturally would. After a minute or two of recharging, Ruby stretched, feeling well topped off.
"Thanks again."
"No problem. I was just helping out people anyway so I don't need all my Aura."
"What was it today?"
"Oh well, I started off with protecting kids on their way to school. Moved to helping some old ladies cross the road. After this, I'll go help out at the wall for a bit before coming back to guard the kids on their way home. That'll be about it."
"Don't need this Aura for the wall?"
"Nah. I'm not gonna be near the holes so I'll be fine. Just routine checks really."
"Alright. I should get back to it. Thanks again. See you guys later."
"See ya!"
Ruby was off again with a flutter of red petals. She glanced around, an odd sensation when she was nothing but a cloud of petals, and quickly found Penny off in the distance. She sped over and rejoined her friend.
A day of slaying Grimm was ahead of her.
"Hiyaa!" Oscar roared as he swung his cane like a bat.
"Woof!" Zwei happily barked as he was hit.
"Really!?" Taiyang exclaimed as a ball of fur was fired his way like a bullet. He ducked under it but took a cane to the face for it. Zwei barked again as he bounced off a nearby wall and charged, running into the back of Tai's legs. The man was knocked off balance and Oscar capitalized on it.
"Oof!" He cried out as The Long Memory slammed into his chest. The man toppled and fell to the floor.
"Yes! We did it Zwei!"
"Bark!" Zwei happily trotted back over to Oscar, who bent down and bestowed many pats on the dog. His tail wagged with force.
Tai let out a hollow laugh. "I never thought my dog would be used to defeat me. Not like this at least."
"What did you expect?" Oscar asked as the man got back on his feet.
"Well, I expected something more along the lines of my girls using him to get me to do things for them. I didn't think I would ever have to fend him off in battle."
Oscar smiled. "You think we're getting good at it?"
Tai slowly nodded. "I think so. I heard that a teacher from Beacon turned him into a flaming ball that could break down an Atlesian Paladin, so you do have some way to go."
"Wait, really!?" Oscar looked down at the corgi, who simply looked back up with eyes that expected more pats.
"Yup. The man did have a flamethrower, so I doubt you'll achieve the exact same. Still, our dog seems to have plenty of Aura. Don't worry about hitting him too hard. He knows his strength."
"... That feels weird to hear about a dog."
"It feels weird to say too." Tai agreed with a sigh. "Still if this is where you're at with only a couple weeks under your belt, I almost dread to see where this team-up is going to go in the future."
"Heh. Zwei and I shall become a powerful team together!"
"Woof!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Tai waved them off exasperatedly. "Ready for another round?"
"Yeah. Let's do it!"
"Woof!"
The sounds of metal on metal filled the air as JNPR sparred against the Ace-Ops. They were doing well, all things considered. Ruby and Clover were off to the side, simply watching and taking notes. Ruby was also recovering from her own training, which had been pretty intense. Now that it was just her, she had to make up for the missing teammates.
Sure she worked with Penny and Ilia a lot, but she didn't really know if that would last. Would she form a new team with them? She didn't know yet. The future was uncertain in too many ways. Instead, she focused on herself. On becoming strong enough to fight alone if she had to.
That was why she brought up her current predicament.
"Clover I had a question."
"Go for it." He replied without taking his eyes off the spar.
"I want to learn more Dust based attacks. More than just a 'fire scythe' and the like. Stuff that… that Weiss used to use."
"Hm. More advanced Dust arts huh? Well, when Winter is free she can help. But until then I think I know who can help."
"Really?"
"Yup." He turned to face her. "They're just students, but one of them used a rotating Dust chamber like your partner used to. Well, technically two as he duel-wields but that's semantics. They're training today as well so we won't have to go far to meet up with them. If you're willing to wait for them to finish I can take you over."
"Sounds good."
"Alright then." He replied with a grin.
The pair left the training room and walked down several hallways until they reached another training room. Clover opened the door and Ruby instantly winced from the high-pitched wail of a trumpet. Isn't that a team that was in the tournament? Funky or something right?
Stepping in she saw the brightly coloured team FNKI was battling a more subdued coloured team. Four guys all wearing plated armour in various amounts were coordinating together and smashing into FNKI, tearing the team apart and then crushing each individual. Ruby was impressed, especially considering the level the four had been on the last time she saw them.
She couldn't really believe her eyes though. I mean… I never thought CRDL of all teams would get this good!
Cardin slammed his heavy mace into Neon Katt, sending the roller-skating girl flying into one of the block walls that had been set up. Flying tried to hold Cardin back with a blast of sound but Russel came in from the side, turning into a spinning ball of blades before he crashed into the musician.
Dove and Sky rushed in a moment later and took the man down. The other two from FNKI desperately tried to shift the flow but Cardin tanked their hits before counter-attacking. It was… impressive really. How quickly Cardin could crush the pair. He was a lot stronger that was for sure.
Their combat instructor gave them all pointers before dismissing them. Clover however clapped his hands to catch their attention. "Good job. All of you. Team FNKI work on keeping together yeah? CRDL, that was great so be sure to keep at it. Don't stop just because you did well today. Also, stay behind. Someone wants to talk."
FNKI passed by with a wave from Neon whilst Cardin and his lackeys stayed back. The instructor saluted Clover and then left as well. Ruby couldn't help but look over the team as they lined up. She had to admit they looked pretty good.
For the most part, they all looked pretty similar, at least physically. Sky was wearing a little more armour in vulnerable places and seemed to have added a rifle into his halberd, giving him a strong ranged option.
Dove had grown his hair out a little at the back, enough to form a ponytail. Though he still kept the bowl cut. She still couldn't see his eyes which did make him look a little passive. His sword had changed a little as well, with a new crimson edge. It reminded her of Adam's sword, which meant it was likely infused with Burn Dust.
Russel was the one who'd changed his appearance the most, with his green hair no longer in his once signature mohawk. The sides were still shaved, but the middle had been brushed back and turned into a long braid instead. That, along with his new armour and not-ripped clothing, meant he no longer looked like a punk. His daggers looked a little longer too. The Dust chambers that were a part of the crossguard were what she was here for.
Cardin hadn't changed overly much, though he was sporting a short beard now. His expression also seemed softer, like he had stopped looking down on everyone. It made him seem mature. Though she wasn't sure if it was simply his appearance. His armour looked different too. It was a full set now, covering most of his body. It was dark, almost black, grey with thin purple lines all over. The flanges of his mace were now the cold white-blue of Ice Dust whilst the handle had more purple lines and the crystal at the centre was a larger, brighter red.
They looked a little intimidating if she was honest, though she doubted she'd lose in a fight.
"CRDL. Huntress Rose here has requested assistance in learning some more Dust techniques. Thrush you have the closest skills available to help." Clover turned to her. "Have fun." He then left.
Ruby sighed. "Been a while, Cardin."
"Yeah. You look good, all things considered." He replied.
"All things considered huh?"
"Last time I saw you was just after the Fall. Nobody looked good. You least of all. Made sense after all you'd lost. It's good to see you've recovered."
"I… thanks…"
Cardin rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Also… sorry. About how we treated you and your friends at Beacon."
"Huh?" Ruby couldn't help hide the sheer surprise she felt.
"Hard to believe I know but after the Fall… seeing so much death and destruction put things into perspective. We wanted to get better so we came here. We felt it was the best spot for it. Huntsmen here get the best gear and upgrades after all."
"You've… really changed huh? I never would have thought the school bullies would ever end up sounding so mature."
"Hah. Yeah. Anyway, you needed some help, right? Russ, do your best."
Russel stepped forward with an awkward smile. "Yo. So uh… I'm not that great with anything other than covering my daggers in Dust yet, but I'm training. I can show you what I've learned so far and what I've been told to do next?"
"Sure. Let's get started."
A/N: A Wild CRDL Appeared! Tadaa! Been planning that for a long time. It kinda irked me that they were pretty much the only team given nothing after Beacon. Everyone else is either a main character, FNKI or now in Shade. But CRDL? Nothing. So I decided to use them! Them transferring to Atlas made sense to me so here they are, with upgrades! Details will come later of course, but they are a lot more capable than they used to be. Seeing your school get wrecked by Grimm and people dying in the streets can really change your perspective on things, huh? Either way, they've grown up quite a bit. I hinted a little that they'd be here through Clover's report, though I wanted it to be a surprise so it was pretty weak as a hint.
Meanwhile Ruby earned a nickname/title from the people of Mantle! The Red Reaper. Not a complicated name. Wears red cloak, uses a scythe. Easy. She's also concerned about the future, unsure if she'll form a new team and if she did who'd be in it and how good it would be. She wants to be strong herself at least. Plus there's Oscar and Zwei taking on Tai in a spar and managing to knock him flat. If you've ever had a dog run into the back of your leg full force you probably know how much it can unbalance you, even for a small dog. Of course, this dog is empowered by Aura, so it's probably worse.
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed! I'll see you next time!