Chapter 43: The Trap

In which Sky springs the trap, Morrighan turns the tables, and Cardin finally gets some answers.

"You see, Morgan, I just so happen to have brought the greatest hunter team alive with me. Our mission is to hunt you down, and you've given us just enough time to ready our trap."

That was the cue. Time to spring the trap.

Sky leapt out of the tree and pinned one of the Grimm's tails to the ground with half of StormFlower. The monster writhed in pain and tried pull itself free, but Sky swung Magnhild into the gun-blade, hammering it deep into the dirt like the stake of a tent.

Prehensile tails. Check. Aura. Check.

It didn't matter if you were human or Faunus – aura was an impenetrable force field only if you could manipulate it properly. A sneak attack worked well if your opponent was new to aura and not used to getting it up in time.

"Guhhh! Look out!" yelled Cardin, gripping his head in anguish.

One of the free tails swiped at where Sky was standing, the boy having rolled out of the way just a second ago due to Cardin's warning.

Sky tossed Nora and Cardin their weapons and clothes. Hooking the other half of StormFlower around the Grimm's cranial tusks, he shot StormFlower's grappling hooks towards Professor Branwen. The huntsman caught it and pulled with all his might. The Grimm struggled and bucked its head, but the professor held his ground.

Tusks. Check.

This Grimm could run faster than any of them, so the first order of business was to limit its mobility. Every time before this, the Grimm had run off when it got backed into a corner. Now that it was unable to flee, they could kill it.

Super speed. Check.

"Now!" yelled Cardin.

Sky ducked as a rigid arm fin slashed through the air. He kicked the Grimm twice in the stomach, hitting its aura on each attack.

To defeat an opponent, one merely needed to know them. The Grimm was not a mindless beast lashing out wildly, but an effective strategist. That meant it thought of its attacks beforehand, so Cardin's semblance could preempt those aggressive thoughts and warn Sky.

Intelligence. Check.

And now for the pièce de resistance. Sky stepped back as Nora launched a grenade at the Grimm's tails. The pink explosion briefly lit up the night sky like a firework before subsiding. Three tails were missing, their stumps flailing around wildly for a moment before wiry sinew began to weave itself together as the Grimm's aura healed it. Sky stabbed the red hot tip of his torch Arson into the wound, cauterizing it before the healing could take its course.

Regeneration. Check.

Cardin and Nora, fully armed and fully clothed, began to alternate swinging their blunt weapons into the Grimm's center of mass. Branwen's scythe opened up to reveal two thin barrels, and he began to fire at the immobilized Grimm with one hand as he held StormFlower with the other. There was no art or style to the attacks; just wailing on it and inflicting the maximum amount of damage possible to its aura before it broke free.

It was, of course, going to break free. That was an eventuality. Only a fool would assume their plan was so perfect that it could not be countered, especially by a Grimm that had so many talents and tricks up its sleeve. A semblance, calling out other Grimm, breathing fire – Sky didn't know how it would happen, but it was inevitable. For now, though, all Team Castle could do was score as many easy points as they could. When this inevitably devolved into a senseless melee, it would just be that much easier.

It finally happened after about 16 seconds of free damage. That may not have seemed like a long time, but Team Castle hadn't even lost a smidge of aura, so Sky called it a good trade. Dust, it was a freakin' bargain. In the end, it was the Grimm's arm fins sawing through the wires of StormFlower that held its tusks, causing Professor Branwen to fell forward as his hold on the Grimm suddenly went slack.

As per the plan, Cardin and Nora retreated. Soloing this guy was not an option. Only the combined strength of Team Castle and their mentor would be enough. The Grimm reached a paw to StormFlower's other half and tore it out of the dirt. A tail wrapped around the submachine gun, and the Grimm aimed Ren's gun at them.

"Guess… -snrk-…guess we're fucked," giggled Cardin.

Sky pulled out his scroll and held it in front of Nora. "Would you like to do the honors, oh Queen of the Castle?"

"Why thank you, dear knight."

Nora booped the scroll's screen, and StormFlower exploded on the Grimm's face.

"AAAAHHH!"

"Team Castle learns from its mistakes, dummy. We prepped all our weapons for your pilfering after Forever Fall, before we even knew about this mission. You're not going to be getting any handouts today."

Nora nodded and took charge. Sky made the strategies, but she was better at giving the commands. "Cardin, go right. Mr. Branwen, go left. I'll attack from the front. Sky, get behind it and make sure it doesn't retreat. Go!"

All four charged. The Grimm braced itself on the left to counter an assault from the left by Professor Branwen, the most experienced hunter, but it instead ate a mouthful of fire from Arson. Cardin tackled it from the front, and Nora splintered its knee on the right. Professor Branwen flipped above the Grimm and started slashing at its tails from the back.

Facial recognition. Understanding speech. Check and check.

They'd agreed on who switched names with who in advance, easy as pie. When your opponent knows your faces, even the tiniest sliver of a second lost reacting to bad intel could cost them the fight.

The Grimm had to be in the yellow or red by now, so to speak, and Team Castle was hunky dory. They may not even need to use the main trap.

Part two of the plan came into effect now that it was an open brawl. Sky nodded to Cardin. It was time for him to do what he was best at – be a douche.

"Damn, Mr. Grimm. Things really aren't going the way you planned, are they?"

"Silence!"

"Oh, that's right. It's Mrs. Grimm now. Well, I suppose it's Ms. Grimm until you marry some Beowolf and have a litter of puppies."

"Ignorant oaf!"

The Grimm hacked at Cardin's armor with its fins, growling furiously. Violently surging forward, it tried to gore him with its tusks, but Cardin thrust the shalt of his mace into its chomping maw to block it.

"Damn girl, we're getting frisky! If you wanted my mace, you coulda just asked. I'm not really into Grimm, but a hole's a hole." He winked and blew a kiss.

The Grimm pummeled Cardin in his stomach with its knee, but while it was enraged and distracted, Nora took the opportunity to bring Magnhild down on its undefended back with a thunderous crunch.

"Mine!"

Pride. Check

Cardin wheezed weakly. "S-Sorry, babe."

"Nah, it's not your fault you flirted with a Creature of Grimm."

"Cool."

"It's Sky's fault."

Oh shit. Danger. DANGER!

"Erm, how do you figure that, oh merciful and forgiving queen?" she inquired ever so politely.

"You thought of the plan, so this one's on you."

So, the gray one was the strategist. Killing him would be easy enough, but it was apparent that he'd already explained his plans to the others, so it would do no good. Bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed was madness itself. Morrighan still believed that nobody needed to die today.

But, if someone were to die, she would not allow it to be her.

Time to change tactics. She possessed the knowledge of Melion, and with that all his strategic ingenuity and analytical talent. That bulk of insight gave her a distinct advantage over five humans. She could do this.

As the four children assaulted her from every angle, she noticed that Branwen was holding back for the most part, allowing Cardin and the girl to form a vanguard with the strategist stuck to ranged. Logic said the strongest fighter should be at the front, but he was not. Why was that?

His semblance. The memory came to her, one from long ago of Melion witnessing a huntress misfiring and injuring allies on four separate occasions, always in the presence of Branwen. He'd figured out on the third time that it was not poor maintenance on the part of the huntress but the fault of a literal bad luck charm. When Branwen was present, the statistically unlikely became the statistically unfortunate.

He held back because this effect of his affected allies as easily as it did opponents. If Morrighan were to engage him, Team Castle would simply back away. She'd bear the brunt of his misfortune while the children regrouped. A foolproof strategy.

Unless she could force them together.

She broke past the two heavy hitters and charged at the gray boy. His torch swung towards her stomach, but instead of dodging it, she allowed her aura to take the impact and bear hugged the weapon. Dragging it and its wielder with her, she maneuvered towards Branwen and tossed Sky at him. The older huntsman flipped through the air to avoid the tall boy from hitting him, just as Morrighan had expected. A tail slipped around his leg, weaving in multiple loops and dragging him down to the ground. As Branwen met the forest floor with a muffled thump, the same tail snaked around Sky's leg, tying the two together. Morrighan braced herself for the pain before lowering her aura around the appendage and severing it off with a fin.

The two huntsmen awkwardly tried to stand upright with their legs joined by the detached tail. Sky tried to jab his torch at the tail, likely hoping to cut himself free, but his torch slipped out of his sweaty hand. Flames shot out as it hit the ground, catching fire on Branwen's trousers and Sky's undershirt.

Branwen patted at the flames, but Sky panicked and fell backwards, bringing his companion down with him. Nora rushed to help the two disentangle, but an inopportunely placed tree branch tripped her up. Her weapon, facing down, shot the ground by her feet her point blank, and she landed right into the explosion.

Morrighan made sure to keep her distance from the implausible series of mishaps. This was going far better than she could have expected. Where was Cardin? All she had to do was drag him into the disaster zone around Branwen and watch the fireworks.

"Oh, Cardin? Wherever are you, lover boy? You can't just run of and leave a lady all by her lonesome."

"I'm right here."

Morrighan turned around. Cardin had his arms wrapped around a struggling human in a white dress who was much shorter than him. A black bag was over her head, but long white hair dangled out of it.

The figure wriggled in Cardin's grasp. "Save me!"

Morrighan recognized that voice.

Weiss Schnee.

"How…?" she mutely uttered.

"Does it matter?" Cardin held one of the broken blades of StormFlower to her throat as she whimpered. "I'll do it. For Nora, I'd do it."

"What do you want?"

"Give up, and she lives."

"Why should I trust you?"

Cardin pressed the blade deeper into Weiss' throat, and a thin red line of blood came from the point of contact. "I dunno. Why should you?"

"No!"

All other duties, including Morrighan's survival, were secondary to keeping Weiss Schnee alive. Salem had bade this, and her will was iron-cast and absolute. Morrighan let her fins fall limp and held her remaining tails to the ground.

"HIYAH!"

Nora's hammer rammed into Morrighan's back, shattering her pale white aura.

This is fine. It's okay. She's their ally – they won't hurt her when I'm gone.

"Professor!"

Branwen, who'd apparently put out the flames and freed himself from Sky, severed her last few tails.

I've done everything I can to obey my orders.

Sky's torch slid between her tusks. "Your greatest weakness – you had a goal that mattered more to you than anything." He sharply twisted it, and the tusks snapped off. "Check and mate."

The White Fang shall not live to see tomorrow's dawn.

Nora, Branwen, and Sky wrestled Morrighan to the ground. The two men held down her arms, and Nora her legs. Cardin threw Weiss away from him and joined them, pinning her back to the grassy dirty. He stabbed the blade of StormFlower into her defenseless fins, tearing them apart.

My duty to Queen Salem is fulfilled.

With four hunters weighing her down, there was no way for her to break free. Her aura was depleted, her natural defenses were destroyed, and her will to fight was gone.

I can accept this death.

Weiss Schnee stood up and removed the bag from her head.

Oh.

It was the boy, Ren, in a dress perfectly resembling the Schnee princess' own signature outfit, his hair having been bleached white. Ren's lissome torso and slim arms were nearly perfect matches to Weiss' body. His height should have given it away, she realized in retrospect, but in Cardin's grasp, anyone would appear a dwarf. Morrighan belatedly became aware that she'd lost track of Ren in the middle of the fight, and to her shame, she hadn't even realized it.

He discarded a scroll. As it hit the ground, Morrighan became aware it was playing music in Weiss Schnee's voice.

"Mirror Mirror, what's behind you?

Save me from the things I've seen."

So, this was their grand plan to bring her in. As Melion's heir, she had to admit, it was most ingenious.

Ren grabbed Branwen's discarded scythe off the ground and mech-shifted it into sword form. Holding its hilt with two hands, he brought the blade directly over Morrighan's exposed head.

"Do it, babe!"

"Finish this, Renny!"

Ren's dispassionate face looked down at her. He spoke the last word she was to ever hear as he brought the blade down.

"I was the trap."

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, friend."

Cardin looked up, but he didn't stop pressing down on the Grimm with his full weight. The voice that had called out was similar to the mutant Grimm, deep and growling, but unlike hers, this one was more…calm.

Ren paused, the sword hovering less than an inch from Mrs. Grimm's neck.

"No!" cried the Grimm underneath him. "No! Get out of here!"

"It's not like you're going to make a difference, killing her or not," the mysterious voice of the trees said.

Ren looked into the trees with narrowed eyes.

"Ren! Don't let her trick you!" Cardin insisted. "Kill her!"

The Grimm beneath Cardin snapped up at Ren's sword, and he was forced to return his attention back down to her and press her snout into the dirt. It didn't matter if the forest itself had come alive to bargain on behalf of Grimmette. This was their once chance to end it. They would never be able to use Sky's tricks and traps again now that she knew about them.

"Why?" Ren asked the voice.

To Cardin's surprise, the trees above them rustled. Out of the leaves popped…

…some fat beaver-looking Grimm.

What the ass?

Cardin was about to rub his eyes or pinch himself to make sure he was awake, but a tremor of rage shot through Mrs. Grimm, and he thought better of taking his hands off of her.

The weird black badger thing pointed on of its paws towards the subdued monster Team Castle had brought to heel and chuckled."Kill her and someone else will replace her. It's pointless – the total number of us in the world always remains the same."

It crawled face-first down the tree, and Cardin got a better look at it. It wasn't a beaver or a badger; it was a racoon. What should have been a blackened mask was made of alabaster white bone, but two eyes were clearly visible. The same icky liquid that Mrs. Grimm excreted was pouring out of both of them, though with slower flow for the raccoon. The new Grimm eventually stopped descending from the treetop and rested on a branch.

"I'd wager you lads are probably curious as to what me and the little lady are. If you stick around, I'll fill you in on the big secret. And after that, I think you'll even agree that letting Morrighan live is for the best."

The mutant Grimm jabbed a tusk into Cardin's hand, briefly freeing its mouth before he could clamp it shut. "Azeban, no! Don't tell them! Kill me, Ren! Kill me n–!"

"Hush, girl. Ren, was it? Put down the sword, boy."

Ren kept the sword pointed at the Grimm's head. The first mutated Grimm, that was, not the new one.

Queen Nora looked up at the racoon Grimm. "We bled far too much to just let her go. Tell us what you want, but she's not just walking out of here."

The new Grimm's snout curved into a smile. "Can't say I blame you. She's a fighter. Melion's daughter, this one is. His death still gets at me, the old bastard. Outlived ten generations of humans until the queen got it in her thick skull to send him against your Amber. Damn waste."

Branwen's head snapped up. "Your kind killed Amber?"

"Other way around; Amber killed Melion. Weakened her enough for another to land the final blow and get her power, though. Poor Melion; I stood around and watched my best friend march off to his death with a smile on his face, singing the queen's praises for murdering him. Well, I tell ya, I refuse to do his girl do the same. She's practically my niece."

Cardin's head was spinning. "What are you? Who is this Amber person? Who's your queen?"

The raccoon shook its head. "I can only answer the first question, friend. Qrow, I'll leave the rest for you."

"Azeban, no! Please, not for me! If you tell them, they'll tell Ozma. Please, Azeban!"

Cardin had never heard the first mutant Grimm sound –

Ok, you know what? Cardin hadn't wanted to dignify the Grimm by calling them real names like people, but this was getting too confusing. First Grimm, new Grimm, bigger Grimm, raccoon Grimm…screw that.

Cardin had never heard Morrighan sound so desperate. To hear this Grimm that had twice held his life in the palm of her hands beg and plead like a combat school child was downright mind-boggling. And she wasn't even begging for her life. She was concerned about…information?

The raccoon, Azeban, twisted off a cluster of mulberries from the limb of the tree and began popping them in its mouth. "Here is my deal. I want the word of your leader that she doesn't die. Take her prisoner and lock her up in a cell, but harm not a strand of fur on her head. Do that and I'll tell you what we are, and why killing us is a waste of ammo."

Professor Branwen nodded. "Deal."

"That ain't quite right." Azeban spat out a berry seed. "I asked for the word of your leader."

Queen Nora nodded. "Deal."

"Excellent. Now, I want you all to look at me, then at Morrighan. What's the only thing we have in common?"

"You're both monsters?" suggested Cardin.

"Morrighan was right, you are a little shit. Any other guesses?"

Ren looked at Morrighan, then Azeban. "Your eyes. They're both dripping."

"Bingo!"

"Is it Grimm blood?" asked Sky.

"Close, but no cigar. It's actually tears. The queen wanted it to be flames, but she just couldn't get the recipe right. Instead, she settled for these equally haunting beauties. Tell me, Qrow Branwen, who else has so much magic bursting forth from inside them that the excess must flare out of their eyes?"

The professor looked like he'd suddenly caught an illness and was about to hurl. "Impossible."

"Ozma has his. Why can't the queen have hers? Though I'll be the first to admit, it does seem a touch plagiaristic. Copyright infringement aside, power as strong as hers is wasted in one place. Distributing it to allies and sending them to the four corners of the globe meant we could be everywhere at once."

"She already has Grimm everywhere!" exclaimed Branwen.

"Have you met a Grimm? Useless animals, the whole lot of them. I could kill one, and I'm an obese pygmy fuck. The beasts are so dumb that they forget their orders after leaving the queen's side for more than a day or two. She needed powerful soldiers, capable of making their own decisions in the field and assessing a situation on the fly. Hence, us."

Cardin ignored the pit growing at the bottom of his gut. "Sir, what are they talking about?"

"Grimm maidens."

"Gah, don't call me that." Azeban blanched. "Melion always preferred horseman, and I rather took to that epithet. Maiden makes me sound like some pretty little human twig in a dress batting her eyes. Er, no offense, Mister Lie."

"…none taken?"

"For all intents and purposes, though, the comparison holds. For all you kids not in the know, that means our power transfers to another Grimm when we die. No bullshit about whoever we thought of last, mind you, just a random Grimm. Salem wasn't going to copy the stupid parts of Ozma's homework."

Ren finally lowered the sword. "So if I kill Morgan…"

"Morrighan!" she howled from under Cardin.

"…her power and sapience will go to another Grimm, just as Melion's went to her."

Azeban nibbled on the last mulberry and patted on his bulging stomach. Then, he belched. Loudly.

Ugh, Cardin really was starting to hate this gross freakin' thing.

"Clap her in irons, though, and Salem's got one less pawn on the board for good."

Cardin was feeling so much malice from Morrighan that he couldn't get a bead on Azeban's anger or lack thereof. No cheating this time; they'd have to make their decision based on logic rather than semblances.

Logic told him that this whole affair was awfully convenient for the defeated Grimm. An enemy who mystically gave their power to someone else upon dying? Come on.

"You're very helpful for someone claiming to be loyal to the enemy, whoever they are," Cardin said. "I don't think I trust you, rat."

Azeban shrugged. "I'm the horseman of choice, ape."

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "And that means…?"

"Salem chose one of the relics for each of us to pursue. I'm choice, Morrighan's knowledge, Kraken's creation, and Thrace's destruction. Well, Thrace and that little growth on his back. Thatun's a weirdo – there's a reason I don't go to Mistral. Moral of the story is that we each embody our aspect. I'm choice."

"So…what does that mean? What are relics? I don't know this stuff you're referencing."

"It means I'm not bound to obey the Queen like the others. I can do what I think is right."

"Oh, greeeeaaaat," Cardin drawled. "So you can do what you believe is right. I have no idea what your moral code is and what you consider right and wrong. I'll say it again – what reason, if any, do we have to trust you?"

"In your own words: I dunno. Why should you?"

"Dude, I said while lying to Morrighan about hold Weiss hostage, then we beat the shit outta her. She should definitely not have trusted me."

Azeban awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Errrr…"

Queen Nora hopped up, grabbed Ren's arm, and placed his palm on Morrighan's forehead. The Grimm stopped writhing underneath Cardin and the others.

All of a sudden, it was like the air around Morrighan changed from blood red to normal. Her aggression and rage had been so permeating that Cardin nearly collapsed when it was pulled away. It was like the anger had always been there, only to cease without warning.

"Cardin. Do you feel any malice from the rodent?"

Sky raised a finger. "Actually, raccoons are procyonids."

Morrighan, her voice now even, interrupted him. "Actually, Rodentia is an order. Procyonidae is a taxonomic family. While raccoons certainly are procyonids and not rodents, a more relevant correction would be to say that raccoons are Carnivorans rather than rodents, as both are orders." All eyes landed on her for a moment. "What? I'm the horseman of knowledge."

"Whatever." Queen Nora looked at Cardin. "Cardin. Malice?"

"I'm not getting anything from the procyonid, but that doesn't mean he's telling the truth. All we can say for sure is that he isn't malicious or aggressive in this very moment."

Queen Nora pushed off of Morrighan's back and stood up. "I just wanted to know for sure. I gave the Carnivoran my word, so we're taking our Grimm prisoner either way. We'll find something to restrain her at the village and bring her to Beacon with the bullhead."

"Glad to hear it."

"You." She pointed to Azeban. "Scram."

He nodded and scurried up the tree, disappearing into the night.

"They won't like us parading a live Grimm through their town," said Professor Branwen.

Magnhild switched to hammer mode.

"Live? Yes. Conscious? No."

Omake

Qrow: This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them!

In which Yang, Blake, Weiss and Ruby can't outrun their truth any longer.

Author's Notes

The horsemen/Grimm maiden peoples' names are from mythology or something, I don't know.

Morrighan's an Irish deity who appears as a wolf in one of her cycles (only briefly, but I liked the name and it's a Beowolf, so...).

Azeban is a raccoon trickster spirit from an indigenous Native American people's lore.

Melion is a knight cursed to be a werewolf by a traitorous woman he loved (and here, he's a Beowolf cursed to be as sentient as a man by the Queen he's loyal to who sends him to his death, so it's like a thing).

The other horsemen…we'll meet them eventually. You've possibly already figured out one of them just from the description given by Raccoon-kun.