Author's Notes
How perfect was Friday - K ended, and FFN net literally crashed that afternoon. No views, no stats - I'm entirely in the dark about whether people even read it or not. The sadness...
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
Chapter 85: Landing Strategy
In which Raven ponders long term career options, Jaune shows us how much he's learned since initiation, and Yang catches up with some old friends.
"I don't care if you have to pay off every lowlife, thug, or criminal scumbag in the city! Find out where that damned thing flew off to!"
The White Fang grunt nodded and ran off. Raven put her palm to her face and exhaled a hot sigh.
Things had turned into a hot mess ever since the battle climactically ended with a dragon ex machina. However, like many situations Raven had been involved in, nobody around her knew what was supposed to happen after the climax, and Raven didn't want to light up a cigarette in front of Yang, lest she set a bad example.
In the confusing morning that followed, she had risen to the top in part due to her demanding presence and her leadership experience. With students beginning to trickle back into a destroyed school, the Faunus had begun to turn to her for guidance, as their own leadership was stretched thin following Arc's kidnapping and the fox men scurrying off to parts unknown for hours on end.
"I must say," said Fennec Albain, suddenly standing beside her as though he had just appeared out of thin air. "I had some doubts."
Speak of the God of Darkness…
Raven knew enough about the two furries by this point to tell that Corsac was going to do the same on the other side, so she braced herself for the surprise. Exactly on schedule, the fox tailed Faunus slunk up next to her and began walking alongside her in stride. "As did I."
"Doubts about me? Because I'm a human?"
"No…well, yes. But our true doubts lay with Salem herself."
"Salem?"
"Yes. When Brother Taurus told us with his dying breath of the threat, there were many skeptics among our numbers. The two of us were not among them. We knew that Brother Taurus was not one to make false or wild claims…well, unless Sister Belladonna's affection for him was involved. Thus, we took his threat quite seriously and began an investigation."
"He was, however, prone to exaggeration," explained Fennec. "We doubted that Salem was as grand a threat as Brother Taurus purported. After all, how could one human control an academy headmaster, command a fleet powerful enough to level our island, and remain in the shadows from our spies?"
"We were set to abandon our investigation until we recalled Brother Arc."
"His details matched those presented by Brother Taurus to an alarming degree."
"And, truth be told, the White Fang had been floundering. Our forces lacked morale after the departure of three of our finest hunter-trained soldiers."
"Let me guess," said Raven. "You boys thought that this would be an easy win, and you'd pack up, go home, and be heroes. Women would fall for you head over heels, and more importantly, so would 18-24 year old boys. Er…I-I mean for recruiting…I'm not trying to suggest you two are…uh, not that there's anything wrong with that, or…i-in fact, my own eldest daughter is…uhhhh, never mind."
Corsac broke out into a grin. "You are correct, Miss Rose. We were seeking a victory. However, our priorities have shifted."
"You believe the danger is real now?" she asked, declining to correct them on the name.
The two looked at one another in perfect unison, then back to her.
"A Grimm dragon tends to be convincing."
"Especially when that dragon chooses to grab the hunters who had been dueling the race traitor Lionheart and another Grimm just moments ago."
"One might almost believe that the dragon was reinforcements for the wayward headmaster."
Raven threw her arms around their shoulders and pulled the two men uncomfortably close to her. "Then your doubts are laid to rest?"
"Our doubts regarding Salem's power, yes."
"Our doubts regarding Salem's intent, no."
"If she controls the Grimm…"
"…why is Menagerie of all places her target?"
"We hold but a fraction of the world's population."
"Surely Atlas or Vale, with their vast city centers, would be more alluring targets for her."
Raven finally arrived at her destination, the corner of the grand hall where Yang and her friends were. With her were the fire girl who'd fought alongside Rook and a boy that looked and acted an unnerving amount like a male monkey Faunus version of Yang to the point that Raven wonder if Tai had been stepping out on her with a monkey girl.
"Any luck?"
"None whatsoever," scowled the fire girl, Cindy. "The entire city of Haven saw the dragon, but not one thought to track it."
"Can't say I blame them," said the monkey. "I was tied up and gagged, so I never got a chance to lay eyes on the mega-Grimm, but I bet my response would be like most people – turn the other way and run."
With Lionheart having died in the attack, Haven and Mistral as a whole had fallen to bits. The power vacuum was only made worse by the premiere criminal organization having been concurrently eradicated. The council was scrambling to convene and 'address the situation,' but those imbeciles couldn't address an envelope on their own. For the time being, Ghira Belladonna had commanded the Faunus militia to limit access to the school's campus, and the authorities weren't nearly coordinated enough to stand up to his soldiers. Some students had taken issue with this and tried to force their way in, but a brief word with Cindy convinced them to set aside their concerns. Apparently, she had something of a reputation among her peers.
"Keep asking around," Raven ordered. "We've got no other leads."
Yang and the others nodded.
"Gentlemen," began Raven, turning to the Albains. "I shall address your concerns regarding Salem's plans."
Both Faunus perked up.
"Salem does not want to destroy Menagerie."
The brothers did that same thing, where they looked at one another, then back at Raven. The left one's right eyebrow rose, and the right one's left eyebrow rose.
"She wants to destroy all of Remnant."
"Hmmm." Fennec scratched at his chin. "The Queen of the Grimm wishing the end of all life…I suppose the math tracks."
"So. Can we count on the White Fang's support? Or is this issue not Faunus enough for the both of you?"
Corsac smiled oh so kindly, sweet like the poisoned honey in his resting-bitch voice. "Contrary to popular belief, my dear woman, we are not savages."
"Brother Adam may have wished death upon those who wronged him even at the cost of innocent Faunus lives, but the two of us seek the betterment of the Faunus race. The actual betterment."
"We would not allow her to destroy our own people on the hope that you humans would share the same graves."
"Salem wishes to destroy Remnant, and the Faunus live on Remnant. Thus, we bear continued animus against her."
"Furthermore, striking at the heart of the Grimm and killing their overlady shall make us heroes in the eyes of all of Remnant."
Raven smiled. "You fellas might have enough political push to get your own academy. Dust, to be declared your own kingdom. Wouldn't that be something..."
"It certainly would. And it would be much easier if a decorated huntress were to testify publicly that it was only accomplished with the aid of the Faunus."
"A decorated huntress like Summer Rose, champion of Beacon's own Team Stark…"
"Theeeeeereeeee it is," Raven said, placing a hand on her hip. "I knew it was coming. Well, let me say this: If you and your people can help me kill that bitch, you can count on the support and endorsement of Haven's new headmistress."
The brothers smiled at that. "Making plans for the future already, Miss Rose?"
"Now that I'm a mother again, I'm in need of a more legitimate career. With Leo dead, someone's going to have to fill the role. And if that someone just spearheaded the mission to kill the Queen of the Grimm – with the White Fang's most generous aid, of course – well, who would deny this hypothetical huntress the title?"
Raven's smile twinkled, but it fell when she saw that the Albains were frowning. Truth be told, she cared little for the position, but she knew how to read people. Corsac and Fennec were the type of men who never believed in people doing things out of the goodness of their hearts; they expected everyone to have an angle. Raven had given them a fake angle to pacify them, but actually seemed upset now.
"Problem?" she asked.
"Not quite…"
"It's just that…"
"How to put it…"
"When you said that we had no other leads…"
"It may not have been fully accurate…"
Raven glared. "Speak plainly."
"Let's just say that the blood traitor Lionheart's death was greatly exaggerated."
Raven's eyes rose. "He's alive?"
"He will not be by the end of this war, but he clings to life like the parasite he is for now. Brother Belladonna is interrogating him as we speak."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Interrogating him, or interrogating him?"
"An actual interrogation, Miss Rose. Brother Belladonna is not one for what he calls 'barbarism and savagery.'"
"I take it that Leo hasn't talked."
Both brothers shook their heads.
"Give me a butter knife and ten minutes with him, alone. He'll be singing like a canary Faunus."
"As you command…
"…Sister Rose."
The dragon circled above the castle, almost as though it were waiting for clearance before coming in for a landing on the ground. Could it even be called the ground? It was not made of normal brown dirt but instead a maroon-like substance that looked more like solid rock. Purple crystals resembling those found in Dust mines jutted out, some so large that they nearly pierced the sky. Oh, and don't forget about the sky. Eternal darkness as far as the eye could see really made it feel inviting. The moon wasn't out (it was still supposed to be daytime), but the sun was gone, so the only source of illumination was the faint glow of the purple crystals. The shadows that came about from this pulsing light faded away and came back in a motion as rhythmic as the tides.
Dark speckles dotting the landscape. Jaune scowled. Grimm…and sloshing lakes of turbulent darkness.
The pools of darkness.
Hope.
It was almost ironic that the source of Salem's power might just be the very same thing that brought salvation to the world. That said, Ruby and Dove probably weren't appreciating the situation right now in their terror.
"Don't worry, you guys. They won't be able to hurt us."
"Who?" said Ruby.
Why doesn't she…oh, right. Her eyes.
And Dove wouldn't be able to see the armies of Grimm that awaited them from this high up unless he wanted to burn through his aura before the fight even started.
"Er…there's some Grimm down there."
"How many?"
Jaune looked across the horizon. He wasn't the best at math, but there were probably a good million juvenile Nevermore. Ursa and Beowolves numbered among the hundreds of thousands. Deathstalkers, Creeps, and King Taijitu were less common – Jaune estimated there were no more than fifty thousand each.
"I'd say there's about a…a couple hundred. Maybe three or four?"
Some Grimm species were unrecognizable. Jaune had never seen Grimm gorillas, but he could clearly make out their muscular form even from this distance. A few Grimm rhinoceroses were running amok through the crowds, trampling smaller Beowolves and Ursa Minor beneath their massive feet. The most frightening of them all had to be the Grimm jellyfish that effortlessly floated through the air. No huntsman or huntress alive could kill one of those gargantuans.
"Ruby, your silver eyes…how many Grimm can you hit in one go?"
"It's area of effect. It doesn't matter how many Grimm are there; as long as they're in my field of view, they get stoned."
"Does distance affect it?"
"The further I shoot my light, the weaker it become."
"We're about 1000 meters in the air. How many shots can you do that hit the ground?"
"One, maybe two?"
Dove caught on. "We've got a clear line of sight at every Grimm in the wastelands from up here. If Branwen were to look down, she'd eliminate all our enemies at once. It'd make fighting on the ground easier by orders of magnitude."
"But the dragon…I need to save my silver eyes to cut through its aura!"
Right, the plan. Jaune regretted that he wasn't going to be able to stick around to help them, but it was better this way. They would escape, and he'd have two less bodies to protect when things got ugly. "Ruby, I'll take care of the dragon's aura. On the count of three, look down and blast them with everything you've got."
Ruby nodded. "Bronzewing, as soon as its aura breaks, get its wings. Jaune, give him your cane."
"I might need it."
"Then give him the Fire Dust. He can burn through the flesh membranes of the wings. We don't need to kill this guy, just make sure that it can't fly."
Jaune tossed Dove the ammunition, who proceeded to load it into Hallshott. "How will you break the aura of a creature of these proportions, Arc?" he asked. "I recall your semblance being more of a support based nature."
"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I'm going to ask you guys to trust me." Jaune focused all of the magic in his body into the palms of his hands. Moving it around inside of him was surprisingly similar to aura manipulation, and he had gotten quite good at that in his brief time at Beacon as Ozpin's private student. His fingers began to glow a faint green.
"WHAT THE FLIP IS THAT?" hissed Ruby.
"Ruby, how can you even see my mag– see what I'm doing?"
"I can feel it. It feels like…me!"
Dove scrunched his mouth. "I see no physical change in Arc's body. To what are you both referring?"
Jaune strained as the power building in his hands grew in force. "We…urgh…we can discuss this later, when we're not surrounded by Grimm. Get ready – Ruby will petrify the Grimm below us first. The second that happens, I'll break this big fellow's aura. Dove, you won't have but a moment before he drops us, so you'll have to hit him fast. Ruby, fly over to Dove as a bird, grab hold, switch back and break his fall with your semblance. Just a short spurt when you hit the ground should be enough to slow the both of you down so your legs don't break when you land."
"What about you?"
This was the hard part. Somehow, he was going to have to convince them to leave him behind. He couldn't just tell them about his semblance and the pools – they'd try to stop him. He knew this because if Dove or Ruby had come to him with a similar and equally risky plan, there would be no way he'd let them go through with it.
"I'll–"
"Don't worry. His aura is thick. It'll hold through the drop."
Before he could ready the magical attack he'd been planning, the dragon's claws that held Jaune in place slid apart just a fraction. It wasn't much, but it was enough to let go of the blond huntsman.
Jaune fell.
Yang was probably partial to Vale, having lived there her entire life, but Mistral certainly left something to be desired. Between the entire city apparently being run by a corrupt headmaster and a criminal woman, both of whom were now dead, it was rather unclear why anyone would choose to come here. Like, she understood that it was the artsy, enlightened kingdom where 'radicals and free thinkers' a.k.a. drug dealers and criminals came to live, but why were normal people like Sun, an immigrant originally hailed from Vacuo, here? It just didn't make sense to her.
She held off on these kinds of questions as she interviewed the citizens, instead choosing to butter them up as heroes doing their civic duty in aiding a huntress. For Ruby, she'd lie and grovel to the moon and back. Still, no one knew anything. Again, Mistral was the worst.
Unlike Vale, Mistral was not divided into districts, but levels instead. Cinder had been asked by Mister Belladonna and Mom to stay near Haven and ask around at the top level, likely to act as the school's personal bodyguard against wandering students (or teachers). Some White Fang idiots were taking the middle, and that left Yang and Sun with the seedy underbelly – the bottom level.
For the first time, she truly understood why the crime district back in Mountain Glenn had been called the Mistral Triangle. Crime wasn't just prevalent here – it was basically encouraged. Junior's Club had seemed like a playground for babies compared to this. There weren't any stores or shops in these parts. People came down to these shadowy depths for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to do the things that they weren't allowed to in the light of day. Drugs were openly peddled, and pickpockets tried their luck at anyone and everyone. Sun had shuddered when they walked past a dead body, but Yang hadn't broken stride. To do so would be to show weakness and invite trouble. Thrice had Yang been propositioned by prostitutes, and it was twice as many times that she was mistaken for one. Those five handsy men and one handsy woman were now nursing bloody noses. Her knuckles were getting sore at this point; she usually switched hands after that many punches, but that wasn't a thing anymore.
A finger tapped her shoulder. Yang turned around, ready to break nose number seven, but the shady-looking man raised his hands in the air.
"What do you want, bub?"
"You kids looking for information?"
"We're looking to find anyone who might know where that dragon went."
"I can't promise you that, but I can bring you to a place where information is traded…for the right price, of course."
Yang flicked him a lien chip. The man caught it midair, then coughed. Yang flicked him another and grunted.
"That's all you'll be getting."
"That's all I'll be needing. Now, follow me."
The man slipped into an alleyway, weaving neatly between piles of trash and drugged-up junkies. Sun kicked off the walls and nimbly followed after him, but Yang fell slightly behind as she tried to navigate the thin passageway.
A few twists and turns later, she just barely managed to catch up to them.
"Here we are."
Yang looked at 'here.' All that was before her was an unassuming archway with drawn purple curtains concealing the establishment within. She guessed it was the back entrance to a tavern of some sort, or maybe a pub or parlor. If this was the place, it didn't look like much. Junior's Club, the premiere information broker/watering hole in Vale, at least had flashy lights and sick disco beats.
"This is it?"
"Well, the Spiders cannot advertise our home to just anyone. We only chose to trust you as we know for a fact that you seek information, and you are desperate enough to obtain it by any means necessary."
Yang groaned. "Spiders? Hate to break it to you, hoss, but the Spiders are toast. Their leader died last night."
"Yes. Lil' Miss is no more. She died last night at the hands of Cinder Fall. An ally of yours, Yang Xiao-Long and Sun-Wukong, if I am properly informed. Which I do believe I am."
Yang tensed, but the man raised his arms once more. "I mean no threat. I merely wish to show you that we are still as well-informed as always. The death of Lil' Miss is tragic, but an organization like ours cannot carry petty grudges, especially when there is lien to be made. Now…after you."
"No, after you."
"I insist. It is Mistrilian custom to allow a guest to enter first."
"You're going in first, buddy. Sun and I aren't about to walk headfirst into an ambush." Yang gripped the man and pushed him forward, keeping herself close behind him in case she needed to use him as a human shield. The man simply sighed and entered through the purple curtains.
She'd been right on the lien. It was a small tavern, furnished with wooden chairs and tables. Groups of people both human and Faunus sat around the place, chattering.
"Sun," she whispered. "Let me do the talking." The monkey Faunus nodded, clearly uncomfortable with being this low in his hometown.
Not one head turned when they entered. A more naïve person like Weiss might have thought that people hadn't noticed them, but it was the opposite to a streetwise girl like Yang. If nobody even glanced their way, that meant that everyone had been expecting them. They were the center of attention right now.
"Now, about that information…"
"Lien first."
Yang plopped a hefty pile of money onto the table. Mom had armed her with enough to bribe anyone they came across.
"We'd, eh, like a more generous donation. Our most recent business deal fell through. You might recall – it was your militia that ruined it."
Sun emptied out his pockets and threw down whatever spending cash he'd been carrying. The man pursed through it and smiled.
"The Little Misses will see you now."
The man led them to two girls sitting on wooden barstool, both with their backs turned to Yang. Their dresses matched in every way except for color – one had red, and the other had white. The pair of them seemed kind of familiar to Yang, but she couldn't quite place her finger on where…
One of the girls turned around, looked Yang over, and shook the other. "Miltia, pull your head out of that damn bottle. We've got a customer."
"Who the fuck is it, Mel?"
"I dunno. Some blond bimbo with stupid hair…"
Oh, Dust. Not these two. Yang extended Ember Celica. She'd beaten them before, but that had been with two arms. At least Sun was at her side this time.
"…and our old friend from the club, who apparently lost an arm I guess."
"Yam Ding-Dong?"
"No, it's Yeet Mahjong."
Yang put her hand on her hip. "It's Yang Xiao-Long. Your little messenger boy made it clear that you people know who I am, so why don't you drop the games, and we can do business."
"Melaniiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee, this girl is so annoying. You deal with her."
"No, you do it."
"You owe me one."
"From when?"
"That time the drunk dolphin Faunus tried to –"
"No, but I paid you back for that when we got jumped by the, you know, the whatchamacallit."
"Oh, right. I guess I have to deal with her, then?"
"No, I'll do it. But now you owe me one." Whichever one the white dress one was swiveled around on her stool and downed her entire drink in one gulp. "So, the little sun dragon's chasing after a real dragon."
"Do you know where it went?"
Red handed White another drink. Dust, these two were like a cheap, off-brand version of Weiss and Ruby.
"No, we don't."
Yang couldn't help it as a few flickers of orange fire dance around in her hair. "So why did you drag me all this way? Just to catch up? Oh, I get it. You girls want to re-enact our last meeting. How did that go, again?"
"Calm your cooch, blondie. We're not messing with you. Mel and I are the new heads of the Spiders, and we're intent on proving that our word is as good as dear old mom's."
White raised her wine glass. "Rip to a real one."
"So, we want to fully inform you of what you're getting. We don't want to build a rap that we're going around lying to customers. That's plain bad for business."
"So, if you don't know where the dragon went, what do you know?"
"Deadmaster Lionheart met with the Spiders, and he brought a man."
Sun shrugged. "I didn't know he swung that way, but I'm not judging."
"This man claimed to have a mistress."
That raised an eyebrow of Yang's. "Damn, now we're getting next level kinky."
"You want your information or not?"
"Fine. Go on, go on."
"The man, Doctor Arthur Watts, said that his mistress could control the Grimm. He had some pretty good proof of that."
Salem. It had to be her. "But Watts is dead. We recovered his body."
"True, but I doubt that beanpole rode a dragon from his lady's place all the way to Haven."
"An airship!" Sun shouted. "It might have a clue about where he's from."
"Give the boy a prize," drawled the red one. Yang was pretty sure that she was Melanie. "And I'll do you one better. Watts was seen piloting a stolen Atlesian drop ship. Little known fact about those babies – their computer keeps an internal record of all locations they visited."
Finally! Fucking finally! After nearly a full day of searching, their efforts had finally paid off. They were going to save Ruby!
…also, Dove and Jaune.
"Great! So, where's the airship?" Yang asked excitedly.
"No fuckin' idea. Our folks saw him flying it, not landing it." Melanie took a big sip from a brand new bottle, the one she'd been drinking now empty. Dear Brothers, her blood alcohol content had to be 100% by this point. "And he didn't exactly tell us where he parked."
Yang's hand clenched into a fist. "You girls better not be holding out on me…"
"Believe me, we'd tell you if we knew. We'd charge extra for something like that. Nah, it's going to be up to you to find it."
"Shit!"
"Let's make like a banana and GTFO, Yang," said Sun. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Hold on a sec, Sun. Melanie, Miltia, how long would it take you to find that airship?"
Miltia shrugged. "It's impossible to say. For all we know, he could've blown it up."
"I wanna hire you two. Find me that airship, and there'll be a big payday for you at the end."
"Sorry, Yank. We're not taking credit anymore, not after Watts got more'n half our Spiders killed with nothing to show for it."
Yang inverted her pockets. "I don't have any more cash on me."
"Then we don't have anything left to discuss. Please, help yourself to some complimentary bar nuts."
"Mel…the, uh, you know…"
"Oh, right. Wang, we might be able to work out something of a trade. Not an exchange of money, but…let's call it services." She grinned.
Yang prepared to break her seventh and eighth noses, but Sun stepped forward.
"For Ruby and Dove, I shall do it. My body is ready. Please, though, be gentle – it's only my sixty-eighth time."
"Holy fuck, not that, you dumbass!"
"We mean babysitting services. Rusty, get the brats."
The shady man that had brought them there retreated into the back of the bar and came out a moment later with four wide-eyed children.
"Mom promised some bastard named Mistuh Dove to look after his kids. One of our boys says that Dove died in the fight, so we're now stuck with four hungry mouths. Take these sons and daughters of bitches off our hands, and we'll find you your airship."
Grimm tended to be relatively squishy. Their bodies had no internal bones, so as long as you avoided the armor, they were pretty much meatbags full of goop and sludge. Unfortunately, fate was not smiling upon Jaune today. Nearly every inch of the ground was covered in Grimm, and he handed on the one spot that was exposed stone.
It hurt like nothing he'd ever experienced before. His skin and muscles burned, and his head ached as though Nora had just tried to crush it between her thighs. Jaune vowed to never fall from that high again.
That probably won't be an issue. I'm not going to make it past all these Grimm alive.
"Jaune, look!"
The Grimm…they weren't attacking him. Some had turned their heads to look his way, but their characteristic homicidal rage was absent entirely.
Why are they…?
"I know not, but let's not waste this opportunity. The pools were just east of us when we landed."
Which was is east?
"You see those Beringels? Head that way."
The what?
"The gorilla Grimm. I could take control…"
Jaune considered it. His aura was low, and it had been a miracle that it hadn't broken from the drop. Perhaps it would be better to have a veteran warrior at the helm for this critical task…
Except Oz would throw Ruby and Dove under the airship if it meant he'd be one step closer to victory.
I'm good. Let's get moving.
Next Chapter: Salem's Castle – In which Ruby is surrounded by magic, Raven meets the in-laws, and Cinder puts together a team.
(Canon) Omake
Ruby: How did you hear our super-secret plans?
Dove: Do you possess enhanced senses?
Ruby: Did you hack into our scrolls and bug them?
Dove: Are you the first horseman with a semblance?
Kraken: No. I literally heard one of you screaming 'WHAT THE FLIP IS THAT?' and started listening in at that point. You kids really need to learn how to whisper.
Author's Notes
Chapter 85 out of 100 and I'm still introducing character left and right, up and down, sideways and backwards. Let's all give a big round of applause to Melanie and Miltia Malachite, and the cute little bit of trivia about them that I snuck in. (+10 points if you caught it)
Raven and the White Fang have command of Haven, but without a heading, they have no way to rescue their wayward Rook and slay the beast that absconded with her and her boys. Also, between Sun and Dove and then Dove and Jaune, Ruby will never ever fucking run out of blond boytoys. I didn't mean for that to be a thing, but it is, so don't question my damn methods, scrubs.
The Kuroyuri orphans drive so much of the plot forward that it harms my internal respiratory system physically. Don't worry - they won't bother us for much longer. One chapter, in fact.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!